Tsumo starting with D
Shona Proverbs
- Dai pasina nyimo / makunguo aizodyei?Were there no bambara groundnuts, the crows would have nothing to feed on.
- Danda hariponi rutsva kaviriA log does not survive the bush fire twice; it is rare for anyone to slip out of the same danger or the same charge a second time.
- Dare harizondi munhu / rinozonda mhosvaThe court bears no grudge against the accused; it is the offence it condemns.
- Dede kuzorora / hunge rabvakoA baboon only sits down to rest once it has got somewhere. Rest is earned by having accomplished something first.
- Dembo harivhiyiwi paruzhinjiWhile you are still hoping to win a favour or obtain something of value from others, you must keep your faults out of sight. Letting people see what you really are will destroy your chances.
- Dende ringorema / ngerine mbeuWhat gives a thing its worth is the quality it carries inside, not how it looks from outside; a poor man with a sound mind is thought more of than a rich fool.
- Denhai vari semwa tiwane nyaya.
- (Deno) Ndakaziva / haitungamiri"If only I had known" never comes first — it arrives only after the deed is already done.
- Dindingwe rinofara richazvuva / kana rozvuviwa roti mavara angu azara ivhuThe leopard enjoys dragging others along, but once it is dragged itself it complains that its spots are covered in dirt. Some people take pleasure in mistreating others yet are outraged when the same is done to them.
- Dindingwe rinonakirwa richikweva iro / kana rokwehwa roti mavara angu azara ivhuThe cheetah is delighted to be the one doing the dragging, yet the moment it is dragged itself it grumbles that its markings are getting covered in dirt.
- Diro haripinzwi mumundaWhoever owns the food should be the one to serve it out, especially to a visitor. Let the guest help himself and he may take far more than he needs, or even clear out his host's whole store.
- Diro munhu / kurinyengedza rinozivawoEveryone keeps some odd habits hidden away from other people, and the one being deceived often senses it. Nobody behaves in company exactly as he would on his own.
- Diro raba huku / ratorunzaGreed takes hold of the baboon once it has made off with a fowl.
- Dondo harina mbikiraThe forest offers nowhere to hide something.
- Doro ndimapedza mhosvaBeer drives a charge hanging over a man clean out of his head. Deep in drink, he loses sight of his poverty and takes himself for a chief, living for the moment in easy, untroubled plenty.
- Doro romunyimi rinovavaA mean person's beer turns out bitter: she either rushes the brewing because she is anxious to keep it from others, or hoards it so long that it spoils and can no longer be drunk.
- Dzaiva nhungo / dzave mbariroPoles that once served as the main roof beams are now only the lighter rafters. Positions have been swapped: what held the first rank has been reduced to a lesser one.
- Dzanza kusakara / rine mwene waroA basket only wears out because somebody owns it. People handle their own possessions with care and know how to use them, so the things keep serving them for a long time even once they are worn or fragile.
- Dzapinda musvo ramambo / dzawira muzindaCopying what others do without understanding it is foolish, and it is worse still to live beyond your means in order to keep up with the wealthy. Know your own position and act accordingly.
- Dzatsvo kuuya / nyemba kutsva dzarungwaIf beans are to catch and burn, the fortunate thing is that it happens once the salt is already in them.
- Dzimba dzinotsva dzakavimbikanaHuts standing side by side go up in flames together: whatever befalls one household catches the neighbours in it too. If someone is killed in a village, every person living there is expected to give evidence.
- Dzimbabwe harina dandaroThe chief's place is not a spot for lounging about (dandaro: a place of entertainment). Those judging cases cannot feed everyone who comes, so each person must see to his own food and sleeping arrangements; once your business is done you leave room for the next caller.
- Dzimbabwe muswero / harina uraroThe chief's homestead is somewhere you pass the day, not somewhere you stay the night.
- Dzingidzi gonyera pamwe / chomudzimu chikuwanirepoWasp, settle and curl up in one spot, and let what the ancestors have set aside for you find you there. Stay put in your own place and accept the end that comes to you naturally.
- Dzingidzi gonyera pamwe / maruva enyika haaperiWasp, settle yourself in one place — the world's flowers will never be exhausted. A narrow escape should be taken as a warning: having got away once, with injuries, a person should be careful afterwards and not walk back into the same danger.
- Dzingoenda ngokudyana. (M)Things keep moving along by feeding off one another: whoever gets ahead has usually done so on the strength of other people's labour.
- Dzinobva ruuya / dzinoenda ruuyaSomeone who leaves a place without quarrelling or causing an uproar will usually find peace at the place he moves to.
- Dzinoendera madzoko / marindo ariko mberiPeople set off meaning to come back the same day, yet a night spent away may be waiting for them. Something unexpected can hold a traveller up, so no one should promise to return, not knowing what lies ahead.
- Dziva rine ngwena / idivakamweA pool holding crocodiles is one you bathe in a single time. A place already known to be dangerous is not worth returning to.
- Dzorera chomumwe / chisina vendeAnything you have borrowed should go back to its owner still in good order. Returning a thing damaged or ruined is a bad way to repay a favour.
- Dzvinyu kuzambe zuva / huona bakoThe lizard only basks where its crack in the rock is within reach. A person who walks into risk has already worked out his way back out of it.