by Rose Mwanri 🇹🇿 🏆 Proverb Essay Contest 🥈 Second Place Winner
Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) Essay by Rose Mwanri Published by Maktaba.org English translation by Brighid McCarthy Image: CC BY Maktaba.org
Ukitaka uvunguni sharti uiname
If you want something underneath [the bed] you must bend down
Mulla [Nasreddin] had lost his ring in the living room. He searched for it for a while, but since he could not find it, he went out into the yard and began to look there. His wife, who saw what he was doing, asked: “Mulla, you lost your ring in the room, why are you looking for it in the yard?” Mulla stroked his beard and said: “The room is too dark and I can’t see very well. I came out to the courtyard to look for my ring because there is much more light out here.”
- Retold by Houman Farzad, Translated from Persian by Diane L. Wilcox (1989)
[A police officer encountered a man groping about on his hands and knees]
“I lost a $2 bill down on Atlantic avenue,” said the man. “What’s that?” asked the puzzled officer. “You lost a $2 bill on Atlantic avenue? Then why are you hunting around here in Copley square?” “Because,” said the man as he turned away and continued his hunt on his hands and knees, “the light’s better up here.”
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Unaweza kusafiri kwa meli peke yako,
kulala au kupumzika peke yako.
Unaweza kuingia kwenye deni peke yako.
Kuna mambo mengi ambayo unaweza kufanya peke yako.
Lakini ni lazima muwe wawili ili kucheza tango, muwe wawili ili kucheza tango...
ايد لوحدها ماتسقفش
Mkono mmoja hauwezi kupiga makofi
Bila mtu wa pili ugomvi hauanzi
Kidole kimoja hakiuwi chawa
Watu hutaka furaha mpya. Huwa tunaona kuwa watu wengine wana bahati zaidi kuliko sisi wenyewe. Mazao daima ni bora katika shamba la jirani yetu; ng'ombe wake hutoa maziwa zaidi.
दूर के ढोल सुहावने लगते हैं
Ngoma za mbali husikika vizuri
隔籬飯香
Wali wa jirani hunukia vizuri
隣の芝生は青く見える
Majani ya jirani huonekana kijana zaidi
соседняя очередь всегда движется быстрее
Foleni nyingine husogea kwa kasi zaidi