1. Sleeplessness troubled me, and pressing cares possessed my thoughts,
A young man's concerns march on, both early and late.

2. I have a friend who wronged me, or I did him wrong,
Thus disputants, neither innocent nor guilty.

3. He pleads and makes excuses for himself,
But God upholds the wronged and brings them victory.

4. And I'm a man who says openly and intentionally
I will do as men do, discreetly and openly.

5. Two tongues visit me, one slick with deceit,
The other rough and harsh in what it utters.

6. They stay the night with me, then leave at dawn,
Saying all the eloquent things people say.

7. And whichever met mishap from them
On roads the holy pilgrims' steps once traced,

8. I offered him sincere advice, withholding nothing,
Though to the heedless man no counsel comes, however wise.

9. When you seek to prove innocence, then shun
Any excuse till proofs on every side appear.

10. Excuses may surrender the excused to ruin,
And calumny destroy the truly innocent.

11. A poet, thinking himself exalted, his high-flown words
Lavished on him, "You are most eloquent!"

12. I indulged him once, then left him be,
Since he was pleased before with less, though paltry.

13. Rhyming in facile, slack, and easy measures,
No crafted verse, but rambling prose in rhyme.

14. I spoke in verse, and his rhyme could not defeat me,
For speech has doors both wide and narrow ways.

15. He counts the stars' slow journey, and he sleeps,
When midnight rests the anxious traveller.

16. When it is done, he takes the road again, as if
Drunk with delight, or bent on dissipation.