55 of his innoþe, þætte ōþre þurh þone,
sǣfisca cynn, beswicen weorðaþ.
Swimmað sundhwate þǣr se swēta stenc
ūt gewīt[e]ð. Hī þǣr in farað,
unware weorude, oþþæt se wīda ceafl
60 gefylled bið; þonne fǣringa
ymbe þā herehūþe hlemmeð tōgædre
grimme gōman.
se þe oftost his unwærlīce,
on þās lǣnan tīd, līf biscēawað:
65 lǣteð hine beswīcan þurh swētne stenc,
lēasne willan, þæt hē biþ leahtrum fāh
wið Wuldorcyning. Him se āwyrgda ongēan
æfter hinsīþe helle ontȳneð,
þām þe lēaslīce līces wynne
70 ofer ferh[ð]gereaht fremedon on unrǣd.
Þonne se fǣcna in þām fæstenne
gebrōht hafað, bealwes cræftig,
whereupon there issues a ravishing perfume from his inwards, by which other kinds of fish are beguiled. With lively motions they swim to where the sweet odor comes forth, and there enter in, a heedless host, until the wide gorge is full; then, in one instant, he snaps his fierce jaws together about the swarming prey.
Thus it is with any one who, in this fleeting time, full oft neglects to take heed to his life, and allows himself to be enticed by sweet fragrance, a lying lure, so that he becomes hostile to the King of glory by reason of his sins. The accursed one will, when they die, throw wide the doors of hell to those who, in their folly, have wrought the treacherous delights of the body, contrary to the wise guidance of the soul. When the deceiver, skilful in wrongdoing, hath brought into that fastness,
