‘O grandson of Conn, Cormac,’ said Carpre, ‘how do you distinguish women?’ ‘Not hard to tell,’ said Cormac. ‘I distinguish them, but I make no difference among them.’
‘he will have neither honour nor life nor fame who listens to bad women’ said Cormac to Carpe.
- They are crabbed as constant companions,
haughty when visited,
5] lewd when neglected,
silly counsellors,
greedy of increase,
they have tell-tale faces,
they are quarrelsome in company,
10] desirous of letting go,
greedy of gifts,
putting up with exaggeration,
hard and grasping,
steadfast in hate,
15] forgetful of love,
thirsting (?) for lust,
anxious for alliance,
accustomed to slander,
dishonest in an assembly,
20] stubborn in a quarrel,
not to be trusted with a secret,
ever intent on pilfering,
boisterous in their jealousy,
ever ready for an excuse
25] on the pursuit of folly,
quick to engage,
ready to pledge,
neglectful of earning,
ready to injure,
30] never ready to heal,
they check what they do not attain,
they betray what they do not save,
haughty when wooed,
slanderers of worth,
35] slow to make use of things,
scamping their work,
stiff when paying a visit,
disdainful of good men,
gloomy and stubborn,
40] forgetful of restraint,
mindful of strife,
feeble in a contest,
viragos in strife,
prodigal at a feast,
45] sorrowful in an ale-house,
sturdy in wrangling,
indolent of exertion,
tearful during music,
lustful in bed,
50] arrogant and disingenuous,
abettors of strife,
niggardly with food,
incredulous of speech,
rejecting wisdom,
55] vigorous of speech,
quick to revile,
tenacious in cohabitation,
setting themselves against comfort,
alive to discomfort,
60] indolent in gathering,
ever in the company of folly,
quick to promise,
harbouring evil thoughts,
eager to go into society,
65] sulky on a journey,
troublesome bedfellows,
deaf to instruction,
blind to good advice,
fatuous in society,
70] craving for delicacies,
small givers,
chary in their presents,
languid when being solicited,
exceeding all bounds in keeping others waiting,
75] shameless on visits,
tedious talkers,
persevering in lust,
close practitioners,
skilled in pleasure-seeking,
80] unskilled in obedience,
prattling... ,
dumb on useful matters,
eloquent on trifles,
painstaking about an elegant head-dress,
85] they utter what they do not perform,
they attempt what they do not finish,
they watch what they do not get,
they turn aside what they do not secure,
they vow what they do not make true,
90] they promise what they do not fulfil,
they separate what they do not redeem (?),
they destroy what they do not save,
they scatter what they do not gather,
they affirm what they cannot do,
95] they strive after what they do not effect,
they break up what they cannot collect,
they give away what they do not levy,
they lavish what they cannot husband,
[fire is good at any time,]
100] happy he who does not yield to them,
they should he dreaded like fire,
they should be feared like wild beasts,
women are capricious beasts,
[a wood is good at every season,]
105] woe to him who humours them,
better to whip them than to humour them,
better to scourge them than to gladden them,
better to beat them than to coddle them,
better to smite them than to please them,
110] better to beware of them than to trust them,
better to trample upon them than to fondle them,
better to crush them than to cherish them, —
- 115] They are waves that drown you,
they are fire that burns you,
they are two-edged weapons that cut you,
they are moths for sticking to one,
they are serpents for cunning,
120] they are darkness in light,
they are bad among the good,
they are worse among the bad.