Section 117 The Blessedness of Friendship. I.1
A2 blessed thing it is for any3 man or (S. 10, N. 9) woman to have a friend; one human soul whom we can trust utterly; a friend who knows the best and the worst4 of us, and who loves us, in spite of all our faults; who will5 speak the honest6 truth to us, while the world flatters us to7 our face, and laughs at us behind our backs; who will give8 us counsel and reproof in the days of (S. 3, N. 2) prosperity and self-conceit; but9 who, again, will comfort and encourage us in the days of difficulty10, and sorrow, when the world leaves11 us alone to12 fight our own battle as we can.
If we have had the good fortune to win such a friend, let us do anything13 rather14 than lose him. We must give and forgive; live and let live. If our friend have15 faults, we must bear16 with them (S. 4, N. 5, B). We must hope all things, believe all things, endure all things, rather17 than lose that most precious of all earthly possessions—a trusty18 friend.
Notes
1 Segen, m.
2 It is a blessing.
3 every.
4 Superlative of schlimm.
5 will speak = always speaks. Use the Present likewise with the following verbs in this passage.
6 aufrichtig.
7 ins Gesicht.
8 to give counsel and reproof to a person, einem mit Rat und Tadel zur Seite stehen; self-conceit, Selbsttäuschung, f.—The adverbial clause ‘in the days — conceit’ stands after the rel. pron. and the Dat. ‘us’ (App. § 9).
9 but — again, der uns aber auch.
10 Prüfung.
11 ‘to leave a person alone’, here einen imstich lassen.
12 und wir unsern Kampf, so gut wir können, allein auszufechten haben.
13 all.
14 um ihn nur nicht zu verlieren.
15 has.
16 to bear a thing, Geduld mit etwas haben.
17 lieber, which place before the last ‘all’.
18 zuverlässig.