Ashanti Linguist's Staff Depicting a Man and Lion

A man in a red wrap. A seated lion. Neither is speaking. Both have been placed there to make a point.

Among the Ashanti of Ghana, the okyeame, or linguist, speaks for the chief, and the figures on his staff illustrate a proverb. On a flat oval platform at the top, the man faces the lion. This wooden staff was carved in the 20th century. Below, the shaft is painted in sections: dark at the top with a red band, then red with a carved spiral twist, then green at the base.

Five and a half feet. Read it, if you know the proverb. If not, stand near it and look wise.