richmahn_en_tn/ecc/04/05.md

The fool folds his hands and does not work

To fold the hands is a gesture of laziness and is another way of saying that the person refuses to work. Alternate translation: "The fool refuses to work" (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/translate-symaction and rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-parallelism)

so his food is his own flesh

This speaks of a person destroying himself as if he were eating his own body. Alternate translation: "as a result, he causes his own ruin" or "and as a result, he destroys himself" (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor)