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,

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

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.

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

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;

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

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

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

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

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.

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

De fenestra enim domus meæ per cancellos prospexi,

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

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

et video parvulos; considero vecordem juvenem,

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

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

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;

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

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

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

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

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.

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

quietis impatiens, nec valens in domo consistere pedibus suis;

No rest for her, stay at home she cannot;

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

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.

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

Apprehensumque deosculatur juvenem, et procaci vultu blanditur, dicens:

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

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

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;

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

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!

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

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

aspersi cubile meum myrrha, et aloë, et cinnamomo.

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

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

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.

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

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

My home stands masterless, my husband far away,

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

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.

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

Irretivit eum multis sermonibus, et blanditiis labiorum protraxit illum.

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

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

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,

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,

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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;

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

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.

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