Lines 421-437 are examples of the proverbs and sayings that may be incorporated in the domba song. I have referred to the pages in van Warmelo's (1937) Tshivenda-English Dictionary, in which versions of proverbs are given.

421	Wa khukhuna wa luombeni, You crawl under a precipice (thinking you are not seen),
422	Thunda i vhonala (van Warmelo 1937:127). But your back can be seen from above.

The one who is making love to another man's wife will sooner or later make her pregnant, and people will then know what they suspect. This is particularly relevant when husbands are away as migrant labourers.

423	Makhuwa ndi -: Whites are fond of your flesh:
424	Mishumo vha ela nga . They measure your work by the day.

These words are often heard at beer-parties when people discuss their experiences with 'whites', who, incidentally, are not included in noun class 1/2, since they are not people. When calling on strangers in Vendaland, I often heard children inform their mothers, who might be working in the kitchen, that I was not a human being (A si muthu)! Lines 423-424 mean that 'whites' are interested in people only for the work that they can get out of them. Line 423 implies that they are a new kind of cannibal.

425	Nyamuvhuya ha shayi thando: Mrs Pleasant is up to no good:
426	A vha sa mbava, ndi muloi (van Warmelo 1937:253). If she's not a thief, she's a sorcerer.

This is a warning against people who are too ingratiating to be genuine.

427	Philiphise a si tshilonda: An ornamental scar is not a wound:
428	Ndi tshilonda tsha makokodzela (cf. van Warmelo 1937:218) (Ndi tshilonda tsha mukwetedzela). It is a wound that you made for yourself.

In other words, do not complain when you get yourself into trouble.

429	Tshipembe tsha bvuma, vhilula; If it is thundering in the south, you must hurry home;
430	Tshi vhuisa makondi-ngala. It will bring with it a strong wind.
431	A ili u sumbwa lombe; It is not taboo to say that someone is possessed;
432	ndi u pfuralela. But having done so, just leave it like that.

Lines 431-432 are a warning not to complain about another too much, for fear that they might then be really bewitched.

433	Madambi manzhi a : Too much trouble is coming my way (lit. many misfortunes are on my head):
434	Muzwala, mbone ndi a ! See, my cousin, I am going away!
435	Vhusiwana vhu lidzha nzhivha; Poverty makes the dove cry;
436	Vhu lidza na khwali shangoni. It cries in the bush with the francolin.
437	Marambo a khwali shangoni. The bones of the francolin are in the bush.

The Venda say that the dove's cry is sad and lonely. The cry of the Natal noisy francolin (Chaetops natalensis) is Kwea kwetshe! Kwea kwetshe! Line 437 is said to refer to the ash from a distant fire which is carried into the sky by the wind. There is a riddle in which the bones of the francolin are compared to the dew (see Blacking 1961:13-14 [Riddle No. 35]).

438	Ndi a lwala ndi na khanani. I am sick with a sore chest.
439	Ndifelani ndi tshi tambula? Why should I die when I am already suffering?

Line 438 seems to refer literally to the condition of the master, particularly when he has been singing for a long time, or when he has a cold in winter. Line 439 reminds people that suffering is a penalty for a long life.

440	Ndi tshi fa ndi a ; When I die I want to lie on my back;
441	Ndi shavhisa mukombo u sina: I don't want my navel to rot:
442	Ni lidze na mafhalafhala! Blow the trumpets for me (on this side)!

Line 442 refers to traditional ritual and not to missionary influence. Side-blown trumpets of antelope horn were blown at the feast of commemoration (dzumo) for a dead chief (see Blacking 1967b:144).