Ànán-mánàán ẹtú jìnfìn; oní-mónìí ẹtú jìnfìn; ẹran mìíràn ò sí nígbó lẹ́hìn ẹtu?
Original
Ànán-mánàán ẹtú jìnfìn; oní-mónìí ẹtú jìnfìn; ẹran mìíràn ò sí nígbó lẹ́hìn ẹtu?
Glose littérale
- Ànán-mánàán yesterday-and-yesterday ẹtú jìnfìn the-antelope falls-in-a-pit; oní-mónìí today-and-today ẹtú jìnfìn the-antelope falls-in-a-pit; ẹran mìíràn ò sí nígbó is-there-no other animal in-the-forest lẹ́hìn ẹtu besides the-antelope?
Anglais idiomatique
"Yesterday the antelope was caught in a pit trap; today the antelope is caught in a pit trap; is there no other animal in the forest besides the antelope?"
Aucun traducteur n'est nommé dans la source.
Ce que cela signifie
Repeated misfortune to the same person points to something in the person.
Employé quand
Owomoyela: "If the same person repeatedly finds himself or herself in difficulties others are able to avoid, one should look to the person's character for the explanation"
Notes sur la traduction
The reduplications ànán-mánàán and oní-mónìí are emphatic time adverbs with a mocking rhythm that the English cannot reproduce. The proverb is a piece of reasoning, not an accusation: it declines to say what is wrong with the antelope and only observes that the pattern needs explaining.