And tell him then
What a rare lad is Peer Gynt.
Truly, you may swear to that!
Fine’s the character I’ll give you.
Through and through I’ll show you up;
All about your devil’s pranks
I will tell them straight and plain——
Åse.
[Kicking with rage.]
I won’t stay my tongue
Till the old man sets his dog
At you, as you were a tramp!
H’m; then I must go alone.
Ay, but I’ll come after you!
Mother dear, you haven’t strength——
Strength? When I’m in such a rage,
I could crush the rocks to powder!
Hu! I’d make a meal of flints!
Put me down!
Nothing! I’ll to Hegstad with you!
They shall know you, what you are!
Then you’ll even have to stay here.
Never! To the feast I’m coming!
Perch you on the mill-house roof.
[He puts her up on the roof. Åse screams.
Åse.
[Throwing a sod of grass at him.]
Lift me down this moment, Peer!
If I dared, be sure I would.
[Coming nearer.
Now remember, sit quite still.
Do not sprawl and kick about;
Do not tug and tear the shingles,—
Else ’twill be the worse for you;
You might topple down.
I’d have you blown,
Like a changeling, into space!
[29]
Rather give your
Blessing on my undertaking.
Will you? Eh?
I’ll thrash you soundly,
Hulking fellow though you be!
Well, good-bye then, mother dear!
Patience; I’ll be back ere long
[Is going, but turns, holds up his finger
warningly, and says:
Careful now, don’t kick and sprawl!
[Goes.
Peer!—God help me, now he’s off;
Reindeer-rider! Liar! Hei!
Will you listen!—No, he’s striding
O’er the meadow——! [Shrieks.] Help. I’m dizzy!
Two Old Women, with sacks on their backs,
come down the path to the mill.
Åse! Well, you are exalted!
This won’t be the end of it;—
Soon, God help me, I’ll be heaven
high.high.
Fetch a ladder;
I must be down! That devil Peer——
Now you can say
You have seen how he behaves.
Only help me;
Straight to Hegstad will I hasten——
You’ll be revenged, then;
Aslak Smith will be there too.
Åse.
[Wringing her hands.]
Oh, God help me with my boy;
They will kill him ere they’re done!
Oh, that lot has oft been talked of;
Comfort you: what must be must be!
She is utterly demented.
[Calls up the hill.
Eivind, Anders! Hei! Come here!
Peer Gynt has perched his
Mother on the mill-house roof!
SCENE SECOND.
A hillock, covered with bushes and heather. The highroad
runs behind it; a fence between.
Peer Gynt comes along a footpath, goes quickly up
to the fence, stops, and looks out over the distant
prospect.
Yonder lies Hegstad. Soon I’ll have reached it.
[Puts one leg over the fence; then hesitates.
Wonder if Ingrid’s alone in the house now?
[Shades his eyes with his hand, and looks out.
No; to the farm guests are swarming like midges.—
H’m, to turn back now perhaps would be wisest.
[Draws back his leg.
Still they must titter behind your back,
And whisper so that it burns right through you.
[Moves a few steps away from the fence, and
begins absently plucking leaves.
Ah, if I’d only a good strong dram now.
Or if I could pass to and fro unseen.—
Or were I unknown.—Something proper and strong
Were the best thing of all, for the laughter don’t bite then.
[Looks around suddenly as though afraid;
then hides among the bushes. Some
Wedding-guests[30] pass by, going downwards
towards the farm.
A Man.
[In conversation as they pass.]
His father was drunken, his mother is weak.
Ay, then it’s no wonder the lad’s good for nought.
[They pass on. Presently Peer Gynt
comes forward, his face flushed with
shame. He peers after them.
Was it me they were talking of?
[With a forced shrug.
After all, they can’t sneer the life out of my body.
[Casts himself down upon the heathery
slope; lies for some time flat on his back
with his hands under his head, gazing up
into the sky.
What a strange sort of cloud! It is just like a horse.
There’s a man on it too—and a saddle—and bridle.—
And after it comes an old crone on a broomstick.
[Laughs quietly to himself.
It is mother. She’s scolding and screaming: You beast!
Hei you, Peer Gynt——
[His eyes gradually close.
Ay, now she is frightened.—
Peer Gynt he rides first, and there follow him many.—
His steed it is gold-shod and crested with silver.
Himself he has gauntlets and sabre and scabbard.
His cloak it is long, and its lining is silken.
Full brave is the company riding behind him.
None of them, though, sits his charger so stoutly.
None of them glitters like him in the sunshine.—
Down by the fence stand the people in clusters,
Lifting their hats, and agape gazing upwards.
Women are curtseying. All the world knows him,
Kaiser Peer Gynt, and his thousands of henchmen.
Sixpenny pieces and glittering shillings
Over the roadway he scatters like pebbles.
Rich as a lord grows each man in the parish.
High o’er the ocean Peer Gynt goes a-riding.
Engelland’s Prince on the seashore awaits him;
There too await him all Engelland’s maidens.
Engelland’s nobles and Engelland’s Kaiser,
See him come riding and rise from their banquet.
Raising his crown, hear the Kaiser address him——
Aslak the Smith.
[To some other young men, passing along the road.]
Just look at Peer Gynt there, the drunken swine——!
Peer.
[Starting half up.]
The Smith.
[Leaning against the fence and grinning.]
Up with you, Peer, my
lad.lad.
What the devil? The smith! What do you want here?
The Smith.
[To the others.]
He hasn’t got over the Lundëspree yet
I am going, yes.
But tell us, where have you dropped from, man?
You’ve been gone six weeks. Were you troll-taken, eh?
I have been doing strange deeds, Aslak Smith!
The Smith.
[Winking to the others.]
The Smith.
[After a pause.]
Time was
They said that the girl there was fond of you.
The Smith.
[Falling back a little.]
Keep your temper, Peer
Though Ingrid has jilted you, others are left;—
Think—son of Jon Gynt! Come on to the feast;
You’ll find there both lambkins and well-seasoned widows——
You will surely find one that will have you.—
Good evening! I’ll give your respects to the bride.—
[They go off, laughing and whispering.
Peer.
[Looks after them a while, then makes a defiant
motion and turns half round.]
For my part, may Ingrid of Hegstad go marry
Whoever she pleases. It’s all one to me.
[Looks down at his clothes.
My breeches are torn. I am ragged and grim.—
If only I had something new to put on now.
[Stamps on the ground.
If only I could, with a butcher-grip,
Tear out the scorn from their very vitals!
[Looks round suddenly.
What was that? Who was it that tittered behind there?
H’m, I certainly thought—— No no, it was no one.—
I’ll go home to mother.
[Begins to go upwards, but stops again and
listens towards Hegstad.
[Gazes and listens; moves downwards step
by step, his eyes glisten; he rubs his
hands down his thighs.
How the lasses do swarm! Six or eight to a man!
Oh, galloping death,—I must join in the frolic!—
But how about mother, perched up on the mill-house——
[His eyes are drawn downwards again; he
leaps and laughs.
Hei, how the Halling
[31] flies over the green!
Ay, Guttorm, he can make his fiddle speak out!
It gurgles and booms like a foss
[32] o’er a scaur.
And then all that glittering bevy of girls!—
Yes, galloping death, I must join in the frolic!
[Leaps over the fence and goes down the road.
SCENE THIRD.
The farm-place at Hegstad. In the background, the
dwelling-house. A Throng of Guests. A
lively dance in progress on the green. The
Fiddler sits on a table. The Kitchen-master[33]
is standing in the doorway. Cookmaids are
going to and fro between the different buildings.
Groups of Elderly People sit here and there,
talking.
A Woman.
[Joins a group that is seated on some logs of wood.]
The bride? Oh yes, she is crying a bit;
But that, you know, isn’t worth heeding.
The Kitchen-master.
[In another group.]
Now then, good folk, you must empty the barrel.
Thanks to you, friend; but you fill up too quick.
A Lad.
[To the Fiddler, as he flies past, holding a Girl by
the hand.]
To it now, Guttorm, and don’t spare the fiddle-strings!
Scrape till it echoes out over the meadows!
Other Girls.
[Standing in a ring round a lad who is dancing.]
He has legs that can lift him!
The roof here is high,
[34] and the walls wide asunder!
[Comes whimpering up to his Father, who is standing
talking with some other men, and twitches his
jacket.]
Father, she will not; she is so proud!
She has locked herself in.
Well, you must manage to find the key.
[Turns away to the others. The Bridegroom
drifts across the yard.
A Lad.
[Comes from behind the house.]
Wait a bit, girls! Things’ll soon be lively!
Here comes Peer Gynt.
The Smith.
[Who has just come up.]
[Goes towards the house.
The Smith.
[To the girls.]
If he should speak to you, never take notice!
No, we’ll pretend that we don’t even see him.
Peer Gynt.
[Comes in heated and full of animation, stops right
in front of the group, and claps his hands.]
Which is the liveliest girl of the lot of you?
A Girl.
[As he approaches her.]
You come along, then, for want of a better.
To-night? are you utterly out of your senses?
[35]
The Smith.
[After a moment, in a low voice.]
See, Peer, she’s taken a greybeard for partner.
Peer.
[Turns sharply to an elderly man.]
Where are the unbespoke girls?
[Goes away from him.
Peer Gynt has suddenly become subdued. He
glances shyly and furtively at the group. All
look at him, but no one speaks. He approaches
other groups. Wherever he goes there is silence;silence;
when he moves away they look after him and
smile.