Proverbs

¹When you sit to dine with a ruler, note well what is before you, ²and put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony. ³Do not crave his delicacies, for that food is deceptive. ⁴Do not wear yourself out to get rich; do not trust your own cleverness. ⁵Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle. ⁶Do not eat the food of a begrudging host, do not crave his delicacies; ⁷for he is the kind of person who is always thinking about the cost. “Eat and drink,” he says to you, but his heart is not with you.