Classic Poem

Upon any conditions Dame Sila wants me,
But upon no conditions her husband I'll be.
When she pressed me I said—‘I require from my wife
Ten thousand as dowry, no less on my life.
Moreover we'll sleep in a separate room
And not e'en the first night to your bed shall I come.
You will not interfere when my girl I embrace,
And will send your own maid, if I ask, in your place.
At dinner on different sides we'll recline,
And the fringe of your shawl must not hang down on mine.
One kiss in a month, and don't ask for another;
And then not as wife but as elderly mother.
So if to these conditions you now will agree—
You may get some one else for your husband, not me.’