Page:The Elder Edda and the Younger Edda - tr. Thorpe - 1907.djvu/89



journeying from the eastern parts came to a strait or sound, on the other side of which was a ferryman with his boat. Thor cried out:—

1. Who is the knave of knaves, that by the sound stands yonder?

2. Who is the churl of churls, that cries across the water?

3. Ferry me across the sound, to-morrow I'll regale thee. I have a basket on my back: there is no better food: at my ease I ate, before I quitted home, herrings and oats, with which I yet feel sated.

4. Thou art in haste to praise thy meal: thou surely hast no foreknowledge; for sad will be thy home: thy mother, I believe, is dead.

5. Thou sayest now what seems to every one most unwelcome to know—that my mother is dead.

6. Thou dost not look like one who owns three coun- 63