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“Praise the fineness of the day, when it is ended; praise a woman, when you have known her; a sword, when you have proved it; a maiden, after she is married; the ice, when once you have crossed it[1]; and the liquor after it is drunk.
“Trust not to the words of a girl;
neither to those which a woman utters;
for their hearts have been made like the
wheel that turns round; levity was put
into their bosoms.
“Trust not to the ice of one day’s
freezing; neither to the Serpent who lies
asleep; nor to the caresses of her you
are going to marry; nor to a sword that
is cracked or broken; nor to the son of
a powerful man; nor to a field that is
newly sown.
“Peace between malicious women is
compared to a horse who is made to walk
over the ice not properly shod; or to a
vessel in a storm, without a rudder; or
to a lame man who should attempt to
follow the mountain-goats with a young
foal, or yearling mule.
- ↑ This is not unlike the English Proverb, “Praise the Bridge that carries you safe over.” T.
