SOME POPULAR ETHIOPIAN SAYINGS AND PROVERBS WITH THEIR TRANSLATION AND EXPLANATION IN ENGLISH.1

SOME ETHIOPIAN POPULAR SAYINGS AND PROVERBS WITH THEIR TRANSLATIONS AND EXPLANATIONS IN ENGLISH #1

AS one of the historic nations in the world, Ethiopia has a deep tradition and way of life which has become a solid psych governing all the mind-sets of its typical citizens. Among other things, the nation has a plentiful culturally-popular proverbs and very old sayings. I have picked some of these most commonly referred to proverbs and sayings in the country where they are heard now and then, and just here and there.

More often than not, they are apparently justifications for the thing they tell of. May be they could also be seen as inspiration, or rather advice. Objectively speaking, they are, of course, informative, reassuring or unacceptable, just as they may be; have your own judgment if you want. Yet to myself, I have found them interesting. And that is why I am sharing them with you, for I have learned from and criticize them. But now in this list, I have disallowed myself from giving my personal judgment about any of them. I just wanted to present them as they are.

In general, I value these popular traditional proverbs of the country as I grew hearing them and even if I do not use them directly, I still make use of them to analyze the people, the nation. When collected, the common proverbs and sayings make a huge mirror in front of which stands the society. 

To whichever reason you are here to read them, here you are, read them and get whatever you want.

For simplicity, I must tell you about the manner I arranged the popular proverbs and sayings. First, the Ethiopian proverbs and sayings are presented in Amharic within quotation marks in Ge’ez. Second, as much as possible, their transliterations are furnished within brackets. Third, the  translations, most of the time with illustrations of the sayings are provided. Fourth, sometimes, I have tried to give examples, just as part of the explanation.

HERE YOU GO!

1."ከበሮ:ሲያዩት:ያምር:ሲይዙት:ያደናግር::" ("Kebero siyayut yamr siyzut yadenagr.") [="Drum:- beautiful when looked at, perplexing when on it."]

This saying is reiterated by Ethiopians every now and again whenever they want to emphasis that something is not easy when done as it is when imagined. No matter easy, preferable or breathtaking a thing is when you look at it, doing it could be challenging. It may demand you a lot of efforts and be more taxing than you have thought. Whenever you want to impart such an idea, there is no other popular way to do so. You just through this saying and you have rested your case very well.  

So, I hope the motion is vivid. It is just a “do not think you can do something only because it is attractive” gist. 

2."የሺህ:ፍልጥ:ማሠሪያው:ልጥ::" (Ye shih filtt maseriaw litt.)[="Cord of a thousand logs is a bark."]

Bark is a peeled part of the stem that can be used as a rope, of course especially as a survival tool. But in a society that was nearly completely agrarian until recent times, barks were popular cordage to fasten logs chopped for consumption.

The proverb is therefore told, just to remind that small things are necessary for finishing big jobs. Some series stuffs would fail if they lack vital finishing parts. How would indeed one carry a lot of logs without the rope? Therefore, since you need small things to finish your big jobs, the clear lesson here is that, you mustn’t be scornful of small things. Be pedantic so that you may not compromise something basic.

3."ቀና:ሲታጣ:ይመለመላል:ጎባጣ::" (Kena sitata ymelemelal gobata.) [="When fits are not get-at-able, hunchbacks are chosen."]

The saying is stressing that when good things are unattainable, you will choose the available one, no matter unpleasant it might be and you wouldn’t choose it if you have other. It is therefore about improvisation, not ideal things one would do because one has no other option.

4."የቆጡን:አወርድ:ብላ:የብብቱዋን:ጣለች::" (Ye kotun aword bila ye bibituan talech.) [="To take tje perch's she dropped her armpit's."]

Never take this famous saying positively, even if it could be. It is not about a gospel scarifying something you have so that you get something better. Rather, as per the context it is usually used in Ethiopia, it only refers to the universal morality lesson regarding self-indulgence. It is just told to underscore that you should never be greedy, or else the proclivity of you losing what you already possessed is higher. When you chase after something, you could miss what is there for you. Take care!