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Part 1 |
HAVING thus acquired learning, a man, with the wealth that he may have gained by gift, conquest,
purchase, deposit,1 or inheritance from his ancestors, should become a householder, and pass the
life of a citizen.2 He should take a house in a city, or large village, or in the vicinity of good men, or
in a place which is the resort of many persons. This abode should be situated near some water, and
divided into different compartments for different purposes. It should be surrounded by a garden, and
also contain two rooms, an outer and an inner one. The inner room should be occupied by the
females, while the outer room, balmy with rich perfumes, should contain a bed, soft, agreeable to
the sight, covered with a clean white cloth, low in the middle part, having garlands and bunches of
flowers3 upon it, and a canopy above it, and two pillows, one at the top, another at the bottom.
There should be also a sort of couch besides, and at the head of this a sort of stool, on which should
be placed the fragrant ointments for the night, as well as flowers, pots containing collyrium and
other fragrant substances, things used for perfuming the mouth, and the bark of the common citron
tree. Near the couch, on the ground, there should be a pot for spitting, a box containing ornaments,
and also a lute hanging from a peg made of the tooth of an elephant, a board for drawing, a pot
containing perfume, some books, and some garlands of the yellow amaranth flowers. Not far from
the couch, and on the ground, there should be a round seat, a toy cart, and a board for playing with
dice; outside the outer room there should be cages of birds,4 and a separate place for spinning,
carving and such like diversions. In the garden there should be a whirling swing and a common
swing, as also a bower of creepers covered with flowers, in which a raised parterre should be made
for sitting.
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