The Exeter Book or The Codex Exoniensis

Hy twegen sceolon tæfle ymbsittan,    þenden him hyra torn toglide,

forgietan þara geocran gesceafta,    habban him gomen on borde;

idle hond æmetlan geneah tæfles monnes,    þonne teoselum weorpeð.

Two men shall sit over the game-board,    till their troubles slip from them,

forgetting the sad things that happen,    enjoying them­selves at the table.

Idle hands are good enough for the man with nothing to do, the gambler,    when he is throwing dice.