If a friend suddenly proves
Not to be a friend and not an enemy but then
If you can’t decide
Whether he is bad or good

Take the fellow into the mountains
Risk it, don’t toss him away
Tie him up in the lifeline with you
There you’ll understand who is who

If the fellow can’t handle the mountains
If he suddenly goes limp on the glacier
And makes a step downward and drops
Stumbling and with a cry

It means that the one next to you is a stranger
Don’t swear an oath to him, drive him away
They don’t take such fellows up there
And down here they don’t sing about them

If he didn’t ache and didn’t wimper
So what if he was gloomy and mad, as long as he came
And yet, when you fell from the cliffs
He moaned but held on

If he followed you as if into battle
And upon the summit he stool intoxicated
It means that you can rely on him
Just like yourself