AFRICAN PROVERBS
Proverbs are sweetly defined by Achebe as the palm-oil with which words are eaten. They enrich speech, and are used to educate, caution, warn, entertain, introduce and summarise an act of speech.
Each community has its own proverbs. These draw powerful images from the community’s immediate environment to talk about stuff that only they can aptly talk about. This, however, should not be misconstrued to imply that proverbs are local stuff. There is some universality of proverbs because they are based on human interactions with themselves, with each other and with their environment. Therefore, but for the wording and the imagery used, there are no differences among the proverbs. For example, the French equivalent to the English proverb ‘Slow but sure wins the race’ is ‘Petit à petit, l’oiseau fait son nid’. The Swahili will say, ‘Pole pole ndiomwendo’. These speak about the same thing: the sureness of slowness.
The Swahili people of the East African Coast, as seen in the example above, have not been left out in this craze for wise sayings. Their proverbs draw from the rich, hybrid cultural heritage of the people and are pleasant to the ear.
One such proverb is:Mwendatezinaomo, marejeongamani (He that goes to the stern (tezi) and to the bow (omo) of the ship will inevitably return to the port (ngamani).
This proverb draws its images from the sea, and specifically from ships. The ocean is a very important part of the environment for Waswahili– the Swahili.
The proverb above, just like any proverb, has two parts: the proposition (Mwendatezinaomo) and the completion (marejeongamani). During its performance, the person using it – usually an elder – would say the first part and the audience would supply the last one, for example:
SPEAKER: Mwendatezinaomo....
AUDIENCE: marejeongamani
This proverb is used to inform people, especially those who, for one reason or another, have strayed from home, that they, in spite of themselves, will come back home. A proverb with a similar meaning in english could be: East or West, home is best.
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