SIRONGA I'ROVERDS. 407 



objoct of extracting a confession. " Hanta " means to 

 say many things at random, or misleadingly, when one- 

 is forced to give evidence against one's will, and seeks to 

 avoid disclosing what one knows. 



34-. Ntnirnbani 5a ku nangii. 



Stop them! They are tasting (food)." 

 This saying suggests several interesting points, Ntsimbani 

 is equivalent to tsimbani, imperative of ku tsimba, to 

 hinder, and illustrates the, apparently, optional nazaliza- 

 tion which one, sometimes finds with verbal and other 

 roots. .Sa replaces the expected prono^<n ba, (c.p. similar 

 substitution of si for icu in No. 30). Ku ku yiangu is a 

 descriptive complement, expressing the action of tasting 

 with the tongue, rolling on the tongue, savouring a flavour. 

 This exclamatory phrase is used when people see others 

 eating, and have no hope of being invited to share the 

 feast. 



35. A wotidi lakakuba ka ku sa ndcpfana yinwe. 



He got so thin that there was only one hair left in 

 his beard." 

 Thie Eev. H. A. Juhod (Les Baronga, p. 261) gives this 

 as the reply, or second line, of an enigma, one of a class 

 in which there is no real similarity between the objects 

 compared, but only similarity of sound. His example is: 



Hi kiimi nkhuhlu, xou tvupfa-wupfa, ka ku sala huhlu 



yinwe. 

 Hi kumi nndungu, a ivojida-ioonda, ka ku sala ndepfu 



yih we . 



We found an nkhuhlu tree, which ripened and 

 ripened; there only remained one huhlu (fruit) on it." 



We found a white man who got thinner and thinner, 

 (until) there was only one hair left in his beard." 

 I took it, perhaps wrongly, as a proverbial expression of 

 exaggeration. 



36^ Songan' ! julara nfjiakn maginya. 



" He looks handsome in front; but he is ugly behind." 



Cp. " / songan i 2va nhunu." He is good looking. Maginya 

 means " ugliness." This is said of a man of prepossessing 

 appearance, but who has a way of doing nasty things, and 

 may perhaps- mean " Fine feathers do not make- fine 

 birds. " 



37. Anhtmqa ya kulc a yi na kv Iwcla mhunu. 



" A stick that is far away cannot protect a man." 

 An absent friend cannot help. 



38. Aku fshuta ku bitana ka nya. 



This is too gross for translation. It is an exact equivalent 

 of " Coming events cast their shadows before." 



EE 



