Don't Be a Fool
1 Expecting snow in summer
and rain in the dry season
makes more sense
than honoring a fool.
2 A curse you don't deserve
will take wings and fly away
like a sparrow or a swallow.
3 Horses and donkeys
must be beaten and bridled—
and so must fools.
4 Don't make a fool of yourself
by answering a fool.
5 But if you answer any fools,
show how foolish they are,
so they won't feel smart.
6 Sending a message by a fool
is like chopping off your foot
just to spite yourself.
7 A fool with words of wisdom
is like an athlete
with legs that can't move.
8 Are you going to honor a fool?
Why not shoot a slingshot
with the rock tied tight?
9 A thornbush waved around
in the hand of a drunkard
is no worse than a proverb
in the mouth of a fool.
10 It's no smarter to shoot arrows
at every passerby
than it is to hire a bunch
of worthless nobodies.
11 Dogs return to eat their vomit,
just as fools repeat
their foolishness.
12 There is more hope for a fool
than for someone who says,
“I'm really smart!”
13 Don't be lazy and keep saying,
“There's a lion outside!”
14 A door turns on its hinges,
but a lazy person
just turns over in bed.
15 Some of us are so lazy
that we won't lift a hand
to feed ourselves.
16 A lazy person says,
“I am smarter
than everyone else.”
17 It's better to take hold
of a mad dog by the ears
than to take part
in someone else's argument.
18 It's no crazier to shoot
sharp and flaming arrows
19 than to cheat someone and say,
“I was only fooling!”
20 Where there is no fuel
a fire goes out;
where there is no gossip
arguments come to an end.
21 Troublemakers start trouble,
just as sparks and fuel
start a fire.
22 There is nothing so delicious
as the taste of gossip!
It melts in your mouth.
23 Hiding hateful thoughts
behind smooth talk
is like coating a clay pot
with a cheap glaze.
24 The pleasant talk
of an enemy
hides more evil plans
25 than can be counted—
so don't believe a word!
26 Everyone will see through
those evil plans.
27 If you dig a pit,
you will fall in;
if you start a stone rolling,
it will roll back on you.
28 Watch out for anyone
who tells lies and flatters—
they are out to get you.
1 Ngaashi eandu pokwenye nodula pefimbo leteyo nosho yo efimano itali wapalele elai. 2 Ngaashi namusheshe ta papala nongaashi okahanameva taka tuka po nosho yo etulomutima longaho itali wanifwa. 3 Oshokoto konghambe noitomo kondongi noshimwati kombuda yomalai. 4 Elai ino li nyamukula paulai walo, uha faafane nalo. 5 Elai li nyamukula paulai walo, lo lihe litale linongo. 6 Ou ta tumu ondaka nelai, ota tete po eemhadi daye, ndele ta nu omupya. 7 Ngaashi omaulu oshingudu taa endjelele nosho yo eyeletumbulo mokanya kelai. 8 Ou ta mange okamanya moshiumbifo ongaau ta fimaneke elai. 9 Ngaashi ekiya tali tu meke longholwe, osho eyeletumbulo mokanya kelai. 10 Ngaashi omuumbi wouta ta umbu aveshe, osho e li ou ta tambula elai e li fute, nosho yo ou ta tambula ovaendaendi ndele te va futu. 11 Ngaashi ombwa tai alukile onghungo yayo, osho elai tali popyulula oulai walo. 12 Wa mona ko tuu omulumenhu te litale ye omunongo momesho aye mwene? Okuteelela eendunge delai ku dule winya. 13 Omundede ta ti: “Onghoshi i li mondjila. Onghoshi onyasha i li poluhaela.” 14 Ngaashi omuvelo tau linyenge komakandula ao, osho yo omundede mombete yaye. 15 Omundede eshi a velela neke laye metiti, a loloka unene, ita dulu oku li alula ko kokanya kaye. 16 Omundede ye omunongo momesho aye mwene, e dule vaheyali ava hava nyamukula neendunge. 17 Ou ta kwata ombwa tai ende po komatwi, e li ngaashi ou ta handuka molweemhata dovanhu. 18 Ngaashi omupwidi ta umbu oikuti ya xwama omundilo, oikutu yefyo, 19 omulumenhu osho e li ou ta kengelele mukwao ndele ta ti: “Ame nda danauka ashike!” 20 Ngeenge kape noikuni, omundilo tau dimi po, nongeenge pehe nomulundili, eemhata tadi xulu po. 21 Ngaashi ekala lokuxwameka likwao noshikuni shomundilo nosho yo omulumenhu weemhata ta xwameke ehandu. 22 Eendjovo domulundili di li ngaashi ouleke ndele tadi fenungutile moukololo vomenielela lomutima. 23 Omilungu nomutima womunaipupulu ou li ngaashi oshikangwa sha xuwa oshisiliveli. 24 Omutondadi te lidimbwifa nomilungu daye, ndelenee meni laye ta diladila omakengelelo. 25 Ondaka yaye ngeenge te i shitukifa ondaka yohole, ino mu lineekela, osheshi oixuna iheyali i li momutima waye. 26 Outondwe nande tau liholeke mokukengelela, owii wao tau hololwa moshiongalele sheongalo. 27 Ou ta fe elambo, oye mwene ta wile mo. Naau ta alangatifile ko emanya, okombada yaye lo tali alukile. 28 Elaka loipupulu tali tondo oonakuyehamekwa kulo, nokanya ke noumbudi taka nyonauna po.
