And certainly, as sooth 2749 as God is king, To take a wife it is a glorious thing, And namely 2750 when a man is old and hoar, Then is a wife the fruit of his treasór; Then should he take a young wife and a fair, On which he might engender him an heir, And lead his life in joy and in solace; 2751 Whereas these bachelors singen “Alas!” When that they find any adversity In love, which is but childish vanity. And truëly it sits 2752 well to be so, That bachelors have often pain and woe: On brittle ground they build, and brittleness They findë, when they weenë sickerness: 2753 They live but as a bird or as a beast, In liberty, and under no arrest;