Hereupon was his mother sore vexed, that he should have taken to a
trick like this; she said he would never fail to be the most reckless
of men. All this nowise bettered matters between Asmund and Grettir.

Now, some time after this, Asmund had a talk with Grettir, that he
should watch his horses. Grettir said this was more to his mind than
the back-rubbing.

"Then shalt thou do as I bid thee," said Asmund. "I have a dun mare,
which I call Keingala; she is so wise as to shifts of weather, thaws,
and the like, that rough weather will never fail to follow, when she
will not go out on grazing. At such times thou shalt lock the horses
up under cover; but keep them to grazing on the mountain neck yonder,
when winter comes on. Now I shall deem it needful that thou turn this
work out of hand better than the two I have set thee to already."

Grettir answered, "This is a cold work and a manly, but I deem it ill
to trust in the mare, for I know none who has done it yet."

Now Grettir took to the horse-watching, and so the time went on till
past Yule-time; then came on much cold weather with snow, that made
grazing hard to come at. Now Grettir was ill clad, and as yet little
hardened, and he began to be starved by the cold; but Keingala grazed
away in the windiest place she could find, let the weather be as rough
as it would. Early as she might go to the pasture, never would she go
back to stable before nightfall. Now Grettir deemed that he must think
of some scurvy trick or other, that Keingala might be paid in full
for her way of grazing: so, one morning early, he comes to the
horse-stable, opens it, and finds Keingala standing all along before