The Book of Chess

Since he accepted correction from him,
and followed his teaching,
what more should I say
of this? The king learned it well.
Because of this, in many cities,
he has honor; his wrath has been tempered,
and he serves with courtly wisdom,
which the master recognized in him.
This is the significance that the pieces original: "stame"; literally "stems" or "trunks," here referring to the chess pieces as the foundation of the allegory. have,
and their rules shall be:
to represent the king and queen,
the rooks, and all the knights. And also,
what significance is found in the enemies original: "vinde"; referring to the opposing pieces on the board.
that I will say here and now,
just as I found it in the text.
When I arrived at the best time,
when the king could understand it,
he took virtue into himself
and allowed himself to be corrected well,
so that all who were there also
perceived his correction as a good thing.
An honorable lord who accepts discipline original: "straffe"; implies both punishment and corrective instruction.
does not find it a heavy burden;
it never did him any good,
the misdeeds of his younger days.
Now that he has reached his later years,
I believe his reputation must grow;
though he was never strengthened
in his youth, he now learns to reflect.
In old age, this is done with great difficulty,
therefore let no one delay
in wisdom and in virtue
during his blossoming youth.

For whatever little a man strives for in his youth,
he has very little of it in his old age.
The lord who maintains his position,
whom I shall not describe here,
if he fights against the taste of mercy with malice,
he will hardly or never succeed.
Whether the taste be bad or good,
when one does right in his youth
and has mastery over good words,
it will hardly ever fail him.
He would have to be very unjust,
otherwise he keeps his old age pure.
If these things come to him together,
it could go much better for him
than if he were to burden the poor,
as I shall explain to you.
For the high-born original: "bhen"; likely a contraction of 'behen' or 'behente,' referring here to the nobility or those of high status. are better known
than poor people are everywhere,
and their praise becomes wide and broad
when virtue is spoken of them.
If such a lord neglects his duty,
that same reputation lies with him.
It could also quickly happen
that the high-born change their minds,
so that they are of a virtuous spirit.
It would also be good for poor people
to gladly heed correction;
for few people often change their habits
concerning things that reflect poorly on them.
Whoever endures correction without resentment,
one may speak with him in a disciplined manner.