. Men and manners of old Florence . l curse him ; whosoever cheateththee twice, God will curse him and thee ; but if thouart cheated thrice, God will curse thee alone. Andin order not to find oneself in a position to beobliged to repeat this bitter saying it is safer tokeep silence thyself than to pray another to keepsilence ; wherefore take heed never to tell thy secretunto another, because thus thou becomest the servantof him whom thou prayest that he will not reveal thesecret thou hast told unto him. But now let us come to the more practical advicewhich concerns business matters and merchan
. Men and manners of old Florence . l curse him ; whosoever cheateththee twice, God will curse him and thee ; but if thouart cheated thrice, God will curse thee alone. Andin order not to find oneself in a position to beobliged to repeat this bitter saying it is safer tokeep silence thyself than to pray another to keepsilence ; wherefore take heed never to tell thy secretunto another, because thus thou becomest the servantof him whom thou prayest that he will not reveal thesecret thou hast told unto him. But now let us come to the more practical advicewhich concerns business matters and merchandise. The first maxim we come across is rather of anegoistical order, but it has the merit of being assincere as though it came out of an Americanbook! ** Labour always rather for thyself than forothers, to which our moralist adds : * A very fine and great thing it is to understandhow to earn money, but a finer and greater thing is itto understand how to spend it with discretion andwhen it is needful, and always to know how to keep. c FLORENTINE MIND AND MANNERS 73 and guard that which hath been left thee by thy fatheror other kindred. Money which a man hath notearned is more quickly spent than that which he hathearned with the sweat of his brow and with labour andcare. With regard to expenses he gives minute andvaluable advice : Give good heed to the small sums thou spendestout of the house, for it is they which empty the purseand consume wealth, and they go on continually. Anddo not buy all the good victuals which thou seest, forthe house is like a wolf, the more thou givest it themore doth it devour. When thou dost establish a shop or a warehousein thine own country or in a foreign country, see thatthou choosest a house in the best part of the town,if thou canst obtain it. And see also that the work-men thou takest are the best and most expert that areto be had in the trade thou wouldst follow ; and looknot to the cost, for neither the hire of a good housenor the wage of a g
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