Usaguta ukasunda dura

Munhu usafarise paunowana zvekurasa neramangwana.

Do not get so full as to carelessly overturn the movable barn.

One must always save in the time of plenty. Do not be improvident.

The proverb uses a hilarious image of the person who gets so full that they end up pushing and overturning the movable barn supposedly because they were leaning on it. “Dura” in the karanga culture is the savings of food from the harvest, representing the wealth of the village together with the livestock. It stored the “profits” from hard toil in the fields in the preceding months including planting, weeding, harvesting, scaring off or fighting predators, etc. If one overturned this due to a full stomach they could actually go hungry in the lean periods in later months hence this was perceived as the height of carelessness. With this example, our elders were impressing upon us the importance of having savings from whatever profits we make and not spending or “eating” carelessly.

The proverb is used to remind people of the importance, particularly in times of abundance, of preparing and maintaing reserves for the lean periods. It warns us to always be provident and can be useful in business development to ensure that one always saves as they profit.