KAMBA PROVERBS

1. Vai isyitwa yiteanya mwana. (There is no name that cannot raise a child)

2. Ona ukambita kino kiyiyiandika muongo. (Whatever insult you hurl at me cannot be inscribed in my back)

3. Inyaa ngumbau nde matako/ndambi. (A hero/ine mum has no big but nor thighs)

4. Mbui nzau yaaya yenewe. (A white goat gets lost in plain sight)

5. Mbaa ngeeka meeithiwe mataneka. (Procrastinators were found still procrastinating)

6. Waite mana ta mai maku. (You are lost just like your faecal matter)

7. Satani yiisumbuanaa nengi. (A devil does not bother another)

8. Wai niwaiawa na utai akisa umesya. (Whoever has can lack and whoever didn’t have acquire)

9. Uwo uitiaa nzia. (The truth does not leave its path)

10. Vai kiasa kite muthya. (There is nothing long without an end)

11. Ilaa ya ngwatyo yailaa sua umwe. (A borrowed flower is glorious only for a day)

12. Ucha ukaminwa ni masomo na muundani. (Poverty will be dealt with by education and agriculture)

13. Mwiso wa laa ni kyalya. (The end of fun is pain)

14. Cheki cha mbesa kiyosawa lelu chosawa mutini ula muasa. (A cheque is not collected by the roadside but on the tallest tree)

15. Vaati ya mundu ndyosawa ni ungi. (Ones luck cannot be anyone elses)

16. Itema yitiaa kivuthya kyu. (The liver chockes just how it is)

17. Yiitho ithuku iyula ngiti. (A dog does not forget a bad eye)

18. Kuu kwiu nokwo metho. (The iris is the eye)

19. Mundu wi mbesa athuiaa mee athonini. (A wealthy man scratches their loins while at their in laws)

20. Muyo ndwiwaniawa. (Joy cannot be shared)

21. Musemba weka eania maau ila ikiti yitawa kilinga. (He who runs alone is more paced than the village dog.)

22. Muyo ndwalasya. (Joy does not ache)

23. Nthakame nthuku ndikomaa mwii. (Bad blood does not rest a night in the body)

24. Undu wa undu ndaekaa akitaa kutiia. (A person does not neglect his art but only abandons it for a while.)

25. Kanywa vai undu utaweta ukweli na uvungu. (There is nothing the mouth cannot say truth and lies alike)

26. Kambuni nzeo ni ya makongo twakuna ithonthe tukanyeewa. (The good factory is sisal’s where when we work, we all itch)

27. Utesi ungi amwitaa ya ithe. (He who does not know the other refers to them by their fathers name)

28. Muithi wa ndia nde kinyamasyo. (The guardian to a fool has no business with worry)

29. Ikathekisye ithe kate maeo. (It smiled at the father without teeth)

30. Kutuma nduu na kingolondo kiyiema kuete mwiino nyumba. (Even if you are friends with a bettle, it will still push feaces to the house)

31. Nyamu yi mee ndikilaa mwaki. (An animal with testicles does not jump over fire.)

32. Ngima mbyu yiisawa na ndee. (Hot ugali is eaten by its sides.)

33. Kala kaamanyia usuna kayulawa. (The finger thats used to licking cannot forget to do so.)

34. Katalu kanini kaema usuviwa katwikaa italu. (When you do not look after a small wound, it becomes a gangrene.)

35. Wendo wi ndeto mbingi. (Love has many words)

36. Nzungi ya kuasa isungaa isyaisye isua. (A dancer from a far land dances with their eyes on the sun.)

37. Vai ngii nguu maini. (There is no an old house fly on faeces.)

38. Kitindo kithuku kyanangaa mwikalile museo. (Bad company corrupts good morals)

39. Ngewa mbingi syukaa itina wa ngethi. (Many stories are preceded by greetings)

40. Kyaa kimwe kiyuwaa ndaa. (A finger does not kill a lice.)

41. Kasau ka ngya niko kenyenyaa muongo. (An orphaned/ poor calf licks its own back.)

42. Ni isyaawa itina na ikakolanya mbya. (It can be born last and still cross horns.)

43. Ithyoma yimwe iyitwa mwana mwikuyu. (One stammer cannot render a child a gikuyu.)

44. Mundu muka ute ngu ndatwaawa. (A woman without firewood cannot be married.)

45. Kwi syindu na muvwano wasyo. (There are things and their idols)

46. Musyi wai ngumbau lasima vasyawe ingi. (A home that had a hero must sure have another.)

47. Yenda muno, inyenyaa ikatila mukauti. (When in much love, it licks the cord till it cuts it)

48. Vai uta utowaa. (There is no bow and arrow that cannot kill.)

49. Anengani ma ndaia matuaa me eli. (Respecters are normatively two)

50. Mwana no usyaawa, akaemanwa nethe na ayikala. (A son can be born, disagrees with their father and yet live)