Now as he walked along, Godly spied a weaver who with his wife was on his way to a neighboring city for liquor to drink, and he called out: “Look here, my good fellow! I come to you a guest, brought by the evening sun. I do not know a soul in the village. Let me receive the treatment due a guest. For the proverb says

No stranger may be turned aside

Who seeks your door at eventide;

Nay, honor him and you shall be

Transmuted into deity.

And again:

Some straw, a floor, and water,

With kindly words beside:

These four are never wanting

Where pious folk abide.

And once again:

The sacred fires by kindly word

And Indra by the chair is stirred,

Krishna by water for the feet,

The Lord of All by things to eat.”

On hearing this, the weaver said to his wife: “Go, my dear. Take this guest to the house. Treat him hospitably, giving him water for he feet, food, a bed, and so on. And stay in the house yourself. I will bring plenty of wine and meat for you.” With this he went farther.

So the wife started home with Godly, and she showed a laughing countenance, for she was a whore and had a certain swain in mind. Indeed, there is sense in the verse:

When night is dark

And dark the day,

When streets are mired

With sticky clay,

When husband lingers

Far away,

The flirt becomes

Supremely gay.

The wench cares not

A straw to miss

The covered couch,

The husband’s kiss

The pleasant bed;

In place of this

She ever seeks

A stolen bliss.

And again:

For stranger men

The slut will see

The ruin of

Her family,

The world’s reproach,

The jailer’s key

Will risk a death

She cannot flee.

Then she went home, offered Godly a rickety cot and said: “My holy sir, a woman friend has come from the village and I must speak to her. I will be back directly. Meanwhile, you may stay in our house. But please be careful.” With this she put on her best things and started to find her swain.

At this moment she ran into her husband, clasping a jug of wine. He was reeling drunk, his hair was towsled, and he stumbled at every step. She ran when she saw him, entered the house, took off her finery, and appeared as usual.

Now the weaver had seen her flee, had observed the finery, and since he had previously heard the gossip that went the rounds about her, his heart was troubled and anger overcame him. So he entered the house and said: “You wench! You whore! Where were you going?”

And she replied: “I have not been out since I left you. What is this drunken twaddle? There is sense in the proverb:

After wine and fever, these

Selfsame symptoms come:

Shaking, falling to the ground,

Mad delirium.

And again:

The setting sun and drunken man