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StillnessProverb

The axe forgets; the tree remembers.

Shona proverb (Zimbabwe)

MindPhilosophyProverbs

The story behind the card

This proverb comes from the Shona people of Zimbabwe. The linguist G. Fortune of the University of Cape Town recorded it in his 1955 grammar of the Shona language, where the one that does not forget is the tree stump. The poet Maya Angelou used the short form 'The ax forgets. The tree remembers.' in a 1997 essay collection, which helped spread it in English. It describes the two sides of harm: the one who strikes can forget quickly, while the one who was hurt carries the mark for years.

Türkçe oku
Balta unutur, ağaç unutmaz.
Şona atasözü (Zimbabve)

Bu atasözü Zimbabve'deki Şona halkına aittir. Cape Town Üniversitesi'nden dilbilimci G. Fortune sözü 1955'te yayımladığı Şona dilbilgisinde kaydetti; oradaki hâlinde unutmayan, kesilmiş ağacın kütüğüdür. Şair Maya Angelou 1997'deki bir deneme kitabında kısa hâlini kullanınca söz İngilizcede de yayıldı. Anlattığı şey incitmenin iki yüzüdür: vuran çabucak unutur, yarayı alan ise izini yıllarca taşır. Türkçedeki “Kılıç yarası geçer, dil yarası geçmez” sözü de acının, ona yol açanda değil, onu yaşayanda kaldığını anlatır.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Proverb
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