Ibi ajá la ti ńmọ oǹrorò àpọ́n.
Where character shows
Original
Ibi ajá la ti ńmọ oǹrorò àpọ́n.
Literal gloss
- Ibi ajá at-the-matter-of-the-dog la ti ńmọ is-where we know oǹrorò àpọ́n the-cruel bachelor.
Idiomatic English
"It is from his treatment of his dog that one can tell which unmarried man will be a terror to live with."
No translator is named in the source.
What it means
Small unwatched behaviour predicts large behaviour.
Used when
Owomoyela: "One can tell much about a person's character from how he or she acts with regard to seemingly inconsequential matters" Used in practice when a family is assessing a suitor.
Notes on the translation
Àpọ́n is specifically an unmarried man, so the proverb has a definite social setting: the dog is the only dependent he currently has, and it is therefore the only available evidence. The reasoning is inductive and the proverb is unusually explicit about its own method.