Page:The Arraignment of Lewd, Idle, Froward, and Unconstant Women (1622).djvu/37

 was but in ieſt; but many times they take it in ieſt, and (if they be not ſpyed) keepe it in earneſt: But if thy pockets grow emptie, and thy reuenues will not hold out longer, to maintaine her pompe and brauerie; then ſhe preſently leaues to make much of thy perſon, and will not ſticke to ſay vnto thee, that ſhe could have beſtowed her loue on ſuch a one, as would haue maintained her like a Woman: ſo by this means they weaue the webbe of their owne woe, and ſpinne the thred of their owne thraldome; if they lack, they wil lack at the laſt, for they wil cut it out of the whole Cloth, ſo long as the Piece will hold out.

Is not the Bee hiued for his Honey, the Sheepe ſheared for his Fleece, the Oxe necke wrought for his Maſters profit, the Fowle plucked for her Feathers, the Tree grafted to bring forth Fruit, and the Earth laboured to bring forth Corne? But what labour or coſt thou beſtoweſt on a Woman, is all caſt away, for ſhe will yeeld thee no profit at all: for when thou haſt done all, and giuen them all that they can demaund, yet thou ſhalt bee as well rewarded as thoſe men were, whom Eſop hyred for three-halfe-pence a day to heare him recite his Fables.

Theſe things being wiſely conſidered, then what a foole art thou to blinde thy ſelfe in their bold behaviour, and bow at their beckes, and come at their calls, and ſell thy Lands, to make them ſwimme in their Silkes, and iet in their Iewels, making Gill a Gentlewoman, inſomuch, that ſhe careth not a penny for the fineſt, nor a fig for the proudeſt? ſhe is as good as the beſt, although ſhe haue no more honeſty then hardly to ſerue her owne turne, ſuffering euery mans fingers as deepe in the Diſh as thine are in the Platter, and euery man to angle where thou caſteſt thy hooke,