Moff PROV Chapter 26

26 

Like snow in summer and rain in harvest,

so honour for a fool is out of place.

2 

The sparrow flutters, the swallow flits,

and the baseless curse never goes home.

3 

A whip for the horse, a bridle for the ass,

and a rod for the back of a fool!

4 

Never answer a fool according to his folly,

lest you become like him:

5 

answer a fool according to his folly,

lest he imagines he is wise.

6 

To send a fool with a messag

is to cut off your own feet--injuring yourself.

7 

Like the limbs of a lame man

so maxims limp on the lips of a fool;

9 

like thorny branches brandished by a drunkard

so are maxims on the lips of a fool.

8 

Honour conferred upon a foo

is like a bag of gems laid on a heap of stones.

10 

An able man does everything himself:

a fool hires the first passer-by.

11 

A dog goes back to his vomit

and a fool repeats his folly.

12 

You see a man of self-conceit

More hope for a fool than for him!

13 

The sluggard says, “Some beast is roaring on the road

there’s a lion outside!”

14 

The door turns on its hinges,

and the lazy man upon his back.

15 

The lazy man drops his hand deep in the dish

it tires him even to lift it to his lips.

16 

The lazy man imagines he is wiser

than a dozen men who argue ably.

17 

He catches a passing dog by the ears

who meddles with a quarrel not his own.

18 

Like a lunatic who lets fly

deadly brands and arrows,

19 

so is he who deceives his neighbour,

and then says it was in fun.

20 

The fire goes out when the wood fails,

and quarrels cease when slanderers are away.

21 

Bellows for coals and wood for fire,

and a quarrelsome fellow for kindling strife!

22 

The words of a slanderer are like dainty morsels

swallowed and relished to the full.

23 

Smooth words and a vicious soul

are silvery dross upon a pot of clay.

24 

A man may dissemble his hate when he speaks

but inwardly he harbours guile;

25 

he may speak fair, but never believe him,

for he has many a foul thought in mind;

26 

yet, though he hide his hatred craftily,

his malice shall be publicly exposed.

27 

Whoever digs a pit shall fall into it;

the stone a man sets rolling recoils upon himself.

28 

A false tongue is a deadly bane

and flattering lips are fatal.