Gikuyu Proverbs G

G

36. Gakĩĩbatha nĩ koĩ nĩ karĩthoitha

• • Literal translation: He who spends his time adorning himself knows he is going to a dance.
  • English equivalent: There is a reason for everything.

37. Gakĩĩhotora nĩko koĩ ũrĩa karĩina

• • Literal translation: He who adorns himself knows to what sort of dance he is going.
  • English equivalent: There is a reason for everything.

38. Gakunywo kagĩra thooko

• • Literal translation: The fool takes many people with him.
  • Contextual note: It is said of people who, when invited to a feast, instead of going alone, take others with them.
  • English equivalent: A fool cannot bear his own company.

39. Garũrĩra mbeũ ti ya kĩnya kĩmwe

• • Literal translation: Change seeds taking them from different calabashes.
  • English equivalent: It is good to introduce new blood.

40. Gatami karĩ mondo yene gatingĩkũratĩra nguo

• • Literal translation: The piece of cloth that is in another’s bag does not patch your garment.

41. Gathutha konagia mũndũ njĩra

• • Literal translation: A little, contemptible path is sometimes the one that leads you to the highway.
  • English equivalent: Little strokes fell great oaks.

42. Gatitũ ka mũimwo nĩ irĩ noko karĩ mĩtĩ

• • Literal translation: The forest of an unpleasant (ill-liked) person is the one that has trees.
  • Contextual note: The proverb means that evil-doers often do prosper.

43. Gatitũ ka ngoro gatiunagwo

• • Literal translation: The grove of the hear is not laid open.

44. Gatinyinyiraga gatarĩ gakunye

• • Literal translation: Nobody cries that has not been pinched.
  • English equivalent: No smoke without fire.

45. Gatuma kainagia mũrigwa

• • Literal translation: Darkness caused to dance even him who cannot.
  • English equivalent: All cats are the same in colour at night.

46. Gatundu koragithirie Watatua

• • Literal translation: A secret agreement enabled people to kill Watatua.
  • Contextual note: Watatua was a powerful Chief, invincible in open combat, who was killed at night by a few men.
  • English equivalent: Secret union means strength.

47. Gĩathĩ gĩtharagio nĩ gaka kamwe

• • Literal translation: A market can be spoiled by one woman.
  • English equivalent: One cloud is enough to eclipse the sun.

48. Gĩathĩ kĩrĩ mũrugĩrwo

• • Literal translation: Every feast has its guest of honor.

49. Gĩathĩ kĩrĩagwo nĩ kĩngĩ

• • Literal translation: One appointment is eaten by another.
  • English equivalent: Today kills yesterday.

50. Gĩathĩ kĩũmũ no kĩa mũrokero

• • Literal translation: That of circumcision is a hard appointment.
  • Contextual note: The Kikuyu circumcision is a civil and religious rite by which the adolescent is admitted into the public life of the tribe and becomes a man in the full possession of his rights. The ceremony is physically painful, but the candidate is expected to face the operation without wincing.
  • English equivalent: There are not gains without pains.

51. Gĩeterero ti kiĩnaino

• • Literal translation: To wait is not to tremble.
  • English equivalent: Men’s actions are not to be judged at first sight.

52. Gĩcegũ kĩa andũ aingĩ ti kĩega

• • Literal translation: The ‘gĩcegũ’ of many men is not good.
  • Contextual note: ‘Gĩcegũ’ is that part of the Kikuyu hut where they enclose the ram in order to fatten it.
  • English equivalent: Too many cooks spoil the broth.

53. Gĩcigo kĩa mũgũnda gĩtinyihaga

• • Literal translation: A piece of land is not a little thing.
  • Contextual note: The proverb means that however small the field you possess, it has its importance if you work it.
  • English equivalent: A little house well filled, a little land well tilled, a little wife well willed are great riches.

54. Gĩikaro kĩmwe kĩrĩ ngee kana ndaa

• • Literal translation: By staying always in the same place one gets lice.
  • English equivalent: The world is a great book, of which they that never stir from home read only one page.

55. Gĩkũrũ kĩega no kĩratina

• • Literal translation: The only thing good, though old, is the ‘mũratina’.
  • Contextual note: ‘Mũratina’ is the fruit of the hot-dog tree (Kigelia Etiopica) used by the natives to cause fermentation of sugar-cane beer. It is believed that the older the fruit, the greater it is fermenting power. The proverb means that there are only few things that improve with age.

56. Gĩkuũ gĩtiraragĩrio

• • Literal translation: You cannot (do not) make an appointment with death.

57. Gĩthaka gĩtigunaga muni, kĩgunaga mũki

• • Literal translation: The land enriches not people who clear it, but people who come (when it is already cleared).
  • English equivalent: One beats the bush, and another catches the bird.

58. Gĩthaka kĩa mũici nĩ gũkaana

• • Literal translation: Lying is the thief’s stronghold.

59. Gĩthũmba gĩtirĩ mũrimũ wa ngoro

• • Literal translation: Beggars have no worries.
  • English equivalent: Poverty needs no granary.

60. Gĩthũri kĩrĩ mwatũ wa ngotoko

• • Literal translation: The chest contains a beehive full of pride.
  • Contextual note: The proverb means that proud people have always in store lots of reasons justifying their wickedness.

61. Gĩtiganĩrĩro kĩrũgĩtwo nĩ kĩrũgamanio

• • Literal translation: Talking something over is better than leaving it pending.
  • English equivalent: Never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today.

62. Gĩtiiro kĩa mũka wene gĩtĩkagio athiĩ

• • Literal translation: The song of a stranger-woman is answered after she has gone.
  • Contextual note: The proverb is metaphorically used to mean that foreigners, especially women, are not to be trusted too much.
  • English equivalent: Eat a peck of salt with a man before you trust him.

63. Gĩtindo kĩa mũciĩ nĩ kĩũru

• • Literal translation: It is bad to stay at home.
  • English equivalent: He that stays in the valley shall never get over the hill.

64. Gĩtoĩ kĩmenyaga kĩerwo

• • Literal translation: He who does not know, knows after being told.
  • English equivalent: A man forewarned is forearmed.

65. Gĩtoĩ kĩraragia kĩũĩ njĩra

• • Literal translation: He who does not know the road delays also one that knows it.
  • English equivalent: Who goes with a fool becomes a fool.

66. Gĩtonga kĩgiragio iganjo gĩkarĩma

• • Literal translation: The rich man cannot be prevented from cultivating the ‘iganjo’ he wants.
  • Contextual note: ‘Iganjo’ is the place upon which a hut had been built. Since the flocks live in the owner’s hut, the floor of the hut becomes fertilized. The proverb refers to the fact that if a rich man has left a piece of his land to a poor man on which to build his hut, very often he wants it back as soon as the soil under the hut has been enriched by the dropping of the animals.
  • English equivalent: Mights is right.

67. Gĩtonga kĩrĩaga mũnyuko

• • Literal translation: Rich people sometimes eat bad food.
  • English equivalent: All is not gold that glitters.

68. Gũceera nĩ kũhĩga

• • Literal translation: Traveling is learning.
  • English equivalent: The world is a great book, of which they that never stir read only one page.

69. Gũcekeha ti gũicũhio

• • Literal translation: To be slim does not mean having been pared.
  • English equivalent: Do not scorn little things.

70. Gũciara kunaga irigũ ngingo

• • Literal translation: The woman who gives birth to a child is like the banana tree that breaks under the weight of its fruit.
  • English equivalent: Maternity means pain to the mother.

71. Gũciara ũru ti kwenda kwa mwene

• • Literal translation: It is not the mother’s will to have a bad offspring.

72. Gũcukagwo ũtagũteo

• • Literal translation: People slander somebody even if they do not despise him.

73. Gũkĩara na gũtonga ititiganaga

• • Literal translation: Riches and poverty do not leave each other.

74. Gũkira kũrĩ ngatho

• • Literal translation: To keep one’s tongue is worthy of praise.
  • English equivalent: Silence is golden.

75. Gũkira nĩ gũthũrana

• • Literal translation: Not to talk is to hate.
  • English equivalent: One keeps silence with people one does not like.

76. Gũkirĩrĩria kwagĩra kĩeha

• • Literal translation: Indulgence breeds regret.

77. Gũkũra nĩ kũũru: ngathiĩ ũrĩrĩ ngĩcayaga

• • Literal translation: It is bad to get old, for one goes to bed grumbling.
  • English equivalent: Old sacks want much patching.

78. Gũkuhĩrĩria mbaara tikuo kũrũa

• • Literal translation: The fact that you have gone near the battle-field does not mean that you fought.

79. Gũkungagwo ũtukũ ti mũthenya

• • Literal translation: Thieves conceal themselves in the night not in the day.
  • English equivalent: The night is a cloak for sinners.

80. Guota mwaki nĩ gũcera

• • Literal translation: To get the warmth of fire one must stir the embers.
  • English equivalent: No gains without pains.

81. Guoya ũtũũragia ũkĩa mũciĩ

• • Literal translation: The fear (of toil) keeps your house poor.
  • English equivalent: Idleness is the key of beggary.

82. Gũteithagio wĩteithĩtie

• • Literal translation: If you help yourself you will be helped.
  • English equivalent: God helps those who help themselves.

83. Gũtema na kanua ti gĩtema na rũhiũ

• • Literal translation: Cutting by the tongue is different from cutting by the knife.
  • Contextual note: Slander is not mortal stabbing.
  • English equivalent: Hard words break no bones.

84. Gũthama nĩkuo kũhika kwa arũme

• • Literal translation: A man changing his abode is like a woman marrying.
  • Contextual note: As a woman, on marrying, adopts the customs of the family she enters, so a man going to live in a strange country, must accept its customs.
  • English equivalent: When in Rome do as Rome does.

85. Gũthekererwo nĩ andũ ti kũrĩrĩrwo nĩ hiti

• • Literal translation: To be laughed at by men is not to be wept by hyenas.
  • English equivalent: Better to be laughed at than to die.

86. Gũthekererwo ti kũrĩrĩrwo

• • Literal translation: To be laughed at is not to be pitied.
  • Contextual note: One starting any enterprise ought not to fear what others say of him.
  • English equivalent: Do well and dread no shame.

87. Gũthekio ti kwendwo

• • Literal translation: If anybody makes you laugh, it is not always because he loves you.
  • English equivalent: Eat a peck of salt with a man before you trust him.

88. Gũthĩgagio mbura gũtongĩtwo matũgũta

• • Literal translation: Some hope for rain even though they have not prepared their fields.
  • Contextual note: He who hopes for favours should have prepared himself to profit by them.

89. Gũthiĩ gũtigiragia mũndũ acoke

• • Literal translation: To go does not prevent a man from returning.
  • English equivalent: Never give up.

90. Gũthiĩ kuonagia mũndũ njĩra

• • Literal translation: Travelling teaches men their way.

91. Gũthiĩ nĩ kuona

• • Literal translation: Travelling is seeing.
  • English equivalent: Travel broadens the mind.

92. Gũthimba ti kuura

• • Literal translation: Having rain clouds is not the same as having rain.
  • English equivalent: Don’t cry herrings till they are in the net.

93. Gũthinga kũrũgĩte gũtonga

• • Literal translation: Virtue is better than riches.
  • English equivalent: Virtue is the only true nobility.

94. Gũthinga nĩkuo kĩhooto

• • Literal translation: Virtue is power.
  • English equivalent: Virtue makes men on the earth famous, in their graves illustrious, in the heaven immortal.

95. Gũthura ng’ombe nĩ gũthura kamũkwa kayo

• • Literal translation: To despise the ox means to despise also a strip of hide from it.
  • Contextual note: One cannot scorn great things without scorning little ones related to them.

96. Gũthukagĩrio wanatega itega

• • Literal translation: One favours him from whom one has in the past received a gift.
  • English equivalent: One good turn deserves another.

97. Gũthuragwo mũndũ ũrĩendwo

• • Literal translation: A man is (sometimes) scorned who will be loved (later on).
  • English equivalent: Judge not of men or things at first sight.

98. Gũtirĩ gĩtatũirie kĩngĩ

• • Literal translation: There is no thing which does not cause another to exist.

99. Gũtirĩ gĩthĩnji ũtathĩnja

• • Literal translation: There is no butcher that does not slaughter.
  • English equivalent: Every man to his trade.

100. Gũtirĩ gũkũra na kũrara kerĩ

• • Literal translation: One ages every night one lives.
  • English equivalent: Time fleeth away without delay.

101. Gũtirĩ ita ithiagwwo na gĩtete kĩa njohi no gĩa ũcũrũ

• • Literal translation: No war has been fought by men carrying a calabash of ‘njohi’ but of ‘ũcũrũ’.
  • Contextual note: ‘Njohi’ is an inebriating drink brewed out of sugar-cane. ‘Ũcũrũ’ is a kind of thin porridge made by boiling millet-flour in water. This gruel is supposed to be highly nourishing and therefore suitable for long journeys or hard fighting; while the sugar-cane beer by inebriating the warriors makes them weak and easy prey to the enemy.
  • English equivalent: Out of temperance comes strength.

102. Gũtirĩ mbura ĩtarĩ na gĩtonga kĩayo

• • Literal translation: There is no rain which does not enrich someone.
  • English equivalent: It is an ill wind that blows nobody good.

103. Gũtirĩ mũciĩ ũrĩ kahĩĩ ũtakarugwo mũtwe

• • Literal translation: In every family where there is a son, the head of an ox, goat or ram is cooked to be eaten by him with his friends.
  • Contextual note: They use the proverb to mean that ordinarily a son gives his parent more trouble than a daughter, or that in every family parents do not lack troubles.
  • English equivalent: There is a black sheep in every family.

104. Gũtirĩ mũici na mũcũthĩrĩria

• • Literal translation: There is no difference between the thief and the looker-on.

105. Gũtirĩ mũki ũrehage ũrugarĩ

• • Literal translation: Nobody entering a hut pays for the heart he will enjoy in it.
  • Contextual note: Only the owner of the hut had the drudgery of carrying home the firewood; the visitor does not know the cost of the fire he is enjoying. Metaphorically the proverb is used to say that he who enters a house cannot realise the troubles of the occupants.
  • English equivalent: None knows the weight of another’s burden.

106. Gũtirĩ mũndũ ũĩ harĩa egũthiĩ no harĩa ekuuma

• • Literal translation: Nobody knows where he goes, but only whence he comes.
  • English equivalent: No one can see into the future.

107. Gũtirĩ mũndũ wendaga gũtũngana na nyoni njũru

• • Literal translation: Nobody wants to meet an ill-omened bird.
  • Contextual note: To the Kikuyu many birds foreshadow calamity. The cry of the owl forebodes mishap. If the owl cries, perched on the top of a hut, the oldest man in that village will die very soon. If someone, about to make a journey, hears the cry of any bird of ill- omen, he must not start on any account.
  • English equivalent: Nobody seeks his own ruin.

108. Gũtirĩ mũndũ ũtangĩtuĩka wa ndigwa

• • Literal translation: There is no man that cannot become an orphan.
  • English equivalent: No flying from fate.

109. Gũtirĩ mũndũ wonaga wega wake, no kuonwo wonagwo

• • Literal translation: Nobody can see his own goodness: it can be seen only by others.

110. Gũtirĩ mũrĩo ũtainagia rũthĩa

• • Literal translation: There is no pleasure (however little it may be) that does not cause one’s cheeks to tremble.
  • Contextual note: The Kikuyu consider the cheek trembling an expression of joy.
  • English equivalent: A little pleasure is nertheless a pleasure.

111. Gũtirĩ mũthenya ũkĩaga ta ũngĩ

• • Literal translation: No day dawns like another.
  • English equivalent: Every day brings a new light.

112. Gũtirĩ mũtumia wenjagĩrwo mbuĩ kwa nyina

• • Literal translation: No married woman will have her white hair shaved at her mother's.
  • Contextual note: The Kikuyu girls go around with bald heads which they get periodically shaved by their relations. So the woman, who by being married has left her house and relations, will never be shaved at her mother's.
  • English equivalent: Once sold, ever sold.

113. Gũtirĩ mwana ũngĩtema agĩtemera ithe

• • Literal translation: The son does not cut his finger in cutting meat for his father.
  • English equivalent: Sons are stingier than their parents.

114. Gũtirĩ ngware ĩtarĩ mũhurĩrie wayo

• • Literal translation: There is no partridge which does not know its own way of scratching.
  • English equivalent: As many methods as men.

115. Gũtirĩ ngware nyinyi mahurĩrio-inĩ

• • Literal translation: No partridge is small when it claws the soil.
  • English equivalent: Every one can do great good or evil according to his possibilities.

116. Gũtirĩ njamba ĩrumaga imera igĩrĩ

• • Literal translation: No prepotent man will insult other people for two consecutive seasons.
  • Contextual note: Prepotence comes quickly to an end.

117. Gũtirĩ nyama na ngirinyũ

• • Literal translation: Meat has no choice morsel.
  • Contextual note: When distributing the meat or anything else one must not favour any one person.

118. Gũtirĩ nyoni njega mwere-inĩ

• • Literal translation: There is no nice bird in the millet.
  • Contextual note: Millet is one of the staple crops of the Kikuyu. They protect it from birds by building pulpit-like huts in which boys or women stand to frighten them whilst the harvest is ripening.
  • English equivalent: Even sugar itself may spoil a good dish.

119. Gũtirĩ ũciaragwo arĩ mũgĩ

• • Literal translation: Nobody is born wise.

120. Gũtirĩ ũcokaga harĩa arũmĩirwo kaara

• • Literal translation: Nobody returns where he got his finger bitten.
  • English equivalent: Once bitten twice shy.

121. Gũtirĩ ũikagia itimũ atarĩ na harĩa akũratha

• • Literal translation: Nobody throws a lance if he has no target.
  • English equivalent: There is a reason for everything.

122. Gũtirĩ ũkinyaga mũkinyĩre wa ũngĩ

• • Literal translation: Nobody walks with another man’s gait.
  • English equivalent: Every man in his way.

123. Gũtirĩ ũndũ ũtarĩ kĩhumo

• • Literal translation: There is nothing without a cause.
  • English equivalent: All things have a beginning.

124. Gũtirĩ ũrĩragio nĩ ũkĩa wene

• • Literal translation: Nobody grumbles at being rich, all at being poor.

125. Gũtirĩ ũrĩragio nĩ ũtonga no ũkĩa

• • Literal translation: Nobody cares about other people’s poverty.

126. Gũtirĩ ũrirũ ũtonwo

• • Literal translation: There is no mischance you are guaranteed against.
  • English equivalent: There is many a slip ‘twixt the cup and the lip.

127. Gũtirĩ ũru ũtũũraga, no wega ũtũũraga

• • Literal translation: No evil, but only the good will last.
  • English equivalent: Good deeds remain, all things else perish.

128. Gũtirĩ ũta ũtarĩ nyama

• • Literal translation: There is no bow without its meat.
  • English equivalent: God helps those who help themselves.

129. Gũtirĩ rĩtwa rĩtakũria mwana

• • Literal translation: There is no name which cannot distinguish a child.
  • English equivalent: Every bird is known by its feathers.

130. Gũtirĩ thingira ũciraga ta ũngĩ

• • Literal translation: There is no location which discusses its affairs in the same way as the other does.
  • English equivalent: Every man in his way.

131. Gũtirĩ ũthũire tiga akĩaga

• • Literal translation: A man is poor not because he scorns possessions, but because he possesses nothing.
  • English equivalent: Sour grapes, as the fox said when he could not reach them.

132. Gũtirĩ wa nda na wa mũgongo

• • Literal translation: There is not the son of the front and the son of the back.
  • Contextual note: The Kikuyu mothers carry a baby on the back if they have only one. If they have two, one is carried in front and the other one on the back. Of course the one carried near the breasts can suck oftener than the other. That is why they say this is the favourite one.
  • English equivalent: Parents should have no Benjamin.

133. Gũtirĩ wĩriraga agĩkuua, eriraga akĩiga thĩ

• • Literal translation: Nobody grumbles while carrying a load, but when he has laid it down.
  • Contextual note: The proverb means that nobody hates to be rich but all hate to become poor; or that nobody refuses to command, though all are sorry when they have to give up the command.

134. Gũtirĩ wĩriraga agĩthiĩ, no agĩcoka

• • Literal translation: Everybody regrets not what he leaves but what he does not find (when he comes back).

135. Gũtirĩ wĩtaga ithe wa ũngĩ baba

• • Literal translation: Nobody calls another’s father ‘dad’.

136. Gũtirika gũteaga njamba noru

• • Literal translation: To forget a strong man who could help you is the same as to scorn him.

137. Gũtirika nĩ gũte

• • Literal translation: To forget is the same as to throw away.

138. Gũtungata gũtingĩgiria mũndũ agatungatwo

• • Literal translation: The man that serves is not prevented from being served in turn.
  • English equivalent: Every dog has its day, and every man his hour.

139. Gwakĩa kwarama, gwatuka gwakundeera

• • Literal translation: The day is for working, the night is for resting.
  • English equivalent: There is a time to wink as well as to see.

140. Gwethera gĩtahi mũka

• • Literal translation: To seek a woman to the belly.
  • Contextual note: The expression is used when they look for something to eat. To go foraging.

141. Gwĩ thigari mũgambo

• • Literal translation: Some soldiers are only soldiers when talking.
  • English equivalent: A good friend is a treasure.

142. Gwĩka wega kũmathaga ũngĩ

• • Literal translation: A good action reaps another.
  • English equivalent: One good turn deserves another.

H

143. Handũ ha njũgũma na ha mũgwĩ hatiganaine

• • Literal translation: The place to use the club and the above arrow are not the same.
  • English equivalent: Everything has its place.

144. Harĩ mũthuri hatiitangagwo maaĩ

• • Literal translation: In the presence of elderly people one must not pour water.
  • Contextual note: Nobody is allowed to be foul-mouthed especially when elderly people are present.
  • English equivalent: Old age is honourable.

145. Haro nĩ ya mũka ũrĩ ĩhĩĩ

• • Literal translation: Quarrelling is peculiar to the woman who has got male children.
  • Contextual note: They use the proverb to mean that since sons are more mischievous than daughters, and mothers are more proud of their sons than of their daughters, women are inclined to quarrel to defend or to exalt their sons.
  • English equivalent: No mother is so wicked but desires to have good children.

146. Haro nĩ ya mũka ũrĩ thirĩ

• • Literal translation: Quarrelling is peculiar to the woman who has debts.
  • Contextual note: A woman in debt is quarrelsome.

147. Hĩta itanakĩra

• • Literal translation: Resist the beginnings.
  • English equivalent: Small faults indulged are little thieves that let in great.

148. Hinga ndĩkinyaga iraka

• • Literal translation: A wily person does not walk on dry leaves (for they would betray his presence).

149. Hinya ndũigana ũrũme

• • Literal translation: Strength does not correspond with courage.

150. Hinya ndũrĩ indo

• • Literal translation: Strength has nothing.
  • Contextual note: Strong people are not necessarily rich people.

151. Hiti ciathiĩ mbwe ciegangara

• • Literal translation: When hyenas go away jackals rejoice.
  • English equivalent: Little dogs begin to eat when big ones have eaten enough.

152. Hiti ĩtaga ĩrĩa ĩngĩ ya mũtĩrĩ

• • Literal translation: The hyena calls another hyena worse than itself.
  • English equivalent: The pot calling the kettle black.

153. Hiti yugaga arũme nĩ ogĩ, monaga gĩcinga ngwatĩro

• • Literal translation: Hyena says that men are wise because they know how to hold a firebrand.
  • Contextual note: A story told by the Kikuyu says that one night a hyena entered a hut to eat the goats. The owner wakened by the noise, took hold of a firebrand to scare it out. The beast tried top do the same, but not knowing how to handle firebrands it scorched its paws.
  • English equivalent: There is a right and a wrong way of doing everything.

154. Hiti ndĩrĩaga mwana, na mũĩ ũrĩa ĩrĩ ngoroku

• • Literal translation: The hyena does not eat its baby, and you know how insatiable it is.
  • English equivalent: No mother is so wicked but loves her children.

155. Hũngũ ireraga harĩa mbũri ĩrathĩnjĩrwo

• • Literal translation: Vultures arrive at the place where the goat is slaughtered.
  • English equivalent: Where the carcase is, the ravens will gather.

156. Hũngũ ĩgĩthiĩ igũrũ ndĩatigire thĩ kũrĩ kwega

• • Literal translation: The vulture perches on the trees because it does not feel sure on the ground.

157. Hũni nene ĩgĩraga hũhita

• • Literal translation: To eat much leaves you with a swollen belly.
  • English equivalent: Enough is as good as a feast.

158. Hururu ĩthekaga rwaro

• • Literal translation: The abyss laughs at the plain.
  • English equivalent: Every man thinks his own geese swans.