1. When hardship's grip tightens, who else have I but you?
The noble treats the noble with kindness, it is true.

2. I knew you as gracious, never harsh or rude-
Will you not show me mercy, O friend so shrewd?

3. And when time hardened on me its stony heart,
It did not trouble me- for yours was tender from the start.

4. The noble one deserves from peers of his own kind
The right of brotherhood- so I have rights over your mind.

5. Though few these words, they hold a wealth untold,
No artifice or guile within them stowed.

6. And conscience summons the honorable tointegrity-
What can you say, when your actions speak veracity?