“Onye ga-eri awọ rie nke kara aka; akpọ ya nw'ori awọ, ya eleke anya, za.”
Contributed By Arthur Iwualla, Orodo, Mbieri.
for iFaT at ifont@groups.facebook.com
e-Mail: ifont.groups.facebook@gmail.com
© ifont 2011, as it appears here.
It is not quite an emergency, but you can't ignore stuff either. So you drive yourself off the chair, bed or the office desk and 'relocate'. You have to pay that bill, make that call or catch that bus / train / plane ... Sometimes on the plains of Africa or in the forest brushes of Igbo land too, you observe the frog (normally and properly nocturnal) hoping along and sometimes not at a leisurely pace ... maybe it has been surprised by some predator out of a cranny or a hole - 'what is it doing this afternoon' ? And that's the crux of the proverb, paraphrased literally ' The frog does not hurry along in the afternoon sun, for nothing or in vain; ' - The pictured frog is of the African bull variety - ferocious looking, these frogs have expanded their diets beyond flies and fleas. Pictures abound on the Internet showing these reptiles swallowing whole birds and tiny rodents. The Ibos (Igbos) have used the proverb to make observations about odd occurrences or events which strike them as peculiar or strange, calling for closer scrutiny or inspection. So next time you see a frog ambling along in the day - now, you know ...