Demeter, rich in fruit, and rich in grain, 
may this corn be easy to win, and fruitful exceedingly!
Bind, ye bandsters, the sheaves, lest the wayfarer should cry, 
Men of straw were the workers here, ay and their hire was wasted!
See that the cut stubble faces the north wind, or the west;
'tis thus the grain waxes richest.

They that thresh corn should shun the noonday sleep:
at noon the chaff parts easiest from the straw.
As for the reapers, let them begin when the crested lark is waking,
and cease when he sleeps, but take holiday in the heat.
Boil the lentils better, thou miserly steward; 
take heed lest thou chop thy fingers when thou'rt splitting cumin-seed.