Kamba - Riddles and Proverbs
	The following proverbs and riddles are mostly from Mwikali Kieti and Peter Coughlin's "Barking, You'll be Eaten! The Wisdom of Kamba Oral Literature" (1990: Phoenix Publishers Ltd., PO Box 18650 Nairobi). Please read the copyright notice.
	In this page: Proverbs Riddles

Proverbs

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Wikuma wilika
Despite your bark, you'll be eaten!
- Like braggarts, cowardly dogs bark a lot. Prowling leopards easily spot and eat them.

U wi kivetani nduthekaa ula wi iko
One in the woodpile does not laugh at one in the fire
- Don't laugh! You may be next.

Too umanthaa na awe
Only a medicine man gets rich by sleeping
- With money in hand, clients with wake him up.

Nguli syonthe itiania musoani
All monkeys cannot hang on one branch.
- people differ

Ki kitungaa mutumia ndithya ndakisi
An old man doesn't know what makes him herd again.
- Old Kamba men rarely herded; their sons and grandsons did.

A woman's stomach does not grow if she is not pregnant

The person who has not traveled thinks his or her mother is the best cook

Riddles (Ndae)

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Traditional Music & Cultures of Kenya Copyright Jens Finke, 2000-2003