African proverbs

" The jackal shouldn’t be prevented from yawning even if it has a bad breath "

" He who swallows a coconut has confidence in his anus "

" However thin the elephant may be, its b... always are as big as the cooking-pot "

" Were you to see a crocodile buying a pair of trousers, this would mean it found a way to tuck its tail in "

" The elephant can’t run and scrape its buttocks both at the same time "

" Wherever the heart is, the feet don’t hesitate to go "    (proverb from Togo)

" There is no room for several crocodiles in the same backwater "

" When the monkey sees a nice fruit in the tree that can’t be grasped, then the monkey says the fruit is rotten "    (Congo)

" The ox doesn’t boast about its strength in front of the elephant”

" While you go, your loincloth lasts; while you are sitting, your loincloth uses itself”

" The banana that has to go ripe will eventually ripe "

" When one buries one corpse, one doesn’t let the feet stick out of the ground "

" The hen isn’t ashamed of its henhouse"

" The goat eats where it has been tied up"   (proverb from Cameroon)

" When elephants fight, the grass always is the one that suffers/is crushed..."

" He who says ‘hello, Madam’ says ‘goodbye money’ "

" Even if the dog has four legs, it can go two different ways at the same time "

" Swim across the river before being rude to the crocodile "

" Although the cricket fits in one hand, it can be heard everywhere in the meadow "

" The lost dog doesn’t hear his owner whistling"

" One doesn’t buy a jewel which isn’t stripped of its wrapping/ unwrapped "

" The one who wants a question to be repeated isn’t necessarily deaf "

" Too much salt spoils the sauce "

" When this prevails that, this becomes the world "

" The hand of the one who begs is always below the hand of whom he requires from "

" A starving belly has no ears "

" If one had nothing to say, one had better keep silent "

" This isn’t because it is hard that one doesn’t dare, but since one doesn’t dare it becomes hard "

" By moving the grass you can catch crickets "

" Slowly the banana curves itself"

" The ear never is bigger than the head. "

" In Africa, each time when an old man dies, a library burns down "

" One doesn’t crush twice the testicles of a blind man "    (Burkina Faso)

" Wherever the axe goes, there is wood to be cut "

" One can’t braid the hair of a missing person "

" The lizard does many push-ups, but it hasn’t ever had biceps "

" However long the fly may fly, it won’t ever become a bird... "

" Once the ears were cut, the neck starts worrying "   (Guinea Conakry)

" However long a trunk may remain in the river, it won’t ever be turned into a crocodile! "    (Sénégal)

" Although the gnu grazes, the grass keeps growing "   (Congo)

" A fart that lasts may lead to the real runs. "  (Téké du Congo, Brazza)

" A corn seed is always wrong in front of a hen "   (Benin)

" Only one finger can’t grab a stone "   (Mali)

" Do not empty the water supply from your jar just because rain is forecast "   (Togo)

" Everything has an end, except banana which has two of them " ( Bambara proverb)

" The river winds about because no one points the way out to help it."    (Gabon)

" The road doesn’t give any information to the traveller "

" The snake says: I climb tree and yet I have no arms "

" You amid the forest, me amid the forest, and you are asking me where the sun is! "

" If the person who left to draw water hasn’t returned, it means that the water bottles aren’t filled up yet"     (Cameroon)

" If one has nothing but a spear, one mustn’t use against a leopard "