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Chichi Nnoruka - 09:31am Mar 12, 2003 EDT
Hello,
Here are some Igbo proverbs, note that they are translated from Igbo to
English. I tried my best to use English words that best describes the
proverbs.
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Zafer
Mamilli - 01:10pm Mar 12, 2003 EDT
In the Name of Allah
THE GOLD NUGGET
The following story is very popular in Damascus, my city. I hope you find it interesting! :)
Once upon a time, a poor peasant lived in a small cottage with his wife and their little boy. He made his living by working on his little farm. When his son grew up, the old peasant said to his son “Now you became a young man. From now on you must depend on yourself to make your living and help your old father who can no longer get enough money from that old farm. Go to the town and never come back unless you earn a gold nugget”.
The boy’s mother felt sad about her son because she did not want him to leave, she had two gold nuggets so she gave him one of them. The boy went back to his father and showed him the gold nugget, but the peasant seemed unsatisfied about the size of the nugget so he took it from his son and threw it right out of the window.
The peasent ordered his son again to earn a bigger nugget from the town. But the boy’s mother gave him the second and the last gold nugget that she owned, which was a little bit bigger than the first one. Unfortunantly the boy showed the nugget to his father but the old peasant did the same thing.
The boy decided to go to the town. He worked hard and kept working until he finally earned enough money to buy a gold nugget. He showed that nugget, which was very small, to his father. The peasent took the nugget and walked to the window, but the boy ran quickly and snatched the nugget from his father. The peasent smiled said to his son “Now you proved to me that you are a real man, son. Go and have your gold nugget, it’s really yours”! And the familly lived happily ever after.
A Syrian proverb was based on this story “No one cries for losing money but the one who earned the money, no one cries for losing the kid but his mother”.
BY: ZAFER MAMILLI - AL-MUTAFWIQEEN SCHOOL - DAMASCUS - I*EARN SYRIA
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UKSarah
Cook - 04:09pm May 5, 2003 EDT
Till they hatch! I love this because it is so true. There have been so many times where I have not remembered this proverb and times when I have. Those times when I didn't remember sometimes ended in disappointment. Don't count your chickens till they hatch means don't think something is going to happen until it does.
A memory that I will always have that is a good story to share is at a football game. Yes, many of times this proverb needed to be remembered during sporting events. Anyway, my team, UK, was playing LSU. There 8 seconds on the clock and we were winning. My friends and I ran down to the field along with other UK fans. We were so excited! We were going to win this close game. With 5 seconds left on the clock, my friend took my picture with the scoreboard and big screen tv behind me. After the picture, we saw that LSU had the ball and the player on their team was running with the ball. Then it was 0 seconds left on the clock, yet the play was not over. We were cheering and fireworks went off. The UK players on the field started cheering also. HOWEVER, the play was not over! And the LSU player was not blocked and scored a touchdown! Everyone was confused and could not believe this. We lost the game! When I got my picture back from the game, I saw that behind me on the big screen tv was the LSU player running with the ball. Yes, I just laugh at this now. What are your experiences with this proverb?
Sarah Cook
University of Kentucky, USA
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Luna
Al-Najjar - 04:01am Mar 13, 2003 EDT
Iam Sawsan AL Swiedan from SYRIA iEARN I Hope to enjoy this proverb
(Wafak Shan Tabaka) æÇÝÞ Ôäø ØÈÞÉ Shan and Tabaka think in same way
Birds of a feather folks together
ÇáØíæÑ Úáì ÇÔßÇáåÇ ÊÞÚ
This story talks about this old Arabian proverb which says
"Long time ago ,a merchant called Shan traveled on trip .During that he
introduced to other merchant and they became friends ,one time while they were
talking Shan asked the old merchant three difficult questions the old man could
not answer them and he told him that his daughter could do that .When they
reached the city the old merchant took him to his house and introduced them to
each other .the girl s name is Tabaka and she answered the questions in a very
clever way ,so she was able to understand him quickly and her father said :Wafak
Shan Tabaka ,because they think in the same way
They got married and lived happily ever after."
Sawsan Alsweidan, iEARN Syria
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