Ilé dára ó ku ẹkẹ́; èèyàn-án dára ó ku ìwà.
Character against beauty, wealth and destiny
Original
Ilé dára ó ku ẹkẹ́; èèyàn-án dára ó ku ìwà.
Word-for-word gloss
- Ilé dára the-house is-fine ó ku ẹkẹ́ there-remains the-pillar; èèyàn-án dára a-person is-handsome ó ku ìwà there-remains character.
Idiomatic English
"The house is beautiful but for its pillars; a person is handsome, but what of character?"
Di source no name any translator.
Wetin e mean
A structure judged by its surface may be unsound where it bears weight.
When dem dey use am
Owomoyela: "Bad character nullifies any charm a person might have"
Notes on di translation
A variant of entry 10 with ẹkẹ́, the load-bearing pillar, in place of ìgbé, livability. The pillar version is the sharper one because it names the structural member: the fault is not in the finish but in what holds the building up.