Zambian Proverbs

From Great North Road

By Heather Chalcraft.

These were taken from "Cultures Of The World, Zambia" by Timothy Holmes.

• Bemba
  • A child that does not travel praises his mother as the best cook.
  • Those who eat iguanas are found close to each other.

• Kaonde
  • The mouth gets the head into trouble.
  • If you followed what a chicken eats, would you eat the chicken?

• Lozi
  • One finger cannot crush a louse.
  • A cow does not find its own horns heavy.

• Luvale
  • Firewood for cooking an elephant is gathered by the elephant itself.
  • The snake bites because its hole is blocked.

• Nyanja
  • The person who does not hear learns when the axe is in his head
  • If you are ugly, know how to dance.

• Tonga
  • He who asks won't be poisoned by mushrooms.
  • Wisdom can come from even a small anthill.
  • It takes more than one day for an elephant to rot.

Was looking through my little Zambian Phrase Book and found these proverbs there as well:

• Bemba
  • Start early before the floods come.

• Kaonde
  • On travelling it is visiting; on returning it is home.

• Lozi
  • When a lion eats a bad person and it is not killed, tomorrow it will eat a good person.

• Lunda
  • One who loves water will not break the calabash.

• Luvale
  • Talk to a person who can understand and cook for a person who can be satisfied.

• Tonga
  • Tomorrow brings many things.