24th January

24.   If the one who does no wrong

        Follows one who does,

        He himself will be suspected of evil

        And his reputation will decline.

        According to the friends one makes,

        According to who one follows,

        So does one become.

        Like one’s associates one becomes.

        

        Follower and following,

        Toucher and touched alike,

        An arrow smeared with poison

        Infects those arrows that are not poisoned,

        So that all are fouled.

        The upright person not wishing to be soiled

        Should not keep company with the fool.

        If one strings a piece of putrid fish

        On a blade of kusa grass,

        The grass will smell putrid too;

        The same with one who follows the fool.

        If one wraps tagara

        In an ordinary leaf,

        The leaf will soon smell sweet too;

        The same with one who follows the wise.

        Remembering the example of the leaf wrapping

        And understanding the results,

        One should seek companionship with the wise,

        Never with the fool.

It.68 (Iti 76)