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¹ Mi sone, kepe thou my wordis; and kepe myn heestis to thee. Sone, onoure thou the Lord, and thou schalt be `myyti; but outakun hym drede thou not an alien.² Kepe thou myn heestis, and thou schalt lyue; and my lawe as the appil of thin iyen.³ Bynde thou it in thi fyngris; write thou it in the tablis of thin herte.⁴ Seie thou to wisdom, Thou art my sistir; and clepe thou prudence thi frendesse.⁵ That it kepe thee fro a straunge womman; and fro an alien womman, that makith hir wordis swete.

⁶ For whi fro the wyndow of myn hous bi the latijs Y bihelde; and Y se litle children.⁷ I biholde a yong man coward,⁸ that passith bi the stretis, bisidis the corner; and he⁹ goith niy the weie of hir hous in derk tyme, whanne the dai drawith to niyt, in the derknessis and myst of the nyyt.¹⁰ And lo! a womman, maad redi with ournement of an hoore to disseyue soulis, meetith hym, and sche is a ianglere, and goynge about,¹¹ and vnpacient of reste, and mai not stonde in the hous with hir feet;¹² and now without forth, now in stretis, now bisidis corneris sche `aspieth.¹³ And sche takith, and kissith the yong man; and flaterith with wowynge cheer, and seith, Y ouyte sacrifices for heelthe;¹⁴ to dai Y haue yolde my vowis.¹⁵ Therfor Y yede out in to thi meetyng, and Y desiride to se thee; and Y haue founde thee.¹⁶ Y haue maad my bed with coordis, Y haue arayed with tapetis peyntid of Egipt;¹⁷ Y haue bispreynt my bed with myrre, and aloes, and canel.¹⁸ Come thou, be we fillid with tetis, and vse we collyngis that ben coueitid; til the dai bigynne to be cleer.¹⁹ For myn hosebonde is not in his hows; he is goon a ful long weie.²⁰ He took with hym a bagge of money; he schal turne ayen in to his hous in the dai of ful moone.²¹ Sche boonde hym with many wordis; and sche drow forth hym with flateryngis of lippis.²² Anoon he as an oxe led to slayn sacrifice sueth hir, and as a ioli lomb and vnkunnynge; and the fool woot not, that he is drawun to bondys,²³ til an arowe perse his mawe. As if a brid hastith to the snare; and woot not, that it is don of the perel of his lijf.

²⁴ Now therfor, my sone, here thou me; and perseyue the wordis of my mouth.²⁵ Lest thi soule be drawun awei in the weies of hir; nether be thou disseyued in the pathis of hir.²⁶ For sche castide doun many woundid men; and alle strongeste men weren slayn of hir.²⁷ The weies of helle is hir hous; and persen in to ynnere thingis of deeth.