Yorùbá proverbs built on the king's palace, cult shrines, and the secret groves of Orò and the egúngún masquerade cult, showing these as real, bounded, and differently governed places within the Yorùbá town.
Three distinct places anchor this file: ààfin, the king's palace; the shrine or cult-house of a particular òrìṣà or cult; and ìgbàlẹ̀, the secret grove of a masquerade or mystery cult, most often that of Orò or the egúngún. All three are bounded spaces with their own rules of entry, and Owomoyela's proverbs about them are almost always proverbs about the consequences of those rules, who may go in, who guards the way, and what happens to a person who enters wrongly, rather than proverbs about the buildings or landscape as scenery.
Literal: Ọ̀ṣẹ kì í gba ọfà lẹ́hìn a-palace-guard does-not receive an-arrow in-the-back; iwájú gangan ní ń fi-í gba ọgbẹ́ it-is-squarely-in-front that-he receives his-wounds.
Idiomatic: "A palace guard does not receive arrows in his back; he suffers wounds only in front."
Meaning: A person in a position of duty must act in a manner that suits that station, facing danger rather than fleeing it.
Used when: Owomoyela's note: "One must act in a manner that befits one's station"
Notes: The palace guard's post at the entrance to the ààfin is what gives the proverb its force: his exposure to the front, never the back, is a fact about where he stands relative to the building he defends.
Source: Owomoyela 334.
Literal: Pẹ̀lẹ́ larẹwà ń rìn carefully is-how-a-beautiful-person walks; jẹ́jẹ́ lọmọ ọlọ́jà ń yan gently is-how-the-king's-child struts.
Idiomatic: "Carefully is the manner in which a beautiful person walks; gently is the manner in which the child of the market-owner struts."
Meaning: Bearing and manner should match one's station, whether that station is physical beauty or royal descent.
Used when: Used, per the pairing, to describe a deportment fitting to elevated status.
Notes: Owomoyela's footnote explains ọlọ́jà, literally "owner of the market": it is a designation for the Yorùbá ọba (king), since the market is customarily sited just outside the palace [S1, note 89]. This detail, that the market and the palace stand adjacent as the two great public institutions of a Yorùbá town, recurs in this file (see entries 4 and 5) and connects this file directly to file 85 on the market as place.
Source: Owomoyela 548, with note 89.
Literal: Bí a kò bá rí wọlé-wọ́dẹ if one cannot find the-official-gatekeeper, a ò gbọdọ̀ wọlé ọba one must-not enter the-king's-house.
Idiomatic: "If one cannot find the official gatekeeper, one dares not enter the king's palace."
Meaning: Entry into another's domain, especially a domain as authoritative as a king's palace, requires the mediation of the proper gatekeeper.
Used when: Owomoyela's note: "Always ask leave before venturing into another person's domain"
Notes: Wọlé-wọ́dẹ, the official gatekeeper, is a named palace office, and this proverb states plainly that the palace is not open to unmediated entry even for people with legitimate business there; access runs through a specific, designated intermediary.
Source: Owomoyela 1405.
Literal: Bí àṣá bá ń bínú if the-kite is-angry, sùúrù ló yẹ ọlọ́jà patience is-what-suits the-market-owner.
Idiomatic: "If the kite is displaying anger, the best response for the trader is patience."
Meaning: In the face of a provocation from a powerful or unpredictable party, forbearance is the wiser course.
Used when: Owomoyela's note: "One must learn forbearance in the face of provocation"
Notes: Owomoyela's footnote again identifies ọlọ́jà, "the owner of the merchandise" or "the owner of the market," as a further designation for a king, since he owns the main market, sited outside the palace [S1, note 18]. Read with entries 2 and 5, this is the third instance in the collection of this specific piece of urban geography, palace and market as adjoining royal property, being invoked to explain a title.
Source: Owomoyela 1417, with note 18.
Literal: Òkú ẹjọ́ a-dead (already-decided) case lọlọ́jà ń dá is-what-the-ruler adjudicates.
Idiomatic: "It is a dead case that the ruler adjudicates."
Meaning: By the time a dispute reaches the highest authority for judgment, the outcome is effectively already settled.
Used when: Owomoyela's implicit note explains ọlọ́jà's judicial role directly: in his capacity as ruler, he "adjudicates and resolves disputes among his subjects," a role tied to his ownership of the market outside his palace [S1, note 89, second occurrence].
Notes: This proverb documents the king's palace as the seat of final adjudication, the place disputes are brought to when other, lower channels are exhausted, which situates the palace institutionally rather than only architecturally.
Source: Owomoyela 5168, with note 89.
Literal: Ilé ọba tó jó the-king's-house that burned, ẹwà ló bù sí i beauty is-what-was-added to-it.
Idiomatic: "The conflagration that destroyed the king's palace only makes it more palatial."
Meaning: Even the destruction of the most important building in town leads, through rebuilding, to something grander than before.
Used when: Owomoyela's note: "There are blessings hidden in every disaster"
Notes: Owomoyela's footnote clarifies the mechanism: the palace is rebuilt on a grander scale after such a fire [S1, note 75], which makes this proverb a piece of documentary evidence about the customary response to the loss of a royal building, expected and planned reconstruction on an improved footprint, not merely a figure of speech about silver linings in the abstract.
Source: Owomoyela 5068, with note 75. Also attested at .
Literal: Ẹni tó máa tọ́ òkú pẹ̀lẹ́ whoever wishes-to lay-in-state a-dead toad, yó nìí ilé ògbóni tirẹ̀ lọ́tọ̀ will-need his-own separate cult-house.
Idiomatic: "Whoever wishes to lay a dead toad in state will have to build his own cult shrine separately."
Meaning: Whoever insists on doing something absurd should not expect existing institutions, here a cult-house, to accommodate the absurdity.
Used when: Owomoyela's note: "Whoever wishes to do the absurd should not expect the cooperation or approval of others"
Notes: The proverb assumes a cult-house (ilé ògbóni, here used generically for a cult building rather than specifically the Ògbóni society itself) as a real, ordinary institution with its own proper uses, against which the absurd request is measured.
Source: Owomoyela 968.
Literal: Ẹni tó ránṣẹ́ sí Orò whoever sends-for Orò bọ̀ fún àìsùn is-contracting for sleeplessness.
Idiomatic: "Whoever sends for Orò is contracting for sleeplessness."
Meaning: Deliberately provoking a serious matter should be expected to bring serious, ongoing difficulty.
Used when: Owomoyela's note: "Whoever deliberately provokes trouble should be prepared for a difficult time"
Notes: This proverb assumes the hearer's knowledge of Orò's gravity as an institution, treated at length in file 77 and at 06-orisa/22-oro-agemo-and-cult-societies.md; here the proverb is used for provoked trouble generally, not for the cult specifically, but it depends on Orò's real weight to make its point.
Source: Owomoyela 974.
Literal: Màá-ṣe-é-màá-lọ obìnrin "I-will-do-as-I-please-and-go" woman, ojú-u pópó by-the-roadside lòrìṣà-a rẹ̀ ń gbé is-where-her-goddess's-shrine sits.
Idiomatic: "I-will-do-as-I-wish-and-go-my-way woman: the memorial shrine to her goddess belongs by the roadside."
Meaning: A wife who cares nothing for her own reputation deserves only the most exposed, least honoured form of memorial.
Used when: Owomoyela's note: "A wife who cares not about her character is not worth keeping"
Notes: This proverb draws a contrast, left implicit, between a shrine sited with proper dignity, presumably within a compound or a recognised sacred precinct, and one left exposed by the roadside; the location of a shrine is itself treated as a statement about the honour due its subject.
Source: Owomoyela 2757.
(Cross-referenced from file 71, entry 4, on a god's grove or shrine-house not being counted as part of the town's ordinary settlement. See that file for the full text and notes.)
Source: Owomoyela 612.
Literal: Ojú kì í tì eégún the-masquerader is-never-so-ashamed kó má mọ̀nà ìgbàlẹ́ that-he-forgets-the-way to-the-secret-grove.
Idiomatic: "A masquerader is never so shamed that he cannot find his way to the secret grove."
Meaning: However disgraced a person is, they retain the knowledge of how to retreat to their own proper, private ground.
Used when: Used to describe a person's unfailing capacity to withdraw to safety or privacy regardless of public humiliation.
Notes: Ìgbàlẹ́ (also spelled ìgbàlẹ̀), the secret grove of the egúngún masquerade cult, is a place from which non-initiates are excluded; Owomoyela's related footnote elsewhere notes that during the eégún season, people following paths such as those to rivers are likely to encounter masqueraders travelling to or from their ìgbàlẹ̀ [S1, note 1 to a related entry]. The full institutional account is at 06-orisa/20-egungun.md.
Source: Owomoyela 1119.
Literal: Bí obìnrín bá wọgbó Orò if a-woman enters the-grove of-Orò, a ò lè rí àbọ̀-ọ́ mọ́ one will-never see her-return.
Idiomatic: "If a woman enters the ritual grove of the Orò cult, no one will ever see her return."
Meaning: A forbidden action of this magnitude does not merely risk punishment; it courts destruction.
Used when: Owomoyela's note: "Any person who engages in forbidden action courts destruction"
Notes: This is a direct, unambiguous statement of the lethal consequence documented at file 77, entry 9, with its accompanying footnote there on Orò's death penalty for a woman's or an uninitiated man's intrusion; this proverb corroborates that footnote from a second, independent proverb entry in Owomoyela's collection.
Source: Owomoyela 1435.
Literal: Obìnrin tó gégi nígbó Orò a-woman who cuts-wood in-the-grove of-Orò, ó gé àgémọ̀ has-cut her-last.
Idiomatic: "A woman who cuts wood in the grove of Orò has cut her last."
Meaning: Whoever tempts a fate known to strike without fail has tempted it for the final time.
Used when: Owomoyela's note: "Whoever tempts a fate that is known to strike unfailingly has tempted her last"
Notes: This is a second independent proverb corroborating the same taboo as entry 12, this time specifically imagining a woman entering the grove for the ordinary, blameless purpose of gathering firewood, which sharpens the point: the taboo admits no exception for innocent intent.
Source: Owomoyela 1718.
Literal: Ọ̀nà ìgbàlẹ́ the-road to-the-secret-grove a máa já sọ́run may lead to-heaven.
Idiomatic: "The road to the secret grove of the egúngún cult may lead to heaven."
Meaning: Those who do the forbidden may pay for their presumption with their lives.
Used when: Owomoyela's note: "People who do the forbidden may pay dearly for their temerity"
Notes: "Heaven" here functions as the euphemism for death this corpus documents at file 75; the road to the ìgbàlẹ̀ is described as capable of becoming, for the wrong traveller, the road to death itself.
Source: Owomoyela 1852.
Literal: Ọ̀pọ̀ èèyàn a-multitude-of-people kì í wọ Orò does-not enter Orò's-domain kí Orò gbé wọn and-have-Orò carry-them-off.
Idiomatic: "A multitude of people cannot enter the Orò grove and be carried away by Orò."
Meaning: There is strength and safety in numbers, even against a force otherwise understood to be lethal to a lone or unauthorised intruder.
Used when: Owomoyela's note: "There is strength and security in numbers"
Notes: This proverb sits in some tension with entries 12 and 13, which describe individual violation as invariably fatal; here the claim is that a multitude entering together escapes that fate, which this corpus records as the tradition's own internal variation rather than resolving the apparent inconsistency, consistent with this section's general practice of not smoothing over proverbs that pull in different directions.
Source: Owomoyela 3224.
Literal: Orí pọ̀ ní Mọ̀gún heads are-many at-Mọ̀gún; ìpín àìṣẹ̀ ló pọ̀ níbẹ̀ the-portion of-the-innocent is-what-is-most-numerous there.
Idiomatic: "There are heads aplenty in the grove where Ògún receives sacrifice; most numerous are those of innocent people."
Meaning: Even a place of ritual sanction and sacrifice does not guarantee that only the deserving suffer there; innocence offers no reliable protection.
Used when: Owomoyela's note: "Even innocence does not always guarantee safety or justice"
Notes: Mọ̀gún names a specific grove associated with Ògún's sacrifice, and this proverb is unusual in this file for voicing something close to a critique, that the grove's toll falls disproportionately on the innocent, rather than a statement of the grove's authority being simply accepted.
Source: Owomoyela 3909.
Literal: Eégún ni baba lọ́run the-masquerader is-the-father-figure in-heaven; Pààká ni baba nígbàlẹ́ Pààká is-the-father-figure in-the-secret-grove.
Idiomatic: "The masquerader is the father figure in heaven; Pààká is the father figure in the masquerader's secret grove."
Meaning: Preeminence among one's peers is undisputed within one's own proper domain.
Used when: Owomoyela's note: "There is no disputing the preeminence of a person among his or her peers"
Notes: Pààká, a specific named masquerade figure who also appears in file 71 (entry 2, chasing a Ṣàngó worshiper into the bush), is here credited with primacy specifically within the ìgbàlẹ̀, distinct from the eégún institution's own primacy in the more general, euphemistic "heaven"; the proverb distinguishes rank within the grove from rank in the wider cosmology.
Source: Owomoyela 4397.
Literal: Kò sí ohun tí Alágbaà ò lè ṣe there-is-nothing that-the-Alágbaà cannot do nígbàlẹ́ eégún in-the-egúngún-grove.
Idiomatic: "There is nothing the Alágbaà cannot do in the eégun grove."
Meaning: A person invested with absolute authority within a bounded domain may act there without restraint.
Used when: Owomoyela's note: "The person invested with absolute authority can do as he or she wishes"
Notes: Alágbaà is the title of the chief priest of the egúngún cult, and the proverb's force depends specifically on the grove's status as a domain outside ordinary town jurisdiction, where his authority is unchecked in a way it would not be elsewhere.
Source: Owomoyela 4447.
Literal: Ibikíbi tí a bá Alágbaà wherever one finds Alágbaà nìgbàlẹ́ is-there-the-secret-grove.
Idiomatic: "Wherever one finds the chief priest of the egúngún cult, there his secret grove is."
Meaning: A person's authority attaches to the person, not to a fixed location or set of insignia.
Used when: Owomoyela's note: "A person's authority attaches to his or her person, not to the insignia"
Notes: This proverb makes explicit something entries 11 through 18 assume, that the ìgbàlẹ̀ is defined less by geographic fixity than by the presence of the authority proper to it; where the Alágbaà stands, the grove's jurisdiction effectively follows.
Source: Owomoyela 5014. Also attested at .
Nineteen proverbs here, six on the palace, four on shrines and cult-houses, nine on the secret grove, converge on a single structural fact: each of these three places is defined less by its physical fabric than by who may enter it and under what authority. The palace requires the mediation of a named gatekeeper (entry 3) and adjoins, but is distinct from, the market that shares its royal ownership (entries 2, 4, 5). The shrine's proper siting is itself a mark of honour or dishonour (entry 9). The secret grove is the sharpest case: entries 12 and 13 independently corroborate, from Owomoyela's collection, the lethal taboo against a woman's presence in Orò's grove already documented at file 77, while entry 15 records an apparently conflicting tradition that a multitude entering together is spared, a genuine internal variation the corpus reports rather than resolves.
Yorùbá proverbs in which the marketplace itself, as a physical location people enter, walk through, and disperse from, carries the argument, distinct from proverbs that use trade only as a figure of speech.
The restricted societies that sit alongside orisa worship: Oro and its night curfew, the Ijebu Agemo, the Ogboni earth society and its judicial role, described soberly and with the limits of public knowledge stated.
What a Yoruba town is made of, the palace at the centre, the market before it, the wards and compounds around it, and the wall and ditch that closed it in.
Thirty-eight Yorùbá proverbs on the crown, the throne, the palace and the offices around them, on what a king owns and what he cannot forbid, and on how a person is placed on a throne or kept off one, presented with the original, a literal gloss, a named translation, and the situation each is spoken in.
Fifty-eight Yorùbá proverbs on character, presented with the original, a literal gloss, a named translation, and the situation each is spoken in.
Forty-eight Yorùbá proverbs on the ọmọlúàbí ideal, presented with the original, a literal gloss, a named translation, and the situation each is spoken in.