Things Fall Apart

Proverb Essay and Compilation

CHAPTER 1

Among the Igbo the art of conversation is regarded very highly, and proverbs are the palm-oil with which words are eaten (7)

The sun will shine on those who stand before it shines on those who kneel under them (8)

If a child wash his hands he could eat with kings (8)

CHAPTER 3

Let the kite perch and let the eagle perch too. If one says no to other, let his wing break (19)

Man who pays respect to the great paves the way for his own greatness (19)

A toad does not run in the daytime for nothing (20)

An old woman is always uneasy when dry bones are mentioned in a proverb (21)

The lizard that jumped from high iroko tree to the ground said he would praise himself if no one else did (21)

You can tell a ripe corn by its look (22)

Eneke the bird says that since men have learned to shoot without missing, he has learned to fly without perching (22)

A proud heart can survive a general failure because such a failure does not prick its pride. It is more difficult and more bitter when a man fails alone (24,25)

CHAPTER 8

As the dog said “if I fall down for you and you fall down for me, it is play" (73)

A child's fingers are not scalded by a piece of hot yam which its mother puts into its palm (67)

A chick that will grow into a cock can be spotted the very day it hatches (66)

When mother-cow is chewing grass its young ones watch its mouth (71)

THANK YOU