proverbs

217. Diggante jëkkër ak jabar, kersa gi warula bare. (20)
There should be little shame between a husband and wife.
218. Góor bu takkee tubeyam gaynde la, bu ka tekkee xarum tubaa beer la. (20)
A man is a lion when he puts on his pants, but becomes a lamb when he takes
them off.
This proverb speaks of the ambiguity that exists in the relations between a husband and his
wife. In public she must show proper respect. In private there should be an intimacy free of
any shame.
219. Këll bu ne am na mberoom. (2,3,5,6,20)
Këll bu nekk ak mberu ma koy ub. (11,12)
Every calabash bowl has its lid.
Everyone has his match. There is someone (a spouse) out there for everyone.
Astou is a hard working and well-educated girl. However she has a handicap – she has one
leg shorter than the other. All the girls her age are already married, and some already have
several children. Her parents are worried that she will be left on the shelf. One day Abdou,
a handsome deaf man who is mute, returns to the village after a long absence. He asks for
the hand of Astou in marriage. Some people are in favour and others disapprove. The
elderly Baro cuts short the discussion by quoting this proverb.
Family women
220. Boo bëggee xam luy muñ, amal jabar. (2,3,5,6,15,20)
If you want to know what patience is, take a wife.
221. Jigéen, soppal te bul wóolu. (6,8,15,19)
Jigéen ju ndaw, soppal te bul wóolu. (2)
Soppal sa jabar, te bu ko wóolu. (1)
Love your wife, but do not trust her (with your secrets).
This is one of the sayings of Kothie Barma from the famous story of the four pigtails.
222. Jigéen, jëkkëram mooy sangam. (2)
Her husband is the head of a woman.
“For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his
body, of which he is the Saviour.” (Ephesians 5:23 NIV)
223. Aawo buuru këram. (2)
The first wife is the queen of her home.
224. Liggéeyub ndey; añub doom. (2,6,8,19)
The work of a mother is the lunch of her child.
When a mother accepts the pains of housework, the fruit of this appear in her children.
David Maranz explains that means that the child directly inherits either benediction or
malediction from the mother. It is not inheritance in the physical sense, but the inheritance
of spiritual qualities. Much importance is attached to what is called liggéeyu ndey
`mother's work', or jëfu ndey `the mother's acts and deeds'. Having a moral, obedient,
submissive (to her husband) and pious mother is extremely important.
225. Jigéen ju wujjam dee, dara bugalu ko ca. (4)
Jigéen ju wujjam dee, dara soxalu ko ca. (13)
A woman who has lost her rival has no sorrow.
31