--- title: Proverbs and Figurative Expressions. — Kaffir folk-lore · full text with trees description: Proverbs and Figurative Expressions., «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal: the whole chapter, every sentence with its dependency tree and pragmatics. It begins: The language of a Kaffir is adorned with figurative expressions, some of which are readily understood by an Englishman, but others, w --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg71335/26/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/) / [Kaffir folk-lore](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg71335/) / Proverbs and Figurative Expressions. # Proverbs and Figurative Expressions. Proverbs and Figurative Expressions. of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal: the whole text, 218 sentences and 2699 words. The small number after every sentence leads to its own page with its syntax tree and pragmatics, parsed by Mova itself. **1** [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg71335/26/page/2/) The language of a Kaffir is adorned with figurative expressions, some of which are readily understood by an Englishman, but others, when literally interpreted, are to us meaningless.[1](1/ "tree and pragmatics") Such expressions, however, are found upon inquiry to refer to some circumstance in their mode of living, or some event in their traditional history, which makes the meaning very clear.[2](2/ "tree and pragmatics") A few of their commonest proverbs and figurative expressions are here given:—[3](3/ "tree and pragmatics") Isikuni sinyuka nomkwezeli.[4](4/ "tree and pragmatics") A brand burns him who stirs it up.[5](5/ "tree and pragmatics") This proverb is an exact equivalent to our English one, Let sleeping dogs lie.[6](6/ "tree and pragmatics") Njengo mdudo ka Mapassa.[7](7/ "tree and pragmatics") Like the marriage feast of Mapassa.[8](8/ "tree and pragmatics") This saying is used to denote anything unusually grand.[9](9/ "tree and pragmatics") The marriage festivities of one of the ancients, Mapassa by name, are said to have been carried on for a whole year.[10](10/ "tree and pragmatics") Ishwa lomhluzi wamanqina.[11](11/ "tree and pragmatics") Misfortune of soup made of shanks and feet.[12](12/ "tree and pragmatics") Applied to any person who never does well, but is always getting into scrapes.[13](13/ "tree and pragmatics") The kind of soup spoken of is very lightly esteemed by the Kaffirs.[14](14/ "tree and pragmatics") Akuko mpukane inqakulela enye.[15](15/ "tree and pragmatics") One fly does not provide for another.[16](16/ "tree and pragmatics") A saying of the industrious to the idle, meaning that each should work for himself as the flies do.[17](17/ "tree and pragmatics") Kude e-Bakuba, akuyiwanga mntu.[18](18/ "tree and pragmatics") Bakuba is far away, no person ever reached it.[19](19/ "tree and pragmatics") Bakuba is an ideal country.[20](20/ "tree and pragmatics") This proverb is used as a warning against undue ambition, or as advice to be content with that which is within reach.[21](21/ "tree and pragmatics") It is equivalent to our English saying, It is no use building castles in the air.[22](22/ "tree and pragmatics") Kuxeliwe e-Xukwane apo kumaqasho makulu.[23](23/ "tree and pragmatics") They have slaughtered at Kukwane where much meat is obtainable.[24](24/ "tree and pragmatics") According to tradition, there was once a very rich chief who lived at Kukwane (near King William’s Town), and who was in the habit of entertaining strangers in a more liberal manner than any who went before or who came after him.[25](25/ "tree and pragmatics") This proverb is used to such as ask too much from others, as if to say, It was only at Kukwane that such expectations were realized.[26](26/ "tree and pragmatics") Qabu Unoqolomba efile.[27](27/ "tree and pragmatics") I rejoice that Kolomba’s mother is dead.[28](28/ "tree and pragmatics") The mother of Kolomba was, according to tradition, a very disagreeable person.[29](29/ "tree and pragmatics") This saying is used when anything that one dreads or dislikes has passed away.[30](30/ "tree and pragmatics") Izinto azimntaka Ngqika zonke.[31](31/ "tree and pragmatics") It is not every one who is a son of Gaika.[32](32/ "tree and pragmatics") Gaika was at the beginning of this century the most powerful chief west of the Kei.[33](33/ "tree and pragmatics") This proverb signifies that all are not equally fortunate.[34](34/ "tree and pragmatics") Uyakulila ngasonye uxele inkawu.[35](35/ "tree and pragmatics") You will shed tears with one eye like a monkey.[36](36/ "tree and pragmatics") A warning used to deter any one from being led into a snare of any kind.[37](37/ "tree and pragmatics") It is said that when a monkey is caught in a trap he cries, but that tears come out of one eye only.[38](38/ "tree and pragmatics") Lukozo lomya.[39](39/ "tree and pragmatics") It is the seed of the umya (a species of wild hemp).[40](40/ "tree and pragmatics") This saying is applied to any thing or person considered very beautiful.[41](41/ "tree and pragmatics") The seed referred to is like a small jet black bead.[42](42/ "tree and pragmatics") Udhle incholo.[43](43/ "tree and pragmatics") He has drunk the juice of the flower of the wild aloe.[44](44/ "tree and pragmatics") Said of a dull, sleepy person.[45](45/ "tree and pragmatics") This juice when drunk has a stupefying effect, and benumbs the limbs so as to make them powerless for a time.[46](46/ "tree and pragmatics") Indonga ziwelene.[47](47/ "tree and pragmatics") The walls have come into collision.[48](48/ "tree and pragmatics") Said of any dispute between persons of consequence.[49](49/ "tree and pragmatics") Uvutelwe pakati nje nge vatala.[50](50/ "tree and pragmatics") He is ripe inside, like a water-melon.[51](51/ "tree and pragmatics") Said of any one who has come to a resolution without yet expressing it.[52](52/ "tree and pragmatics") From its appearance it cannot be said with certainty whether a water-melon is ripe or not.[53](53/ "tree and pragmatics") Isala kutyelwa siva ngolopu.[54](54/ "tree and pragmatics") A person who will not take advice gets knowledge when trouble overtakes him.[55](55/ "tree and pragmatics") Uyakuva into embi eyaviwa ngu Hili wase Mambalwini.[56](56/ "tree and pragmatics") You will find out what Hili of the Amambalu experienced.[57](57/ "tree and pragmatics") Hili, or Tikoloshe, is, according to the belief of the Kaffirs, a mischievous being who usually lives in the water, but who goes about as a human dwarf playing tricks upon people.[58](58/ "tree and pragmatics") He milks the cows when no one is watching them.[59](59/ "tree and pragmatics") He causes women to fall in love with him, for he is of a very amorous disposition towards the female sex.[60](60/ "tree and pragmatics") The uncivilized Kaffirs, even at the present day, do not doubt the existence of such a being.[61](61/ "tree and pragmatics") It is said that a long time ago there was a man of the Amambalu who had good reason to suspect that his wife had fallen in love with Hili.[62](62/ "tree and pragmatics") He accordingly pretended to go upon a journey, but returned in the middle of the night and fastened his dogs at the door of his hut.[63](63/ "tree and pragmatics") He then went inside and kindled a fire, when, as he anticipated, he found Hili there.[64](64/ "tree and pragmatics") The man called his neighbours, who came with sticks and beat Hili till he was unable to move.[65](65/ "tree and pragmatics") They then tied him up in a bundle, fastened him to the back of the woman, and sent her away to wander wherever she liked.[66](66/ "tree and pragmatics") This saying is applied as a warning to people to avoid doing wrong, lest the punishment of Hili overtake them.[67](67/ "tree and pragmatics") Ulahla imbo yako ngopoyiyana.[68](68/ "tree and pragmatics") You have cast away your own for that which you are not sure of.[69](69/ "tree and pragmatics") This proverb is equivalent to the English one, A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.[70](70/ "tree and pragmatics") Yimbabala yolwantunge.[71](71/ "tree and pragmatics") He is a buck of an endless forest.[72](72/ "tree and pragmatics") A saying applied to a shiftless person, one who never continues long in any occupation.[73](73/ "tree and pragmatics") Uzipembela emoyeni.[74](74/ "tree and pragmatics") You are lighting a fire in the wind.[75](75/ "tree and pragmatics") Said to any one who favours strangers in preference to relatives, or to their disadvantage.[76](76/ "tree and pragmatics") Yintlolela yombini.[77](77/ "tree and pragmatics") A spy for both.[78](78/ "tree and pragmatics") Said of a talebearer.[79](79/ "tree and pragmatics") Akuko ramncwa lingagqimiyo kowalo umxuma.[80](80/ "tree and pragmatics") There is no beast that does not roar in its den.[81](81/ "tree and pragmatics") This proverb means that a man recognises no superior in his own establishment.[82](82/ "tree and pragmatics") It is the Kaffir equivalent for, Every cock crows on his own dunghill.[83](83/ "tree and pragmatics") Inja yomoya.[84](84/ "tree and pragmatics") A dog of the wind.[85](85/ "tree and pragmatics") A saying applied to any one who has no settled plan of living.[86](86/ "tree and pragmatics") Ukaka kampetu.[87](87/ "tree and pragmatics") The shield turned the wrong way.[88](88/ "tree and pragmatics") This saying is applied to any one who goes over from one party to another.[89](89/ "tree and pragmatics") It is a common expression for one who turns evidence against accomplices in crime.[90](90/ "tree and pragmatics") Ngumpa wezala.[91](91/ "tree and pragmatics") It is a cob stripped of maize in an ashpit.[92](92/ "tree and pragmatics") Said of a worthless character.[93](93/ "tree and pragmatics") Isinama ndokunamatela.[94](94/ "tree and pragmatics") I, the adhesive grass, will stick fast to you.[95](95/ "tree and pragmatics") The isinama is a kind of grass that sticks to one’s clothing when it is touched, and can hardly be brushed off afterwards.[96](96/ "tree and pragmatics") This proverb is used as a warning to any one to avoid a bad habit or an unworthy companion that cannot easily be got rid of.[97](97/ "tree and pragmatics") Alitshonanga lingenandaba.[98](98/ "tree and pragmatics") The sun never sets without fresh news.[99](99/ "tree and pragmatics") Amaqotyazana angalaliyo emzini.[100](100/ "tree and pragmatics") They are people of experience who do not sleep at a strange place.[101](101/ "tree and pragmatics") This proverb is used in praise of one who is smart in going a message, or who performs any duty at a distance quickly.[102](102/ "tree and pragmatics") Wokolwa yeyokosa.[103](103/ "tree and pragmatics") You will prefer roasted meat.[104](104/ "tree and pragmatics") This saying is applied to any one who is boasting immoderately, as a warning that if he does not take care he will get into trouble, when he will be glad to take whatever comes to hand.[105](105/ "tree and pragmatics") He will prefer roast meat because it is easily cooked, and he will have neither time nor means to boil it.[106](106/ "tree and pragmatics") This saying is also used as a threat, as if one said, I will punish you thoroughly.[107](107/ "tree and pragmatics") Kuhla ngamqalamnye.[108](108/ "tree and pragmatics") Throats are all alike in swallowing.[109](109/ "tree and pragmatics") This proverb is used when one asks another for anything, and implies, If you do not give to me now, I will not give to you when I have anything that you would like a share of.[110](110/ "tree and pragmatics") Omasiza mbulala.[111](111/ "tree and pragmatics") The people who rescue and kill.[112](112/ "tree and pragmatics") This saying is applied to Europeans.[113](113/ "tree and pragmatics") It first arose from the heavy demands made by Lord Charles Somerset upon the Gaikas in return for English protection, but the Kaffirs maintain that we have acted up to the description ever since.[114](114/ "tree and pragmatics") It is sometimes put in this form, The people who protect with one hand and kill with the other.[115](115/ "tree and pragmatics") **1** [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg71335/26/page/2/) - ← previous: [Story of Lion and Little Jackal.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg71335/25/) - next →: [page 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg71335/26/page/2/) - ↑ back to [Kaffir folk-lore](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg71335/)