If all a sudden a friend has become Not a friend not a foe, but something else. If you can’t tell the first time, Whether he’s good or bad. Ask him to go to the mountains with you. Never leave him alone up there. Let him always be joined with you. Then you’ll know who he is. If a lad is afraid of high peaks, If he gets sour and is about to fall, Made his step on the ice and down, Made a slip-and then screamed... That means someone else stands beside you. Never scold him, but hurry him. Those ones are never taken to the top. Nobody sings about them. If he didn’t howl nor whimp, If he was angry, but still, went on, And when you fell from the cliff, He moaned, but held on. If he went with you, as though to fight, On the summit he stood, all brave, That means trust him like you do yourself, Always depend on his help.
© Nathan Mer. Translation, 1991