46
REMAINS OF HESIOD.
Not on a brother's plighted word rely,
But, as in laughter,[1] set a witness by;
Mistrust destroys us and credulity.
Let no fair woman tempt thy sliding mind
With garment gather'd in a knot behind;[2]
She prattling with gay speech[3] inquires thy home;
But trust a woman, and a thief is come.
One only son his father's house may tend,
And e'en with one domestic hoards ascend:
Then mayst thou leave a second son behind:
But, as in laughter,[1] set a witness by;
Mistrust destroys us and credulity.
Let no fair woman tempt thy sliding mind
With garment gather'd in a knot behind;[2]
She prattling with gay speech[3] inquires thy home;
But trust a woman, and a thief is come.
One only son his father's house may tend,
And e'en with one domestic hoards ascend:
Then mayst thou leave a second son behind:
- ↑ As in laughter.] Και τε κασιγνητω γελασας επι μαρτυρα θεσθαι. The interpreters say,
Etiam cum fratre ludens, testem adhibeto.
But I should place the comma after fratre, and join ludens with testem adhibeto. "Even in a compact with your brother, have a witness: you may do it laughingly, or as if in jest."}}
- ↑ With garment gather'd in a knot behind.] πυγοστολος, adorning the hinder parts, seems to refer to some meretricious distinction of dress. Solon compelled women of loose character to appear in public in flowered robes. Solomon in that beautiful chapter of the Proverbs has a similar allusion. "There met him a woman with the attire of a harlot, and subtle of heart." Ch. vii. 10.
- ↑ Prattling with gay speech.] With her much fair speech she caused him to yield: with the flattering of her lips she forced him. Proverbs, vii. 21.
