TJlt'; WIT AND WISDOM nl" TH1-; P.ANTU. 339 



throws the ground behind him (All the Kaffir wars meant loss of 

 land to the Kaffirs). Umhiaba yinkosi, the land is King. 



On Efficiency and its Conditions. 



Efficiency is one of our watchwords nowadays, and the 

 Bantu have a good deal to say on this subject, and the prompti- 

 tude, patience, perseverance, and self-help that are its essential 

 conditions. 



A small swarm of bees makes honey; in a big one they 

 hinder each other ("Too many cooks spoil the liroth"'). The 

 Bushman shoots with a blunt arrowy but he kills (It's not the 

 arrow but the poison). You have tied your dog to a ragwort 

 (You have taken inetfectual measures). They know the value 

 of concentration of etfort : Ungepate mpukn nibili, enyc iya 

 knpunyuka, don't carry two mice under your arm ; one will slip 

 out. Don't straighten two wands in the fire at once; one of 

 them will burn. Don't shear two sheep at once ; one of them may 

 bite you (Do one thing at a time, and do it well). The ostrich 

 is handling the porridge-stick (Everything is topsy-turvy; you 

 can't do anything with incompetent helpers). 



One of the conditions of efficiency is promptitude : Ungafiiki 

 uganc kona, don't go and marry there (Don't delay). Amaqotya- 

 zana angalaliyo endlclcni, they are smart little girls who do not 

 sleep on the road. Miss Betrothed to So-and-So was married by 

 Mr. Come-early. Isigzvaca silind' indnkii, the quail waits for the 

 stick. Intcndclc clisuka muva likohca izagila, the partridge that 

 gets up last gets plenty of knocks. Libunjiva, liseva, the clay 

 is worked while it is fresh. (" Make hay while the sun shines.") 

 Ukusa akufiki kahini uknm kuvusa unintu, the dawn doesn't come 

 twice to waken a man ('"Take time by the forelock") Him 

 that wakes me while it is still dark, I like by daylight (Being 

 aroused very early in not always pleasant, but early starts make 

 easy stages). 



Indolence is the worst foe to efficiency, as Labour is its best 

 friend: Ngumka-Sele, he is a frog's wife (a laggard, one always 

 behind). Uyinxozva yamanzi, he is a bag of water (a useless 

 loafer). Ktikzva-Nkomo-isengiv' ilele, it's the place of Cow- 

 milked-lying-down (a village of desperately lazy people). Esihle- 

 liyo sidl' nknhlala, csipilayo sesitzvctwayo, the one that sits en- 

 joys its ease, but the one that thrives is the one that kee]>s moving. 

 His seat will stick to him, like the one Kenkeni carried on his 

 back, is said of one who is too lazy to shift his kraal to a clean 

 piece of ground. 



Labour is the lot of all : Even among the Boers a man must 

 work for his living, say the Basuto. Robes go from their wearers 

 to their weavers ; or : necklaces go from their wearers to their 

 workers. The labourer is worthy of his hire, we are told. So 

 think- the Bantu, too : The milker gets the last — and richest — 

 milk. Don't get cross with the cook ; meat always shrinks in 

 the boiling. Sometimes labour is hard : Inkombo imbizva emat- 

 yeni kubc-Lungu, a beast is dug out of the rocks at the white 



