So spoke the old man; but the soldiers regarded the advice of their king rather than of their comrade, and thought more of the former than of the latter counsel.  So each of them eagerly drew his wealth, whatever he had, from his pouch; they unloaded their ponies of the various goods they were carrying; and having thus cleared their money-bags, girded on their arms more deftly.  They went on, and the Britons came up, but broke away after the plunder which lay spread out before them.  Their king, when he beheld them too greedily busied with scrambling for the treasure, bade them “take heed not to weary with a load of riches those hands which were meant for battle, since they ought to know that a victory must be culled ere it is counted.  Therefore let them scorn the gold and give chase to the possessors of the gold; let them admire the lustre, not of lucre, but of conquest; remembering, that a trophy gave more reward than gain.  Courage was worth more than dross, if they measured aright the quality of both; for the one furnished outward adorning, but the other enhanced both outward and inward grace.  Therefore they must keep their eyes far from the sight of money, and their soul from covetousness, and devote it to the pursuits of war.  Further, they should know that the plunder had been abandoned by the enemy of set purpose, and that the gold had been scattered rather to betray them than to profit them.  Moreover, the honest lustre of the silver was only a bait on the barb of secret guile.  It was not thought to be that they, who had first forced the Britons to fly, would lightly fly themselves.  Besides, nothing was more shameful than riches which betrayed into captivity the plunderer whom they were supposed to enrich.  For the Danes thought that the men to whom they pretended to have offered riches ought to be punished with sword and slaughter.  Let them therefore feel that they were only giving the enemy a weapon if they seized what he had scattered.  For if they were caught by the look of the treasure that had been exposed, they must lose, not only that, but any of their own money that might remain.  What could it profit them to gather what they must straightway disgorge?  But if they refuse to abase themselves before money, they would doubtless abase the foe.  Thus it was better for them to stand erect in valour than be grovelling in greed; with their souls not sinking into covetousness, but up and doing for renown.  In the battle they would have to use not gold but swords.”

As the king ended, a British knight, shewing them all his lapful of gold, said: 

“O King!  From thy speech can be gathered two feelings; and one of them witnesses to thy cowardice and the other to thy ill will:  inasmuch as thou forbiddest us the use of the wealth because of the enemy, and also thinkest it better that we should serve thee needy than rich.  What is more odious than such a wish?  What more senseless than such a counsel?  We recognise these as the treasures