Dídán lẹyẹlé ńdán kú.
Character, appearance and the judgement of others
Original
Dídán lẹyẹlé ńdán kú.
Word-for-word gloss
- Dídán shining lẹyẹlé is-what the-pigeon ńdán kú shines until-death.
Idiomatic English
"A perpetually shining appearance is what characterizes the pigeon even until death."
Di source no name any translator.
Wetin e mean
Some reputations stay bright to the end.
When dem dey use am
Owomoyela records two readings: "Either an observation that a person's reputation cannot be tarnished or a wish that it never become tarnished"
Notes on di translation
Owomoyela's double gloss is worth preserving rather than resolving. The proverb can be a compliment or a blessing depending on delivery, and a collection that picks one reading destroys half of the proverb's utility. The construction dán kú, to shine until death, is the same verb-plus-kú pattern that gives jẹ kú, to eat until death.