Thou shalt abandon everything beloved
Most tenderly, and this the arrow isWhich first the bow of banishment shoots forth.
Thou shalt have proof how savoureth of saltThe bread of others, and how hard a roadThe going down and up another’s stairs.
And that which most shall weigh upon thy shouldersWill be the bad and foolish companyWith which into this valley thou shalt fall;
For all ingrate, all mad and impiousWill they become against thee; but soon afterThey, and not thou, shall have the forehead scarlet.
Of their bestiality their own proceedingsShall furnish proof; so ’twill be well for theeA party to have made thee by thyself.
Thine earliest refuge and thine earliest innShall be the mighty Lombard’s courtesy,Who on the Ladder bears the holy bird,
Who such benign regard shall have for theeThat ’twixt you twain, in doing and in asking,That shall be first which is with others last.
With him shalt thou see one who at his birthHas by this star of strength been so impressed,That notable shall his achievements be.
Not yet the people are aware of himThrough his young age, since only nine years yetAround about him have these wheels revolved.
But ere the Gascon cheat the noble Henry,Some sparkles of his virtue shall appearIn caring not for silver nor for toil.