## The Folly of a Simpleminded Fool 

###### 1
Dead flies make a perfumer's oil stink, so a little simpleminded folly is weightier than wisdom _and_ honor. 

###### 2
A wise man's heart _directs him_ toward the right, but the foolish man's heart _directs him_ toward the left. 

###### 3
Even when the simpleminded fool walks along the road, his heart lacks _wisdom_, and he says to all _that_ he is a simpleminded fool. 

###### 4
If the ruler's temper rises against you, do not abandon your position, because calmness causes great offenses to be abandoned. 

###### 5
There is an evil I have seen under the sun, like a mistake which goes forth from the one in power-- 

###### 6
folly is set in many exalted places while rich men sit in humble places. 

###### 7
I have seen slaves _riding_ on horses and princes walking like slaves on the land. 

###### 8
He who digs a pit may fall into it, and a serpent may bite him who breaks through a wall. 

###### 9
He who quarries stones may be hurt by them, and he who splits logs may be endangered by them. 

###### 10
If the axe is dull and he does not sharpen _its_ edge, then he must exert more strength. Wisdom has the advantage of giving success. 

###### 11
If the serpent bites before being charmed, there is no advantage for the charmer. 

###### 12
Words from the mouth of a wise man are gracious, but the lips of a fool swallow him up; 

###### 13
the beginning of the words of his mouth is simpleminded folly, and the end of _what comes from_ his mouth is evil madness. 

###### 14
Yet the simpleminded fool multiplies words. No man knows what will happen, and who can tell him what will come after him? 

###### 15
The labor of a fool _so_ wearies him that he does not _even_ know how to go to a city. 

###### 16
Woe to you, O land, whose king is a young man and whose princes eat in the morning. 

###### 17
Blessed are you, O land, whose king is of nobility and whose princes eat at the appropriate time--for might and not for drinking. 

###### 18
Through indolence the beams sag, and through slack hands the house leaks. 

###### 19
_Men_ prepare bread for laughter, and wine makes life glad, and money is the answer to everything. 

###### 20
Furthermore, in your bedchamber do not curse a king, and in your sleeping rooms do not curse a rich man, for a bird of the sky will bring the sound and the winged creature will tell the matter.