"Otherwise would matters be,
When this shouting Haflidi
Ate in house at Reydarfell
Curdled milk, and deemed it well;
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]
[Footnote 8: This is about as obscure as the original, which seems to
allude to some event not mentioned in the Saga.]
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 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,
In the trough of the grey wave
The keel labours, tell my say
Now unto thy merry may;
From thy hands the linen-clad
Fill of sewing now has had,
Till we make the land will she
Deem that labour fitteth thee."