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

Ohun tí ó túmọ̀ sí

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

Ìgbà tí a ń lò ó

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"

Àkíyèsí lórí ìtumọ̀

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.

Nínú àkójọpọ̀ yìí

• 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.