Tsumo starting with A

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.