Let's continue with the 'advice for the body':
"With regard to the mode in which thou shouldst govern thy person and
thy house, Sancho, the first charge I have to give thee is to be clean,
and to cut thy nails, not letting them grow as some do, whose
ignorance
makes them fancy that long nails are an ornament to their hands, as if
those excrescences they neglect to cut were nails, and not the talons of
a lizard-catching kestrel- a filthy and unnatural
abuse.
Basic grooming. For gentlemen, to keep the nails short. For, ladies ... keep them nice! Varnish that is peeling off, or long nails that are not varnished look as bad as long nails in a male.
"Go not
ungirt and loose, Sancho; for disordered attire is a sign of an unstable
mind, unless indeed the slovenliness and slackness is to he set down to
craft, as was the common opinion in the case of
Julius Caesar.
Always dress neatly. If you ever are to wear clothes that are dirty, torn, damaged, not matching/not fitting you, it must happen as a result of your conscious and intentional decision, and not because you do not care.
"Ascertain
cautiously what thy office may be worth; and if it will allow thee to
give liveries to thy servants, give them respectable and serviceable,
rather than showy and gay ones, and divide them between thy servants and
the poor; that is to say, if thou canst clothe six pages, clothe three
and three poor men, and thus thou wilt have pages for heaven and pages
for earth; the vainglorious never think of this new mode of giving
liveries.
We do not have to dress our pages these days. But you may be running a business, and you may want to equip your employees with something they need for their work. In such case, make sure that everyone gets something, and that the equipment is useful for the job they are doing, rather than a pure indicator of their status.
"Eat not garlic nor onions, lest they find out thy boorish
origin by the smell; walk slowly and speak deliberately, but not in such
a way as to make it seem thou art listening to thyself, for all
affectation is bad.
I am not sure that we now, when we shower several times a day, we still need to be so strict about garlic and onion. But the fact remains that we need to avoid smelling bad.
"Dine sparingly and sup more sparingly still; for the health of the whole body is forged in the workshop of the stomach.
This one is no different to what we can read today about healthy eating ... astonishing, is it not?
"Be temperate in drinking, bearing in mind that wine in excess keeps neither secrets nor promises.
Again, things have not changed over time. Especially important in business life.
"Take care, Sancho, not to chew on both sides, and not to eruct in anybody's presence."
"Eruct!" said Sancho; "I don't know what that means."
"To
eruct, Sancho," said Don Quixote, "means to belch, and that is one of
the filthiest words in the Spanish language, though a very expressive
one; and therefore nice folk have had recourse to the
Latin, and
instead of belch say eruct, and instead of belches say eructations; and
if some do not understand these terms it matters little, for custom will
bring them into use in the course of time,
so that they will be readily understood; this is the way a language is enriched; custom and the public are all-powerful there."
"In
truth, senor," said Sancho, "one of the counsels and cautions I mean to
bear in mind shall be this, not to belch, for I'm constantly doing it."
"Eruct, Sancho, not belch," said Don Quixote.
"Eruct, I shall say henceforth, and I swear not to forget it," said Sancho.
Mum and dad taught us that belching is bad. And they did not use the name 'eruct'. Simply something one should not do. And there is only one way to behave when this happens to us or someone else: pretend it has not happened.
"Likewise,
Sancho," said Don Quixote, "thou must not mingle such a quantity of
proverbs in thy discourse as thou dost; for though proverbs are short
maxims, thou dost drag them in so often by the head and shoulders that
they savour more of nonsense than of maxims."
"God alone can cure
that," said Sancho; "for I have more proverbs in me than a book, and
when I speak they come so thick together into my mouth that they fall to
fighting among themselves to get out; that's why my tongue lets fly the
first that come, though they may not be pat to the purpose. But I'll
take care henceforward to use such as befit the dignity of my office;
for 'in a house where there's plenty, supper is soon cooked,' and 'he
who binds does not wrangle,' and 'the bell-ringer's in a safe berth,'
and 'giving and keeping require brains.'"
"That's it, Sancho!" said
Don Quixote; "pack, tack, string proverbs together; nobody is hindering
thee! 'My mother beats me, and I go on with my tricks.' I am bidding
thee avoid proverbs, and
here in a second thou hast shot out a whole
litany of them, which have as much to do with what we are talking about
as 'over the hills of Ubeda.' Mind, Sancho, I do not say that a proverb
aptly brought in is objectionable; but to pile up and string together
proverbs at random makes conversation dull and vulgar.
Use simple language. Use proverbs occasionally, to emphasise what you want to say. Proverbs often represent the the life wisdom, but if not used moderately, they may indicate the opposite.
"When thou
ridest on horseback, do not go lolling with thy body on the back of the
saddle, nor carry thy legs stiff or sticking out from the horse's belly,
nor yet sit so loosely that one would suppose thou wert on Dapple; for the seat on a horse makes gentlemen of some and grooms of others.
Your posture is important. We do not ride horses routinely anymore, but we drive cars, travel by trains, air planes, etc. Present yourself in the way you in which you want to be seen.
"Be moderate in thy sleep; for he who does not rise early does not get the
benefit of the day; and remember, Sancho, diligence is the mother of
good fortune, and indolence, its opposite, never yet
attained the object of an honest ambition.
Get up early and do stuff. Things do not happen when you are asleep (unless you are ill).
"The
last counsel I will give thee now, though it does not tend to bodily
improvement, I would have thee carry carefully in thy memory, for I
believe it will be no less useful to thee than those I have
given
thee already, and it is this- never engage in a dispute about families,
at least in the way of comparing them one with another; for necessarily
one of those compared will be better than the other, and thou wilt be
hated by the one thou hast disparaged, and get nothing in any shape from
the one thou hast exalted.
Do not compare groups of people. Avoid gossipping and comparing others. You will not gain anything, and you have too much to lose.
"Thy attire shall be hose of full length,
a long jerkin, and a cloak a trifle longer; loose breeches by no means,
for they are becoming neither for gentlemen nor for governors.
Today, we are much more relaxed with respect to what we wear, but still it is expected that people of certain positions cover rather than uncover their bodies. What is appropriate at a holiday resort will not be appropriate in business settings or any formal functions. No shorts, t-shirts, vests/undershirts etc. for men, no shorts, short skirts, spaghetti tops, bikini tops for ladies. Save them for the beach, a pool party, or another appropriate occasion.
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