Ànán-mánàán ẹtú jìnfìn; oní-mónìí ẹtú jìnfìn; ẹran mìíràn ò sí nígbó lẹ́hìn ẹtu?

O que significa

Repeated misfortune to the same person points to something in the person.

Usado quando

Owomoyela: "If the same person repeatedly finds himself or herself in difficulties others are able to avoid, one should look to the person's character for the explanation"

Notas sobre a tradução

The reduplications ànán-mánàán and oní-mónìí are emphatic time adverbs with a mocking rhythm that the English cannot reproduce. The proverb is a piece of reasoning, not an accusation: it declines to say what is wrong with the antelope and only observes that the pattern needs explaining.

Nesta coleção

• Ìwà lẹwà.Character is beauty.
• Ìwà rere lẹ̀ṣọ́ èèyàn; ehín funfun lẹ̀ṣọ́ ẹ̀rín.Good character is a person's best adornment; white teeth are the adornment of a smile.
• Ìwà lòrìṣà; bí a ti hù ú sí ní ńgbeni sí.Character is a god; just as one lives it, so it succors one.
• Ìwà lẹ̀sìn.Character is worship.
• Ìwà kì í fi oníwà sílẹ̀.Character will not forsake its owner.
• Tìwà tìwà là ńràjò.It is in the company of one's character that one goes on a journey.