'Tis ruinous to trust the scamps
Who come to you from hostile camps;
Such rivals you should chase away,
For constant trouble does not pay.
The foeman serving as a scout,
Who knows (by bobbing in and out)
Your favored chair, familiar bed,
And how you drink, and what you're fed,
Your travels to another town—
Will strike his heedless foeman down.
The prudent therefore guards himself—
The source of virtue, love, and pelf—
With every effort, strain, and stress:
For death will follow heedlessness.
And there is plenty of sense in this:
Who, ill-advised, does not commit
Grave faults of savoir faire?
What glutton has not much unrest
Within himself to bear?
Whom does not fortune render proud?
Whom does not death lay low?
To whom do not possessions bring
Abundant harm and woe?
The steady forfeit glory, while
The restless forfeit friends;
The bankrupt forfeits family,
The banker, better ends;
The man of passion forfeits books,
The fawner, friendship's flower;
The king with careless counselors
Must forfeit kingly power.
"Yes, O King, I have experienced in person what you were kind enough to put into words: that associ-
