Proverb No.09.
Teke na Moluwe, yoo-wo asave wonyango. (Teke and Moluwe ! medication will not be given out freely, even to a brother
Yoo-wo = medication.
wo-nyango = family relationship.
moteya = medication administered by massaging.
wooli wo yoo-wo = fee paid to a doctor.
ekanga = a relic that an ordained traditional doctor invokes before commencement of business.
Yasi nanu:
Teke and Moluwa were brothers of the same father, the same mother.
Teke was a hunter, while Moluwa was an ordained traditional Doctor.
Teke called at Moluwa's house early in the morning before dawn, to complain that he had been sick for a week. He had pains on the waist, the knees, and the ankles, and that a sorcerer directed him to receive medication from Moluwa.
That he had come himself so that Moluwa himself would massage him with the "moteya".
Moluwa collected medicinal leaves, ordained the leaves, and commissioned the leaves to treat the illness and cure it. Moluwa then asked Teke to pay "the "wooli wo yoo-wo" - the prescribed fee for the medication.
Teke exclaimed:
"Sei !
Moluwa ! wangowa foni !
Ne ona-sana mbafe wooli wo yowo ?
o-gbwe-yani te e-kanga yasu ya litumba yoowo,
nange ona-sana mbafe wooli wo yoowo.
Moluwa osa gbwe-ya nau ! "
(Sei !
Moluwa ! be careful !
Why do you expect to receive "wooli wo yoowo" also from me;
when our "Ekanga Litumba" is the cradle of your profession.
Moluwa ! don't be funny !
Moluwa smiled, and replied:
"Yoo-woo, asave wo-nyango".
(medication will not be given out freely, even to a brother).
Nanu ndi ese eveli !
Teke !
Let me explain to you.
Medication given out freely may not cure,
Secondly, it should be understood that doctors live on the fee they receive from patients.
Teke replied:
Moluwa !
I am not interested in your lecture.
Hand that medication to me and let me return to my house.
Moluwa stuck to his guns:
"Please let me have my "wooli wo yoo-wo".
Teke reluctantly paid the "wooli wo yoo-wo" after persuation from visitors in Moluwa's home.
"Yoo-wo asave wonyango" is used as an idiom suggesting that services should be paid for, even when the services are being rendered by a brother. Social connections may not therefore be allowed to impair the proper conduct of business.
Oma nanu: Mbua Ndoko na meyana me Mokpwe.
Mola Mbua Ndoko
P.o Box 38 Buea, South West Province
Cameroon, West/Africa
Tel/Fax: 332-25-35
Mobile/Cell: 986-24-61
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