5. On Praise

Whatever great treasure is found by the fool,

it will quickly fall into the hand of the wise one.

The world strives hard

For goods, smartness, and honor.

I know well that no person of this world

Will ever get enough of those three.

Some study the stars

And tell us what soon will happen.

But if they were to tell me also something from near-by,

what herbs are growing in their garden,

and if they then tell it correctly,

I will more easily believe the other things.

Hunger is the best cook among those who ever existed or ever will be.

The mouse dislikes raising children

When it knows that cats are nearby.

He who wants to take care of everything,

will end up with all kinds of worries.

Many people have numerous friends,

as long as his life runs smoothly,

but among them are very few

Who will stand by him in an emergency.

We have all been given a false consolation:

we all believe that we will live a long life.

Around the year 1230, a collection of proverbs and thoughts were put together by a German poet named Freidank. He called the work Bescheidenheit, and it became very popular in the Middle Ages, as it can be found in 197 manuscripts from the period.

Who always intends to avenge

what people might say negatively about him,

will rarely be free of experiencing envy,

and a ton of bickering.

A dense forest suffers little,

then a man collects wood.

That a rich man loses a little,

makes a poor many happy.

Freidank wrote about a wide variety of topics, offering thoughts or advice. They have been recently translated by Albrecht Classen, who describes the writer this way: “here we encounter a medieval poet who, certainly a devout Christian, perceptively grasped all the shortcomings in life and dealt ...

Many believe that they know me

Who have never learned to understand themselves.

If each person were to learn more about himself,

People would rarely lie to each other.