Maircc chuindges ní for carait...

Maircc chuindges ní for carait
minab lainn leis a tabairt;
is é déde nostá de,
miscais ocus oirbire.

(woeful * who requests * thing * upon * friend /
if not is * desire * with him * its * giving /
is * it * two things * which he has * of it /
hatred * and * reproach)

Woe to him who asks a friend
for something he doesn’t wish to give;
the two things he gets for it
are ill feeling and rebuke.

A stanza edited by Kuno Meyer in the series “Mitteilungen as Irischen Handschriften”, at ZCP iv.469.

Topics: Verse Maxims & Wise Counsel