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If it homeward brought my brother,

And another fair one with him.

“Thus throughout my life I wished it,

This throughout the day I looked for,

Till my head bowed down with gazing,

And my hair bulged up in ridges,

And my bright eyes were contracted,

Hoping for my brother’s coming

Swiftly to this little household,

To this very narrow dwelling,

And at length my son is coming,

And in truth is coming swiftly,

With a lovely form beside him,

And a rose-cheeked girl beside him.

“Bridegroom, O my dearest brother,

Now the white-front horse unharness,

Do thou lead the noble courser

To his own familiar pasture,

To the oats but lately garnered;

Then bestow thy greetings on us,

Greet us here, and greet the others,

All the people of the village.

“When thou hast bestowed thy greetings,

Thou must tell us all thy story.

Did thy journey lack adventures,

Hadst thou health upon thy journey,

To thy mother-in-law when faring,

To thy father-in-law’s dear homestead,

There to woo and win the maiden,

Beating down the gates of battle,

And the maiden’s castle storming,

Breaking down the walls uplifted,

Stepping on her mother’s threshold,

Sitting at her father’s table?

“But I see without my asking,

And perceive without inquiry,

He has prospered on his journey,

With his journey well contented.

He has wooed and won the gosling,

Beaten down the gates of battle,