And [there is] a proverb: "don't spend [sc. time] on useless things." Never do good for an old man, nor a malignant slave/boy, nor a talkative woman, nor a stupid slave/boy or a neighbor's dog, nor a chattering rower.[1]
See other [such injunctions] under Pythagoras.[2]
"Not to dart into (that is, burst into)[3] [the house] of a dancing girl, lest, while gaping after such things, you are struck [with an apple][4] by a whore and forfeit (that is, fall away from)[5] your good reputation; and not to call [your father] Iapetos and reproach him for his age, from which you were reared in your infancy."[6] That is, [call him] idiotic, stupid. Iapetos [was] one of the Giants. And "reared in your infancy" is like brought up.[7] "Not to do wicked things to your parents, by doing which you would defile an image of modesty."[8] [Meaning] not to do to your parents uncivilized things which would defile images of modesty.