Dídán lẹyẹlé ńdán kú.
Character, appearance and the judgement of others
Original
Dídán lẹyẹlé ńdán kú.
Literal 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."
No translator is named in the source.
What it means
Some reputations stay bright to the end.
Used when
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 the 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.