THE WIT AND WISDOM OF THE BANTU. 34I 



cleverest fellow ever licked his own back (they say of one whose 

 attempts are far beyond his achievements). If the clever doctor 

 does not cure you, ^o to one less clever. Of a particularly smart, 

 intelligent man they say : His thoughts are at his finger-tips 

 ('■ He has all his wits about him "), and of a very discreet person, 

 " Mr. Fearful's cattle have come safe through, while Mr. Great- 

 heart's have died " ('* Discretion is the better part of valour "). 

 Folly is most conspicuous when it takes the form of sebf- 

 injury or self-destruction: You are poking a wasps' nest. You 

 are throwing sand on a snake's back. You have introduced a 

 crocodile into your home (all warnings against imprudence). 

 Mgadhi inkomo y(7S0Jz>.'ini, I ate a beast of the honeycomb, 

 i.e., a bee, means I got myself into a \'ery hot place. Isinyosi 

 zidl' nju waso, the bees eat their own nectar (" He stews in his 

 own juice"). U-Zenzile kakalckua, ukalehva u-Jmnekile, Did- 

 it-by-Himself is not sympathized with, the one sympathized with 

 is Overtaken-by-Accident. Yek' ukufa kwokusenza, they say — 

 Alas ! for the death of one's own making ! Udle ukudla, 

 kwamdla, he devoured the Katfir-beer and it devoured him, they 

 say of the drunkard ; and to a drunk man stumbling up against 

 one he says : Musa ukuqttba imbuzi ngakimi, Don't drive your 

 goats over me. No greater fool than the busybody, of whom 

 they say : Nguye ini umasi wezabantu (indaba), esake simkohlile? 

 Is he the man then that knows all about other people's (business 

 and mismanages his own? Ukaulela inkazim sly a kiisela, you 

 meet monkeys on their way to drink (,you interfere where you 

 are not wanted). He enters the thing on the slant (He inter- 

 feres in a matter with which he is not acquainted). Folly is 

 best dealt with in youth : Bend the tree while it is young, they 

 say (As the twig is bent, the tree's inclined). Umti -wozaV 

 isilima, the tree will beget a crook (if it is not set right in time). 

 Uxam wakohva ngamantintinti, the leguaan was persuaded — to 

 leave the eggs alone — by the whacks he got (a rod for the fool's 

 back). 



(JN SPEliCl) AND SlLKNCl:;. 



rhe Bantu are great talkers, and have much to say on talk 

 and on the tongue: IVandc ngomlomo-nje, he has grown big in 

 the mouth only. {Vox et prccterea nihil) The mouth has no 

 lid to cover it, or: The tongue has no bonds (The tongue is an 

 unruly member), [nkomo enomlomo ayinamasi, a cow with a 

 tongue has no milk (Much cry and little wool, as we say). Lu~ 

 luhlu luka-Qinisani, it's the squad of Mr. Keep-at-it (who urge 

 others to work and do nothing themselves). The tongue, how- 

 ever, has its uses: Utnlomo nsihlyangu sokuzivikela, the tongue 

 is a shield to defend oneself with, or: The tongue is a man's 

 tail-switch to drive away the flies (i.e-, his weapon to defend 

 himself from annoyance). The best remedy for a dispute is to 

 discuss it (Let him have his say ; don't sit upon the safety- 

 valve), Uviitelwe Pakati njengez'atala, he is ripe inside like a 

 water-melon (he is bursting to speak). But one cannot be 



