Se b'otimo elewa sapon. ( Cut your coat according to your cloth).
This proverb is adapted from a story. Once upon a time, in the town of Abeokuta, there lived a woman who sells overcooked beans popular known as "Ewa Sapon". These form of beans was well appreciated by many especially people at work.
The woman that sold the beans and made good sales on a daily basis. People ate and asked for more even when they didn't have money to pay. People bought her woman's beans with cash and when they were out of cash, they buy on credit. It got to the point that the beans seller could not handle the credits anymore.
As she could not cook in large quantity as before, she devised a new means of preventing people from buying on credit. Whenever they came to her, she asked for money, if it was 10k they had, she sold 10k worth of beans. If they beg for more on credit she told them, "se b'otimo", that is "cut your coat according to your cloth." With time, people got used to her new style. Before they asked for more, they knew the response she would give. As a result, they nick-named her "se b'otimo, elewa sapon".
This proverb teaches us to cut our coat according to our cloth so as to always keep our heads above troubles.
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