Eaters of the Dead

Praise not the day until evening has come, a woman until she is burnt, a sword until it is tried, a maiden until she is married, ice until it has been crossed, beer until it has been drunk.

The risk is too great. A man cannot place too much faith in any one thing, neither a woman, nor a horse, nor a weapon, nor any single thing.

Each person bears a fear which is special to him. One man fears a close space and another man fears drowning; each laughs at the other and calls him stupid. Thus fear is only a preference, to be counted the same as the preference for one woman or another, or mutton for pig, or cabbage for onion.

Animals die, friends die, and I shall die, but one thing never dies, and that is the reputation we leave behind at our death.

Herger said to me, "Be thankful, for you are fortunate." I inquired the source of my fortune. Herger said in reply, "If you have the fear of high places, than this day you shall overcome it; and so you shall have faced a great challenge; and so you shall be adjudged a hero.

...thus do strange things cease to be strange upon repetition.

In the eyes of all of them was the hollow stare of fear, and there was hollowness in their merriment, too.

Yet I have discovered that if all those around you believe some particular thing, you will soon be tempted to share in that belief...

You have done the work of a mere man," the tengol continued, “and not a proper hero. A hero does what no man dares to undertake.

Herger said to me, “Be thankful, for you are fortunate.” I inquired the source of my fortune. Herger said in reply, “If you have the fear of high places, then this day you shall overcome it; and so you shall have faced a great challenge; and so you shall be adjudged a hero.

The meaning of these discoveries has not yet been sorted out, but it is certainly now impossible to regard the prehistoric Europeans as savages idly

The meaning of these discoveries has not yet been sorted out, but it is certainly now impossible to regard the prehistoric Europeans as savages idly awaiting the blessings of Eastern civilization.