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2. Then he rose up and went forth to behold other parts of the world, and entering the street of the tradesmen, he began to wonder at their divers arts, and to find pleasure in them; then with his deep wit he devised for them strange things, such as the artful fashioning of gardens, orchards, fish-ponds, the building of houses and towns, and the furthering of all that delights mankind.

3. Now, when Solomon entered the street of the married people, Pleasure cunningly led to him all the most beautiful maidens, adorned in the most beauteous manner with divers sweet-sounding music. She told some of the most lovely to welcome the king solemnly, and they greeted him as the light of the human race, the crown of the Israelite nation, the jewel of the world; "as the estate of the scholars, as well as that of the tradesmen, had," they said, "gained not little from the presence of his light and illumination, thus did the estate of matrimony also strive to obtain through his presence an increase of its glory." After thanking courteously, Solomon said that he intended to honour that estate by joining it; then choosing from among the maidens her who seemed to him most beautiful, he consented to be weighed together with her, and linked to her