Read by the tongue
Bí ẹlẹ́bọ ò bá pe ẹni, àṣefín ò yẹni.
bí ẹlẹ́bọ ò bá pe ẹni, àṣefín ò yẹni
A Yoruba proverb watches someone walk uninvited into a sacrifice. Igbo, Russian, and Arabic cousins all describe the fate of the one who turns up where they have no standing — but only Yoruba sets the scene at the altar.
Òwe l'ẹṣin ọ̀rọ̀; ọ̀rọ̀ l'ẹṣin òwe. Bí ọ̀rọ̀ bá sọnù, òwe ni a fi ń wá a.
owe l'esin ọrọ; ọrọ l'esin owe. bi ọrọ ba sonu, owe ni a fi n wa a.
Why the Yoruba say a proverb is the horse of speech — and how Russian and Latin traditions reach the same conclusion with entirely different animals and images.
Ọwọ́ ọmọdé ò tó pẹpẹ, t'àgbàlagbà ò wọ kèǹgbè.
ọwọ́ ọmọdé ò tó pẹpẹ, t'àgbàlagbà ò wọ̀ kèǹgbè
A Yoruba proverb gives the child a reach the elder lacks, and the elder a reach the child lacks. Chinese, Greek, and Roman cousins agree that no one is complete — but only Yoruba humbles the elder.
Ọmọ tó mọ ọwọ́ rẹ̀ wẹ̀ á bá àgbà jẹun
ọmọ tó mọ ọwọ́ rẹ̀ wẹ̀ á bá àgbà jẹun
Why Yoruba families say a child who learns to wash his hands earns a seat at the elders' meal — and how Igbo, English, and Confucian traditions imagine the same small discipline opening four very different doors.