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Saturday 2 November 2024

Some Actions Are Their Own Punishment.





How many men have regretted marrying the much younger beauty, rather than simply keeping to their original wife? 


"This carpenter had lately wed a wife 
Whom lie loved better than he loved his life; 
And she was come to eighteen years of age. 
Jealous he was and held her close in cage. 
For she was wild and young, and he was old, 
And deemed himself as like to be cuckold. 
He knew not Cato, for his lore was rude: 
That vulgar man should wed similitude. 
A man should wed according to estate, 
For youth and age are often in debate. 
But now, since he had fallen in the snare, 
He must endure, like other folk, his care."

Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, The Miller’s Tale

This is both insightful and funny. Many a man has been led astray to destruction with their eyes. Or at least, they have been led into a life of unnecessary pain. The ancients observed the result of these errors long before we did. These are old mistakes, learn from the ancients, so you don’t make them yourself. 

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