The sea not shoreless, if a man
Abounding vigor show.
For, after all:
Why, wealthy, puff with pride?
Why, poor, in gloom subside?
Since, like a stricken ball,
Men's fortunes rise and fall.
In any case, remember that youth and wealth are unstable as water-bubbles. As the saying goes:
With shadows of the passing cloud,
New grain, and knavish friends,
With women's love, and youth, and wealth,
Enjoyment quickly ends.
This being so, if an intelligent man catches slippery money, let him make it fruitful, by giving it away or enjoying it. As the proverb tells us:
The coin that cost a hundred toils,
That men are wont to cherish
Beyond their life, will, if it be
Not given to others, perish.
And again:
Bestow, or use your wealth for pleasure;
If not, you hoard another's treasure:
As in your home, your lovely girl
Awaits a stranger—his dear pearl.
And once again:
The miser for another hoards
His bags of needless money:
The bees laboriously pack,
But others taste the honey.
