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JOURNAL STAR (Lincoln, Nebraska) 30 November 05 Professor's book helps preserve culture (Colleen Kenney) {Excerpts}
After 40 years of collecting Nigerian proverbs, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln professor recently published “Yoruba Proverbs.” The book, considered the definitive source on the subject, includes more than 5,000 proverbs written in the Yoruban tribal language and translated into English.
A tortoise has a farm.
He has a wife, too, and one day, the wife’s brother steals a yam from the tortoise’s farm.
This enrages the tortoise. He chases the young man and starts beating him.
It is early morning. People walking by on their way to work in the fields see the tortoise beating the young man.
“What did he do?” they ask.
“He went to my farm and stole a yam.”
The people walk on, figuring the young man deserved it. But that evening, as they return from their work, they see the tortoise still beating him.
“What happened? Did he do something else?”
“No,” the tortoise says. “I’m still beating him because he stole my yam.”
This enrages the people, who tell the tortoise he is a worthless being.
The outward trip belongs to the tortoise. But the return trip belongs to his brother-in-law.
If you were a member of the Yoruba tribe of Nigeria, and you held a grudge against someone too long — maybe even after getting an apology — an elder or chief might repeat this proverb to you.
It would be a reminder to not go overboard or you could be disgraced.
It would be a reminder to be a good person.
There are thousands of such proverbs in the Yoruba tribe, thousands of such lessons. University of Nebraska-Lincoln Professor Oyekan Owomoyela, a member of the tribe, has spent the past 40 years collecting them.
“Yoruba Proverbs,” his recently published book, includes more than 5,000. It’s considered the most comprehensive collection of this Yoruban tradition.
It’s an important tradition, Owomoyela says.
Africans are extremely cautious when speaking to one another. To them, speech is like an egg. Once you drop it on the ground, you can’t put it back together.
Using proverbs is a diplomatic way of talking. It helps reduce conflict.
It’s a code.
“This is common wisdom,” he says, seated behind his desk in his Andrews Hall office. “It’s something our fathers have decided is good practice, and so when you cite them, talking to somebody, that person knows you’re not talking from your own experience.”
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Professor's book helps preserve culture

very nice, a lesson needed on many a herpetological forum.

matt