Bulsa Wisdom
1. At night time, chickens have no livers - Yogta
kpesa ka panga!
2. A ‘running cow’ has no dung - Naab chalim ka
binta
3. A cow does not tire with her horns - Naab kan
jiak ale bu nyiila
4. To laugh at a haircut is to laugh at the barber
- Ba dan la zuk, ba laka ku pondua
5. If a magical person dies, another magical person
buries him/her - Jakperik a dan kpi, ka chua alaa gu
6. A weak person rides his cow whilst it’s lying
down - Niwoboa ado wa naab ale bu dua ka teng
7. Laziness has nothing to eat! - Nyin-waruk ka
jaab ade (Bitagfi-peauk ka jaab ade)
8. Death has no medicine - Kum ka tiimua
9. If a place is far, there is another place
further than that - Teng dan yalima, ka chua ale bo ning
10. One day running does not lead to a miscarriage - Da yeng chala kan
nak puuk a basi
11. In unity, the game cannot escape - Zurugaluu, lam kan be
12. A monkey’s tail is used to tie it up - Waaung juik ale a bob ku
dek
13. We must proceed cautiously to catch a monkey by the tail - Maga
maga ale a yik waaung juik
14. It is because of one monkey’s mischief that we blame all monkeys -
Waaung yeng nying le sua ate baa wi ayen wiima
15. We do not sit in one day to harvest Frafra potatoes to fill a skin
bag - Ba kan kali da yeng a nak peesa a suayui yui ya
16. We do not have sex with an ugly person whilst looking at her face
- Ba kan gberi buloloruk ale a nya ku nimbie
17. If you teach an ugly person how to woo women, he will marry your
mother tomorrow - Fi dan sak buloruk dueni, wa chum le vari fi ma
18. An elderly person does not run about in the grassland for nothing
- Jakpak kan chali kapiok po kinla
19. Where the horses are going, the donkeys will eventually get there
- Wusimi nga ale a pai juijui la, bonsi nga me a pai ka du la
20. The stick that is used to beat up the senior wife will be used to
beat up the youngest one as well - Dua dii ale a nak pok kpagi la, dila dek ale
a nak pok bili
21. A child knows how to run, he does not know how to hide - Biik seb
chala, wa ze labri ka
22. If a house is dying out, it brings forth ugly children - Yeri dan
moati nuerika daa biak ka buloata
23. A poor person is given to eat not asked to make a speech - Niwoboa
ka fi ngoa de, daa fi ngoa biisi
24. It is the smell of new dung that awakens the stench of old dung -
Bin paalita nyum ale nak bin kpagsa nyum a yiti
25. If you teach a fool to be sensible, who will you laugh at? - Fi ti
fi sak beruk abe fi la ka wanaa?
26. The one who ‘knows water’ is the one that gets drowned (Water
catches the one who knows it) - Nyeem a yik ka bu sebroa
27. One does not point to his uncle’s house with the left hand - Ba
kan pa gala a dak ngisi yeriya
28. A distant person sees the arrow on the antelope’s head – Yala
nuroa alaa nya walik zu-pein
29. We do not cut open a monitor lizard in the midst of children - Ba
kan mobi wuri bimbaansa sungsung nga
30. A leper dances in the midst of his kinsmen - Gami a gok ka di nyam
sungsung
31. You know water when you stand at its edge (river bank) and go back
- Fi le seb nyiam, a le fi le zain bu noi ngmani
32. You cannot leave a termite mound on the path side whilst you visit
your in-laws' home - Ba kan che kpatuok a zaani ngachob yeri suiwa
33. Man (human beings) will not eat grass - Nurubiik kan ngobi wuuwa
34. However tired a ground hornbill is, it will not sit on
grass – Bandunung dan poom jiak, ku kan kali wuuk zuwa
35. A sitter does not tie up (zip up) the bag of a traveler - kaldoa
kan bobi chengdoa yui-ya
36. If you play with the child of your beloved one, he will pull back
your foreskin in public tomorrow - Fi daa diini ale fi nuong biik, wa chum le
meti fi yoari nuruba po
37. Where can the back go without the hunchback? - Ngaang tuag be alaa
ge goruk waa?
38. If a child wants to have a cudgel, you should cut one for him -
Biik daa yai duari, fi che ate wa
39. The black ant does not dig its hole by its size - Poosoblik kan tu
voruk amagsi ka dega
40. If a person taboos goat meat, he/she cannot eat its soup - Fi dan
kaa ngob buuwa, fi kan de ku jenta
41. When the hare changes its running style, you also change the way
you throw (your cudgel) - Suom dan lang chala, fi lang yuka
42. We do not put a little (food) in the mouth and blow at the same
time - Ba kan nyo maga noipo ale a fuuli
43. There is a teacher but there is no listener - Sagroa boro kama, ka
womdua ale kan ka
44. A goat and its kids do not go to Yagaba for nothing - Buuk ale ku
bisa kan ga Yagaba kinla
45. It is not for nothing that the Bambara beans are not in the calabash
- Kun kali kali ate suminga a ka chini po
46. The antelope stands, her child stands! - Walik zaa, ka biik zaa
47. When a donkey wants to throw you down, you won’t see its ears -
Boning a daa yaali fi lonsi ka, fi kan nya ka tua-nga
48. A hungry mat cannot be rolled over - Kom tiak kan pili
49. The chief's herb is in the farm of the poor man - Naab tinang bo
ja jak talim po
50. If you don’t go out with it, you will bring it in - Fi dan kan taa
nyini, fi le ta jo
51. Want this, want that, brings no sales – yaa de, yaa de, ka
diaga
52. If an arrow has not entered deeply, then its removal is not difficult
- Pein dan kan jo ya, di voorika an tua
53. When the hare has not seen itself well (is not well prepared), it
will not go out into an open area – Suom a dan kan nya bu dek chagiya, bu kan
nyini kanpuuring ninga
54. We do not eat/consume culture without inviting a child – Ba kan de
korum a mini biiga
55. When your relative is on the Shea tree, you don’t eat the fruit on
the ground – Fi ma biik dan bo cham zuk, fi kan de teng chan ya
56. You carry your life on your head without supporting it with your
hand – Fi jii fi nyuvuri a dengsi
57. Hurry, hurry is never without sudden disaster (Hasty actions are
never without unexpected results) – Kilima, kilima kan jogi nyain!
58. If you cut a person’s hair with scissors, in future he will use a
piece of broken pottery to cut your hair - fi dan che nuru zuk a le poning, wa
chum paka takabi a che fi zuk
59. If the flood is carrying away a log, you may remove it for use but
if it is carrying a person, you should let him drown – Nyiam dan ta duok a
taam, fi kasi chiam, bu dan ta nurubiik a taam, fi basi.
60. The tongue and the teeth that are in the same mouth, don’t they
bite each other? - Gingelung ale nyina ale bo noi yeng ka pola, nga kan dom
chaaboa?
61. Gossip scatters a house – Bumbobrim a nak ka yeri
62. The load in the stomach carries the load above
(head load) - Popo jibta a laa ji ngmazuk jibta
63. A human being hides in the feathers of a chicken (fowl) – Nurubiik
a labri ka kpiak kopta po
64. One giant cannot kill a lizard alone – Gandiok yeng kan ko bang
nga
65. We do not eat medicine (juju) with a woman – Ba kan de tiim ale
nipowa
66. In the beginning (of marriage), it is all pleasant/joy, but as it
ages, people hear you – ku palim po, ku gbali gbali, ku kpagsa po, ba maa wom
67. To send a message by someone cools the legs; it does not cool the
heart – tuntoming a yok ka nansa, ka kan yok suiya
68. A widow laughs where she threshes the millet (at the mortar) –
Pukogi ala ka tuik po
69. The one who carries a load is the one who knows how heavy it is –
Jiib jiiroa ale seb bu dobrim
70. Rain does not beat only one woman’s child – Ngmoruk a kan kuri
nipok yeng biiga
71. Kindness does not need salt – Jiirim kan yai yesa
72. All the rooms leak but they know how to collect the water (with
containers) – Diininga meena a yuili kama, allege ba seb ka nga tuka
73. To run for long is better than to be crushed – Chali benika zun
chong nak matika
74. Something crushed is better than one that runs way – Ku nak matung
a zung chong ku chali beung
75. Complaining does not drive away the bush cow – Fumfobla kan yiak
variga
76. Complaining does not break the hyena’s leg – Fumfobla kan we
piuk nanga
77. The farts of the woman you love do not stink – Nipok wai ti fi a
yaali la finfiinsa kan nyungi
78. It has tilted, it has not spilled out – Ku gbeling kama, ku an
waang ya
79. Fearing the firefly’s fire, you run into the witches’ fire – A
chali mumulik bolim ga jo sankpang bolim po
80. If you shoot at God (heaven) and miss, you’re not a failure – Fi
dan tong wen kpeeri, fi daa namboluwa
81. Strength is once but weakness is twice – Pagrim ka bunyi, wobsim
buye
82. A spoilt skin has no leather bag (cannot be used to make a bag) –
Gbang kaasung ka yuiya
83. If oil is not enough, it is applied on the face – Kpaam dan kan
soa dii ya, ba paa sa ka nimbie
84. We draw warmth from a far-off fire with the eyes – Baa nguung
sateng waluk bolim ale ka nina
85. A hunter does not get a kill everyday – Yaaloa kan ko da meena
86. Life owns eggs – Nyuvuri ale soa jena
87. You can’t go to the chief’s palace in a haste – Ba kan ta nwuli
nwuli a ga naab yeriya
88. Going round and round does not break the leg – Goli goli nang kan
we
89. Sitting for long will kill the antelope – kali benika alaa ko
walik
90. Nothing can perplex a human being – wari kan kperi saaloa
91. To get into water that reaches the neck - Fi sing nyiam a zik
ngiri
92. Small small has no shame - Bilibilik ka kanpiinta
93. Water will dry up before the eyes of the frog – Nyiam kpiei sari
nimbie
94. You skin a goat and it is finished – Fi puli buuk kpeglim
95. A man can’t be in the water and insult the crocodile’s long mouth
– Nuru kan bo nyiam po a laa le ngauk ayen noi wong-ngoa
96. Haste only cools the legs – N wuli a yok ka nansa nyiini
97. A guest does not know that the flour water is from millet seeds –
Nichaanoa ze zabuura nyiamoa
98. We do not throw cow dung at a cow - Ba kan pa nanbeung a yuk
naabwa
99. A bachelor’s eyes cook his beans – Dakok nina laa be ka tue.
100. Sleep does not know that mother is dead – Goom
ze ayen ma kpiya
101. If you chase a hare and fail to catch it, you
say it has long ears – Fi dan vi suom kpeeri, faa weeni ayen ka tu wogla.
102. When a foreigner wants to go home, he sings
songs about his home - Moak/Yarik daa yai ka teng kulik, kaa yi ka ka teng
yiila
103. A male donkey does not bray in the territory of
another - Bon-duok kan kum ka choa teng po
104. We do not bait a hyena with meat - Ba kan pa lam
a bari piuwa
105. When beans grow cold, we do not put oil into
them – Tue kan yogi ti baa nyo kpaam du.
106. It is not the wide opening of the eyes that
allows one to see – Daa chaanti kpieng ale soa nyaala.
107. When you go to a place and they carry ‘ngmagsa’
on their heads, you also do it – Fi dan cheng jigi te baa ji ngmagsa, fi maari
a ji kama
108. A cheap horse cannot climb the hill – Mawli
wusum kan juili guuwa
109. Respect/honour is more than food – zula gaam
ngandiinta.
110. If your mother is in the funeral house, you will
eat hot bean cakes – Fi ma dan bo kuub yeri, faa ngobi ka kamsi tuila.
111. The stone that is used to play, brings injury to
the head – gbeera gbeera tintain/buntain a laa cheeri zuk.
112. A friend cannot run out of tears to mourn a
friend – Vanchoa kan kum vanchoa a yaali ninyiam a kpeeri.
113. The first to dip his ball of TZ into the soup
does not eat TZ without soup – Ling suidoa kan de sagaanga.
114. We don’t separate a horse fight with millet
stalks – Ba kan gari wusima kpaling ale kinkaa.
115. Rustling in a hole does not remain in a hole –
kuri kuri kan wari vorub po
116. We have sex because of tomorrow – Baa gberi
badiak ka chum nying
117. A chewer has no sense – Ngobroa ka yammoa.
118. It is water from the path that fills the stream
- Suik ning nyiam laa suei bubolik.
119. When a stone is falling from the skies, everyone
covers their own head - Tain dan nyini won cheena, wa meena a tuk ka wa
zuk.
120. The hand will not have and refuse to give the
mouth - Nisa kan ta ale a mini noiya
121. We imitate the way other people dance, not the
way they live their lives - Baa tomsi ka chaab gogta, ba kan tomsi chaab
nyeka.
122. You can't step on the penis of a cripple twice -
Ba kan tap gbaruk yori buye.
123. Slippery ground does not know a chief - Sisatig
ze naab ba.
124. The ashes have cooled and dogs have come to play
- Buntuem ale yog ti baasa apug
125. The poor man’s paths are not two – Niwoboa suita
daa tiye
126. A person cannot fail to recognize the occiput of
his/her lover – Nuru kan ming wa nong kpai aba
127. We speak for an egg not for the chicken – Baa
pagsi ka kpajein noi, ba kan pagsi chiib noiya.
128. The toothless man always gets a bumper harvest
of beans – Tue nga a lo ka akanyina ma tata.
129. If one person has a tummy ache, we do not stop
cooking beans – Nuru yeng poi daa adom, ba kan nyak tue a zaani.
130. A kind woman’s vagina does not get dry – Jiirim
nyono badiak kan ko
131. It is not all songs that have the chorus ‘waan
ya’ (Daa yiili nga meena ale a siak waan ya!
132. A ‘new mad’ person does not take and eat the
flour of an ‘old mad’ person - Yesing paalik kan pa yesing kpak zom a bu
133. To lose out on the goat meat and the widow – Fi
jog buuk lam, jog pikogi
134. A hasty penis cannot enter - Awuli awuli yori
kan jo
135. Biak kan dom ka dek biik a paa kobi ya
(A dog does not bite its own puppies to the bone)
136. Nichaanoa vari
a jo kama, wa kan vari a nyini.
(A guest may come in without invitation but does not leave unbidden (without
notice)
137. Buuk weini ayen ‘chua nisa kan kpaalimu’
(The goat says ‘what is from another’s hand cannot be ‘oily’ enough’)
138. Kangiruk yeri
kan jo. (A house of constant strife will not stay )
139. Nankering weeni ayen ka badiak dan puom kan soa diiya, ka lak sak ka
choroa.
(The ant says even if its vagina is small, it will show it to the husband)
140. Dakok kai zom ale kan num achobli la, a nyu ka nyagiak a’kpa.
(A bachelor who will not let the woman who grinds his flour to take a little,
will have to be content with drinking plain water to work on his farm)
141. Biik ko ale wa ma a daa kpaling chaab tiak nyin
wa kan mari ba waiya
(when a child’s mother and father fight over a sleeping mat, he does not choose
to support either of them)
142. Biik dan wein wa zuk kan
jo kpesa bukuri po, chum jakpak a wein kama
ayen wa nisa kan paari laarik zuwa.
(When a child says that his head cannot enter the hencoop, tomorrow an adult
will say that his hand cannot reach over…)
143. Fi dan cheng sateng gaa pai le ba
pa tunung a pob gingang anak ti ku kan vuri,
be seba ayen fi dan
ka gogra a gog ajo munsa po, si kan lu fu.
(If you go to a place and see that they have used the leaves of the calabash
plant to roof a drum and it does not tear as they beat it, know that as a
dancer, when you dance even into thorns, they will not prick your feet)
144. Jabui ale a cheng la ale
ba jengsi anya, daa ja bui ale cheena
(It is what is going away that we stretch our necks to see not what is coming
towards us)
145. Lam bui ti ba kan ngobi la, ba kan
pa nyina a chari.
(The meat that is forbidden to eat is not shared with teeth)
146. Fi dan pa biik a tuk mankpala a
jo yaba a jam a
te wa yen wa nya yaba-nga gaam fu, kan te
fu sui puuri, ale fi le pa wa tuk la, wa wonga gaam fu
kama.
(When you carry a child on your shoulders into the market and he says that he
has seen more of the market than you, don’t get angry with him because on your
shoulders, he’s taller than you)
147. Nanjung kai ale kaa chali yogsum la
ale va kpee asing vorup.
(The fly that doesn’t know fear, follows the corpse into the grave)
148. Nuri wai ale saalo a kpi la, ba
kan chali a chen wa kuuboa.
(We do not run to the funeral of the man who slipped, fell down and died)
149. Ba kan tabi koana nang zuk buye –
(You cannot step on the leg of a moron twice)
150. Biik kan seb nipok goom agaam wa ko.
(A child cannot know the sleeping of a woman more than his father)
151. Kpalung kan pa fi
chiiboa ate fi ngmam pa fi kpa-jeng a yugi.
(When a hawk takes your chicken, you do not throw an egg at it)
152. Fi nisa kan bo nuri
noipo alege ti fi anak wa zulong-ngoa.
(When your hand is in a person’s mouth, you do not hit them in the head)
153. Fi dan kan seb fi
ma wa paalim po, faa yen fi kowa daan yuk ka wa nyanta basi.
(When you don’t know your mother in her youth, you think your father wasted his
resources (in marrying her)
154. Bogluk kuui te fi
kan de ku po la, fi kan yik ku buuk ti baa togri.
(The deity that you cannot partake in, you cannot hold down a goat to be
slaughtered to it)
155. Kpulung teng dan ka
teng mang, ba tin kan mum nina a chen-ngi.
(If the land of the dead were a good land, people will not go there with their
eyes closed)
156. Ba kan tok kpulung
teng wari a sak kok-wa.
(We do not tell stories about the land of the dead to a ghost)
157. Yaala adan kpi ati
baa yaali goi-dung gbang ayen ba gu wa alege an nya ya, ku nyini ka wa nomasim
jigi.
(When a hunter dies and the skin of a wild animal cannot be found to bury him
when necessary, it is the result of his ‘sweet’ mouth)
158. Tieng adan poom
zuak diidiiya, ka ninkonkobta ale kpagi.
(No matter how large the beard grows, the eye brows are older than it)
159. Nuru yeng kan chali
chala, awari ngaanga.
(A person cannot compete with himself and lose)
160. Fi dan sak koana
noi sugruk ngobka alege an sak wa yeeri ka, wa ngob taa joka goom.
(when you teach a moron how to chew a stick but does not teach him how to take
it out (of his mouth), he will chew it in bed)
161. Nuri wai ale ayik
wa kpadaasa ale wa kpaniima meena la, a goa pusi ka won.
(The man who catches all his cocks and hens sleeps until the sun rises)
162. Ba kan tusi nipok
nisoma ale ngmaa kpalim wa lueta jigiya.
(We do not push an elderly woman down and worry about where she falls)
163. Ba daa chari charuk
an chari pai fi zuwa, wari dan bo chariku po cheena, di kan pai fi zuwa.
(When you have not participated in sharing a thing, any fallouts from the
sharing will not affect you)
164. Koluk adan kan
nyini nueriya, ba kan da ku golum ngoa.
(When hernia has not fully developed, we do not buy the pant that will contain
it)
165. Fi dan kan chim
goidung ate goidung-nga, fi kan ko goidung-nga.
(If you do not become a wild animal to a wild animal, you will not kill a wild
animal)
166. Niwoboa adaa dung
pagroa noruk, ku a nguuni kama.
(when a weak person dresses the wound of a stronger person, the wound would
fester)
167. Nuru dan yei fi
numbiri ate fi me yen fi yeri wa numbiri tuni, tenka meena achim ka legi.
(when a person takes out your eye and you also insist on taking out their eye,
the whole world will become darkness)
168. Binta ka mung alu
alege wai dan tab ti zuk, waa dugsi kama.
(Toilet has no thorn but when anyone steps on it, they limp away)
169. Zuk kan boro alege
te ba pa zutok avuk dunung-ngoa.
(When the head is present, we do not put a hat over the knee)
170.
Piuk adan ji lam ta cheng yaba, ku diak ka
ale; baa da yoo, waa yai, ba kan da yoo, waa yai.
(When the hyena sends a piece of meat to the market, its marketing strategy is:
whether they buy the meat or not it is good)
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