All Tsumo

Shona Proverbs

• Muzandiripo / haarambiri pachigaro. (M)One who held the post before has no claim to sit in the chair forever. What is past has had its day and cannot be brought back or set above the present.
• Muzivisisi wenzira yaparuware / ndiye mufambi wayoDetailed knowledge of how something is done usually betrays first-hand experience of doing it. If a person can explain exactly how goods are stolen, he is likely a thief himself.
• Muzukuru wengozi / inyama yamagoraThe nephew of an avenging spirit is carrion for vultures. Such a spirit torments the children and grandchildren of the one who killed, and many of them die badly — some in the bush where no one buries them and wild animals devour the bodies.
• Muzvimbirwi / ndiye muzaruri wesuoThe person who has eaten his fill is the one who gets up and opens the door.
• Mvana inoshushira / ngeine mwana. (M)A woman who has borne a child outside marriage may be hard to approach, but she is still able to have another child.
• Mviro-mviro yemhanza / inotanga shoshaBaldness shows itself first at the temples (the book's rendering prints "boldness", apparently a slip). The earliest trace of a thing appears at its edges.
• Mvura haina nhangi-tangi / tiza chikore chayo.Rain will not race you, so there is no point competing with it; get out of the way as soon as you see its cloud.
• Mvura inoshinyira / ngeiri pazambuko.The water to fear most is the water at the crossing place. The danger that matters is the one standing right where you must pass.
• Mvura yembambara / tiza ichabva kureRun from the storm carried on the south-west wind while it is still a long way off. Take yourself out of danger's path early, before it is upon you.
• Mvura yokuchererwa / haipedzi nyotaWater drawn for you by someone else never really satisfies your thirst. Handouts rarely give a person as much as he needs; to be satisfied he has to go and get things for himself.
• Mvura yomubvumbi igonza kuba.
• Mwana asi wako haatumidzwi zita.
• Mwana asina mai / haarari hope dzamasikatiThere is no daytime sleeping for a child whose mother has died. Careful people handle their affairs with an eye to not losing what is theirs, and they seldom do lose it; blessings that come one's way have to be guarded and used shrewdly, because once they are gone they will not be had again. Watchfulness is what keeps a fortune in a person's hands.
• Mwana asingachemi / anofira mumberekoThe baby who never cries dies unnoticed on its mother's back. Someone who never makes their need heard gets no help.
• Mwana asiri wako / tuka wakateerera izwi ramai vakeIf you reprimand a child who is not your own, keep an ear open for what the child's mother has to say.
• Mwana chingwarire / haapunyutsi mbevaIn the hands of a child who takes care, a mouse stays caught.
• Mwana kuchemera nyere yepfuta / achairega yaputaA child who cries and pleads for a whistle cut from the castor-oil plant will throw it aside once it dries up and shrivels. What is demanded so urgently is often dropped as soon as it loses its freshness.
• Mwana mudiki chirangarangaAn infant shows no favouritism or jealousy towards anyone, and in turn is loved by all; like the delicate top of the spine, a baby is passed freely from person to person and handled with great care.
• Mwana muduku in'angaA young child speaks only the truth, with none of the adult reserve about what may or may not be mentioned. What a child reports can therefore be relied on.
• Mwana muduku kubvuma rwendo / rwake ruri mukatiWhen someone badly wants something, they will go to any length and put up with any inconvenience to obtain it. A child who readily takes on an errand usually has an errand of his own in mind.
• Mwana muduku kudziva musendo noruoko iwo uchazomudziva womeneA child who wards off a sharp woodworking blade with his bare hand will find the blade wards off his hand in turn. Many people ignore warnings about danger until they are hurt and learn caution the hard way.
• Mwana mumwe chete izai regondo.
• Mwana musvinuki ndiye mudyisi wavashe.
• Mwana ndeari mudumbu / ari kunze anotambwa nayeA mother has her unborn child entirely to herself, but once it is born anyone fond of it may play with it. Small children delight everyone around, and the mother would not refuse them.
• Mwana nyangonaka sei / haaguswi musoro usikuThe person charged is the one who must answer for the offence; no one else can speak in his place, and he cannot be condemned while absent or while denied the chance to speak for himself. Witnesses are there only to give evidence when asked.
• Mwana wegomba / inhimhanapasi sehweveraA child fathered by an adulterer causes ruin the way a cutworm does.
• Mwana wegonzo anotamba akatarisa mudenga / kune mudzimu wakeThe young rat plays with its eyes turned upward towards its ancestral spirit.
• Mwana wehuku anoguta ndearipo.
• Mwana wenyoka - mwana wenyoka / haana mudukuA snake's young is still a snake, no matter how small it is. Smallness is no reason to treat something as harmless.
• Mwana wowenzara / murasiThose who have least are frequently the worst at managing the little that reaches them, and so hunger stays at their door. The saying makes a wry observation of something people see often.
• Mwanasikana ndimapfumiseA daughter brings wealth to her family: on the day she is married she brings in a herd of cattle.
• Mwena unorindirwa / ndounobuda ishwaThe hole worth keeping watch over is the one the termites actually come out of. Effort is spent where there is something to be gained.
• Mwene worufu anoonekwa nebaravaraYou can tell who has lost a relative by the shaved head. The one struck by grief carries a visible sign so that others know of his loss.
• Mweni haaendi neduraA visitor may be fed generously, but he will not take the whole grain store away with him.
• Mweni haaiswi paduraNo one gives a stranger the errand of going to the granary.
• Mweni kudyisa / hunge aona vohwo vachiita gapaWhat frees a visitor to eat his fill is seeing the household eating freely too. In the same way, whoever is being helped ought to put his own strength into the job, or those helping him will drop back from it.
• Mweni kusvika paimba / kuregedza maokoWhen a visitor turns up, whatever work is under way comes to a halt; the household sits down with him, hears his news and makes him welcome.
• Mwoyo chipanda, chaunoda unoturika.
• Mwoyo ibakwa / chaunoda unoturikaThe heart stores every intention a person has, the bad along with the good; in time some of them are acted on and the rest are set aside.
• Mwoyo ihozi, chaunoda unopfigira.
• Mwoyo ipfimbi, inozivikanwa nowakaipfimbika.No one can know what is in a person's heart unless the owner reveals it. It is like saying what is in the heart is in a closed fist.
• Mwoyo muti / unomera paunodaThe heart is a tree that sprouts wherever it pleases. Affection and desire settle where they choose, not where others would direct them.
• Mwoyochena ndowei bere kurinda mhuru yakafa?
• Mwoyochena ndowei, tsvimborume kubata mwana wemvana
• Mwoyochena una amai / kuyamwisa mwana asiri wavoA kind-hearted woman will breastfeed a child who is not her own.
• Mwoyochena unobayisaA generous person is seldom thanked by everyone; more often it is precisely the kind-hearted who get trampled on because of the good they do. Kindness can be repaid with harm.
• Mwoyochena wei / gunguo kugadzirira mbongoro (inorwara) pokurara?When someone gives help for nothing, people assume there is a hidden motive and that the helper expects something back later. Unlikely kindness, like a crow making a bed for a sick donkey, is treated as suspect.
• Mwoyochena wei / kugombera inonwa zvayo?There is no real generosity in standing guard over a calf that is already feeding by itself. Help offered where none is needed is not true kindness.
• Mwoyochena wei / tsvimborume kubvisa mwana wemvana madzihwa?What kind of good-heartedness is it when a bachelor wipes the nose of a child belonging to a woman who already has one? The question casts doubt on whether such kindness is what it appears to be.
• N'anga hadzifariraniDiviners take no pleasure in one another's company; rivals in the same trade do not get on.
• N'anga nyoro inoodza marondaA healer who is too gentle lets sores rot; letting wrongdoing continue out of softness towards offenders only breeds trouble.
• Natsa kwaunobva / kwaunoenda usikuLeave things on good terms with the place you are coming from, because the place you are heading to is in darkness and unknown to you.
• Ndechemba / vakadzi kuva nedinha panhovaWomen balance heavy loads on their heads so effortlessly that men imagine they are built for it with a hollow in the skull. In truth it comes from household training begun in early childhood.
• Ndezvameso / muromo zvinyarareSome things are for the eyes alone; the mouth should keep silent about them.
• Ndezvomwana mudiki / kubata nhengu anonzi rasa iziziA child is easily fooled: he catches a drongo and is persuaded to throw it away as though it were an owl. The young are quickly talked out of what they have, or into what harms them.
• Ndezvowabaya / kuti chiropa hachisevesi sadzaDismissing liver as no good with sadza is a remark reserved for whoever did the killing.
• Ndiro yechirema hairoveA disabled person is a person like any other, so his own dish is known to the whole household and is never overlooked when food is served, even though he may eat apart.
• Ndisvike-ndisvike / inoradza vazhinji panziraRushing leads to mistakes that have to be put right, so the hurry costs more time than it saves. Before a journey it is better to pack carefully than to leave something behind and have to go back for it.
• Ndiwe wapaona kuti ageza ngaatimbirwe.
• Ndiyo hayo / nyama yousina imbwaFor a person who keeps no dogs, that much meat is quite enough.
• Ndoita zvingani / kuti mhanza, kuti mavende?How much am I expected to endure — baldness and gap-teeth at once? A person feels singularly cursed when several troubles land on him at the same moment.
• Ndomene / haichemedziWhat a person brings on himself gives him no cause to weep. There is nobody to cry to over the results of your own doing.
• Ndongwe inyama hazvienzani nenhikiti
• Ndozvarinoda gurokuro / kuripa nederereSadza served with derere is precisely what the throat is asking for.
• Ndozvenyu VaMuroora kutiza nyoka pana vanhu / mava moga moita jenyuraJust like you, daughter-in-law, to flee a snake while others are watching and then be perfectly at ease with it once you are by yourself. People keep up appearances in company and behave quite differently the moment they are out of sight.
• Ndumudzani hadzidyi mundiro imwe cheteSiblings next to one another in birth order are not fed from a single dish.
• Ngava rinofira muridzi waroThe one who incurred the debt or guilt is the one who pays for it with his own life. Each person bears the consequences of his own deeds.
• Ngazvipore / akabva mukutsvaSomeone who has already been burned takes care not to repeat the experience. Having suffered once over something, a person becomes wary of going the same way again.
• Ngezvehuru / doko dzinonyika misweThe matter belongs to the big ones; the small ones only get to dip their tails in it.
• Ngoma / muridzi wayoHow a drum sounds is down to the person beating it. The instrument is only as good as the hand on it.
• Ngoma yomurirakamwe / haidzanirwiA drum sounded in the dead of night attracts no dancers; such a summons is not one people answer.
• Ngozi nehama hazvisiyaniA wrong done by a stranger is soon let go, but a wrong done by a relative breeds a lasting grudge. Such resentment among kin can even be handed down to the wrongdoer's children.
• Ngozi yegombero / inoripwa neinobuka ruvaA spirit of this kind may be driven off with potent herbs, but a grave offence demands a costly payment. The saying points to killing, for which the dead person's people had to be compensated heavily — formerly with a young child handed over by the killer.
• Ngozi yerombe ijekakwoseSharpened along both edges, like such a sword, is the avenging spirit left behind by a beggar.
• Nguo chena inopangidziraClothing that stands out gives its wearer away. Anyone who wants to pass unnoticed must avoid looking or speaking in a way that sets him apart from ordinary people.
• Nguruve madhaka / ndeayoA person can give up an acquired bad habit such as drinking or smoking, but the temperament he was born with — a hot temper, forgetfulness — is almost never shaken off. Habits can change; character cannot.
• Ngwena haidyi chebamba / chayo chinoza nerongaA crocodile does not feed by raiding; whatever it eats is brought to it down the watercourse.
• Ngwerungwe aiva rema / akazochenjedzwa navasikanaNgwerungwe was a dullard; it was girls who in the end sharpened him up.
• Nhaka dzinoguranwa musi wenyatwaKinship ties get cut off on the day trouble arrives. Relatives are happy to claim a person while he is prospering, but once he falls on hard times they quickly deny the connection.
• Nhaka ndeyemombe / yomunhu inozvisarudzira yogaLivestock can be handed down as an inheritance, but a person has a mind of their own and must not be treated like an animal. Everyone is entitled to accept what they want and refuse what they do not, without being coerced.
• Nhaka yambuya ndeye mombe / yomunhu ingouyisa yogaPeople cannot be handed round like cattle; a person goes to the relatives they themselves choose, and forcing them to live with people they dislike only breeds resentment or an eventual return home.
• Nhambetambe inoregwa ichanakaA game is best broken off while it is still enjoyable.
• Nhambetambe inoregwa ichapisaFun and festivity should be brought to a close while they are still enjoyable, before they sour. Anything carried on without restraint loses its appeal and can end in ill feeling or lasting distaste.
• Nhamo haibatirwi pfumoYou cannot take up a spear against misfortune. Hardship is not an enemy that can be attacked with a weapon.
• Nhamo haisekanwiNever mock someone's suffering, because the same blow could fall on you another day. Here nhamo covers every kind of misfortune, death included.
• Nhamo haityi imwe. (M)One trouble does not keep another away. A person already in difficulty may be struck by a second at the same moment, since misfortunes seem to gather on one head.
• Nhamo haizivisiHardship does not sharpen a person's judgement; on the contrary, it confuses him so that he grabs at one thing and drops it for another. Someone desperate to escape trouble may end up making his position even worse through reckless attempts.
• Nhamo ine dzimba dzayoSuffering keeps returning to the same households: the person already burdened is struck again and again, while in a settled home it soon passes. Wealth behaves the same way, avoiding the poor man and sticking to those who already have.
• Nhamo inotya rombeMisfortune gives the destitute a wide berth. Disasters tend to strike ordinary people while the beggar and the outcast come through untouched.
• Nhamo ndeya vanhu / suka maokoTrouble is something everybody meets, so do not let a common misfortune eat away at you as though you were the first ever to suffer it.
• Nhamo urimbo / inonamiraHardship behaves like bird-lime: once it catches hold of a person it clings and will not let go.
• Nhamo yomumwe / haiburitsirwi misodzi. (M)Another person's hardship does not draw tears out of you; grief is only truly felt by the one it falls on.
• Nhamo yomumwe / hairadzisi musoro pasi. (M)Another person's misfortune is not enough to make you lie down with your head to the ground. Trouble that is not your own does not weigh on you the way your own does.
• Nhamo yomumwe / hairambirwi sadzaAnother person's misfortune is not a reason to refuse your own meal.
• Nhandanyadzi ihumbira neshavoThere is no disgrace in asking for something when you have something of your own to offer.
• Nharokadzi / ihunza mhosvaSquabbling among women is best left alone; anyone who gets drawn into it ends up on bad terms with everybody. A woman, especially the mother of a household, who is forever bickering robs the whole family of its peace.
• Nharokuudzwa / mangwana unoponaA contentious person who still listens to counsel will come through danger in the days ahead.
• Nhasi mapuruuru atandavara nokuti kondo dzinonzwa mesoThe tadpoles stretch out at ease today because the hammer-heads have sore eyes. Those who are habitually preyed upon relish the stretches when their tormentor is away or laid up.
• Nhava (homwe, tswanda) inorema / yasvikaThe carrying bag or basket feels at its heaviest just as you arrive at the destination.
• Nhava yebenzi haitani kusakaraA foolish person's carrying bag wears out in no time, because someone who handles their possessions badly soon ruins them.
• Nhenha isibi / inoroyaTake a beautiful girl: if stealing is not her vice, then witchcraft is.
• Nherera inoguta musi wafa maiKindness and generosity pour out on the day of a death, so the child who has lost a mother is fed and given things then. Once the mourning is over, no one remembers that the child still needs feeding, and the road ahead is hard.
• Nherera ngeisina muredzi / ine muredzi inodya ichisiya. (M)A child is truly orphaned only when nobody looks after him; with a guardian he eats his fill and has some left over. Some things thrive on their own, but others amount to nothing unless someone tends them carefully.
• Nhomba yavarume iri pashori youtaA man's hunger for meat is settled at the aiming point of his bow.
• Nhonhongora kudya chayo / kukumbirirei uchi kudondiThe large bee feeds on what is its own; it has no reason to beg honey from a smaller bee.
• Nhoro haimoni nyanga iri panzvimbo imwe cheteA kudu does not grow its curved horns by remaining in one spot. People who move around in search of a better life find new openings and a fuller experience, while never leaving one place makes life flat and dull.
• Nhumbu ibakwa rehuni / inochengeta nyoka namakonzoThe womb resembles a stack of firewood, which can shelter snakes as well as rats.
• Nhumbu ihuru / isina wayoSomeone weak with hunger pictures a huge stomach and expects to eat far more than usual, but once the meal begins he finds he can hardly exceed his ordinary capacity.
• Nhumbu inorema / yasvikaA pregnancy weighs most heavily on a woman once the time of birth has come.
• Nhumbu iziso risingatauri zvaraonaThe belly never announces what it has swallowed, and in the same way a person of standing keeps to himself what he learns and what lies in his heart.
• Nhumbu mukadzi mukuru / hairevi chayadyaThe belly behaves like a senior wife: it keeps quiet about whatever it has consumed.
• Nhumbu nditenzi wayo. (M)The belly answers to the one who owns it: whoever wants to eat has to work, since every meal is won through toil and hardship.
• Nhumwi ndiyo inouraya muridzi womundaIt is the go-between sent on an errand who brings destruction on the owner of the field. The person you entrust with your affairs can be the very one who ruins you.
• Njera yomusaririra ndiyo yeshiri.Whatever grain is left standing behind in the field becomes the portion of the birds.
• Njodzi hadziiti mbiriOnce disaster has already struck, a person stops being afraid that another one might follow; their heart is hardened to it.
• Nyakubika dombatomba anodya zvakaorera / ndidye-ndidye anodya zvimbishiSomeone who cooks the dombatomba plant properly ends up with food that is fit to eat, while the impatient eater gets it half-raw. Work done calmly and methodically pays off; work rushed brings little satisfaction.
• Nyakuravira ndiye anoziva kuti nyama yaibvaNobody can see inside another person's heart; each of us carries troubles that no one else knows about. Only the one who has tasted the thing can say how it really is.
• Nyama mazhanje / haitani kukuvaMeat goes the way of mazhanje fruit: it is gone almost as soon as it appears.
• Nyama mweni / haipedzi duraMeat is a guest in the home — however much of it you have, it is soon gone and leaves no trace, and it never eats through your grain store. No one can count on having meat with every meal; it comes only now and then.
• Nyama ndeyomubayi / vazhinji vapupuriThe one who did the killing owns the meat; everyone else is merely a witness to it.
• Nyama yakaoma / haigezerwiDried meat is eaten without first cleaning one's hands.
• Nyamagumba simidza minhenga yezizi / agoonekwa mumhindo.Get to know a person thoroughly, so that if he ever intends harm against you, you can spot it before he acts.
• Nyamakuhwa simidza nguo chena / agoonekwa mumhindoWhite clothing would serve a purpose on a gossip: even where there is no light, there would be no missing who it was. One who carries tales ought to be easy to pick out.
• Nyamusi handi mangwana. (M)Today is not tomorrow: everything shifts as the days and seasons shift. What a person holds now is not what he will hold later on.
• Nyika-mukanza haina mukwamboDo not take a wife from a family whose home and way of life are unknown to you. A marriage stands firmer when the wife comes from a settled, local family you can deal with.
• Nyoka haina chinyokanaThere is no such thing as a mere "little snake" — anything able to injure or kill is frightening no matter how small it is. Even a medicine man with all his charms fears a small snake, since everyone dreads death and injury.
• Nyoka inochenerwa chayo samaserweA snake receives its own kind hospitably, as the spotted skaapsteker does.
• Nyoka inoruma aidenhaThe snake strikes the very person who provoked it.
• Nyoka inorwiswa ndeiri musango / yapinda mumba chibata-bataA snake can be tackled safely while it is still out in the bush; once it has got into the house it is far harder to deal with.
• Nyoka yaina dukuHowever cheerful a person is, the smallest grievance settling in the heart can wipe out that happiness entirely. It takes no great calamity to unsettle someone — a minor upset is enough.
• Nyoka yapinda mumwena / hainyombwiOnce the snake is down its hole, leave off taunting it. Stirring up what lies quiet brings danger down on yourself; where a person keeps silent, even though you can see he is aggrieved, hold back from taking the matter up with him until he opens it himself. Honest intentions are no licence to prod a short-tempered person, or anyone apt to turn violent in the situation at hand.
• Nyoka yemvana / yakazvara mbavha nomuroyiThe same womb that bears a child can bring forth a thief and a witch; good parents may still produce bad offspring.
• Nyuchi dzinoruma / ngedzine uchiThe bees that sting are the very ones holding honey. The person who pushes others hard is usually the one whose ideas pay off, and hurt of body or spirit tends to come before comfort and joy.
• Nzanga inokura yerema / yomuchenjeri inopararaIt is the foolish man's village that swells in size, while the clever man's village falls apart.
• Nzanga seka dumba / dumba seka nzangaLife turns about: those who have plenty today may go hungry tomorrow, while those who are now destitute may end up wealthy. Fortunes swap places.
• Nzara chikomba / chinonyenga asingarambiHunger courts like a suitor no girl turns down. Anyone worn out by hunger will go looking for food, because nobody can hold out against it.
• Nzara ingodyisa mutupoHunger on its own is enough to make a person eat the animal of his own totem. Once hardship bites hard enough, a man will break what he holds most inviolable and act in ways nobody, himself included, ever pictured.
• Nzara makavi / inosvuurwaHunger is compared to bark fibre: just as fibre is stripped away, hunger is something that can be stripped off and got rid of.
• Nzeve hainzwiri umweNo one can do your listening for you; each person has to hear a thing with his own ears.
• Nzira haidzimiri munhuA path never vanishes in front of a traveller; follow it and it will take you somewhere. In the same way, someone with a clear goal will keep looking until he finds a way to reach it.
• Nzira hairasi munhuA traveller who keeps to the path will not be lost by it. Following the established way brings you safely to where you are going.
• Nzira ine minzwa / ndiyo ine usheWhere thorns lie on the road, that road is the one ending in chieftainship: difficult work is what pays out most.
• Nzira inofamba yomuzvinamimba / yomuzvere haifambiA pregnant woman still moves freely and can do as she pleases despite her bodily discomfort, whereas a woman who has just given birth is weak and tied down by the baby, so she cannot move quickly.
• Nzira masangaPaths are where people meet: nobody can say in advance when or how good fortune will arrive. Like a hunter setting nets, you keep trying different things until one day something comes of it.
• Nzou mutupo pana vanhu / paseri ava machikichoriIn front of others the elephant is declared forbidden meat, but out of sight it becomes a tasty dish. People profess one standard publicly and act otherwise in private.
• Nzou yakafa nesvosveA bad habit starts as something trivial, but left unchecked it grows into a serious flaw that ruins the person and harms those around him.
• Nzou yakaramba kuudzwa ikabudisa nyanga nomukanwaThe elephant refused to listen to counsel, and so its tusks ended up coming out through its mouth.
• Nzvimbo imwe haipfumisiStaying in a single place will not bring you wealth.
• Pabva bango / pasekesaOnce a pole is pulled out, a gap is left where it stood.
• Pabva utsi / pane motoWherever smoke rises, a fire is burning there.
• Pabva zino / rave vendeWhere a tooth has come out, a gap is left behind.
• Pachapwa madziva / mahono tichanyururaAt a rich man's funeral people usually eat their fill; his death is something they look forward to, since they expect some of what he owned to come to them.
• Pachapwa madziva / miramba tichanyururaThe barbel become ours to scoop up only after the pools have lost their water.
• Padoko-padoko / hapadzokeri pakareWork taken little by little may be slow, but it never has to be gone back over again.
• Padyira she padyira muranda.
• Paenda badza / haparevetekiWhere the hoe has gone to work, words count for nothing. Whoever puts their whole heart into a job gets something out of it in the end, while the lazy person who lets their hands hang idle gains nothing at all.
• Pagara murimi / pagara mupopotiA successful farmer is a hard worker, and he keeps pushing his workers and family to keep up, so he always sounds like he is complaining.
• Pakukutu hapaurayi.
• Pamudzimu usiri wako / usasungira nhehwe chenaThe white skin apron is not yours to tie on where the spirit being honoured belongs to another family.
• Pane danga pane mombe / pane hundi pagara hurudzaA cattle pen implies cattle, and a heap of chaff implies a skilled farmer. Visible signs tell you what lies behind them.
• Pane kudya / panoonekwa navaeniVisitors turn up wherever there is food to be had. People keep calling at a home where they know they will eat and drink their fill.
• Pane mapfunde / pane varimiWherever a crop such as sorghum is standing, there are people who cultivate it.
• Pane mutumbi ndipo pane magoraVultures gather wherever a carcass lies. In the same way, people crowd into the place where they expect to get what they want.
• Panoda kumera muswe / panotekenyedzaThe spot where a tail is going to sprout starts to itch beforehand.
• Panoda mwoyo / nzira haisvikiWhen the heart is set on reaching somewhere, the road there never seems to end.
• Panodya ishe / navaranda vanodyawoInviting the head of an area means inviting his followers along with him, since a man of rank rarely travels alone and arrives at any function with a group of his people. The chief's position brings benefit to those under him.
• Panomera mhanza / panovaviraThe place where a bald patch is going to appear itches beforehand; signs give warning of what is coming.
• Panonwiwa doro / panonzikwa nemhereBeer and noise go together: wherever drinking is going on there is a racket, whether of merriment or of drunken quarrelling and insults.
• Panorwa hama nehama / mutorwa bvira kureWhen kin are quarrelling with kin, an outsider should keep well out of it.
• Panotamba machinda / nherera sinyungweWhen the chief's sons take the dancing floor, an orphan keeps to the edges rather than pushing forward.
• Panotamba pwere / panosara katotsiWherever children have spent the day playing, something is sure to have been spoilt — play in a field, for instance, leaves some of the crop uprooted.
• Panotorerwa chirume demo / panosara matsunetsuneA man does not give up something he treasures without a struggle; even when force is brought against him he fights on to the very end. Wherever such a thing is wrested from him, the scene is left in a mess.
• Panotyoka gumbo / ziso rinobudisa misodziA broken leg makes the eye weep — one part of the body suffers for another. When a friend meets misfortune, his friend grieves and feels it with him.
• Papfumba / pava nomwenaGround that is constantly walked over eventually wears down into a hollow. Repeated pressure on one spot always leaves its mark.
• Parwendo rwousiku / anofa haazivikanwiWhen something is done by a large group, everyone feels bold and safe, since no one pictures himself as the one who will be caught by the danger.
• Parwizi hapasi pomunhu mumwe chete.
• Pashoma-pashoma / kudya kwendongweLittle by little, the way locusts eat, is still progress; slow but steady work beats work that has stopped altogether and will be finished eventually.
• Pasi hapaguti / panodya zvikombaThe earth is never full: it devours even the great and prominent. No one's standing spares them from the grave.
• Pasi mupindu / panopindukaThe world is a changeable thing, and change is exactly what it does.
• Paswerwa pane ziyaAny task, however trivial it looks, demands time, thought and exertion before it is finished. Nothing gets done without some effort being spent on it.
• Patemwa tsoka / rave bomho. (M)Once the trees have been felled, the place becomes bare grassland.
• Patsika remberi (gumbo) ndipo panotsika reshure
• Pavaviri / mhembwe yetatuTwo people can talk together and understand one another; once a third joins them, gossip and quarrelling start. A third party is simply one too many.
• Pazvarwa budzi / tsoka hadziperiWhere a squash has grown, footprints never cease. The elders used the "squash" for the birth of a daughter: once there is a girl in the home, the traffic to that homestead never ends, since a man wanting to marry her must first make his approach to her people as a sign that he has laid claim to their child.
• Pengera zvimwe, musvondo hamunzi kokoko.
• Pfavira ngoma / usiku urefuGo gently on the drum, since the night still has a long way to run; pace yourself rather than spending all your strength at the start.
• Pfini yenyoka / kungoruma icho isingadyiThe snake's malice shows in biting a creature it has no intention of eating. It describes harm done out of pure spite, with nothing to be gained from it.
• Pfuma inokura youripo, yousipo haikure.
• Pfuma yomukuwasha / idya uchichengeta mapfupaWhen you eat cattle that came from your son-in-law, hold on to the bones. Nothing entrusted or handed on to you is secure, since the real owner may come to reclaim it at any time, even while you are using it.
• Pfumo rimwe harina ukombaA single spear gives no real security; depending on just one thing is foolish, since it may be lost or ruined and leave you with nothing to fall back on.
• Pfumo rinobaya / ngerina hombarume.The spear that actually finds its mark is the one carried by a proven hunter. Results come from the person with the skill.
• Pfuti tsaru / haiririAn old gun will not go off. Anything left unused for a long stretch deteriorates until it no longer works properly.
• Potsi haarwirwi / tinorwira piriNobody quarrels over the first one; the fighting starts over the second. The first of something is taken for granted, while what comes after is contested.
• Rakupa / rine zharaThe one who has given you food is hungry himself. A guest who has been fed has nothing left to do but say his farewells, and in the same way handing a person the thing he came for tells him your business together is over. Be sparing, then, with what you do for others, if you want them to stay near you and to keep their regard for you.
• Rambakudzihwa / akazoonekwa neropa kudonhaThe one who would not be warned was afterwards seen with blood dripping from him. Refusing good advice eventually shows itself in plain injury.
• Rangova zinatsawafa / kuuraya n'ombe paguva rehamaThere is nothing to be gained by trying to settle accounts with someone you wronged once that person is already dead. Compensation brought after the cruelty has been done helps nobody, and the show of pity can even look like contempt for the one you injured.
• Rava jandakuchira kutsenga kwavanamavende.
• Ravira raedza / usiku hahuriri shiriEach day must carry its own work; birds do not sing at night, so night is not for labour. Finish today what belongs to today instead of pushing it onto tomorrow.
• Rega kubvunza nyama kuti ndeyokugocha / iwe muto uchiuonaIt shows poor thinking to ask how something came about when the cause is plainly in front of you. Asking about roast meat while the gravy is there in view is a question that answers itself.
• Rega kufananidza nguo nedzaTarubvaTarubva's clothes are not the standard against which yours should be set.
• Rega kuguta nokurutsira mundiro yawadyira.Once a dish has fed you to fullness, do not foul it by being sick into it. It warns against repaying a source of benefit with disgrace.
• Rega kunera nyoka uchisiya rupinda.Deal with a trouble right through to the end rather than leaving any part of it standing to cause fresh quarrels. Bad habits in particular should be pulled up entirely and finished with.
• Rega kusanganisa mombe dzako nedzasheKeep your own cattle apart from the chief's herd.
• Rega kuyera nyoka negavi / iyo iripoWhile the snake is lying there in front of you, do not go taking its length with a strip of fibre. Snakes are feared dead as much as alive, and nobody will go near one or put a hand on it simply to find out how long it is.
• Regai dzive shiri / mazai haana mutoDo not snatch at something before it has come to maturity; eggs make no stew, but birds do. Hold back and let a matter ripen, and you will enjoy its full reward instead of a fraction of it.
• Regazvipore / akabva mukutsvaThe one who urges that things be allowed to cool off is speaking as someone who has already been burnt.
• Reva ishe wakakwira pachibweIf you are going to talk about the chief, do it from up on a rock. Someone who is being discussed behind his back has a way of turning up at that very moment without anyone noticing.
• Rina manyanga / hariputirwi mumushunjeWrongdoing cannot be kept hidden indefinitely; sooner or later it shows itself. Even when it is only half concealed, people will be whispering about it.
• Rinofa harina nzeve / rine nzeve rinozvinzwiraEars are missing on the one that is dying; the one still possessing ears does its own hearing.
• Rombe pakata hana / mukaka ndowavaridziA person with nothing of his own should keep himself in check rather than pick and choose; the milk belongs to whoever owns the cattle.
• Rombe rinosekwa richienda / kana rodzoka hedzo nhumbiHe leaves to the laughter of others; he comes home with a load.
• Roora mwana wababa vane dongoTake a wife whose father's former homesteads can be pointed out.
• Roora rousina baba / rinonetsaFor a young man who has no father, getting married is hard.
• Rova chiuni / amai vari kumundaDo what you mean to do while whatever could stop you is still out of the way. The moment when no obstacle is present is the moment to act, and it should not be wasted.
• Ruchenjeresa runotsikisa moto.Being nosy causes a person to get into trouble.
• Rudo ibofu.
• Rudo moto / unokuchidzirwaLove is a fire that has to be fed with fresh wood: kind acts between the two keep it burning, and without them it cools and dies out.
• Rudo ndimawarire / mavanza-uremaLove spreads itself over a person like a blanket and conceals every flaw. Someone in love is as good as blindfolded, missing the faults everyone else finds obvious.
• Rudo rune ngondi ngeruna ani / kudya ichisiyira nyarwanaAs the male baboon does, so does every creature: it reserves its special attention for the partner it favours. Anyone who comes by good food shares it out among those dear to him. (ngondi: male baboon)
• Rudo runenge ruvara / runokunaraAs a colour loses its brightness, so does love. However strong the attraction once was, it thins out over the years, and people who loved intensely do sometimes part.
• Rudo rwehuku kuisa vana mumapapiro / ziso riri kurukodziOut of love a hen gathers her chicks under her wings while her eye stays fixed on the hawk. Protective affection shelters and keeps watch at the same time.
• Rufu harugogodzi
• Rufu haruna Ishe.
• Rufu haruna makata.
• Rufu haruna mukwidza.
• Rufu haruna n'angaNobody can know in what manner or from what quarter death will come, and nobody is spared it.
• Rufu haruna ndakachenjera.
• Rufu haruna ndanatsaDeath makes no selection and respects no merit; chief and servant, the upright and the foolish, all meet the same end.
• Rufu haruzivisi.
• Rufu ishasha yedzimwe shasha.
• Rufu ndimadzongonyodze.
• Rufu ndimavenganise.
• Rufu runoita wegondo / rinotora nhiyo richisiya mai vachichemaDeath shows no discrimination or pity: it carries off even a tiny infant while the grown-ups are left behind. Like an eagle seizing a chick from the hen, it takes the most defenceless.
• Rugarahomba / harugari murume mutyiA bold, adventurous way of living is no place for a timid man. Things come to those who suffer for them and take the risk; nothing walks up to a man sitting idle, and the fainthearted die in their faintheartedness.
• Rugare rwedafi / runouya nemvura kunayaThe frog's good times arrive only when the rain does. People who puff themselves up over one stroke of good fortune invite laughter, because everyone else can see the pleasure will not last.
• Rugare rwenda / kuruma akaitakuraA louse repays the one who carries it by biting him. People should not injure those who feed and care for them, as a child does who abuses the parents he ought to be thanking for raising him.
• Rukombesa ropa runorasa neriri mumbiyaGrabbing too greedily at the blood being collected can make you knock over what is already safely in the dish. Over-eagerness for more costs you what you had already secured.
• Rukombeswa maropa ungorasa ngeiri mumbiya.
• Rukova rwizi / kuyambuka unokwinya nguoEven a small stream counts as a river: you still have to gather up your clothes before wading across it.
• Rume risinganyepi / hariroriA man who does not speak up will never take a wife.
• Rumoto runakira / ndirwo runokonza mbareIt is the fire that feels comfortably warm that ends up scorching the skin. What seems most pleasant often carries harmful consequences that are not easy to see coming.
• Rushambwa ngerwembwa / rwomunhu runoenderwa kun'angaMisfortune may simply be left to fall on a dog, but when it strikes a person the matter is carried to a diviner.
• Rushavashava rune zizi / kwarafamba rinonzi muroyiWherever the owl turns up, people call it a witch; such is its misfortune. The unlucky man fares the same way — anything that goes wrong around him is laid at his door, though the fault is not his.
• Rutsva runomerera / nokuona rumwe. (-merera: grow)Trading harsh words only feeds anger and makes it spread further. If you meet an insult with silence, the other person soon falls quiet as well.
• Rutsva runovira / nokuona rumweOne grass fire catches and spreads once it sees another burning.
• Ruva rasvava / harikwezvi nyuchiA flower past its prime draws no bees; once a woman has grown old, men no longer find her appealing.
• Ruzambu kugara munyemba / rwoti ndava nyembawoA weed growing in the middle of a bean patch supposes that it too is a bean. Being found among better things does not change what one actually is.
• Ruzivanzira rungoeredza.
• Rwavhi kufamba zvishoma / asi shungu runadzoA person may look calm and say nothing while carrying deep resentment inside; some people simply cannot voice what is in their hearts. If someone you have wronged does not hit back, do not mistake that silence for surrender — he may be keeping quiet only because he is too weak to answer.
• Rwavhi kupinduka nhando / icho chisingagoni kurumaThe chameleon shifts its colour to no purpose, for it has no bite in it. A display of change or menace means little when there is no power behind it.