Equatorial Guinea Proverbs (14)

“A dog that is determined to go astray will not wait to listen to the voice of the master.”

Someone set on doing wrong will ignore every warning and piece of guidance offered to them.

“Any river that forgets its source will definitely dry up.”

A person or community that loses touch with its roots and heritage eventually withers.

“The rabbit that stays in a hole must be ready to face the hunter's fire.”

Hiding from a problem instead of confronting it still carries its own risks.

“He that learns to eat without reservation must also learn to starve.”

A person who consumes everything without restraint should expect a season of scarcity in return.

“A monkey left behind laughs at the others' tails.”

It is easy to mock the struggles of others while ignoring one's own shortcomings.

“The search for a black fowl should always be done before darkness falls.”

Difficult tasks should be handled early, before circumstances make them even harder.

“A stubborn chicken learns its lesson in a hot pot of soup.”

Refusing sound advice often leads to a harsher lesson learned the hard way.

“You do not teach the way to an old gorilla.”

Someone with long experience already knows the path and does not need to be instructed by the inexperienced.

“A trap that captures a rat cannot catch an elephant.”

A tool or approach suited to a small problem will fail against a much bigger one.

“If you pick up too much, some of it will fall.”

Overreaching for more than you can hold means losing part of what you already gained.

“Many beads strung together form one necklace.”

Individual efforts joined together create something far stronger and more beautiful than any one alone.

El que siembra vientos, recoge tempestades.

“He who sows winds, reaps storms.”

Reckless or harmful actions eventually bring back much greater trouble upon the one who caused them.

Más vale pájaro en mano que ciento volando.

“A bird in the hand is worth a hundred flying.”

A small, certain gain is worth more than a large but uncertain one still out of reach.

Nosotros no leemos en los libros. Nosotros conocemos nuestra tradición porque el más viejo se la entrega al joven para que cuando sea viejo también él se la dé a los jóvenes. Así hemos vivido siempre.

“We do not read it in books. We know our tradition because the eldest passes it to the young, so that when he too grows old he may pass it to the young. This is how we have always lived.”

Knowledge and identity survive not through writing but through the living chain of elders teaching the young, generation after generation.