Then the monarch had an aviary. It is indeed difficult for me to restrain myself from telling too minutely of this. For there was in it, in the full splendor of plumage, every species of bird from the royal eagle to tiny birds of many colors,—even to the birds from whose green plumage they make their beautiful green feather work. All these birds had houses, and men and women keepers fed them proper food, cleaned their nests and set them for breeding. In the courtyard stood a large tank of fresh water,
.
through the street, nor pay any regard to them, let those who come and go say what they will. Take care that you neither answer nor speak, but act as if you neither heard nor understood. See, likewise, my daughter, that you never paint your face, nor stain it, nor your lips, with colors in order to appear well. Paints and colorings are things which bad women use—the immodest, who have lost shame and even sense, who are like fools and drunkards. "Adorn yourself, wash yourself, and cleanse your clothes; but do this with moderation. My daughter, this is the course for you to take, since in this manner the ancestors from whom you sprang brought us up. Those noble and venerable dames, your grandmothers, told us not so many things as I have told you. My tenderly loved daughter, my little dove, keep this illustration in your heart. "When it shall please God that you receive a husband, be free from arrogance, see that you do not neglect him or allow your heart to be in opposition to him. Beware that in no time nor place you commit treason against him. Remember that though no man sees you, nor your husband ever knows, God, who is in every place, sees you, and will be angry with you and will permit you to have neither contentment nor tranquillity. My dear daughter, whom I love, see that you live in the world in peace and contentment all the days you shall live. May God prosper you, my first-born, and may you come to God who is in every place."
