Talk not much with a foolish man, and go not to one that hath no understanding: beware of him, lest thou have trouble; and so thou shalt not be defiled in his onslaught: turn aside from him, and thou shalt find rest; and so thou shalt not be wearied in his madness. What shall be heavier than lead? And what is the name thereof, but a fool? Sand, and salt, and a mass of iron, is easier to bear, than a man without understanding. * * * * * Timber girt and bound into a building shall not be loosed with shaking: so a heart established in due season on well advised counsel shall not be afraid. A heart settled upon a thoughtful understanding is as an ornament of plaister on a polished wall. Pales set on a high place will not stand against the wind: so a fearful heart in the imagination of a fool will not stand against any fear. He that pricketh the eye will make tears to fall; and he that pricketh the heart maketh it to shew feeling. Whoso casteth a stone at birds frayeth them away: and he that upbraideth a friend will dissolve friendship. If thou hast drawn a sword against a friend, despair not; for there may be a returning. If thou hast opened thy mouth against a friend, fear not; for there may be a reconciling; except it be for upbraiding, and arrogance, and disclosing of a secret, and a treacherous blow: for these things every friend will flee. * * * * * Gain trust with thy neighbour in his poverty, that in his prosperity thou mayest have gladness: abide stedfast unto him in the time of his affliction, that thou mayest be heir with him in his inheritance. Before fire is the vapour and smoke of a furnace; so revilings before bloodshed. I will not be ashamed to shelter a friend; and I will not hide myself from his face: And if any evil happen unto me because of him, every one that heareth it will beware of him. * * * * * Who shall set a watch over my mouth, and a seal of shrewdness upon my lips, that I fall not from it, and that my tongue destroy me not? =23= O Lord, Father and Master of my life, abandon me not to their counsel; suffer me not to fall by them. Who will set scourges over my thought, and a discipline of wisdom over mine heart? That they spare me not for mine ignorances, and my heart pass not by their sins: That mine ignorances be not multiplied, and my sins abound not; and I shall fall before mine adversaries, and mine enemy rejoice over me. O Lord, Father and God of my life, give me not a proud look, And turn away concupiscence from me. Let not greediness and chambering overtake me; and give me not over to a shameless mind. * * * * * Hear ye, my children, the discipline of the mouth; and he that keepeth it shall not be taken. The sinner shall be overtaken in his lips; and the reviler and the proud man shall stumble therein.