Consequences: A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man. A little sleep repeated three times captures the gradual descent. The phrase folding of the hands to rest suggests the posture of refusal to work. These little concessions accumulate. The consequence is sudden and violent: poverty will come on you like a thief, scarcity like an armed man. The poetic parallelism suggests that poverty strikes suddenly despite its gradual approach. The lazy person wakes up to ruin. This illustrates the principle that small choices accumulate into major consequences.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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