My son, keep my words, and lay up my precepts with thee. Son,

Fili mi, custodi sermones meos, et præcepta mea reconde tibi. Fili,

My son, do not forget these warnings; let this charge of mine be an heirloom,

Keep my commandments, and thou shalt live: and my law as the apple of thy eye:

serva mandata mea, et vives; et legem meam quasi pupillam oculi tui:

kept jealously, as thou lovest thy own life; precious to thee as the apple of thy eye be the teaching I give thee.

Bind it upon thy fingers, write it upon the tables of thy heart.

liga eam in digitis tuis, scribe illam in tabulis cordis tui.

Bind it fast about thy fingers, write it, as upon a tablet, on thy heart;

Say to wisdom: Thou art my sister: and call prudence thy friend,

Dic sapientiæ: Soror mea es, et prudentiam voca amicam tuam:

give to wisdom a sister’s welcome, and hail discernment as thy friend.

That she may keep thee from the woman that is not thine, and from the stranger who sweeteneth her words.

ut custodiant te a muliere extranea, et ab aliena quæ verba sua dulcia facit.

So wilt thou learn to shun the temptress with her honeyed words, the wife that is no wife of thine.

For I look out of the window of my house through the lattice,

De fenestra enim domus meæ per cancellos prospexi,

Ere now, looking down from my window through the lattice,

And I see little ones, I behold a foolish young man,

et video parvulos; considero vecordem juvenem,

I have watched the thoughtless crowd, and seen some gallant, more insensate than the rest,

Who passeth through the street by the corner, and goeth nigh the way of her house.

qui transit per plateam juxta angulum et prope viam domus illius graditur:

crossing the street at the corner where such a woman dwells. Now his steps are taking him near that abode of hers;

In the dark, when it grows late, in the darkness and obscurity of the night,

in obscuro, advesperascente die, in noctis tenebris et caligine.

the day wanes, and the light fades; night spreads her pall of darkness.

And behold a woman meeteth him in harlot’s attire prepared to deceive souls; talkative and wandering,

Et ecce occurrit illi mulier ornatu meretricio, præparata ad capiendas animas: garrula et vaga,

Who comes to meet him? A woman in right harlot’s guise, that goes out, ready of speech, to hunt men’s lives.

Not bearing to be quiet, not able to abide still at home,

quietis impatiens, nec valens in domo consistere pedibus suis;

No rest for her, stay at home she cannot;

Now abroad, now in the streets, now lying in wait near the corners.

nunc foris, nunc in plateis, nunc juxta angulos insidians.

ever in street and market-place she lies in ambush, at some corner of the ways.

And catching the young man, she kisseth him, and with an impudent face, flattereth, saying:

Apprehensumque deosculatur juvenem, et procaci vultu blanditur, dicens:

She draws him to herself and kisses him, flattering him with her bold speech:

I vowed victims for prosperity, this day I have paid my vows.

Victimas pro salute vovi; hodie reddidi vota mea:

Only to-day I have paid a vow that I owed for my preservation, and here are my victims freshly killed;

Therefore I am come out to meet thee, desirous to see thee, and I have found thee.

idcirco egressa sum in occursum tuum, desiderans te videre, et reperi.

so I came out to find thee, longing for the sight of thee, and here thou art!

I have woven my bed with cords, I have covered it with painted tapestry, brought from Egypt.

Intexui funibus lectulum meum; stravi tapetibus pictis ex Ægypto:

Soft, soft I have made my bed, spread it with embroidered tapestries of Egyptian woof;

I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.

aspersi cubile meum myrrha, et aloë, et cinnamomo.

freshly scented is that bower of mine with myrrh, and aloes, and cinnamon.

Come, let us be inebriated with the breasts, and let us enjoy the desired embraces, till the day appear.

Veni, inebriemur uberibus, et fruamur cupitis amplexibus donec illucescat dies.

Come, let us lose ourselves in dalliance, all the night through let us enjoy the long-desired embrace.

For my husband is not at home, he is gone a very long journey.

Non est enim vir in domo sua: abiit via longissima:

My home stands masterless, my husband far away,

He took with him a bag of money: he will return home the day of the full moon.

sacculum pecuniæ secum tulit; in die plenæ lunæ reversurus est in domum suam.

and his purse with him; no fear of his returning till the moon is full.

She entangled him with many words, and drew him away with the flattery of her lips.

Irretivit eum multis sermonibus, et blanditiis labiorum protraxit illum.

Alas, the ready speech that beguiles him, the seducing lips that lead him captive away!

Immediately he followeth her as an ox led to be a victim, and as a lamb playing the wanton, and not knowing that he is drawn like a fool to bonds,

Statim eam sequitur quasi bos ductus ad victimam, et quasi agnus lasciviens, et ignorans quod ad vincula stultus trahatur:

He follows without more ado, unwitting as the ox that goes to the shambles, or a frisking lamb; nor knows what fetters await him,

Till the arrow pierce his liver: as if a bird should make haste to the snare, and knoweth not that his life is in danger.

donec transfigat sagitta jecur ejus, velut si avis festinet ad laqueum, et nescit quod de periculo animæ illius agitur.

till the shaft is already deep in his bosom. So joyfully flies bird into snare, heedless of its life’s peril.

Now therefore, my son, hear me, and attend to the words of my mouth.

Nunc ergo, fili mi, audi me, et attende verbis oris mei.

Heed me well, my son; let not this warning be given in vain;

Let not thy mind be drawn away in her ways: neither be thou deceived with her paths.

Ne abstrahatur in viis illius mens tua, neque decipiaris semitis ejus;

do not let her steal thy heart away, do not be enticed by her beckoning.

For she hath cast down many wounded, and the strongest have been slain by her.

multos enim vulneratos dejecit, et fortissimi quique interfecti sunt ab ea.

Many the wounds such a woman has dealt; a brave retinue she has of men murdered;

Her house is the way to hell, reaching even to the inner chambers of death.

Viæ inferi domus ejus, penetrantes in interiora mortis.

truly her house is the grave’s ante-chamber, opens the door into the secret closet of death.