First then, lest haply in the event it fail,
Yield not a ready faith to every tale.’
‘Is this thy secret?’ quoth the moody elf.
‘Keep then thy silly lesson for thyself;
I need it not.’—‘How be ’tis not amiss
To prick thy memory with advice like this,
But late, meseems, thou hadst forgot the lore;
Mark next my second rule, and sadly know,
What’s lost, ’tis wise with patience to forego.’
The carle, though rude of wit, now chafed amain;