Marcel Mauss' "The Gift" EPIGRAPH:
Klicke zum Öffnen/Schließen
039. I have never met a man so generous
nor so hospitable
that he would not welcome repayment,
nor have I met a man
so giving that he'd turn down
a thing offered in return.
042. Be a friend
to your friend,
and repay each gift with a gift.
Repay laughter
with laughter,
repay treachery with treachery.
043. Be a friend
to your friend
and also to his friend,
but never be a friend
to the enemy
of your friend.
044. If you have a good friend,
and really trust him,
and want good to come of your friendship,
you should speak your mind with him,
exchange gifts,
visit him often.
045. But if you have another friend,
and you mistrust him
but want to benefit from him, nonetheless—
you should speak to him kindly,
flatter him,
and repay his treachery with your own.
046. This same friend,
if you mistrust him,
and suspect him to be false in his words:
you should talk with him,
laugh with him,
but repay just what he gives you.
048. Kind, brave people
live best,
they never nurture a grudge.
But an unwise man
worries about everything;
he dreads even repaying a gift.
145. It is better not to pray at all
than to pray for too much;
nothing will be given that you won't repay.
It is better to sacrifice nothing
than to offer too much.
PROGRAM
The subject is clear. In Scandinavian civilization, and a good number of others, exchanges and contracts are made in the form of a gift,
in theory voluntary, in reality obligatorily given and received.
The translation of the stanzas above is from "The Wanderer's Havamal" by Jackson Crawford.