A good housewife befits the house,
Spending with thrift the mate's resource.
Bright is home when wife is chaste
If not all greatness is but waste.
What is rare when wife is good
What can be there when she is bad?
What greater fortune is for men
Than a constant chaste woman?
Her spouse before God who adores,
Is like rain that at request pours.
The good wife guards herself from blame,
She tends her spouse and brings him fame.
Of what avail are watch and ward?
Their purity is women's guard.
Women who win their husband's heart
Shall flourish where the gods resort.
A cuckold has not the lion-like gait
Before his detractors aright.
An honest wife is home's delight
And children good are jewels abright.
THE WORTH OF A WIFE
