When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee:
Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.
And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.
These are spots in your feasts of love, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;