410 



THE CONDUCT OF LIFE THE HAVAMAL. 



Thou must not sleep 



In the arms <"f a witch 



So that she clasp thee with her limbs. 



She (the witch) causes that 



Thou dost not heed 



The thing or the words of a chief; 



Thou wantest not food 



Nor the amusement of men ; 



Thou goest sorrowful to sleep. 



The wife of another man 



Tempt thou never 



To be thy ear- whisperer. 1 



On a mountain or a fjord 

 If thou to travel wantest 

 Take thou good store of food. 



A bad man 



Do thou never 



Let thy misfortunes know ; 



For from a bad man 



Gettest thou never 



Reward for thy goodwill. 



I saw the words 

 Of a wicked woman 

 Wound a man deeply ; 

 Her false tongue 

 Became his death, 

 Though he had no guilt. 



Know this, if thou hast 



A friend whom thou trustest well, 



Go often to see him ; 



For with brushwood 



And with high grass will overgrown 



The road on which no one walks. 



Draw a good man to thee 

 For the sake of pleasant talk, 

 And learn healing spells while thou 

 livest. 



Be never the first 



To forsake 



The company of thy friend ; 



Sorrow eats the heart 



]f one cannot tell 



All his mind to some one. 



Thou shouldst never 

 Words exchange 

 With fools. 



Fur from a bad man 



Wilt thou never 



Get return for good ; 



But a good man 



Will be able to make thee 



Liked and praised. 



Souls are together blended, 

 When a man tells to one 

 All his mind ; 

 All is better 

 Than to be fickle ; 



No friend is he who speaks as one 

 wishes. 2 



Not even in three words quarrel 

 Shalt thou with a worse man ; 

 Often the better one yields 

 When the worse one strikes. 



Be not a shoe-smith 



Nor a shaft-smith 



Except for thyself ; 



Is the shoe misshaped, 



Or the shaft wry, 



Then is evil wished to thee. 



Where thou canst do harm 



Do not keep from it, 



And do not give peace to thy foes. 



Be never 



Glad at evil, 



But be pleased with the good. 



Never look up 



Shalt thou in battle ; 



Like swine 3 



May become the sons of men ; 



Let no man spell-bind thee. 





1 I.e., mistress. 



2 No man is another's friend who says 

 only what he wishes. 



3 To Odin is attributed the power to 

 make men in battle mad with terror 

 like swine. ' Ynglinga Saga,' ch. 6. 



