Ahùwà-ìbàjẹ́ ṣe bí tòun là ńwí; aṣe-burúkú o kú ara fífun.

Ce que cela signifie

Wrongdoing produces a permanent suspicion that one is being talked about.

Employé quand

Owomoyela: "Evil acts breed uneasy consciences" Said when someone takes a general remark as a personal attack.

Notes sur la traduction

The second clause is a mock greeting. O kú is the ordinary Yorùbá greeting formula, "greetings on the occasion of," and attaching it to ara fífun, self-tightening or self-constriction, produces an ironic salutation for which English has no equivalent register. Owomoyela renders the sense and drops the form.

Dans cette collection

• Ìwà lẹwà.Character is beauty.
• Ìwà rere lẹ̀ṣọ́ èèyàn; ehín funfun lẹ̀ṣọ́ ẹ̀rín.Good character is a person's best adornment; white teeth are the adornment of a smile.
• Ìwà lòrìṣà; bí a ti hù ú sí ní ńgbeni sí.Character is a god; just as one lives it, so it succors one.
• Ìwà lẹ̀sìn.Character is worship.
• Ìwà kì í fi oníwà sílẹ̀.Character will not forsake its owner.
• Tìwà tìwà là ńràjò.It is in the company of one's character that one goes on a journey.