And sad is the day | to die leaving my swine
And all the fair victuals | that of old did I have.”
[59]. They seized Buthli’s cook, | and they came with the knife,
The frightened thrall howled | ere the edge did he feel;
He was willing, he cried, | to dung well the courtyard,
Do the basest of work, | if spare him they would;
Full happy were Hjalli | if his life he might have.
[a]60]. Then fain was Hogni— | there are few would do thus—
To beg for the slave | that safe hence he should go;
“I would find it far better | this knife-play to feel,