1. How often have I heard that fate is fickle,
Yet today I've learned to dispense with hearsay.

2. People are alike in form and character;
People and idols are alike in shape.

3. Never have I trusted any creature
Without finding myself deluded.

4. Do not deceive me with what I see or hear,
For I give no credence to my eyes or ears.

5. How can I trust others in time of peril
When I cannot trust myself?

6. Glory and greatness disdain me;
My hopes are set on traveling far away.

7. I outshine eloquent men as the sun;
I traverse the horizons like the moon.

8. And I will hurl myself into every danger
As shooting stars speed through the darkness,

9. Either to exaltation, which is my hope,
Or to death, which is man's common fate.