He who decks the reindeer's side
That 'twixt ness and ness doth glide,
Twice in one day had his fill
Of the feast of dart shower shrill."[[8]]
The shipmen thought this foul enough, and said he should not put shame on Skipper Haflidi for nought.
Then said Haflidi, "Grettir is plentifully worthy that ye should do him some shame, but I will not have my honour staked against his ill-will and recklessness; nor is it good for us to wreak vengeance for this forthwith while we have this danger hanging over us; but be ye mindful of it when ye land, if so it seem good to you."
"Well," they said, "why should we not fare even as thou farest? for why should his vile word bite us more than thee?"
And in that mind Haflidi bade them abide; and thence-forward the chapmen made far less noise about Grettir's rhymes than before.
Now a long and a hard voyage they had, and the leak[44] gained on the ship, and men began to be exceeding worn with toil. The young wife of the mate was wont to sew from Grettir's hands, and much would the crew mock him therefor; but Haflidi went up to where Grettir lay and sang—
"Grettir, stand up from thy grave,