Page:Anglo-Saxon Riddles of the Exeter Book (1963).djvu/54

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.
    1. s31 ##

31 (K-D 34)

I saw a thing    in the dwellings of men
that feeds the cattle;    has many teeth.
The beak is useful to it;    it goes downwards,
ravages faithfully;    pulls homewards;
hunts along walls;    reaches for roots.
Always it finds them,    those which are not fast;
lets them, the beautiful,    when they are fast,
stand in quiet    in their proper places,
brightly shining,    growing, blooming.

Rake.

    1. s32 ##

32 (K-D 21)

My beak is downward    and low I move
and dig in the ground.    The hoar foe of the forest
directs my movements;    and so my master
goes bent over,    the guide at my tail,
drives across the field,    pushes me and crowds me,
and sows in my swath.    I go sniffing along,
brought from the woodland,    stoutly fastened,
borne on a wagon.    I have many strange ways.
I leave green on one side    and black on the other.
Driven through my back    there hangs beneath
a well-sharpened point;    on my head another,
firm and forward-moving.    What I tear with my teeth
falls to the side,    if he serves me well,
my lord who behind me    heeds me and guides me.

Plow, as would be easily recognized by those familiar with its structure. The “hoar foe of the forest” may mean the man who