516. Atũi nĩmo mavoanisya mwaki. Neighbours extinguish fire for one another.

Those close to you are the first to come to your aid when catastrophe strikes. Fire in this case symbolizes tragedy, calamity, catastrophe, and the like, whereas neighbour symbolizes anyone close to the subject. It encourages cooperative action to achieve communal goals. While this is about cooperative coexistence, the next entry is about conflict within a settlement.

517. Ĩima ĩliku iyĩnzawa thome. A shaft is not dug in a hearth.

Emerging between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries this axiom means a risky undertaking is not done within one’s community. Certain activities like metalwork and hunting big game were done far away from villages. Metaphorically it cautioned against making enemies in the neighbourhood.

518. Kĩlĩko kyaĩkĩawa thome na nzaĩko yĩ woo. The mind is circumcised at the hearth and circumcision is painful.

It is at the hearth that ideas were discussed and lessons learned from antiquity. The shaping of minds at the hearth was equated with circumcision based on the idea that debate removes people’s preconceived notions about the world.

519. Kũmina ngalali nĩ kũthi kwa kamwana thome. To settle a dispute is to go to the boy’s hearth.

Settle matters with your adversaries by confronting them on their home turf. This ancient proverb emphasizes the need to confront a dispute with evidence and resolve it instantaneously.

520. Mũtumĩa ekalaa thome nũndũ wĩũka. A man stays at the hearth ready for all upshots.

The hearth was both the reception office and seat of the family patriarch. He stationed himself there to receive visitors and to resist intruders or fierce animals. That is why the hearth was rarely enclosed, in order to enhance visibility of all things foreign and domestic.

521. Mũtumĩa ndalũngaw’a thome. An elder is never chased from the hearth.

The hearth was always open to elders. They were never asked to leave, because an elder had wisdom and experience to offer.

522. Mwana ũte ĩthe ataĩwaa mathome. A fatherless son is nurtured at hearths.

Boys learned almost everything about life from their fathers. However, those who were fatherless got their lessons at the hearths of village men. This maxim was said to encourage young men to listen carefully when older men were talking, and to learn from them.