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Hovamol

72. A son is better,  though late he be born,And his father to death have fared;Memory-stones  seldom stand by the roadSave when kinsman honors his kin.
73.[1] Two make a battle,  the tongue slays the head;In each furry coat  a fist I look for.
74.[1] He welcomes the night  whose fare is enough,(Short are the yards of a ship,)Uneasy are autumn nights;Full oft does the weather  change in a week,And more in a month's time.
75.[2] A man knows not,  if nothing he knows,That gold oft apes begets;One man is wealthy  and one is poor,Yet scorn for him none should know.
76.[3] Among Fitjung's sons  saw I well-stocked folds,—Now bear they the beggar's staff;

  1. 1.0 1.1 These seven lines are obviously a jumble. The two lines of stanza 73 not only appear out of place, but the verse-form is unlike that of the surrounding stanzas. In 74, the second line is clearly interpolated, and line 1 has little enough connection with lines 3, 4 and 5. It looks as though some compiler (or copyist) had inserted here various odds and ends for which he could find no better place.
  2. The word "gold" in line 2 is more or less conjectural, the manuscript being obscure. The reading in line 4 is also doubtful.

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