Ahùwà-ìbàjẹ́ ṣe bí tòun là ńwí; aṣe-burúkú o kú ara fífun.
Character formed and deformed
Original
Ahùwà-ìbàjẹ́ ṣe bí tòun là ńwí; aṣe-burúkú o kú ara fífun.
Literal gloss
- Ahùwà-ìbàjẹ́ one-who-grows-corrupt-character ṣe bí tòun là ńwí thinks it-is-his that we discuss; aṣe-burúkú evildoer o kú ara fífun greetings on your self-constriction.
Idiomatic English
"The person of evil character thinks he is the subject of discussion; the evildoer is plagued by suspiciousness."
No translator is named in the source.
What it means
Wrongdoing produces a permanent suspicion that one is being talked about.
Used when
Owomoyela: "Evil acts breed uneasy consciences" Said when someone takes a general remark as a personal attack.
Notes on the translation
The second clause is a mock greeting. O kú is the ordinary Yorùbá greeting formula, "greetings on the occasion of," and attaching it to ara fífun, self-tightening or self-constriction, produces an ironic salutation for which English has no equivalent register. Owomoyela renders the sense and drops the form.