Page:Northern Antiquities 2.djvu/268

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“Praise the fineness of the day, when it is ended; praise a woman, when you have known her; a sword, when you have proved it; a maiden, after she is married; the ice, when once you have crossed it[1]; and the liquor after it is drunk.


“Trust not to the words of a girl; neither to those which a woman utters; for their hearts have been made like the wheel that turns round; levity was put into their bosoms.


“Trust not to the ice of one day’s freezing; neither to the Serpent who lies asleep; nor to the caresses of her you are going to marry; nor to a sword that is cracked or broken; nor to the son of a powerful man; nor to a field that is newly sown.


“Peace between malicious women is compared to a horse who is made to walk over the ice not properly shod; or to a vessel in a storm, without a rudder; or to a lame man who should attempt to follow the mountain-goats with a young foal, or yearling mule.


  1. This is not unlike the English Proverb, “Praise the Bridge that carries you safe over.” T.