Tsumo
Shona proverbs · 104 entries
A
C
- Chafamba chasvava.What has travelled has wilted.
- Chaitemura chava kuseva.The one who used to eat sadza plain now dips it in relish.
- Chakafukidza dzimba matenga.What covers houses is the roofs.
- Chara chimwe hachitswanyi inda.One thumb cannot crush a louse.
- Charova sei chando chakwidza hamba mumuti?How hard has the cold struck, to make a tortoise climb a tree?
- Charovedzera charovedzera, gudo rakakwira mawere kwasviba.What is used to something is used to it: the baboon climbed the cliff after dark.
- Chawawana idya nehama, mutorwa ane hanganwa.Eat what you have found with your relatives; a stranger is forgetful.
- Chembere mukadzi, hazvienzani nokurara mugota.An old woman is still a wife; it is not the same as sleeping in the bachelors' hut.
- Chenga ose manhanga, hapana risina mhodzi.Keep all the pumpkins; there is none without seeds.
- Chidamwoyo, hamba yakada makwati.It is what the heart wants: the tortoise chose its shell.
- Chidziva chakadzikama ndicho chinogara ngwena.It is the calm pool that is home to the crocodile.
- Chigare chenda, kudya akaitakura.It is the louse's way to bite the one who carries it.
- Chinokanganwa idemo, chitsiga hachikanganwe.The axe forgets; the tree stump does not.
- Chinokura usipo imombe, munda unokura nokuvandurirwa.What grows in your absence is cattle; a field grows by being extended.
- Chinono chine ngwe, bere rakadya richifamba.Taking it slowly is the leopard's way; the hyena ate while on the move.
- Chinonyenga chinokotama, chinosimudza musoro chawana.The one who is courting bows low; it lifts its head once it has got what it wanted.
- Chinoziva ivhu kuti mwana wembeva anorwara.Only the soil knows that the baby mouse is ill.
- Chirere, mangwana chigozokurerawo.Look after it, and tomorrow it will look after you.
- Chiri mumwoyo chiri muninga.What is in the heart is in a deep cave.
- Chiri pamuchena chiri pamutenure.What is in a poor man's hands is on a slope.
- Chisi hachieri musi wacharimwa.The rest day does not strike on the day it was farmed.
- Chitsva chiri murutsoka.The new is in the foot.
- Chivendekete anoseka chimedure.The one with a gap in his teeth laughs at the one with a broken tooth.
- Chomungozva chinodyiwa nowabata mwana.A nursing mother's food is eaten by the one who holds her baby.
- Chura kugara mumvura handi kunwa.A frog living in water does not mean it drinks.
D
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H
- Hapana mhou inokumira mhuru isiri yayo.No cow lows for a calf that is not its own.
- Harahwa mbiri hadzibidzani rwizi.Two old men do not help each other across a river.
- Hari haiviri isina mukuchidziri.A pot does not boil without someone to tend the fire.
- Hurudza inofa ichinzi inodya.A rich farmer dies of hunger while people say he is eating.
I
K
- Kamoto kamberevere kanopisa matanda mberi.A small smouldering fire burns the logs further on.
- Kandiro enda, kandiro dzoka.Little dish, go; little dish, come back.
- Kandiro kanoenda kunobva kamwe.A small plate goes where another came from.
- Kubaya tange hama, vatorwa vakutye.When you strike, start with your kin, so that outsiders respect you.
- Kudada kwevari mugomo kukumbira vari pasi mapfihwa.It is the arrogance of those on the hill to ask those on the plain for hearthstones.
- Kugara hunzwana.Living together is understanding one another.
- Kugocha kunoda kwamai, kwemwana kunodzima moto.Roasting is fine when the mother does it; when the child does it, it puts out the fire.
- Kuneta kwomukuyi, sadza rinodyiwa navagere.The tiredness is the grinder's, but the sadza is eaten by those who sat.
- Kungotya nyanga dzezizi, nyamba manhenga.It is only fear of the owl's horns, when they are just feathers.
- Kupa kuturika.To give is to hang something up for later.
- Kuramba nyama yechidembo hunge uine yetsuro.If you refuse polecat meat, you must have hare meat.
- Kurava mbudzi nedzisipo, kurava nedzava matowo.Counting goats that are not here means counting ones that are already hides.
- Kurayira kunoda pwere, mukuru ndimambo.Advice is for children; an adult is a king.
- Kure kwegava ndokusina mutsubvu.The only place too far for a jackal is where there is no mutsubvu tree.
- Kurera imbwa nomukaka, mangwana inofuma yokuruma.Raise a dog on milk, and tomorrow it will bite you.
- Kureva ndokunei, kutarisa kurevawo.Why speak? Looking is speaking too.
- Kuwanda huuya, museve wakapotera pamuzukuru.Being many is good: the arrow struck the nephew instead.
- Kuziva mbuya huudzwa.Knowing your mother-in-law comes from being told.
M
- Mandikurumidze akabara mandinonoke.Hurry-me gave birth to delay-me.
- Mapudzi anowira kusina hari.Squashes fall where there are no pots.
- Matakadya kare haanyaradzi mwana.What we ate long ago does not quiet a hungry child.
- Matukirwo ababa, kunema mwana.The way to scold a father is to tease his child.
- Mazvokuda, kufa namaronda enyora.It is one's own choice to die from the wounds of tattoo cuts.
- Mbeva zhinji hadzina mashe.Many mice have no lining for their nest.
- Mbudzi kudya mufenje, hufana nyina.A goat eats the mufenje tree because it takes after its mother.
- Mhembwe rudzi, inozvara mwana ane kazhumu.The duiker is true to its kind: it bears a young one with a tuft on its head.
- Mhosva inorondwa, hakuna mhosva yakaita honye.A wrong is tracked down; no offence ever rotted away.
- Mombe inopfuura haipedzi uswa.A passing ox does not finish the grass.
- Murombo haarovi chine nguo.A poor man never kills an animal with a hide.
- Murombo munhu.A poor person is a person.
- Muromo haupi, chinopa maoko.The mouth does not give; it is the hands that give.
- Muroyi munhu, kubayiwa anochemawo.A witch is a person: when pricked, she cries too.
- Muroyi, royera kure, ugowana anokuviga.Witch, bewitch far away, so that you will have someone to bury you.
- Murume akanaka asiri wako.A good husband is one who is not yours.
- Mwana asingachemi anofira mumbereko.A child who does not cry dies in the baby sling.
- Mwana muduku kubvuma rwendo, rwake ruri mberi.When a small child agrees to an errand, it has an errand of its own ahead.
- Mwana washe muranda kumwe.A chief's child is a servant elsewhere.
- Mweni haaendi nedura.A guest does not leave with the granary.
N
- Natsa kwaunobva, kwaunoenda usiku.Make peace where you come from; where you are going is dark.
- Ndambakuudzwa akaonekwa nembonje pahuma.The one who refused to be told was seen with a scar on the forehead.
- Nhamo yomumwe hairambirwi sadza.Another person's trouble is no reason to refuse your food.
- Nhasi chineni, mangwana chinewe.Today it is my turn; tomorrow it is yours.
- Nzombe huru yakabva mukurerwa.A big ox came from being nurtured.
- Nzou hairemerwi nenyanga dzayo.An elephant is not weighed down by its own tusks.
P
- Pachapwa madziva miramba tichanyurura.When the pools dry up, we will scoop out the catfish.
- Pagara murimi, pagara mupopoti.Where a farmer lives, a grumbler lives.
- Panoda mwoyo nzira haisviki.The path never reaches the place the heart longs for.
- Panodya ishe, varanda vanodyawo.When the chief eats, his subjects eat too.
- Panorairwa mwana wamambo, muranda teerera.When the king's son is being advised, servant, listen.
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- Zino irema, rinosekerera warisingadi.A tooth is a fool; it smiles at someone it does not like.
- Ziso romukadzi womumwe rinodonha uchi.The eye of another man's wife drips honey.
- Zvikoni zvikoni, mimba haibvi negosoro.What cannot be done cannot be done; a pregnancy does not come out with a cough.
- Zviuya hazviwanani.Good things do not marry each other.