672. Nĩ kya mwee kĩĩsawa na ũtee. It is made of millet and is eaten along the sides.

Traditionally, the Kamba consumed their food in ways differing from modern styles. Hot mealiepap prepared from millet flour was spread over a calabash bowl and then eaten from the edges, which cooled faster. It was eaten with bare hands (subject to scorching) or wooden spoons. In human relations, a hot-tempered person was equated with this hot mealiepap and should be spoken to cautiously.

673. Maisha nota kĩteke kya wĩmbĩ maĩsawa na ndee. Life is like millet mealiepap, it is eaten from the edges.

Millet was a staple before the eighteenth century. Mealiepap made from millet was eaten hot and very slowly from the edges. The maxim advises the listener to slow down and proceed with caution. While this proverb may have precolonial precedents, its use of the Swahili word maisha indicates its emergence in the twentieth century.

674. Mũnuka wakĩle mwee ndũvuvaa ũngĩ. A mouthful of millet does not blow millet.

Ripening millet ears were cut and pressed in large calabash bowls to separate seeds from husks. The husks were then blown with the mouth (a process called kũvuva), leaving clean seeds. The mouth had to be clear in order to blow. Dating to the Vascon era, the maxim advised the listeners to focus on a task they can complete rather than leaving many things unfinished.

675. Mwee ũũlũkaw’a kenda wewa ũthi na ũkũngi. Millet is winnowed to let the husks go with the wind.

This proverb emerged from the Vascon era with the cultivation and processing of millet. The millet seeds were procured through winnowing using large calabash basins with the aid of wind to take out husks. It means effort is needed to achieve desired goals.

676. Mwĩĩtu wa mwee ndakusaa na ĩvu. A daughter of millet does not die pregnant.

Where other crops wither and die, drought-resistant millet thrives, hence this proverb. The proverb emerged during the 1930s, when increase in droughts coincided with a surge in teenage pregnancies and deaths at birth. Proverbs relating to premarital pregnancies doubtlessly increased during the interwar period.

677. Ndũketange mwee ngũkũnĩ. Do not sprinkle millet before the chicken.

Kamba chickens were raised on millet and other grains and stray chickens often damaged unguarded grain stores.