| |
| NOW 1 this is my first counsel, | |
| That thou with thy kin | |
| Be guiltless, guileless ever, | |
| Nor hasty of wrath, | |
| Despite of wrong done— | 5 |
| Unto the dead good that doeth. | |
| |
| Lo the second counsel, | |
| That oath thou swearest never, | |
| But trusty oath and true: | 10 |
| Grim tormenting | |
| Gripes troth-breakers; | |
| Cursed wretch is the wolf of vows. | |
| |
| This is my third rede, | |
| That thou at the Thing | |
| Deal not with the fools of folk; | |
| For unwise man | |
| From mouth lets fall | |
| Worser word than well he wotteth. | 20 |
| |
| Yet hard it is | |
| That holding of peace | |
| When men shall deem thee dastard, | |
| Or deem the lie said soothly; | 25 |
| But woeful is home-witness, | |
| Unless right good thou gettest it | |
| Ah, on another day | |
| Drive the life from out him, | |
| And pay the liar back for his lying. | 30 |
| |
| Now behold the fourth rede: | |
| If ill witch thee bideth, | |
| Woe-begetting by the way, | |
| Good going further | 35 |
| Rather than guesting, | |
| Though thick night be on thee. | |
| |
| Far-seeing eyes | |
| Need all sons of men | 40 |
| Who wend in wrath to war; | |
| For baleful women | |
| Bide oft by the highway, | |
| Swords and hearts to soften. | |
| |
| And now the fifth rede: | 45 |
| As fair as thou seest | |
| Brides on the bench abiding, | |
| Let not love’s silver | |
| Rule over thy sleeping; | 50 |
| Draw no woman to kind kissing! | |
| |
| For the sixth thing, I rede | |
| When men sit a-drinking | |
| Amid ale-words and ill-words, | 55 |
| Deal thou naught | |
| With the drunken fight-staves, | |
| For wine stealeth wit from many. | |
| |
| Brawling and drink | |
| Have brought unto men | |
| Sorrow sore oft enow; | |
| Yea, bane unto some, | |
| And to some weary bale; | |
| Many are the griefs of mankind. | 65 |
| |
| For the seventh, I rede thee, | |
| If strife thou raisest | |
| With a man right high of heart, | |
| Better fight a-field | 70 |
| Than burn in the fire | |
| Within thine hall fair to behold. | |
| |
| The eighth rede that I give thee: | |
| Unto all ill look thou, | 75 |
| And hold thine heart from all beguiling; | |
| Draw to thee no maiden, | |
| No man’s wife bewray thou, | |
| Urge them not unto unmeet pleasure. | |
| |
| This is the ninth counsel: | 80 |
| That thou have heed of dead folk | |
| Whereso thou findest them a-field; | |
| Be they sick-dead, | |
| Be they sea-dead, | 85 |
| Or come to ending by war weapons. | |
| |
| Let bath be made | |
| For such men fordone, | |
| Wash thou hands and feet thereof, | 90 |
| Comb their hair and dry them | |
| Ere the coffin has them; | |
| Then bid them sleep full sweetly. | |
| |
| This for the tenth counsel: | |
| That thou give trust never | |
| Unto oaths of foeman’s kin, | |
| Be’st thou bane of his brother, | |
| Or hast thou felled his father; | |
| Wolf in young son waxes, | 100 |
| Though he with gold be gladdened. | |
| |
| For wrong and hatred | |
| Shall rest them never, | |
| Nay, nor sore sorrow. | 105 |
| Both wit and weapons | |
| Well must the king have | |
| Who is fain to be the foremost. | |
| |
| The last rede and eleventh: | |
| Until all ill look thou, | |
| And watch thy friends’ ways ever. | |
| Scarce durst I look | |
| For long life for thee, king: | |
| Strong trouble ariseth now already. | 115 |
