503、⑵贞操是贞洁的冠冕和婚姻之爱的标志。贞操之所以被称为贞洁的冠冕，是因为它为婚姻的贞洁加冕，也是贞洁的标志。因此，新娘在婚礼上会头戴冠冕。贞操还是婚姻神圣的标志；因为献出贞操的鲜花后，新娘就将她的整个自我交付并献给新郎，就是她现在的丈夫；丈夫反过来也将他的整个自我交付给新娘，就是他现在的妻子。贞操还被称为婚姻之爱的标志，因为它是婚约的一部分，这婚约就是：爱情必将他们联结为一个人或一体。甚至在婚礼之前，男人们就视新娘的贞操为她贞洁的冠冕、婚姻之爱的标志。他们还视之为盛宴，这爱的快乐由此开始并持续下去。从这些以及前文明显可知，在处女膜破裂、贞操被品尝后，童贞女就变成妻子；若不变成妻子，就变成妓女。因为这时她被带入的新状态是爱自己丈夫的状态；否则，就是一种淫欲的状态。
503、（2）贞操是贞节的女人的贵冠，是婚姻之爱的象征。我们称贞操是女人贞节的贵冠是因为它是婚姻贞洁的贵冠，是女人贞节的标志。这就是为什么新娘在婚礼上要戴贵冠。贞操也是婚姻的神圣性的象征；因为在献出贞操后，新娘就会全心专注于新郎，新郎也会专注于新娘。
我们还称贞操是婚姻之爱的标志是因为它是婚约的一部分。婚约就是要将二人合二为一。
男人们也将贞操视为是婚姻之爱的标志是因为它是婚约的一部分。婚约就是要将二人合二为一。
所以少女失去贞操后，她就变成了一个妻子，若不是成为了一个妻子，她就会堕落。因为她那时所处的境界是对她的男人的爱，若不是对她的男人的爱，则是一种淫乱。
503. (ii) Virginity is the crown of chastity and a pledge of conjugial love.
Virginity is called the crown of chastity, because it crowns the chastity of marriage, and it is also a sign of chastity. A bride therefore at her wedding wears a crown on her head. It is also a sign of the holiness of marriage. For after parting with the flower of virginity the bride gives and hands herself over completely to the bridegroom, who then becomes her husband; and the husband in turn does the same to his bride, who then becomes his wife.
Virginity is also called the pledge of conjugial love, because it is a pledge of their compact, a promise that love will unite them to be one person, or one flesh. Even men before their wedding regard the virginity of their bride as the crown of her chastity and as a pledge of conjugial love. They look upon it as the great treat, from which their delight in this love will begin and last. These and previous statements establish that, after her girdle is undone and her virginity taken, a virgin becomes a wife; and if not a wife, she becomes promiscuous. For the new state into which she is then brought is the state of love for her husband; and if it is not for her husband, it is a state of lust.
503. 2. Virginity is the crown of her chastity and a token of conjugial love. We call virginity the crown of her chastity, because it crowns the chastity of marriage and moreover is the mark of her chastity. That is why a bride at her wedding wears a crown upon her head. Virginity is also a symbol of the sacredness of marriage; for after yielding the flower of her virginity the bride commits and devotes herself wholly to the bridegroom, now her husband, and the bridegroom conversely commits and devotes himself wholly to the bride, now his wife.
We call virginity a token of conjugial love as well, because it is a part of the covenant, a covenant whose end is that love may unite them into one person or one flesh.
Men themselves, too, regard the virginity of the bride before their wedding as the crown of her chastity and a token of conjugial love, and look upon it as the very morsel from which the delights of that love are to commence and endure.
It follows from these observations and those of the preceding discussion that after the maidenhead has been breached and her virginity tasted, a maiden becomes a wife, and if not a wife, a trollop. For the new state into which she is then initiated is a state of love for her man, and if it is not one of love for her man, it is a state of lust.
503. 2. Virginity is the crown of chastity and a token of married love.
Virginity is called the crown of chastity because virginity crowns the chastity of marriage and is a sign of chastity as well. This is why a wife wears a crown on her head at a wedding. It is also a sign of marriage’s holiness. For after a bride gives and consecrates to the bridegroom, then a husband, the bloom of her virginity, she gives and consecrates herself to him, and the husband gives himself to his bride, in turn.
Virginity is also called a token of married love, because it is in the agreement, and the agreement is that married love is to join them into one person, or into one flesh. Before the wedding even the men themselves regard a bride's virginity as the crown of her chastity and a token of married love and as precisely the delicacy where the joy of that love is to begin and last forever. These facts and the preceding ones establish that after her hymen is taken and her virginity tasted a virgin becomes a wife, and if not a wife, a prostitute. For the new state that she is led into then is a state of love for her man, and if not for her man it is a state of sexual desire.
503. II. THAT VIRGINITY IS THE CROWN OF CHASTITY AND THE TOKEN OF CONJUGIAL LOVE. Virginity is called the crown of chastity because it crowns the chastity of marriage and is also the sign of chastity. Therefore, in the marriage ceremony the bride has a crown on her head. It is also a sign of the holiness of marriage; for after the virgin flower, the bride gives and devotes her whole self to the bridegroom, then her husband, and the husband in turn gives his whole self to the bride, now his wife. Virginity is also called the token of conjugial love because it is a part of the covenant, the covenant being that love shall unite them into one man or one flesh. Moreover, before the marriage, men regard the virginity of the bride as the crown of her chastity, the token of conjugial love, and the very dainty from which the delights of that love are to commence and to continue. From this, and from what has preceded, it is evident that after the zone 1has been taken away and the virginity tasted, the virgin becomes a wife, and if not a wife, she becomes a harlot; for the new state into which she is then inducted is a state of love for her man, and if not for her man, it is a state of lust.
Footnotes:
1. Zona, a term used by the old anatomists to signify the hymen.
503. (ii) Virginity is the crown of chastity and the token of marital love. Virginity is called the crown of chastity because it does crown the chastity of marriage; it is also a sign of chastity. At weddings, therefore, a bride wears a crown on her head. It is also a sign of the holiness of marriage. For after the virginal flower the bride gives and dedicates herself wholly to the bridegroom, now the husband, and the husband himself wholly to the bride, now the wife. Virginity is also called a token of marital love, because it is part of the covenant, which is that love shall unite them into one human life or one flesh. Men themselves before the wedding regard the virginity of the bride as the crown of her chastity, as a token of marital love, and as the very delicacy from which the delights of that love are to begin and to endure. From all these considerations it is plain that once the cincture has been taken away and the virginity tasted, the virgin becomes a wife, or if not a wife, a harlot. For the new state into which she is then led, is one of love for her husband; and if it is not a state of love for him, it is one of lust.
503. (2) That virginity is the crown of chastity and the token of conjugial love. Virginity is called the crown of chastity because it crowns the chastity of marriage, and is also the sign of chastity. For that reason the bride at the nuptials bears upon her head a crown. It is also a sign of the holiness of marriage; for the bride after the virgin flower gives and consecrates her whole self to the bridegroom, then her husband; and on the other hand the husband gives and consecrates his whole self to the bride, now his wife. Virginity is also called the token of conjugial love because it is of the covenant, and the covenant is that love shall unite them into one man, or into one flesh. The men themselves also before the nuptials regard the virginity of the bride as the crown of her chastity, and as the token of conjugial love, as the very dainty from which the delights of that love are to begin and to be perennial. From these considerations, and those presented before, it is evident that after the zone is taken away and the virginity tasted, the virgin becomes a wife, and if not a wife she becomes a harlot. For the new state into which she is then inducted is a state of love for her man, and if not for the man it is a state of wantonness.
503. II. Quod Virginitas sit corona castitatis, ac tessera amoris conjugialis. 1Virginitas vocatur corona castitatis, quia castitatem conjugii coronat, et quoque est insigne castitatis, quare sponsa in nuptiis super capite portat coronam: est etiam insigne sanctitatis conjugii; nam sponsa post florem virgineum se totam dat et addicat sponso tunc marito, ac maritus vicissim se totum sponsae tunc uxori. Virginitas etiam vocatur tessera amoris conjugialis, quia est foederis, ac foedus est ut amor uniat illos in unum hominem, seu in unam carnem. Ipsi viri ante nuptias etiam spectant virginitatem sponsae ut coronam castitatis ejus, ac ut tesseram amoris conjugialis; ac ut ipsum cupedium, ex quo delitiae illius amoris inchoaturae et perennaturae sunt. Ex his et ex illis quae praecedunt, constat, quod postquam zona adempta est, ac virginitas libata, virgo fiat uxor, et si non uxor, fiat meretrix; novus enim status, in quem tunc inducitur, est status amoris pro suo viro, et si non pro viro, est status libidinis.
Footnotes:
1. Prima editio: conjugialis (absque puncto)