Page:Hausa Proverbs.djvu/31

Rh 51 Idan gamba tana da dadi a nono, nono ma yana da dadi a wuri'n gamba.
 * If gamba is pleasant (to drink) with sour milk, sour milk is pleasant to drink with gamba.
 * Gamba, the flour of millet, to which water has been added.
 * If he likes me, I like him. If he agrees, I do.

52 Ba rabbo ba, dan wâbi ya fada a wutta.
 * That was not fated to be my share: it is as though a dan wabi had fallen into the fire and been burnt to death.
 * It was fated that I should not get it; it is no loss.
 * Dan wabi, a child that is fated to die.
 * Mai wabi, a woman whose children die one after another.
 * Itachi'n wabi, a tree whose fruit falls off" without ripening.

53 Wurinda baki ya karkatta, nan myo kan zubar.
 * Wherever the mouth turns, there spittle is expectorated.

54 Ganni ya fi ji.
 * Seeing is better than hearing.
 * To be able to say that you have seen a thing with your own eyes is better than only to know by hearsay.
 * The full formula is—Q. Ka ganni? A. Xa ganni. Q. Ka ji ? A. Na ji.
 * The questioner now says—ganni ya fi ji—seeing is believing.

55 Zamma dubara, ta fi karifi.
 * Stratagem is better than brute force.
 * Na yi maka dubara. I give you a bit of advice.

56 Kadda ya yi cbikki, ya haifu wuya.
 * Don't let him conceive and bring forth trouble.
 * Don't do something that you will be sorry for afterwards.