Page:Hausa Proverbs.djvu/23

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Hausa Proverbs
11

10 Na dumka riga babu wuya, wonda ya yanka wuya shi sa ma kainshi.

I have sewn a riga without a neck, let him who cuts a neck for it put it on.
The riga is a shirt with a hole at the top for the head to be put through: if made without this wuya or neck, one would have to be cut before the riga could be put on.
If the cap fits put it on.

11 Ba don "riga'n domin" ba, da mutum ya mutu masiachi.

If it were not for riga'n domin a man (a fellow) would die poor.
Riga'n domin, because of some one else, for some one else's sake, through some one else's influence.
Na shigga "riga'n domin" wuri'n Abdu.
I got it through Abdu.

12 Ba na fassa randa'n daki ba, na waje ba ta shigga ba.

I won't break the randa of the house until the one outside (new one) has been brought in.
Don't be off with the old love until you are on with the new.
This might very well be said to a guide, who asks if he may go when the village to which he is guiding you is reached: meaning, "I can't let you go until I get another guide, for otherwise I may be left without any one at all."
Randa, a big water jar about 2 ft. high, which always stands in the "gidda": it is too big to be conveniently carried, and if moved when full would probably break.