| 1 | Do not befriend the heated man, |
| 2 | nor approach him for conversation. |
| 3 | Keep your tongue from answering your superior, |
| 4 | and take care not to insult him. |
| 5 | Let him not cast his speech to lasso You, |
| 6 | Nor give free rein to your answer. |
| 7 | Converse with a man of your own measure, |
| 8 | and take care not to vex. |
| 9 | Swift is speech when the heart is hurt, |
| 10 | more than wind over water. |
| 11 | He tears down, and he builds up with his tongue, |
| 12 | when he makes his hurtful speech. |
| 13 | He gives an answer worthy of a beating, |
| 14 | for its weight is harm. |
| 15 | He hauls freight like all the world, |
| 16 | but his load is falsehood. |
| 17 | He is the ferryman of snaring words, |
| 18 | he goes and comes with quarrels. |
| 19 | When he eats and drinks inside, |
| 20 | his answer is heard outside. |
| 21 | The day he is charged with his crime, |
| 22 | is misfortune for his children. |
| 23 | If only Khnum came to him ! |
| 24 | The potter to the fiery-mouthed man, |
| 25 | so as to knead his states of mind. |
| 26 | He is like a young wolf in the farmyard, |
| 27 | he turns one eye against the other, |
| 28 | he causes brothers to quarrel, |
| 29 | he runs before every wind like clouds, |
| 30 | he dims the radiance of the Sun, |
| 31 | he flips his tail like the crocodile's young, |
| 32 | he gathers himself together, crouched. |
| 33 | His lips are sweet, his tongue is bitter. |
| 34 | A fire burns in his belly. |
| 35 | Do not leap up to join such a one, |
| 36 | lest a terror carry You away. |