All Tsumo

Shona Proverbs

• Abereka / atochena mwoyoOnce a person has had children, a calm and patient heart becomes a duty.
• Abva zunde / haachadyiwi navasheSomeone who has worked in the chief's field is no longer liable to be fined by him.
• Achatoudza nowakapfeka dehwe reshumba.
• Achemedza mbudzana yake / akuraWhoever has a child of his own has left childhood behind and must shoulder what every parent is expected to carry. Choosing marriage and parenthood means accepting the hardships that come with them.
• Afa / anakaOnce a person dies, nobody holds a grudge against them any longer; people praise the dead and overlook their faults. Even those who hated the deceased weep for them as though mourning a beloved relative.
• Afa / haachatyi kuoraA person who is already dead has nothing left to fear from decaying.
• Afa namaronda enyora / haachemwiWhen someone comes to grief through a danger he chose for himself, others feel no pity. A reckless act that ends badly earns no mourning.
• Afirwa / haaringwi kumesoOne does not stare into the face of someone who has just lost a relative.
• Agara murutsva / haatyi kusviba magaroOnce someone has committed to a hard job, no discomfort or damage that comes with it should put them off. It commends courage and staying power in demanding work.
• Ageza / haanokorerwiSomeone who has already washed his hands serves himself from the dish rather than waiting to be dished up for.
• Agumhina afamba / hazvienzani naTigereSomeone who moves along with a limp is still moving; his situation is not the same as that of the person who just sits.
• Agura musuva atozva mwoyo / hazvienzani neagereA person who has managed even a single mouthful is better off than one who has had nothing.
• Aguta / haachaonekiSomeone who has had his fill slips away quietly without formally saying goodbye, whereas a person still wanting more makes a point of announcing his departure in the hope of being offered something further.
• Aguta / haaonekiSomeone who has eaten to satisfaction leaves without taking his leave.
• Aiva madziva / ava mazambukoPlaces that were once deep pools have become shallow crossings.
• Akanga nyimo / avangararaWhoever roasts bambara nuts has to be bold about it. Once you have taken on a task you know will attract mockery, do it with courage instead of worrying about what people will say.
• Akonwa haasiyi mudzimu warembera padareThe loser of a case leaves nothing of his behind at the court. Having been beaten, he goes off quietly without farewells and with no reason to come back.
• Akumbira banga / ada kupa muridzi nyamaBorrowing a knife amounts to an offer of meat to its owner. In Shona custom, asking something of another person is a way of seeking kinship, and the one who asks should bear in mind that the person he asked will himself want help some day.
• Akumbira banga / kuti azivikanwe kuti abayaThe man who asks to borrow the knife wants everyone to know that he is the one who did the slaughtering.
• Akupa damba ndowako.
• Akupa dhamba (rengavi) / ndowakoWhoever hands you a tame ox counts as one of your own kin.
• Akupa tsomo / ndowakoThe person who gives you a battle-axe is family to you.
• Akura / arehwaA person who has reached maturity becomes the subject of other people's talk.
• Akuruma nzeve / ndowakoWhoever takes you aside and warns you — bites your ear — is your own kin.
• Akweva sanzu / akweva namarara aroHaul a branch away and its leaves travel with it: what you take on comes with everything attached to it.
• Ambuya ambuya pakazara vanhu / paseripo yave shamwariIn front of a crowd he calls her mother-in-law, but away from other eyes she is his lover.
• Ane benzi ndounaro / kudzana unopururudzaWhen a relative of yours behaves in a way that others jeer at, you do not join the jeering; you shield them and try to steer them back onto the right path. No parent wants to see their own child held in contempt.
• Ane chake / haarevetekiA person who owns what he needs takes pride in it and keeps to himself. He has no reason to approach others, since he has nothing to ask of them.
• Ane chake / ndihombarumeTo have something of your own puts you on a level with a hunter who has done well.
• Ane chembere ndeyakeA man whose wife is old can rest easy that she really belongs to him.
• Ane ganda ane nyama / hazvienzani nowakabata hwowaWhoever holds even a piece of hide holds meat, and he is in a better position than the person holding only mushrooms. A small share of the real thing beats a substitute.
• Ane jira ndeane musakara / ane idzva akariwana meso atsvukaWhoever has just acquired something new should not look down on the person with the worn one, for the owner of the new thing once had nothing while the other already had his; and anything new is only come by through hardship.
• Ane jira ndeane rukunara (rusakara) / ane idzva akariwana meso atsvukaThe owner of the worn-out blanket has been comfortably covered all this time, while the one showing off a new blanket only obtained it through struggle and strain.
• Ane kariwongo ane kake / hazvienzani neasinaWhoever owns even a trifling little thing is in a better position than the person who owns nothing at all.
• Ane marengenya haadariki motoSomeone dressed in tattered clothes does not leap over a fire. A person with means can absorb a risk that would ruin someone who has nothing.
• Ane mhamba ndoane chimera / yanhasi yaperaThe person holding the yeast is the one who truly commands the beer, because today's brew has already been drunk up. Whoever controls the means controls what comes next.
• Ane mhanza haakushi njera / anotunzira munda kurambaA bald-headed man is not the one to scatter the seed, for his sowing is held to leave the field germinating poorly.
• Ane mhuri kwayo ndeane ndume / ane mhurikadzi vaeniA man is counted as having a proper family if he has sons; a household of only daughters is a household of outsiders.
• Ane mhuri ndeane mhurikadzi / mhurirume inozvitsvagira.It is daughters that really make a man a family man; sons go off and fend for themselves.
• Ane mhuri ngeane mhurikadzi / varume vaeni. (M)The parent who really has a family is the one with daughters, since sons are only visitors. Boys fend for themselves, while girls need looking after.
• Ane mombe yake / anoziva makumiro ayoA person's ways are known by whoever lives beside him. Years of close company teach you the oddities of someone who is hard to get along with, and people on the outside are in no position to argue about them.
• Angove mageza-mukanwa / nhiriri kurarira mbevaThis is no more than a rinsing of the mouth: a single mouse is nothing like a meal for a wild cat.
• Anokora ndiye nyakudya / nyakubaya rukuni ruri muchotoFat goes to whoever does the eating; whoever made the kill is a log burning in the fire. A venture's gains usually land on people who did little or nothing, while the one who set it going is paid back poorly for the effort it cost.
• Anokuti rima / ati udyeWhoever urges you to till the land is really wishing you a full stomach.
• Anonyumwa bere kurira / ndouya akazora mandaThe one who startles at the hyena's cry is the one who has rubbed himself with fat, since he is the one with something to fear.
• Anonyumwa chati kwata / ndeane chaakarembedzaA person who has done wrong goes uneasy every time the offence is brought up in conversation. The saying works by irony to point a finger at someone whose jumpiness betrays a guilty conscience.
• Anonyumwa chati kwata / ndeane katurikwaThe one who is unsettled by the sound of something dropping is the one who hung something up in the first place. A person starts at an alarm because they have something of their own involved.
• Anorara nembwa / anomuka ava nenhataWhoever beds down with a dog rises covered in fleas: keep company with a hot-tempered person and sooner or later his temper will land on you.
• Anorwarirwa / anoonekwa nokutsvaga n'angaYou can tell who has a sick relative by who goes looking for the healer. Whoever actually feels the trouble is the one who knows how bad it is and who presses for a remedy — the sick person fetches the healer, and the wronged person hurries to the court.
• Anorwira mvema / asi panjodzi makudo ndimamweBaboons may squabble among themselves over mvema, yet they close ranks the moment danger appears. Likewise, running down an absent person in front of one of his companions unsettles that companion, especially when the charge has some truth in it.
• Anorwira soro / anorwira rakeWhoever goes to battle over a head is in the end defending his own.
• Anoti chengeta mwana wako / anoti ugozotuma zvakoThe person urging you to raise your own child has his eye on the day you will have someone to run your errands.
• Anotsvaga hwendero / anotseketukaSomeone who wants something makes himself small and coaxes while he is asking, but his manner changes the moment he has been given it. Whoever is after a thing will shift his course to get it.
• Apinda murutsva / anosviba tsokaWhoever walks across ground that has been burnt off comes away with blackened feet.
• Apo mwoyo ungoda / gwanza harisviki.The thing your heart most longs for is often the very thing you cannot reach. Someone whose friendship you want may keep his distance, and a person may be at a loss for any way of getting what he wants.
• Apota nechidzere / ahwandaSomeone who slips round an ant-heap has taken cover. A man under attack who puts anything between himself and his attacker — even an old woman who could not protect him, or a small child at his side — has sought refuge and should be let alone.
• Apota nechuru / avandaWhoever has slipped round behind an ant-heap is out of sight.
• Apunyaira haashayi misodziSomeone who has been thrown into distress will never be short of tears.
• Aramba ukama / apa huku yangu kuraramaWhoever denies our kinship has lengthened my hen's life.
• Aramba ura hwehamba / aramba nomuto wachoIf a relative or friend will not visit you or get along with you, there is no point in grumbling, since you lose nothing by his absence.
• Ari kuchando / haanzi swedera kumotoSomeone already out in the cold does not need to be told to come nearer the fire.
• Ari kwake-ari kwake / sangano marivaEach person has his own home to live in, but the place where people come together is where the stone traps are laid.
• Aridza mhere / atyaWhoever raises a cry for help has already given in.
• Arumwa nembwa / haachiri wanguOnce someone has fallen out of favour with the community, people treat them as repellent and want nothing to do with them. Such a person is no longer welcomed as a neighbour but held at a distance.
• Aswera kwake-aswera kwake / pamukonde mosanganaPeople may live apart and go their separate ways all day, yet whenever something of shared interest arises they gather together again.
• Atambarara aguta, apfunya arara nayo.
• Atambarara aguta / arara ngenhumbu ngewayo (M)A person's bearing gives him away: the one stretched out at ease has eaten his fill, while the one lying curled on his stomach has his own reasons. A downcast face signals that something is troubling someone, whereas a relaxed one shows contentment.
• Atandavara aguta / apfunya ndowavata nayoHow a sleeper lies shows whether he was fed: a full stomach leaves the legs sprawled out, while the one who folds his legs up spent the night hungry.
• Atapatira ada zhengeni / agara pfunde ada musoroSomeone who really wants something commits himself and takes risks to get it, while the one who lounges about waiting for comfort to come to him gains nothing. Nothing is achieved without courage and staying power.
• Ateyera mariva murutsva / haachatyi mhapa kusvibaSomeone who lays stone traps out in burnt-over grassland has already accepted that his skin garment will be blackened.
• Atora chake / haabvunzwiSomeone who takes back what is rightfully his own owes nobody an explanation.
• Atora chake haareteswi.A person who takes what is theirs by force should not be asked why they are doing it because it belongs to them.
• Atora chake / haateverwi.Each person is sure of what he knows to be his own, and when he takes it or puts it to use nobody has any business questioning him. The owner may reclaim his property whenever he wishes, without explaining why or what he means to do with it.
• Atota haachatyi kufamba mudovaOnce a person is already soaked through by the rain, walking through wet grass holds no fear for him.
• Atungarnira hatori nzira.
• Avhiya dembo / chiveza achatyirepiAnyone who sets about skinning a polecat has no business complaining about the smell.
• Avhiyira mbudzi kumusana / ati vana vakwaneA man skinning the goat while it still hangs in the cloth on his back is set on seeing his children eat to satisfaction.
• Baba muredzi / mwana kuchema anodaidza maiA father only minds the child; the moment it cries, it calls out for its mother.
• Badza guru kupa murimi / kuripa nyope inovata naroGive the big hoe to a real cultivator; hand it to an idler and he will simply sleep beside it. A thing is only worth anything in the hands of someone who knows how to work with it.
• Badza guru kupa murimi / kuripa simbe inovata naroHand the large hoe to someone who actually farms; give it to an idler and it will simply lie beside him while he sleeps.
• Basa / mangwananiMorning is the time for good work. Beginning while the hours are still ahead of you leaves room to put right whatever goes wrong later.
• Bembwe rinotsvutsvudzirwa / ramukaThe dogs are only urged after a duiker once the animal has actually broken cover. Action should be taken at the moment the opportunity presents itself, not before.
• Benzi kunge riri rako / kudzana kwaro unopururudzaIf the fool happens to be one of your own people, you will cheer him on even as he dances foolishly.
• Benzi kupengera mumunda maro / regera rakadaroWhen a fool rages about in a field that belongs to him, let him be — it is his own concern.
• Benzi rarambe mbanda harirapikeSomeone who turns down the remedy offered to him cannot be healed. A person who shuts his ears to every piece of advice will end up in deep trouble.
• Bofu kufamba risina mudonzvo / kuti ndione ugondivhunzaSomeone who keeps acting in ways that annoy those around him is deliberately courting a confrontation, much as a blind man setting out with no stick invites others to stop and question him.
• Bveni guru mutamba wakuva, zvino wodyei?If a person boasts and trusts in transient things, tomorrow those they were scornful of will ridicule them when what they boasted about is gone.
• Bveni hariramwirwe mundaWhen someone damages what belongs to you, you do not surrender it to him in disgust; you take it back and make him pay for the harm done.
• Bveni kuipa, kuipa haro, asi haridyi nousiku.If a person errs in some ways, they excel in others, so they should not be blamed for everything.
• Bveni kuipa zvaro / haridyi chakafa chogaUgly as the baboon is, it still will not touch a carcass it did not kill. However bad a person may be, there is always some wrong he refuses to stoop to, so nobody is wholly evil.
• Chabaya chinototumburwaOnce something has happened, the only course is to look for a way of putting it right; every grudge and every offence has to be tried and settled so that people are set right with one another.
• Chabva kumwe / chinobatwa nemishongaWhatever comes from elsewhere must be handled with protective medicine. Anything unfamiliar or concealed should be examined carefully before you accept or use it, or you may take on trouble along with it.
• Chada mwoyo hachikoni / mwoyo chirembaWhatever the heart sets itself on will come about, for the heart works like a healer. Desire finds its own way to succeed.
• Chada mwoyo hachikoni / mwoyo ndishe.Whatever the heart has set itself on cannot be refused — the heart rules like a chief. Desire will drive a person to attempt even what seems impossible, and rather die than give it up.
• Chadyiwa nomurombo / chadyiwa nasheWhat a destitute man has consumed should be treated as consumed by the chief, that is, written off. To hound a man who owns nothing for repayment is to insult God, who made him as he is.
• Chaenda chaoneka / mutsiga wakasiya mbareWhat has departed has already taken its leave, just as the burning log leaves scorch marks behind it. What is gone still leaves visible traces of its passing.
• Chafa charova / dai ndakaziva hairairi. (M)What is dead is finished with, and saying 'if only I had known' changes nothing. Once a thing has happened there is no bringing it back, so complaining or weeping over it serves no purpose.
• Chafamba chapengaRashness comes with travelling: once a person is on the road, he cannot avoid taking chances.
• Chafamba chapota / kudzoka miswereOnce a person has set off, they are gone and past caring about whatever is left behind them; coming back is a slow, uncertain business. Such a traveller accepts whatever awaits and often wanders off without knowing where they are headed or when they will return.
• Chafamba kamwe / hachiteyiwiSomething that has happened only once cannot be caught in a trap. There is no lying in wait for an event that does not come round again.
• Chagamba kamwe / hachikanirwiA thing that happens only once is not worth quarrelling over; a first offence should be pardoned. It is the repeat of the same fault that deserves punishment.
• Chagara munzira / chatsungaWhen you see someone doggedly doing what the law or custom forbids, you may be sure something has taken hold of them; a person who behaves so offensively is reckoned to be not right in the head.
• Chaibva chaora / ngachichidyiwa / nokuti usiku igoreFood that is ready will only spoil, so it should be eaten now, since a single night's delay is as good as a whole year's.
• Chaibva ngachichidyiwa / kusiya hachipedzi nzaraFood that is already cooked cannot be put back in the granary, so whatever is ready should be dealt with now rather than held over. Do today what needs doing, since tomorrow may not allow it.
• Chaikanya chototsa / chaitotsa chokanyawoThe one that used to do the kneading now does no more than dip a morsel of sadza into milk, while the one that used to dip has taken over the kneading.
• Chaikuda kana chokuramba / zvinenge zvine chakwenyeraSomething must have provoked the change when what once cherished you starts to push you away. Two people who were utterly devoted and then part come to hate each other just as fiercely, and the usual suspicion is that a third person lies behind it.
• Chaindira munzira / chatsungaWhatever has relieved itself right on the footpath has acted with sheer boldness. To do a thing so openly, where everyone must see it, is an act of deliberate defiance.
• Chaitemura chava kusevaSomeone who once ate plain food with no relish now has gravy to dip into — a person's circumstances have risen.
• Chaiti chururu chakapwa / nhasi tsambarafuta rave igoWhat once ran over with fat has dried up, and the plump flying ant is now no better than a wasp. Abundance has given way to leanness.
• Chakachenjedza ndechakatangaIt is the earlier occurrence that puts a person on guard; awareness comes from what has already happened.
• Chakadya chakaoneka / mutanda wakasiya mbare. (M)What consumed you announced itself: the log has left its burn marks behind. Even someone powerless to hit back will do or say something that stays and gnaws at the conscience of whoever wronged them.
• Chakadya ndebvu dzavakadzi / ndichowo chakadya mazamu evarume.People are made different from one another and differ in how they conduct their lives, so there is nothing astonishing about someone behaving unlike everybody else.
• Chakaenzanwa ibvudzi / upfumi hahuna kuenzanwaHair is the one thing everyone has in equal measure; wealth is not shared out evenly. People are given unequal gifts in life and nobody picks whether he will be rich or poor, so it is wrong to laugh at the poor.
• Chakafukidza dzimba / matengaRoofs are what hide the inside of houses. A household may look calm and settled from outside while quarrels and friction go on within, unseen by others.
• Chakamuka usiku / imhanduWhatever stirs by night is an enemy. Things done after dark or in secret, away from everyone's knowledge, are generally taken to be up to no good.
• Chakanaka-chakanaka / imbwa haihukuri sadzaFood appeals to everyone — even a fool wants it, and a dog will not bark at sadza. In the same way, something of genuine quality does not turn bad simply because people talk about it.
• Chakanaka chakanaka, mukaka haurungwi munyu.Nothing tastes as good as being good feels. Therefore, if something is good, nothing should be added to it that will spoil it.
• Chakangwadza ndechakatangaIt is the first misfortune that really hurts, because afterwards a person takes care not to fall the same way twice. Guarding against a repeat mishap is itself what turns someone into an expert.
• Chakaponesa kamba makwati ayoThe tortoise owes its survival to its shell. Something that one person dismisses as worthless can be exactly what rescues or helps another.
• Chakaringanwa ibvudzi / upfumi hahuna kuringanwaHair is the one thing every person has in equal measure; wealth is never distributed so evenly.
• Chakata iri pasi ndeyavanhu vose / asi iri mumuti ndeyowagona kukwiraWhatever costs little effort is within everyone's reach, but what is hard to obtain goes only to the skilled person who works for it. Ordinary people never get hold of such things.
• Chakatanga ndicho chakachenjedza.Things are often spoiled by past bad experiences. A person can do something good that ends up turning out bad. They then regret not knowing and not doing it in the first place. If they are asked to do it again another time, they will refuse because they have been warned by what happened before.
• Chako chako kurira kwctsoko.Everyone likes and praises what belongs to them.
• Chako ndechako / kuseva unosiya mutoWhat belongs to you is truly yours — dipping your sadza in your own relish, you still leave gravy behind. Communal property, like fruit anyone may pick, may be finished by others before you get there, so each person should depend on what is his own.
• Chako ndechako / pfuma yenhaka inoparadza ukamaOnly what you own outright is really yours; wealth that comes by inheritance tears kinship apart.
• Chako ndechawadya / chigere mutoro wamamboThe only thing you truly own is what you have already eaten; whatever is still sitting there may yet turn out to be someone else's. Do not count a thing as yours until it is firmly in your hands.
• Chakona-chakona / amai havaroodzwiSome things simply cannot be done, and no amount of insisting will change that — just as one's own mother cannot be given away in marriage. Accept the impossible for what it is.
• Chakupa ronda / chati nhunzi dzikudyeWhatever inflicted the wound on you has also given the flies permission to feed on it. The first misfortune opens the way for the ones that follow.
• Chakura chinotamba chichiringa kwachoSomeone who has grown up is expected to look out for himself as he goes about things. When a person falls short, the cause is a want of ability or experience rather than his years.
• Chakuyeredza / chati chikupe vangaWhatever swept you into the river has also decreed that you come out of it injured. Troubles arrive in sequence, and however much you dread them, once they strike you the best course is to bear them calmly and bravely.
• Chandaidya nomuromo chava chokutarira nameso.Losing something that was once yours is truly heartbreaking.
• Chandiwana nhasi / chichazokuwanawo mangwanaTomorrow your turn will come for the very thing that has happened to me today.
• Changu ndoga isadza / pamhosva ndinodana vamweFood is the one thing I keep to myself; when a court case arises I call on others to stand with me.
• Chaona dziso harirambidzwiOnce the eye has looked at something it can return to it and it does not get its seeing wrong. What a person has seen for himself is reliable and lasting.
• Chaona ziso / ndecharaonaSight is its own proof: what a person's eye took in, it truly took in.
• Chapadare chakandwa parurimi rwavapfuuri / chomumba chiri mumhepoWhoever walks past the court carries its business away on their tongue, while household business never leaves the room it was raised in.
• Chaparuzhinji / chinoonekwa ngewatanga. (M)Whatever is open to all comers has to be claimed quickly, before the supply is gone; and going away empty-handed from such a thing is no cause for resentment.
• Chapfakanyika / chati ndipenengurweWhen something hidden begins to stir in people's whispers, it is asking to be uncovered. Rumour of, say, a plot against someone's life is itself a warning to bring the matter fully into the open, whether to defend oneself or to protect others.
• Chapfuura chaenda / mvura haiorerwiWhat is past is past; water once poured out cannot be gathered up again.
• Chapinda kamwe / hachiteverwi.Something that has happened only once is not pursued; a first-time wrongdoer is let off in the expectation that the offence will not be repeated.
• Chapinda munzeve / chawaridza bondeWhatever has got into the ear has laid out its sleeping mat there — once heard, a thing settles in and stays.
• Chaputika chaibva / mukwambo haadyi zvivisiBursting open is the sign of being cooked; small water melons are never what a son-in-law is given to eat.
• Charamba-charamba / pfuma yamai haikanirwiLeave off going after what cannot be had: the harm outweighs any good, and bitter regret is what it leaves you with.
• Charehwa mutupo / chaeraOnce a totem has been named aloud it becomes sacred: a matter brought before the court must become known to everyone and nothing about it stays hidden, whereas what is said indoors or in private remains unknown.
• Charova sei chando / kuzoona hamba yokwira mumuti?The cold must be bitter indeed if even the tortoise has taken to climbing a tree.
• Charovedzera-charovedzera / gudo rakakwira mawere kwasvibaNight had fallen, yet the baboon went up the precipice: what a creature is accustomed to, it remains accustomed to.
• Chashe chinodyiwa nowagara padareThe chief's food goes to whoever is actually present at his court. Someone who arrives showing warmth and proper manners is offered even the food that had been put away, and a man who lends a hand with the work gets his share when the eating begins.
• Chasosodzwa / chava chitiyo.Once hatched, the thing is a chick. Step by step, a young person who has reached adolescence is expected to take on the ways of adults; and one who has such manners has a claim to being treated with due respect.
• Chataidya nomuromo / nhasi chava chokudya namesoLooking is all that remains to you when what you could once help yourself to has passed beyond your grasp. Take a wife you divorced who is now contentedly married to another man: no amount of wanting will bring her back to you.
• Chati homu / chareveraWhatever gives off a loud sound has announced something — the noise itself is the warning of danger.
• Chatiza makumbo / musoro waonaNobody takes fright over nothing; there is always something he has noticed. If you see a person grow uneasy and leave a dangerous spot, you can be sure he has been warned.
• Chatorwa nomucheche / chatorwa nasheHowever precious the object, nothing can be done if a small child loses or ruins it, since the child acts without understanding. In that way a little one is as untouchable as a chief.
• Chauya-chauya / rufu harurambwiLet come what may, for death is not something one can refuse. When trouble is unavoidable a person steels himself, accepts whatever follows, and is ready to face anything.
• Chauya-chauya / urwere hahurambwiWhatever arrives, arrives; sickness is not something you can turn away.
• Chawawana batisa mudzimu haupi kaviri.When you find something that helps you, you should guard it carefully, because if it passes you by, you won't find it again.
• Chawawana batisisa / mudzimu haupi kaviriKeep a firm grip on what has come your way, for the mudzimu does not hand out a second time. No blessing, however small, should be scorned or thrown away in the hope of being given more later.
• Chawawana idya nehama / mutorwa ane hanganwaShare whatever you come by with your own kin, since an outsider forgets.
• Chawawana tenga / kutengera mberi kunorozvaBuy the thing while it is in front of you; putting off the purchase until later ends in losing out.
• Chawira hama chapfuura / mangwana chineweThe misfortune that struck a relative has already passed; tomorrow it will be yours to bear.
• Chawira mukanwa chanaka / chaipa ndechapinda muzisoWhat lands in the mouth is welcome; only what lands in the eye is harmful. A person will not hesitate over anything that brings him a living and a reward, no matter how large the obstacles.
• Chawira pasi / imbwa inoti mudzimu wayo makwevaWhen food drops to the ground, the dog thanks its ancestral spirit for the windfall.
• Chayambuka chaoneka / tsiga rakasiya mbare pagumboWhatever passes on takes its leave with a sign: the burning log goes, but the scars it seared into the leg remain.
• Chaza hachirambwi / munhu haangaregeri mhene inokamhinaWhat has already come your way should not be turned down, just as nobody passes up a steenbok that is limping.
• Chechembere ramba waravira.Do not reject something or advice that comes from an elderly person just because they are old. Older people often know more than younger people.
• Chedahunha chiri kumusoniWhat belongs to a person is his to handle exactly as he likes, and if he ruins it he feels no grief, since the doing was his own.
• Chembere inonhuhwa mukanwa / mangwana inoreva zvibviraThe old woman whose mouth smells may still be the one who speaks the truth. The warnings elders repeat are not idle talk, and they usually turn out to be what happens to the person who ignored them.
• Chembere masikati / usiku imvanaIn daylight she appears to be an old woman, but at night she has the freshness of a young mother with her first baby.
• Chembere mukadzi / hazvienzani nokuvata mugotaHaving an elderly wife is better than sleeping by oneself in the bachelor's hut. A modest share is preferable to going without altogether.
• Chembere mukarati / inodziyiswa nomotoA mukarati tree keeps burning for a long time once the fire has taken hold, and an old woman is likened to it.
• Chembere munya wangu une derere.You don't divorce the woman you grew old with. She is the one you should cherish like we cherish salt with okra.
• Chembere mwene wayoNo matter how old a woman may be, she still belongs to someone as a wife. A small or ageing possession that is genuinely yours, and yours to use whenever you wish, beats owning nothing at all.
• Chembere ndeyembwa / yomurume ndibaba vavanaIt is a dog that one calls old; a grown man is spoken of as the father of his children.
• Chembere ndeyeshumba / yemombe inodyiwa nyamaCalling someone old is not the same as calling a beast old, since an ageing person is the root of the family that is coming up behind him. Old age in people deserves respect, not the dismissal one gives to livestock.
• Chenga ose manhanga / hapana risina mhodziGather up every pumpkin, since not one of them lacks seeds.
• Cherimuka / paridza wabayaProclaim your catch only once the animal has actually been speared. Do not announce success before you have secured it.
• Cheshavo mwene wayoIt is the owner of goods, not the buyer, who names the price, and he is free to raise or lower it as he chooses.
• Cheshavo yemombe huoneranaIn a cattle deal both sides must lay eyes on the animal; the transaction depends on mutual inspection.
• Chibahwe chinowanda kuna vasina menoGreen maize piles up at the homes of the toothless. Good fortune tends to land on those least able to make use of it — the man who cannot farm is the one handed the big, rich field.
• Chibwe chiremera chavari kure / vari pedyo vanotamba nachoA stone seems heavy to those at a distance from it, while those standing close by toss it about in play.
• Chidamwoyo / hamba yakada makwatiWhat the heart wants, it wants: the tortoise settled for a covering of hard plates. Personal preference needs no justification, however odd the choice appears to others.
• Chidamwoyo zamu kumera pambabvu.If a person does something voluntarily, they don't complain to anyone if it goes wrong because they volunteered to do it.
• Chidembo hachinzwi kunhuhwa kwacho chomeneA polecat is unaware of its own stench. Nobody cares to expose his own faults, so instead of admitting any wrongdoing he points to the failings of other people.
• Chidembo kuchera chakatarisa kudenga / kuti nditosvorweA polecat that digs while staring up at the sky is only asking for grit to fall into its eyes.
• Chidhiidhii kutsvara hundi / mwoyo uri kumakotoThe little bird scratches about in the empty chaff, but its mind is fixed on the chaff that still holds grain. What someone is visibly busy with is not always what he is really after.
• Chidokodoko chirera muviri / chikuru chinozouya wakoraA small amount is enough to keep the body going; the larger portion will arrive later, once you have already put on weight.
• Chiduku ndechokusimira / chokudya hachina chidukuA garment that is too small can be set aside, but with food no portion is ever too small to be worth taking.
• Chidziva mudingwi ndicho chinogara ngwenaCrocodiles make their home in the still, silent pool.
• Chienda kwose huyo yevhuvhurumbwe.
• Chiforimbo chimuzhanje chamuvhoko.A quiet person is always taken advantage of by everyone.
• Chifundi ndicho chinopa. (M)The thing you long for tends to come to you at the point when you have stopped straining after it. Keep at it — reward usually arrives just as hope is running out.
• Chigare chenda / kudya akaitakuraIt is the louse's settled way of life to feed off the very one who carries it about.
• Chigere ibwe / muti unowaIt is the rock that stays put; a tree, however big, eventually comes down. Nothing standing is as permanent as it looks.
• Chikomba hachina mucheroA man who has an affair with another man's wife has no claim to any child born of it; the child belongs to the lawful husband.
• Chikombe chitekesi chechimwe kana chimwe chisipoOne ladle stands in for the other whenever the other is missing. People find it easy to run someone down while that person is away, and fall silent the moment they appear.
• Chikomo shata divi / rimwe ritambire pwereA hill should be steep and forbidding on one side and easy on the other, so that children have somewhere to play. Hardness in one respect should be balanced by mildness in another.
• Chikonzo chawira muhari / chati usavi huwandeWhatever is done in secret is intended to serve only one's own household, not strangers. The person who hides what he has prepared means it to be enjoyed by his own people alone.
• Chikova rwizi / kuyambuka unokwinya nguoSomeone born into a great or high-ranking family is owed respect by ordinary people no matter how young he is. The saying also warns that even slight matters deserve attention, and that getting past an obstacle calls for a modest attitude.
• Chikovo chinofa chapedza huku.
• Chikuni chinoda mukuchidziriA log on the fire needs someone to push it in and keep it burning.
• Chikuni ndechine mukuchidziri, chisina moto unodzima.
• Chikuru mwana / kurwadza kwenhumbu hakuyeukwiWhat matters is the child; beside that, the pain of giving birth is put out of mind.
• Chikweya ndechembwa / chomunhu chinoteveraHowever slow or idle a person may be, they will still work out some way of getting by. Lagging behind belongs to the dog; a human being catches up.
• Chimedza matore / haachadzipwa nepfupa remhuruSomeone accustomed to swallowing down old cattle will hardly choke on the small bone of a calf. Big challenges already met make a small one trivial.
• Chimombe cheshure chinosarira mapondaThe one who habitually lags behind after everyone else has left off the work or the play is the one who runs into danger — as the last ox in the line is the one that gets beaten.
• Chimwango chokukumbira hachina ndimaA hoe you had to beg for will not clear much ground. Tools that are not your own take you only so far.
• China manenji hachifambisi / chinomirira kuti mavara acho aonekweSomething ominous takes its time, waiting until its markings can be seen. Strange or tragic events are usually announced beforehand by odd happenings that people only understand afterwards.
• Chin'anga chinyepi / kuchitevedzeraThe way to expose a lying diviner is to go along with what he first claims. More broadly, you stop something harmful by putting an obstacle in its path rather than by arguing with it.
• Chinanzvirwa chakanaka / asi chinoda kunanzvirwa wageza maokoSomething as good as peanut butter should only be licked once the hands are clean. Anything of value needs to be handled cleanly and skilfully, for in unskilled hands a good thing gets ruined and becomes useless.
• Chingoma chamusinzwi chakazoguma naTaisirevaStubborn refusal to listen keeps going until it ends in trouble, and then all that is left to say is that the warning had been given. The obstinate person becomes the proof of the advice he ignored.
• Chingoma chiririsi / ndicho chiparukiIt is the drum that booms the loudest that ends up splitting.
• Chingopa maoko / muromo haupi.It is the hand that actually gives; the mouth only promises. A pledge counts for nothing until the hand is stretched out and the thing is really in your possession.
• (Chinhu) chinodyiwa / chino muranduCustom requires that food, and beer in particular, be presented with due ceremony before it is handed round. Helping yourself to what has not been formally offered you is improper.
• Chinobhururuka chinozoguma nokumhara pasiWhatever takes to the air must eventually come down and settle on the ground.
• Chinobhururuka chinozopedzisira chokambairaWhatever flies will end up crawling: someone who struts about boasting of rank or reputation will eventually be brought low, and the humiliation cannot be dodged. A young woman who carries herself as the most beautiful of all will find that her looks fade as the years pass.
• Chinochema ndechiri mumusungo, chiri muriva chinoti gore rawa (raza).A person can talk about their suffering when it is small. When it is too great, they cannot say anything because they are in very great distress.
• Chinoda kufa chinovingira / gonzo rakapona norukungiso rwomweniWhatever is doomed appears to head straight towards its death; the rat, though, was saved by a visitor's bowstring. Death comes to those whose time it is, while chance intervention can spare another.
• Chinoda kufa chinovingira / mhamhasi yakavinga mwana wedahwaWhat is doomed walks straight into its own end, like the ant that went to the night-jar's young; yet if a person's time has not come he can slip out through the eye of a needle.
• Chinodaidzwa inhamo / rufu runotevera rwogaHardship is often something people bring on themselves through carelessness, but death arrives of its own accord and reaches everyone, willing or not.
• Chinodya chinomama / chisingamami chinoshuraEvery single thing a person does carries a reward or a penalty. One should therefore act knowing that the deed will eventually bear its consequence — it never simply vanishes.
• Chinofa ndechakanika ura / gonzo mhini gara mumhango / chomudzimu chikuwaniremoIt is the creature with its entrails exposed that dies; the tailless rat should stay inside its hollow log and let whatever fate the ancestors send find it there. Keeping to your own shelter is safer than exposing yourself.
• Chinofumisa hachitenherwiWhatever can generate wealth ought to be put to work rather than hoarded or locked away. Property, like a gift of plough oxen, and likewise any talent, is meant to be used so that it yields a return.
• Chinogadza pasi ishuku / nhamo haigadzi pasiIt is a shortage of clothing that keeps someone at home and out of sight; other kinds of hardship have the opposite effect, sending a person out among relatives to ask for help.
• Chinogova ruoko / muromo haugoviSharing is done by the hand; the mouth has nothing to hand out.
• Chinokanganwa idemo / chitsiga hachikanganweIt is the axe that forgets the blow; the log that was cut remembers it. The one who inflicts harm puts it out of mind, while the one harmed does not.
• Chinokuda / chidewoReturn the affection of whatever loves you; it is love that creates ties between people.
• Chinokura choga isango / munda kukura huona teweOnly bush comes up by itself; a field thrives because its owner is there tending it. Anything meant to prosper depends on the sustained work of the person responsible for it.
• Chinokura usipo imombe / munda unokura nokuvandurirwaCattle are the one thing that increases while you are away; a field only gets bigger because someone enlarges it.
• Chinokwegura chinokotama / musoro wegudo chave chinokoroWhatever grows old slowly stoops, just as a baboon's head ends up shaped like a scoop. Age, change and decay come to everything, and none of us stays as we are now.
• Chinonaka chinonakira vaviri, chako woga mukonde wesadza.Things similar to beer should be drunk or eaten at the MWC only by some, regarding the person who is...
• Chinono chine ingwe / bere rinodya richifambaThe leopard takes its time and moves carefully, while the hyena feeds as it goes.
• Chinono chine ingwe / tika rakadya richifambaWhatever needs doing should be done at once, since holding back invites the many setbacks that will stop you finishing it. The one who dithers loses out.
• Chinonyenga chinokotama / chinosimudza musoro chawanaThe one doing the courting stoops low, but once he has won what he was after he straightens up again.
• Chinonyimanwa, kudya / mashoko anoranganwaFood is the only thing one may reasonably keep to oneself; words and matters under discussion must be shared out. Talk and deliberation belong to everyone involved.
• Chinonzi ndaguta isadza / kwete mariA person can say they have had enough food, but never enough money. The appetite for more wealth never stops, no matter how much one already has.
• Chinonzi rega ndechiri mumaoko / chiri mumwoyo hachikandwe pasiYou can be told to let go of what you are holding in your hands, but whatever is held in the heart cannot be dropped on the ground.
• Chinonzi rekera ngechiri mumaoko / chiri mumwoyo ndingofa nachoOnly what you hold in your hands can you be told to let go of; what you hold in your heart you keep until you die.
• Chinopepwa urwere / kwete rukukweWhat deserves attention is the wrongdoing itself, not the person who committed it. A hearing should deal with the offence against the law, not become an outlet for the accuser's personal ill feeling.
• Chinopera chii / kurasa nezviri muhapwa nokuombera?Do not throw away what has long served you well simply because something new and untested has caught your eye. Tried and tested relationships deserve to be kept ahead of fresh attachments.
• Chinorambwa imhosva / kudya hakurambwiA court case is the sort of thing one refuses; food, on the other hand, is welcome.
• Chinorambwa isadza / munhu haarambwiFood is the thing one may turn down; a person is not to be turned away.
• Chinosara ndechine mhanza / zvimwe zvienda-nedutuOnly what is fortunate survives; everything else is swept off by the storm. In a serious disaster most people die and only a lucky few, with strong ancestral protection, are left.
• Chinoshara meso / muromo haushariIt is the eyes that do the choosing, not the mouth.
• Chinoshora meso / muromo haushoriIt is the eyes, not the mouth, that do the rejecting. Whether a person takes something or turns it down is usually settled by the impression he forms while looking at it.
• Chinotanga kukambaira / kufamba kunouya kwogaCrawling comes first and walking follows of its own accord. Anything that grows big and important began as something small, and everyone who succeeds starts with modest things — nobody is born already honoured or already skilled.
• Chinotiza vamwe / iwe tizawoIf others are fleeing from something, you should flee from it as well.
• Chinotsvakwa mafaro / nhamo inouya yogaGood fortune has to be hunted down through hard work, while trouble arrives of its own accord. Growing rich is a long, demanding road, but falling into poverty takes no effort at all.
• Chinovhikwa ihwanja / shoko harivhikwiA club is something you can ward off, but a spoken word cannot be parried.
• Chinovongwa mutumbi / hakuvongwi kuvata pasiIt is the sick person who is cared for, not the act of lying down itself.
• Chinoza uvete maranga / nhamo inoza uchionaOnly the discharge in your eyes gathers while you sleep; hardship arrives in plain sight. Misfortune rarely creeps up unannounced — warnings usually come first, though people seldom act on them.
• Chinozipa chinoregwa / zamu ramai takariregaHowever sweet a thing may be, a time comes when it has to be given up — we all let go of our mother's breast in the end. Nothing lasts forever.