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Ugandan Proverbs (001-051)

The chicken is never declared innocent in the court of hawks.

We work on the surface, the depths are a mystery.

A crime eats its own child.

A cow’s horn cannot kill its calf.

A dog cannot bark and bite at the same time.

A dog does not enter a home where they suffer from hunger.

A dog knows the places he is thrown food.

A home without a mother is a desert.

A man who dictates separates himself from others.

A friend works in the light of the sun, an enemy in the dark.

A knife does not fear thorns, a woman fears man.

A friend is like a water source for a long journey.

A friend is someone you share the path with.

A friend is like a source of water during a long voyage.

A father without sons is like a bow without arrows.

A pilgrim, even if a sultan, is poor.

A camel does not joke about the hump of another camel.

A monkey cannot dare what an elephant can.

A mother's tenderness for her children is
as discreet as the dwe that kisses the earth.

A forest cannot be cut with a broken axe.

A guest is a gift, a thief a tragedy.

A united family eats from the same plate.

A water pot cannot stand on its own without a support.

A rich man who does not know himself is
worth less than a poor man who does.

A youth that does not cultivate friendship
with the elderly is like a tree without roots.

A village never lacks a beautiful young woman.

A roaring lion does not catch any prey.

A sorcerer has no distinctive colour.

A sandstorm passes; the stars remain.

A stranger does not skin a sheep
that is paid as a fine at a chief's court.

A village without elderly is like a well without water.

A united family eats from the same plate.

A raindrop does not spare the head of the notable.

Also the black cow produces white milk.

An elder's handbag is never completely empty.

Be on the alert, like the red ant that
moves with its claws wide open.

Between brothers, whether the trial is
won or lost, makes no difference.

Clothes should not be made for an unborn child.

Death is like a dress that, at some point
or another, everyone has to wear.

Disease is like a rainy day.
Good health is like sunshine.
It takes both to grow flowers.

Do not vacillate or you will be left in between doing something
having something and being nothing.

Do they prepare a leather battle shield on the day they fight?

Do not tell the man carrying you that he stinks.

Does a man set up a plantation without a wife?

During a storm you do not take shelter under just one roofing tile.

During the dry season it is better to
befriend the owner of the pirogue.

Elderliness is not a disease, but a richness.

Equality is difficult, but superiority is painful.

Even the small leopard is called leopard.

Every man leaves his footprints.

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