Page:Norse mythology or, the religion of our forefathers, containing all the myths of the Eddas, systematized and interpreted with an introduction, vocabulary and index.djvu/150

68. Fire is best
    Among the sons of men,
    And the sight of the sun,
    If his health
    A man can have,
    With a life free from vice.

69. No man lacks everything,
    Although his health be bad;
    One in his sons is happy,
    One in his kin,
    One in abundant wealth,
    One in his good works.

70. It is better to live,
    Even to live miserably;
    A living man can always get a cow.
    I saw fire consume
    The rich man's property,
    And death stood without his door.

71. The halt can ride on horseback.
    The one-handed drive cattle;
    The deaf, fight and be useful:
    To be blind is better
    Than to be burnt:^[1]
    No one gets good from a corpse.

72. A son is better
    Even if born late,
    After his father's departure.
    Gravestones seldom
    Stand by the way-side
    Unless raised by a kinsman to a kinsman.

73. Two are adversaries:
    The tongue is the bane of the head:
    Under every cloak
    I expect a hand.

1. That is, dead on the funeral pile.