When you sit down to eat with a ruler, observe carefully what is before you;
Do you see a man skilful in his work? he will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men.
and put a knife to your throat if you are a man given to appetite.
These are blemishes on your love feasts, as they boldly carouse together, looking after themselves; waterless clouds, carried along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted;