A f'ogbon ologbon s'ogbon ko te boro - (He that learns from others will not make mistakes).
This is a yoruba proverb adapted from a story. In a town, there lived two men with unique names. One was called, A f'ogbon ologbon s'ogbon (One that seeks wisdom from others) and the other, A-tikalaare-gbon (One that believes he knows all).
The king of the town heard of their names and invited the two. He told each of them to bring a pot of water to his palace in five days time. The king gave them a condition and the condition was that the pot must neither be full nor half full.
The two men in question were troubled and almost fell sick. They wondered how the pot will neither be full nor half full. Rationally, the pot would either be full or half ful.
A f'ogbon ologbon s'ogbon (One that seeks wisdom from others) decided to seek an advice from an older friend. The older friend advised him to send a message to the king, telling the king to send two guards to assist him in carrying the pot because the pot would be too heavy for him to carry. A condition was attached- the guard should neither be a man nor a woman.
When the king heard this, he respected A f'ogbon ologbon s'ogbon's (One that seeks wisdom from others) wit. He made him free from the impossible assignment.
A-tikalaare-gbon (One that believes he knows all) on the other hand did not do anything about the impossible assignment. He believed there was no solution to the problem that the assignment was simply impossible. On the due day, the king sent for A-tikalaare-gbon (One that believes he knows all) and asked that he should be dealt with. The king told him that he deserved to be killed, but for God's mercy. The king advised A-tikalaare-gbon (One that believes he knows all) that he should learn to hear others opinion on issues.
A man cannot be an island on his own. There is a need to learn from other people's wisdom.
This proverb is used to correct people that think they know it all. I teaches that two good heads are better than one.
sounds like something is lost in translation here: "the pot cannot be less than full but must not be full" sounds like what was asked of them, assuming my inglishi is acceptable
ReplyDeleteThat was well said: "the pot cannot be less than full but must not be full". thank you.
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