Henrik Ibsen - Peer Gynt - Act 5 lyrics

==ACT FIFTH== ===SCENE FIRST=== [On board a ship on the North Sea, off the Norwegian coast. Sunset. Stormy weather.] [PEER GYNT, a vigorous old man, with grizzled hair and beard, is standing aft on the poop. He is dressed half sailor-fashion, with a pea-jacket and long boots. His clothing is rather the worse for wear; he himself is weather-beaten, and has a somewhat harder expression. The CAPTAIN is standing beside the steersman at the wheel. The crew are forward.] PEER GYNT [leans with his arms on the bulwark, and gazes towards the :land]. :Look at Hallingskarv in his winter furs;- :he's ruffling it, old one, in the evening glow. :The Jokel, his brother, stands behind him askew; :he's got his green ice-mantle still on his back. :The Flogefann, now, she is mighty fine,- :lying there like a maiden in spotless white. :Don't you be madcaps, old boys that you are! :Stand where you stand; you're but granite knobs. THE CAPTAIN [shouts forward]. :Two hands to the wheel, and the lantern aloft! PEER :It's blowing up stiff- THE CAPTAIN :-for a gale to-night. PEER :Can one see the Ronde Hills from the sea? THE CAPTAIN :No, how should you? They lie at the back of the snow-fields. PEER :Or Blaho? THE CAPTAIN :No; but from up in the rigging, :you've a glimpse, in clear weather, of Galdhopiggen. PEER :Where does Harteig lie? THE CAPTAIN [pointing]. :About over there. PEER :I thought so. THE CAPTAIN :You know where you are, it appears. PEER :When I left the country, I sailed by here; :And the dregs, says the proverb, hang in to the last. ::[Spits, and gazes at the coast.] :In there, where the scaurs and the clefts lie blue,- :where the valleys, like trenches, gloom narrow and black, :and underneath, skirting the open fiords,- :it's in places like these human beings abide. [Looks at the CAPTAIN.] :They build far apart in this country. THE CAPTAIN :Ay; :few are the dwellings and far between. PEER :Shall we get in by day-break? THE CAPTAIN :Thereabouts; :if we don't have too dirty a night altogether. PEER :It grows thick in the west. THE CAPTAIN :It does so. PEER :Stop a bit! :You might put me in mind when we make up accounts- :I'm inclined, as the phrase goes, to do a good turn :to the crew- THE CAPTAIN :I thank you. PEER :It won't be much. :I have dug for gold, and lost what I found;- :we are quite at loggerheads, Fate and I. :You know what I've got in safe keeping on board- :that's all I have left;-the rest's gone to the devil. THE CAPTAIN :It's more than enough, though, to make you of weight :among people at home here. PEER :I've no relations. :There's no one awaiting the rich old curmudgeon.- :Well; that saves you, at least, any scenes on the pier! THE CAPTAIN :Here comes the storm. PEER :Well, remember then- :If any of your crew are in real need, :I won't look too closely after the money- THE CAPTAIN :That's kind. They are most of them ill enough off; :they have all got their wives and their children at home. :With their wages alone they can scarce make ends meet; :but if they come home with some cash to the good, :it will be a return not forgot in a hurry. PEER :What do you say? Have they wives and children? :Are they married? THE CAPTAIN :Married? Ay, every man of them. :But the one that is worst off of all is the cook; :black famine is ever at home in his house. PEER :Married? They've folks that await them at home? :Folks to be glad when they come? Eh? THE CAPTAIN :Of course, :in poor people's fashion. PEER :And come they one evening, :what then? THE CAPTAIN :Why, I daresay the goodwife will fetch :something good for a treat- PEER :And a light in the sconce? THE CAPTAIN :Ay, ay, may be two; and a dram to their supper. PEER :And there they sit snug! There's a fire on the hearth! :They've their children about them! The room's full of chatter; :not one hears another right out to an end, :for the joy that is on them-! THE CAPTAIN :It's likely enough. :So it's really kind, as you promised just now, :to help eke things out. PEER [thumping the bulwark]. :I'll be damned if I do! :Do you think I am mad? Would you have me fork out :for the sake of a parcel of other folks' brats? :I've slaved much too sorely in earning my cash! :There's nobody waiting for old Peer Gynt. THE CAPTAIN :Well well; as you please then; your money's your own. PEER :Right! Mine it is, and no one else's. :We'll reckon as soon as your anchor is down! :Take my fare, in the cabin, from Panama here. :Then brandy all round to the crew. Nothing more. :If I give a doit more, slap my jaw for me, Captain. THE CAPTAIN :I owe you a quittance, and not a thrashing;- :but excuse me, the wind's blowing up to a gale. [He goes forward. It has fallen dark; lights are lit in the cabin. The sea increases. Fog and thick clouds.] PEER :To have a whole bevy of youngsters at home;- :still to dwell in their minds as a coming delight;- :to have others' thoughts follow you still on your path!- :There's never a soul gives a thought to me.- :Lights in the sconces! I'll put out those lights. :I will hit upon something!-I'll make them all drunk;- :not one of the devils shall go sober ashore. :They shall all come home drunk to their children and wives! :They shall curse; bang the table till it rings again,- :they shall scare those that wait for them out of their wits! :The goodwife shall scream and rush forth from the house,- :clutch her children along! All their joy gone to ruin! :: [The ship gives a heavy lurch; he staggers and keeps his balance with difficulty.] :Why, that was a buffet and no mistake. :The sea's hard at labour, as though it were paid for it;- :it's still itself here on the coasts of the north;- :a cross-sea, as wry and wrong-headed as ever- :::[Listens.] :Why, what can those screams be? THE LOOK-OUT [forward]. :A wreck a-lee! THE CAPTAIN [on the main deck, shouts]. :Helm hard a-starboard! Bring her up to the wind! THE MATE :Are there men on the wreck? THE LOOK-OUT :I can just see three! PEER :Quick! lower the stern boat- THE CAPTAIN :She'd fill ere she floated. :: [Goes forward.] PEER :Who can think of that now? ::[To some of the crew.] :If you're men, to the rescue! :What the devil, if you should get a bit of a ducking! THE BOATSWAIN :It's out of the question in such a sea. PEER :They are screaming again! There's a lull in the wind.- :Cook, will you risk it? Quick! I will pay- THE COOK :No, not if you offered me twenty pounds-sterling- PEER :You hounds! You chicken-hearts! Can you forget :these are men that have goodwives and children at home? :There they're sitting and waiting- THE BOATSWAIN :Well, patience is wholesome. THE CAPTAIN :Bear away from that sea! THE MATE :There the wreck turned over! PEER :All is silent of a sudden-! THE BOATSWAIN :Were they married, as you think, :there are three new-baked widows even now in the world. : [The storm increases. PEER GYNT moves away aft.] PEER :There is no faith left among men any more,- :no Christianity,-well may they say it and write it;- :their good deeds are few and their prayers are still fewer, :and they pay no respect to the Powers above them.- :In a storm like to-night's, he's a terror, the Lord is. :These beasts should be careful, and think, what's the truth, :that it's dangerous playing with elephants;- :and yet they must openly brave his displeasure! :I am no whit to blame; for the sacrifice :I can prove I stood ready, my money in hand. :But how does it profit me?-What says the proverb? :A conscience at ease is a pillow of down. :Oh ay, that is all very well on dry land, :but I'm blest if it matters a snuff on board ship, :when a decent man's out on the seas with such riff-raff. :At sea one never can be one's self; :one must go with the others from deck to keel; :if for boatswain and cook the hour of vengeance should strike, :I shall no doubt be swept to the deuce with the rest;- :one's personal welfare is clean set aside;- :one counts but as a sausage in slaughtering-time.- :My mistake is this: I have been too meek; :and I've had no thanks for it after all. :Were I younger, I. think I would shift the saddle, :and try how it answered to lord it awhile. :There is time enough yet! They shall know in the parish :that Peer has come sailing aloft o'er the seas! :I'll get back the farmstead by fair means or foul;- :I will build it anew; it shall shine like a palace. :But none shall be suffered to enter the hall! :They shall stand at the gateway, all twirling their caps;- :they shall beg and beseech-that they freely may do; :but none gets so much as a farthing of mine. :If I've had to howl 'neath the lashes of fate, :trust me to find folks I can lash in my turn- THE STRANGE PASSENGER [stands in the darkness at PEER GYNT's side, :and salutes him in friendly fashion]. :Good evening! PEER :Good evening! What-? Who are you? THE PASSENGER :Your fellow-pa**enger, at your service. PEER :Indeed? I thought I was the only one. THE PASSENGER :A mistaken impression, which now is set right. PEER :But it's singular that, for the first time to-night, :I should see you- THE PASSENGER :I never come out in the day-time. PEER :Perhaps you are ill? You're as white as a sheet- THE PASSENGER :No, thank you-my health is uncommonly good. PEER :What a raging storm! THE PASSENGER :Ay, a blessed one, man! PEER :A blessed one? THE PASSENGER :The sea's running high as houses. :Ah, one can feel one's mouth watering! :just think of the wrecks that to-night will be shattered;- :and think, too, what corpses will drive ashore! PEER :Lord save us! THE PASSENGER :Have ever you seen a man strangled, :or hanged,-or drowned? PEER :This is going too far-! THE PASSENGER :The corpses all laugh. But their laughter is forced; :and the most part are found to have bitten their tongues. PEER :Hold off from me-! THE PASSENGER :Only one question pray! :If we, for example, should strike on a rock, :and sink in the darkness- PEER :You think there is danger? THE PASSENGER :I really don't know what I ought to say. :But suppose, now, I float and you go to the bottom- PEER :Oh, rubbish- THE PASSENGER :It's just a hypothesis. :But when one is placed with one foot in the grave, :one grows soft-hearted and open-handed- PEER [puts his hand in his pocket]. :Ho, money! THE PASSENGER :No, no; but perhaps you would kindly :make me a gift of your much-esteemed carca**-? PEER :This is too much! THE PASSENGER :No more than your body, you know! :To help my researches in science- PEER :Begone! THE PASSENGER :But think, my dear sir-the advantage is yours! :I'll have you laid open and brought to the light. :What I specially seek is the centre of dreams,- :and with critical care I'll look into your seams- PEER :Away with you! THE PASSENGER :Why, my dear sir-a drowned corpse-! PEER :Blasphemer! You're goading the rage of the storm! :I call it too bad! Here it's raining and blowing, :a terrible sea on, and all sorts of signs :of something that's likely to shorten our days;- :And you carry on so as to make it come quicker! THE PASSENGER :You're in no mood, I see, to negotiate further; :but time, you know, brings with it many a change- :: [Nods in a friendly fashion.] :We'll meet when you're sinking, if not before; :perhaps I may then find you more in the humour. :: [Goes into the cabin.] PEER :Unpleasant companions these scientists are! :With their freethinking ways- : [To the BOATSWAIN, who is pa**ing.] :Hark, a word with you, friend! :That pa**enger? What crazy creature is he? THE BOATSWAIN :I know of no pa**enger here but yourself. PEER :No others? This thing's getting worse and worse. :: [To the SHIP'S BOY, who comes out of the cabin.] :Who went down the companion just now? THE BOY :The ship's dog, sir! :::[Pa**es on.] THE LOOK-OUT [shouts]. :Land close ahead! PEER :Where's my box? Where's my trunk? :All the baggage on deck! THE BOATSWAIN :We have more to attend to! PEER :It was nonsense, captain! 'Twas only my joke;- :as sure as I'm here I will help the cook- THE CAPTAIN :The jib's blown away! THE MATE :And there went the foresail! THE BOATSWAIN [shrieks from forward]. :Breakers under the bow! THE CAPTAIN :She will go to shivers! :: [The ship strikes. Noise and confusion.] ===SCENE SECOND=== [Close under the land, among sunken rocks and surf. The ship sinks. The jolly-boat, with two men in her, is seen for a moment through the scud. A sea strikes her; she fills and upsets. A shriek is heard; then all is silent for a while. Shortly afterwards the boat appears floating bottom upwards.] [PEER GYNT comes to the surface near the boat.] PEER :Help! Help! A boat! Help! I'll be drowned! :Save me, oh Lord-as saith the text! : [Clutches hold of the boat's keel.] THE COOK [comes up on the other side]. :Oh, Lord God-for my children's sake, :have mercy! Let me reach the land! :: [Seizes hold of the keel.] PEER :Let go! THE COOK :Let go! PEER :I'll strike! THE COOK :So'll I! PEER :I'll crush you down with kicks and blows! :Let go your hold! She won't float two! THE COOK :I know it! Yield! PEER :Yield you! THE COOK :Oh yes! [They fight; one of the COOKS hands is disabled; he clings on with the other.] PEER :Off with that hand! THE COOK :Oh, kind sir-spare! :Think of my little ones at home! PEER :I need my life far more than you, :for I am lone and childless still. THE COOK :Let go! You've lived, and I am young! PEER :Quick; haste you; sink;-you drag us down. THE COOK :Have mercy! Yield in heaven's name! :There's none to miss and mourn for you- :: [His hand slips; he screams:] :I'm drowning! PEER [seizing him]. :By this wisp of hair :I'll hold you; say your Lord's Prayer, quick! THE COOK :I can't remember; all turns black- PEER :Come, the essentials in a word-! THE COOK :Give us this day-! PEER :Skip that part, Cook; :you'll get all you need, safe enough. THE COOK :Give us this day- PEER :The same old song! :One sees you were a cook in life- ::[The COOK slips from his grasp.] THE COOK [sinking]. :Give us this day our- :: [Disappears.] PEER :Amen, lad! :to the last gasp you were yourself.- [Draws himself up on to the bottom of the boat.] :So long as there is life there's hope- THE STRANGE PASSENGER [catches hold of the boat]. :Good morning! PEER :Hoy! THE PASSENGER :I heard you shout.- :It's pleasant finding you again. :Well? So my prophecy came true! PEER :Let go! Let go! 'Twill scarce float one! THE PASSENGER :I'm striking out with my left leg. :I'll float, if only with their tips :my fingers rest upon this ledge. :But apropos: your body- PEER :Hush! THE PASSENGER :The rest, of course, is done for, clean- PEER :No more! THE PASSENGER :Exactly as you please. :: [Silence.] PEER :Well? THE PASSENGER :I am silent. PEER :Satan's tricks!- :What now? THE PASSENGER :I'm waiting. PEER [tearing his hair]. :I'll go mad!- :What are you? THE PASSENGER [nods]. :Friendly. PEER :What else? Speak! THE PASSENGER :What think you? Do you know none other :that's like me? PEER :Do I know the devil-? THE PASSENGER [in a low voice]. :Is it his way to light a lantern :for life's night-pilgrimage through fear? PEER :Ah, come! When once the thing's cleared up, :you'd seem a messenger of light? THE PASSENGER :Friend,-have you once in each half-year :felt all the earnestness of dread? PEER :Why, one's afraid when danger threatens;- :but all your words have double meanings. THE PASSENGER :Ay, have you gained but once in life :the victory that is given in dread? PEER [looks at him]. :Came you to ope for me a door, :'twas stupid not to come before. :What sort of sense is there in choosing :your time when seas gape to devour one? THE PASSENGER :Were, then, the victory more likely :beside your hearth-stone, snug and quiet? PEER :Perhaps not; but your talk befooled me. :How could you fancy it awakening? THE PASSENGER :Where I come from, there smiles are prized :as highly as pathetic style. PEER :All has its time; what fits the taxman, :so says the text, would damn the bishop. THE PASSENGER :The host whose dust inurned has slumbered :treads not on week-days the cothurnus. PEER :Avaunt thee, bugbear! Man, begone! :I will not die! I must ashore! THE PASSENGER :Oh, as for that, be rea**ured;- :one dies not midmost of Act Five. :: [Glides away.] PEER :Ah, there he let it out at last;- :he was a sorry moralist. ===SCENE THIRD=== [Churchyard in a high-lying mountain parish.] [A funeral is going on. By the grave, the PRIEST and a gathering of people. The last verse of the psalm is being sung. PEER GYNT pa**es by on the road.] PEER [at the gate]. :Here's a countryman going the way of all flesh. :God be thanked that it isn't me. : [Enters the churchyard.] THE PRIEST [speaking beside the grave]. :Now, when the soul has gone to meet its doom, :and here the dust lies, like an empty pod,- :now, my dear friends, we'll speak a word or two :about this dead man's pilgrimage on earth. :He was not wealthy, neither was he wise, :his voice was weak, his bearing was unmanly, :he spoke his mind abashed and faltering, :he scarce was master at his own fireside; :he sidled into church, as though appealing :for leave, like other men, to take his place. :It was from Gudbrandsdale, you know, he came. :When here he settled he was but a lad;- :and you remember how, to the very last, :he kept his right hand hidden in his pocket. :That right hand in the pocket was the feature :that chiefly stamped his image on the mind,- :and therewithal his writhing, his abashed :shrinking from notice wheresoe'er he went. :But, though he still pursued a path aloof, :and ever seemed a stranger in our midst, :you all know what he strove so hard to hide,- :the hand he muffled had four fingers only.- :I well remember, many years ago, :one morning; there were sessions held at Lunde. :'Twas war-time, and the talk in every mouth :turned on the country's sufferings and its fate. :I stood there watching. At the table sat :the Captain, 'twixt the bailiff and the sergeants; :lad after lad was measured up and down, :pa**ed, and enrolled, and taken for a soldier. :The room was full, and from the green outside, :where thronged the young folks, loud the laughter rang. :A name was called, and forth another stepped, :one pale as snow upon the glacier's edge. :They bade the youth advance; he reached the table; :we saw his right hand swaddled in a clout;- :he gasped, he swallowed, battling after words,- :but, though the Captain urged him, found no voice. :Ah yes, at last! Then with his cheek aflame, :his tongue now failing him, now stammering fast, :he mumbled something of a scythe that slipped :by chance, and shore his finger to the skin. :Straightway a silence fell upon the room. :Men bandied meaning glances; they made mouths; :they stoned the boy with looks of silent scorn. :He felt the hail-storm, but he saw it not. :Then up the Captain stood, the grey old man; :he spat, and pointed forth, and thundered "Go!" :And the lad went. On both sides men fell back, :till through their midst he had to run the gauntlet. :He reached the door; from there he took to flight;- :up, up he went,-through wood and over hillside, :up through the stone-slips, rough, precipitous. :He had his home up there among the mountains.- :It was some six months later he came here, :with mother, and betrothed, and little child. :He leased some ground upon the high hillside, :there where the waste lands trend away towards Lomb. :He married the first moment that he could; :he built a house; he broke the stubborn soil; :he throve, as many a cultivated patch :bore witness, bravely clad in waving gold. :At church he kept his right hand in his pocket,- :but sure I am at home his fingers nine :toiled every bit as hard as others' ten.- :One spring the torrent washed it all away. :Their lives were spared. Ruined and stripped of all, :he set to work to make another clearing; :and, ere the autumn, smoke again arose :from a new, better-sheltered, mountain farm-house. :Sheltered? From torrent-not from avalanche; :two years, and all beneath the snow lay buried. :But still the avalanche could not daunt his spirit. :He dug, and raked, and carted-cleared the ground- :and the next winter, ere the snow-blasts came, :a third time was his little homestead reared. :Three sons he had, three bright and stirring boys; :they must to school, and school was far away;- :and they must clamber where the hill-track failed, :by narrow ledges through the headlong scaur. :What did he do? The eldest had to manage :as best he might, and, where the path was worst, :his father cast a rope round him to stay him;- :the others on his back and arms he bore. :Thus he toiled, year by year, till they were men. :Now might he well have looked for some return. :In the New World, three prosperous gentlemen :their school-going and their father have forgotten. :He was short-sighted. Out beyond the circle :of those most near to him he nothing saw. :To him seemed meaningless as cymbals' tinkling :those words that to the heart should ring like steel. :His race, his fatherland, all things high and shining, :stood ever, to his vision, veiled in mist. :But he was humble, humble, was this man; :and since that sessions-day his doom oppressed him, :as surely as his cheeks were flushed with shame, :and his four fingers hidden in his pocket.- :Offender 'gainst his country's laws? Ay, true! :But there is one thing that the law outshineth :sure as the snow-white tent of Glittertind :has clouds, like higher rows of peaks, above it. :No patriot was he. Both for church and state :a fruitless tree. But there, on the upland ridge, :in the small circle where he saw his calling, :there he was great, because he was himself. :His inborn note rang true unto the end. :His days were as a lute with muted strings. :And therefore, peace be with thee, silent warrior, :that fought the peasant's little fight, and fell! :It is not ours to search the heart and reins;- :that is no task for dust, but for its ruler;- :yet dare I freely, firmly, speak my hope: :he scarce stands crippled now before his God! : [The gathering disperses. PEER GYNT remains behind, alone.] PEER :Now that is what I call Christianity! :Nothing to seize on one's mind unpleasantly.- :And the topic-immovably being oneself,- :that the pastor's homily turned upon,- :is full, in its essence, of edification. :: [Looks down upon the grave.] :Was it he, I wonder, that hacked through his knuckle :that day I was out hewing logs in the forest? :Who knows? If I weren't standing here with my staff :by the side of the grave of this kinsman in spirit, :I could almost believe it was I that slept, :and heard in a vision my panegyric.- :It's a seemly and Christianlike custom indeed :this casting a so-called memorial glance :in charity over the life that is ended. :I shouldn't at all mind accepting my verdict :at the hands of this excellent parish priest. :Ah well, I dare say I have some time left :ere the gravedigger comes to invite me to stay with him;- :and as Scripture has it: What's best is best,- :and: Enough for the day is the evil thereof,- :and further: Discount not thy funeral.- :Ah, the church, after all, is the true consoler. :I've hitherto scarcely appreciated it;- :but now I feel clearly how blessed it is :to be well a**ured upon sound authority: :Even as thou sowest thou shalt one day reap.- :One must be oneself; for oneself and one's own :one must do one's best, both in great and in small things. :If the luck goes against you, at least you've the honour :of a life carried through in accordance with principle.- :Now homewards! Though narrow and steep the path, :though Fate to the end may be never so biting- :still old Peer Gynt will pursue his own way, :and remain what he is: poor, but virtuous ever. :: [Goes out.] ===SCENE FOURTH=== [A hillside seamed by the dry bed of a torrent. A ruined mill-house beside the stream. The ground is torn up, and the whole place waste. Further up the hill, a large farm-house.] [An auction is going on in front of the farm-house. There is a great gathering of people, who are drinking, with much noise. PEER GYNT iS sitting on a rubbish-heap beside the mill.] PEER :Forward and back, and it's just as far; :out and in, and it's just as strait.- :Time wears away and the river gnaws on. :Go roundabout, the Boyg said;-and here one must. A MAN DRESSED IN MOURNING :Now there is only rubbish left over. : [Catches sight of PEER GYNT.] :Are there strangers here too! God be with you, good friend! PEER :Well met! You have lively times here to-day. :Is't a christening junket or a wedding feast? THE MAN IN MOURNING :I'd rather call it a house-warming treat;- :the bride is laid in a wormy bed. PEER :And the worms are squabbling for rags and clouts. THE MAN IN MOURNING :That's the end of the ditty; it's over and done. PEER :All the ditties end just alike; :and they're all old together; I knew 'em as a boy. A LAD OF TWENTY [with a casting-ladle]. :Just look what a rare thing I've been buying! :In this Peer Gynt cast his silver bu*tons. ANOTHER :Look at mine, though! The money-bag bought for a halfpenny. A THIRD :No more, eh? Twopence for the pedlar's pack! PEER :Peer Gynt? Who was he? THE MAN IN MOURNING :All I know is this: :he was kinsman to d**h and to Aslak the Smith. A MAN IN GREY :You're forgetting me, man! Are you mad or drunk? THE MAN IN MOURNING :You forget that at Hegstad was a storehouse door. THE MAN IN GREY :Ay, true; but we know you were never dainty. THE MAN IN MOURNING :If only she doesn't give d**h the slip- THE MAN IN GREY :Come, kinsman! A dram, for our kinship's sake! THE MAN IN MOURNING :To the deuce with your kinship! You're maundering in drink- THE MAN IN GREY :Oh, rubbish; blood's never so thin as all that; :one cannot but feel one's akin to Peer Gynt. :: [Goes off with him.] PEER [to himself]. :One meets with acquaintances. A LAD [calls after the MAN IN MOURNING]. :Mother that's dead :will be after you, Aslak, if you wet your whistle. PEER [rises]. :The agriculturists' saying seems scarce to hold here: :The deeper one harrows the better it smells. A LAD [with a bear's skin]. :Look, the cat of the Dovre! Well, only his fell. :It was he chased the trolls out on Christmas Eve. ANOTHER [with a reindeer-skull]. :Here is the wonderful reindeer that bore, :at Gendin, Peer Gynt over edge and scaur. A THIRD [with a hammer, calls out to the MAN IN MOURNING]. :Hei, Aslak, this sledge-hammer, say, do you know it? :Was it this that you used when the devil clove the wall? A FOURTH [empty-handed]. :Mads Moen, here's the invisible cloak :Peer Gynt and Ingrid flew off through the air with. PEER :Brandy here, boys! I feel I'm grown old;- :I must put up to auction my rubbish and lumber! A LAD :What have you to sell, then? PEER :A palace I have- :it lies in the Ronde; it's solidly built. THE LAD :A bu*ton is bid! PEER :You must run to a dram. :'Twere a sin and a shame to bid anything less. ANOTHER :He's a jolly old boy this! ::[The bystanders crowd round him.] PEER [shouts]. :Grane, my steed; :who bids? ONE OF THE CROWD :Where's he running? PEER :Why, far in the west! :Near the sunset, my lads! Ah, that courser can fly :as fast, ay, as fast as Peer Gynt could lie. VOICES :What more have you got? PEER :I've both rubbish and gold! :I bought it with ruin; I'll sell it at a loss. A LAD :Put it up! PEER :A dream of a silver-clasped book! :That you can have for an old hook and eye. THE LAD :To the devil with dreams! PEER :Here's my Kaiserdom! :I throw it in the midst of you; scramble for it! THE LAD :Is the crown given in? PEER :Of the loveliest straw. :It will fit whoever first puts it on. :Hei, there is more yet! An addled egg! :A madman's grey hair! And the Prophet's beard! :All these shall be his that will show on the hillside :a post that has writ on it: Here lies your path! THE BAILIFF [who has come up]. :You're carrying on, my good man, so that almost :I think that your path will lead straight to the lock-up. PEER [hat in hand]. :Quite likely. But, tell me, who was Peer Gynt? THE BAILIFF :Oh, nonsense- PEER :Your pardon! Most humbly I beg-! THE BAILIFF :Oh, he's said to have been an abominable liar- PEER :A liar-? THE BAILIFF :Yes-all that was strong and great :he made believe always that he had done it. :But, excuse me, friend-I have other duties- :::[Goes.] PEER :And where is he now, this remarkable man? AN ELDERLY MAN :He fared over seas to a foreign land; :it went ill with him there, as one well might foresee;- :it's many a year now since he was hanged. PEER :Hanged! Ay, ay! Why, I thought as much; :our lamented Peer Gynt was himself to the last. :::[Bows.] :Good-bye,-and best thanks for to-day's merry meeting. : [Goes a few steps, but stops again.] :You joyous youngsters, you comely la**es,- :shall I pay my shot with a traveller's tale? SEVERAL VOICES :Yes; do you know any? PEER :Nothing more easy.- :: [He comes nearer; a look of strangeness comes over him.] :I was gold-digging once in San Francisco. :There were mountebanks swarming all over the town. :One with his toes could perform on the fiddle; :another could dance a Spanish halling on his knees; :a third, I was told, kept on making verses :while his brain-pan was having a hole bored right through it. :To the mountebank-meeting came also the devil;- :thought he'd try his luck with the rest of them. :His talent was this: in a manner convincing, :he was able to grunt like a flesh-and-blood pig. :He was not recognised, yet his manners attracted. :The house was well filled; expectation ran high. :He stepped forth in a cloak with an ample cape to it; :man muss sich drappiren, as the Germans say. :But under the mantle-what none suspected- :he'd managed to smuggle a real live pig. :And now he opened the representation; :the devil he pinched, and the pig gave voice. :The whole thing purported to be a fantasia :on the porcine existence, both free and in bonds; :and all ended up with a slaughter-house squeal- :whereupon the performer bowed low and retired.- :The critics discussed and appraised the affair; :the tone of the whole was attacked and defended. :Some fancied the vocal expression too thin, :while some thought the d**h-shriek too carefully studied; :but all were agreed as to one thing: qua grunt, :the performance was grossly exaggerated.- :Now that, you see, came of the devil's stupidity :in not taking the measure of his public first. ::[He bows and goes off. A puzzled silence comes over the crowd.] ===SCENE FIFTH=== [Whitsun Eve.-In the depths of the forest. To the back, in a clearing, is a hut with a pair of reindeer horns over the porch-gable.] [PEER GYNT is creeping among the undergrowth, gathering wild onions.] PEER :Well, this is one standpoint. Where is the next? :One should try all things and choose the best. :Well, I have done so,-beginning from Caesar, :and downwards as far as to Nebuchadnezzar. :So I had, after all, to go through Bible history;- :the old boy's had to take to his mother again. :After all it is written: Of the earth art thou come.- :The main thing in life is to fill one's belly. :Fill it with onions? That's not much good;- :I must take to cunning, and set out snares. :There's water in the beck here; I shan't suffer thirst; :and I count as the first 'mong the beasts after all. :When my time comes to die-as most likely it will,- :I shall crawl in under a wind-fallen tree; :like the bear, I will heap up a leaf-mound above me, :and I'll scratch in big print on the bark of the tree: :Here rests Peer Gynt, that decent soul, :Kaiser o'er all of the other beasts.- :Kaiser? :: [Laughs inwardly.] :Why, you old soothsayer-humbug! :no Kaiser are you; you are nought but an onion. :I'm going to peel you now, my good Peer! :You won't escape either by begging or howling. : [Takes an onion and pulls off layer after layer.] :There lies the outermost layer, all torn; :that's the shipwrecked man on the jolly-boat's keel. :Here's the pa**enger layer, scanty and thin;- :and yet in its taste there's a tang of Peer Gynt. :Next underneath is the gold-digger ego; :the juice is all gone-if it ever had any. :This coarse-grained layer with the hardened skin :is the peltry-hunter by Hudson's Bay. :The next one looks like a crown;-oh, thanks! :we'll throw it away without more ado. :Here's the archaeologist, short but sturdy; :and here is the Prophet, juicy and fresh. :He stinks, as the Scripture has it, of lies, :enough to bring the water to an honest man's eyes. :This layer that rolls itself softly together :is the gentleman, living in ease and good cheer. :The next one seems sick. There are black streaks upon it;- :black symbolises both parsons and n******gs. : [Pulls off several layers at once.] :What an enormous number of swathings! :Isn't the kernel soon coming to light? : [Pulls the whole onion to pieces.] :I'm blest if it is! To the innermost centre, :it's nothing but swathings-each smaller and smaller.- :Nature is witty! ::[Throws the fragments away.] :The devil take brooding! :If one goes about thinking, one's apt to stumble. :Well, I can at any rate laugh at that danger; :for here on all fours I am firmly planted. :: [Scratches his head.] :A queer enough business, the whole concern! :Life, as they say, plays with cards up its sleeve; :but when one snatches at them, they've disappeared, :and one grips something else,-or else nothing at all. ::[He has come near to the hut; he catches sight of it and starts.] :This hut? On the heath-! Ha! :: [Rubs his eyes.] :It seems exactly :as though I had known this same building before.- :The reindeer-horns jutting above the gable!- :A mermaid, shaped like a fish from the navel!- :Lies! there's no mermaid! But nails-and planks,- :bars too, to shut out hobgoblin thoughts!- SOLVEIG [singing in the hut]. :Now all is ready for Whitsun Eve. :Dearest boy of mine, far away, :comest thou soon? :Is thy burden heavy, :take time, take time;- :I will await thee; :I promised of old. PEER [rises, quiet and deadly pale]. :One that's remembered,-and one that's forgot. :One that has squandered,-and one that has saved.- :Oh, earnest!-and never can the game be played o'er! :Oh, dread!-here was my Kaiserdom! : [Hurries off along the wood path.] ===SCENE SIXTH=== [Night. A heath, with fir-trees. A forest fire has been raging; charred tree-trunks are seen stretching for miles. White mists here and there clinging to the earth.] [PEER GYNT comes running over the heath.] PEER :Ashes, fog-scuds, dust wind-driven,- :here's enough for building with! :Stench and rottenness within it; :all a whited sepulchre. :Figments, dreams, and still-born knowledge :lay the pyramid's foundation; :o'er them shall the work mount upwards, :with its step on step of falsehood. :Earnest shunned, repentance dreaded, :flaunt at the apex like a scutcheon, :fill the trump of judgment with their: :Petrus Gyntus Caesar fecit! :: [Listens.] :What is this, like children's weeping? :Weeping, but half-way to song.- :Thread-balls at my feet are rolling!- :: [Kicking at them.] :Off with you! You block my path! THE THREAD-BALLS [on the ground]. :We are thoughts; :thou shouldst have thought us;- :feet to run on :thou shouldst have given us! PEER [going round about]. :I have given life to one;- :'twas a bungled, crook-legged thing! THE THREAD-BALLS :We should have soared up :like clangorous voices,- :and here we must trundle :as grey-yarn thread-balls. PEER [stumbling]. :Thread-clue! You accursed scamp! :Would you trip your father's heels? :: [Flees.] WITHERED LEAVES [flying before the wind]. :We are a watchword; :thou shouldst have proclaimed us! :See how thy dozing :has wofully riddled us. :The worm has gnawed us :in every crevice; :we have never twined us :like wreaths round fruitage. PEER :Not in vain your birth, however;- :lie but still and serve as manure. A SIGHING IN THE AIR :We are songs; :thou shouldst have sung us!- :a thousand times over :hast thou cowed us and smothered us. :Down in thy heart's pit :we have lain and waited;- :we were never called forth. :In thy gorge be poison! PEER :Poison thee, thou foolish stave! :Had I time for verse and stuff? : [Attempts a short cut.] DEWDROPS [dripping from the branches]. :We are tears :unshed for ever. :Ice-spears, sharp-wounding, :we could have melted. :Now the barb rankles :in the shaggy bosom;- :the wound is closed over; :our power is ended. PEER :Thanks;-I wept in Ronde-cloisters,- :none the less they tied the tail on! BROKEN STRAWS :We are deeds; :thou shouldst have achieved us! :Doubt, the throttler, :has crippled and riven us. :On the Day of Judgment :we'll come a-flock, :and tell the story,- :then woe to you! PEER :Rascal-tricks! How dare you debit :what is negative against me? :: [Hastens away.] ASE'S VOICE [far away]. :Fie, what a post-boy! :Hu, you've upset me! :Snow's newly fallen here;- :sadly it's smirched me.- :You've driven me the wrong way. :Peer, where's the castle? :The Fiend has misled you :with the switch from the cupboard! PEER :Better haste away, poor fellow! :With the devil's sins upon you, :soon you'll faint upon the hillside;- :hard enough to bear one's own sins. :: [Runs off.] ===SCENE SEVENTH=== [Another part of the heath.] PEER GYNT [sings]. :A s**ton! A s**ton! where are you, hounds? :A song from braying precentor-mouths; :around your hat-brim a mourning band;- :my dead are many; I must follow their biers! [THE bu*tON-MOULDER, with a box of tools, and a large casting-ladle, comes from a side-path.] THE bu*tON-MOULDER :Well met, old gaffer! PEER :Good evening, friend. THE bu*tON-MOULDER :The man's in a hurry. Why, where is he going? PEER :To a grave-feast. THE bu*tON-MOULDER :Indeed? My sight's not very good;- :excuse me,-your name doesn't chance to be Peer? PEER :Peer Gynt, as the saying is. THE bu*tON-MOULDER :That I call luck! :It's precisely Peer Gynt I am sent for to-night. PEER :You're sent for? What do you want? THE bu*tON-MOULDER :Why, see here; :I'm a bu*ton-moulder. You're to go into my ladle. PEER :And what to do there? THE bu*tON-MOULDER :To be melted up. PEER :To be melted? THE bu*tON-MOULDER :Here it is, empty and scoured. :Your grave is dug ready, your coffin bespoke. :The worms in your body will live at their ease;- :but I have orders, without delay, :on Master's behalf to fetch in your soul. PEER :It can't be! Like this, without any warning-! THE bu*tON-MOULDER :It's an old tradition at burials and births :to appoint in secret the day of the feast, :with no warning at all to the guest of honour. PEER :Ay, ay, that's true. All my brain's awhirl. :You are-? THE bu*tON-MOULDER :Why, I told you-a bu*ton-moulder. PEER :I see! A pet child has many nicknames. :So that's it, Peer; it is there you're to harbour! :But these, my good man, are most unfair proceedings! :I'm sure I deserve better treatment than this;- :I'm not nearly so bad as perhaps you think,- :I've done a good deal of good in the world;- :at worst you may call me a sort of a bungler,- :but certainly not an exceptional sinner. THE bu*tON-MOULDER :Why that is precisely the rub, my man; :you're no sinner at all in the higher sense; :that's why you're excused all the torture-pangs, :and land, like others, in the casting-ladle. PEER :Give it what name you please-call it ladle or pool; :spruce ale and swipes, they are both of them beer. :Avaunt from me, Satan! THE bu*tON-MOULDER :You can't be so rude :as to take my foot for a horse's hoof? PEER :On horse's hoof or on fox's claws- :be off; and be careful what you're about! THE bu*tON-MOULDER :My friend, you're making a great mistake. :We're both in a hurry, and so, to save time, :I'll explain the reason of the whole affair. :You are, with your own lips you told me so, :no sinner on the so-called heroic scale,- :scarce middling even- PEER :Ah, now you're beginning :to talk common sense THE bu*tON-MOULDER :Just have patience a bit- :but to call you virtuous would be going too far.- PEER :Well, you know I have never laid claim to that. THE bu*tON-MOULDER :You're nor one thing nor t'other then, only so-so. :A sinner of really grandiose style :is nowadays not to be met on the highways. :It wants much more than merely to wallow in mire; :for both vigour and earnestness go to a sin. PEER :Ay, it's very true, that remark of yours; :one has to lay on, like the old Berserkers. THE bu*tON-MOULDER :You, friend, on the other hand, took your sin lightly. PEER :Only outwardly, friend, like a splash of mud. THE bu*tON-MOULDER :Ah, we'll soon be at one now. The sulphur pool :is no place for you, who but plashed in the mire. PEER :And in consequence, friend, I can go as I came? THE bu*tON-MOULDER :No, in consequence, friend, I must melt you up. PEER :What tricks are these that you've hit upon :at home here, while I've been in foreign parts? THE bu*tON-MOULDER :The custom's as old as the Snake's creation; :it's designed to prevent loss of good material. :You've worked at the craft-you must know that often :a casting turns out, to speak plainly, mere dross; :the bu*tons, for instance, have sometimes no loop to them. :What did you do, then? PEER :Flung the rubbish away. THE bu*tON-MOULDER :Ah, yes; Jon Gynt was well known for a waster, :so long as he'd aught left in wallet or purse. :But Master, you see, he is thrifty, he is; :and that is why he's so well-to-do. :He flings nothing away as entirely worthless :that can be made use of as raw material. :Now, you were designed for a shining bu*ton :on the vest of the world; but your loop gave way; :so into the waste-box you needs must go, :and then, as they phrase it, be merged in the ma**. PEER :You're surely not meaning to melt me up, :with Dick, Tom, and Harry, into something new? THE bu*tON-MOULDER :That's just what I do mean, and nothing else. :We've done it already to plenty of folks. :At Kongsberg they do just the same with money :that's been current so long that its stamp's worn away. PEER :But this is the wretchedest miserliness! :My dear good friend, let me get off free;- :a loopless bu*ton, a worn out farthing,- :what is that to a man in your Master's position? THE bu*tON-MOULDER :Oh, so long, and inasmuch as, the spirit's in one, :one always has value as so much metal. PEER :No, I say! No! With both teeth and claws :I'll fight against this! Sooner anything else! THE bu*tON-MOULDER :But what else? Come now, be reasonable. :You know you're not airy enough for heaven- PEER :I'm not hard to content; I don't aim so high;- :but I won't be deprived of one doit of my Self. :Have me judged by the law in the old-fashioned way! :For a certain time place me with Him of the Hoof;- :say a hundred years, come the worst to the worst; :that, now, is a thing that one surely can bear; :for they say the torment is only moral, :so it can't after all be so pyramidal. :It is, as 'tis written, a mere transition; :and as the fox said: One waits; there comes :an hour of deliverance; one lives in seclusion, :and hopes in the meantime for happier days.- :But this other notion-to have to be merged, :like a mote, in the carca** of some outsider,- :this casting-ladle business, this Gynt-cessation,- :it stirs up my innermost soul in revolt! THE bu*tON-MOULDER :Bless me, my dear Peer, there is surely no need :to get so wrought up about trifles like this. :Yourself you never have been at all;- :then what does it matter, your dying right out? PEER :Have I not been-? I could almost laugh! :Peer Gynt, then, has been something else, I suppose! :No, bu*ton-moulder, you judge in the dark. :If you could but look into my very reins, :you'd find only Peer there, and Peer all through,- :nothing else in the world, no, nor anything more. THE bu*tON-MOULDER :It's impossible. Here I have got my orders. :Look, here it is written: Peer Gynt shalt thou summon. :He has set at defiance his life's design; :clap him into the ladle with other spoilt goods. PEER :What nonsense! They must mean some other person. :Is it really Peer? It's not Rasmus, or Jon? THE bu*tON-MOULDER :It is many a day since I melted them. :So come quietly now, and don't waste my time. PEER :I'll be damned if I do! Ay, 'twould be a fine thing :if it turned out to-morrow some one else was meant. :You'd better take care what you're at, my good man! :think of the onus you're taking upon you- THE bu*tON-MOULDER :I have it in writing- PEER :At least give me time! THE bu*tON-MOULDER :What good would that do you? PEER :I'll use it to prove :that I've been myself all the days of my life; :and that's the question that's in dispute. THE bu*tON-MOULDER :You'll prove it? And how? PEER :Why, by vouchers and witnesses. THE bu*tON-MOULDER :I'm sadly afraid Master will not accept them. PEER :Impossible! However, enough for the day-! :My dear man, allow me a loan of myself; :I'll be back again shortly. One is born only once, :and one's self, as created, one fain would stick to. :Come, are we agreed? THE bu*tON-MOULDER :Very well then, so be it. :But remember, we meet at the next cross-roads. :: [PEER GYNT runs off.] ===SCENE EIGHTH=== [A further point on the heath.] PEER [running hard]. :Time is money, as the scripture says. :If I only knew where the cross-roads are;- :they may be near and they may be far. :The earth burns beneath me like red-hot iron. :A witness! A witness! Oh, where shall I find one? :It's almost unthinkable here in the forest. :The world is a bungle! A wretched arrangement, :when a man must prove a right that's as patent as day! [AN OLD MAN, bent with age, with a staff in his hand and a bag on his back, is trudging in front of him.] THE OLD MAN [stops]. :Dear, kind sir-a trifle to a houseless soul! PEER :Excuse me; I've got no small change in my pocket- THE OLD MAN :Prince Peer! Oh, to think we should meet again-! PEER :Who are you? THE OLD MAN :You forget the Old Man in the Ronde? PEER :Why, you're never-? THE OLD MAN :The King of the Dovre, my boy! PEER :The Dovre-King? Really? The Dovre-king? Speak! THE OLD MAN :Oh, I've come terribly down in the world-! PEER :Ruined? THE OLD MAN :Ay, plundered of every stiver. :Here am I tramping it, starved as a wolf. PEER :Hurrah! Such a witness doesn't grow on the trees! THE OLD MAN :My Lord Prince, too, has grizzled a bit since we met. PEER :My dear father-in-law, the years gnaw and wear one.- :Well well, a truce to all private affairs,- :and pray, above all things, no family jars. :I was then a sad madcap- THE OLD MAN :Oh yes; oh yes;- :His Highness was young; and what won't one do then? :But his Highness was wise in rejecting his bride; :he saved himself thereby both worry and shame; :for since then she's utterly gone to the bad- PEER :Indeed! THE OLD MAN :She has led a deplorable life; :and, just think,-she and Trond are now living together. PEER :Which Trond? THE OLD MAN :Of the Valfjeld. PEER :It's he? Aha; :it was he I cut out with the saeter-girls. THE OLD MAN :But my grandson has flourished-grown both stout and great, :and has strapping children all over the country- PEER :Now, my dear man, spare us this flow of words;- :I've something quite different troubling my mind.- :I've got into rather a ticklish position, :and am greatly in need of a witness or voucher;- :that's how you could help me best, father-in-law, :and I'll find you a trifle to drink my health with. THE OLD MAN :You don't say so; can I be of use to his Highness? :You'll give me a character, then, in return? PEER :Most gladly. I'm somewhat hard pressed for cash, :and must cut down expenses in every direction. :Now hear what's the matter. No doubt you remember :that night when I came to the Ronde a-wooing- THE OLD MAN :Why, of course, my Lord Prince! PEER :Oh, no more of the Prince! :But no matter. You wanted, by sheer brute force, :to bias my sight, with a slit in the lens, :and to change me about from Peer Gynt to a troll. :What did I do then? I stood out against it,- :swore I would stand on no feet but my own; :love, power, and glory at once I renounced, :and all for the sake of remaining myself. :Now this fact, you see, you must swear to in Court- THE OLD MAN :No, I'm blest if I can. PEER :Why, what nonsense is this? THE OLD MAN :You surely don't want to compel me to lie? :You pulled on the troll-breeches, don't you remember, :and tasted the mead- PEER :Ay, you lured me seductively;- :but I flatly declined the decisive test, :and that is the thing you must judge your man by. :It's the end of the ditty that all depends on. THE OLD MAN :But it ended, Peer, just in the opposite way. PEER :What rubbish is this? THE OLD MAN :When you left the Ronde, :you inscribed my motto upon your 'scutcheon. PEER :What motto? THE OLD MAN :The potent and sundering word. PEER :The word? THE OLD MAN :That which severs the whole race of men :from the troll-folk.Troll! To thyself be enough! PEER [falls back a step]. :Enough! THE OLD MAN :And with every nerve in your body, :you've being living up to it ever since. PEER :What, I? Peer Gynt? THE OLD MAN [weeps]. :It's ungrateful of you! :You've lived as a troll, but have still kept it secret. :The word I taught you has shown you the way :to swing yourself up as a man of substance;- :and now you must needs come and turn up your nose :at me and the word you've to thank for it all. PEER :Enough! A hill-troll! An egoist! :This must be all rubbish; that's perfectly certain! THE OLD MAN [pulls out a bundle of old newspapers]. :I daresay you think that we've no newspapers? :Wait; here I'll show you in red and black, :how the Bloksberg Post eulogises you; :and the Heklefield Journal has done the same :ever since the winter you left the country.- :Do you care to read them? You're welcome, Peer. :Here's an article, look you, signed "Stallionhoof." :And here too is one: "On Troll-Nationalism." :The writer points out and lays stress on the truth :that horns and a tail are of little importance, :so long as one has but a strip of the hide. :"Our enough," he concludes, "gives the hall-mark of trolldom :to man,"-and proceeds to cite you as an instance. PEER :A hill-troll? I? THE OLD MAN :Yes, that's perfectly clear. PEER :Might as well have stayed quietly where I was? :Might have stopped in the Ronde in comfort and peace? :Saved my trouble and toil and no end of shoe-leather? :Peer Gynt-a troll? Why it's rubbish! It's stuff! :Good-bye! There's a halfpenny to buy you tobacco. THE OLD MAN :Nay, my good Prince Peer! PEER :Let me go! You're mad, :or else doting. Off to the hospital with you! THE OLD MAN :Oh, that is exactly what I'm in search of. :But, as I told you, my grandson's offspring :have become overwhelmingly strong in the land, :and they say that I only exist in books. :The saw says: One's kin are unkindest of all; :I've found to my cost that that saying is true. :It's cruel to count as mere figment and fable PEER :My dear man, there are others who share the same fate. THE OLD MAN :And ourselves we've no Mutual Aid Society, :no alms-box or Penny Savings Bank;- :in the Ronde, of course, they'd be out of place. PEER :No, that cursed: To thyself be enough was the word there! THE OLD MAN :Oh, come now, the Prince can't complain of the word. :And if he could manage by hook or by crook- PEER :My man, you have got on the wrong scent entirely; :I'm myself, as the saying goes, fairly cleaned out- THE OLD MAN :You surely can't mean it? His Highness a beggar? PEER :Completely. His Highness's ego's in pawn. :And it's all your fault, you accursed trolls! :That's what comes of keeping bad company. THE OLD MAN :So there came my hope toppling down from its perch again! :Good-bye! I had best struggle on to the town- PEER :What would you do there? THE OLD MAN :I will go to the theatre. :The papers are clamouring for national talents- PEER :Good luck on your journey; and greet them from me. :If I can but get free, I will go the same way. :A farce I will write them, a mad and profound one; :its name shall be: "Sic transit gloria mundi." :: [He runs off along the road; the OLD MAN shouts after him.] ===SCENE NINTH=== [At a cross-road.] PEER GYNT :Now comes the pinch, Peer, as never before! :This Dovrish Enough has pa**ed judgment upon you. :The vessel's a wreck; one must float with the spars. :All else; only not to the spoilt-goods heap! THE bu*tON-MOULDER [at the cross-road]. :Well now, Peer Gynt, have you found your voucher? PEER :Have we reached the cross-road? Well, that's short work! THE bu*tON-MOULDER :I can see on your face, as it were on a signboard, :the gist of the paper before I've read it. PEER :I got tired of the hunt;-One might lose one's way- THE bu*tON-MOULDER :Yes; and what does it lead to, after all? PEER :True enough; in the wood, and by night as well- THE bu*tON-MOULDER :There's an old man, though, trudging. Shall we call him here? PEER :No let him go. He is drunk, my dear fellow! THE bu*tON-MOULDER :But perhaps he might- PEER :Hush; no-let him be! THE bu*tON-MOULDER :Well, shall we turn to then? PEER :One question only: :What is it, at bottom, this "being oneself"? THE bu*tON-MOULDER :A singular question, most odd in the mouth :of a man who just now- PEER :Come, a straightforward answer. THE bu*tON-MOULDER :To be oneself is: to slay oneself. :But on you that answer is doubtless lost; :and therefore we'll say: to stand forth everywhere :with Master's intention displayed like a signboard. PEER :But suppose a man never has come to know :what Master meant with him? THE bu*tON-MOULDER :He must divine it. PEER :But how oft are divinings beside the mark,- :then one's carried ad undas in middle career. THE bu*tON-MOULDER :That is certain, Peer Gynt; in default of divining :the cloven-hoofed gentleman finds his best hook. PEER :This matter's excessively complicated.- :See here! I no longer plead being myself;- :it might not be easy to get it proven. :That part of my case I must look on as lost. :But just now, as I wandered alone o'er the heath, :I felt my conscience-shoe pinching me; :I said to myself: After all, you're a sinner- THE bu*tON-MOULDER :You seem bent on beginning all over again- PEER :No, very far from it; a great one I mean; :not only in deeds, but in words and desires. :I've lived a most damnable life abroad- THE bu*tON-MOULDER :Perhaps; I must ask you to show me the schedule! PEER :Well well, give me time; I will find out a parson, :confess with all speed, and then bring you his voucher. THE bu*tON-MOULDER :Ay, if you can bring me that, then it is clear :you escape this business of the casting-ladle. :But Peer, I'd my orders- PEER :The paper is old; :it dates no doubt from a long past period;- :at one time I lived with disgusting slackness, :went playing the prophet, and trusted in Fate. :Well, may I try? THE bu*tON-MOULDER :But-! PEER :My dear fellow, :I'm sure you can't have so much to do. :Here, in this district, the air is so bracing, :it adds an ell to the people's ages. :Recollect what the Justedal parson wrote: :"It's seldom that any one dies in this valley." THE bu*tON-MOULDER :To the next cross-roads then; but not a step further. PEER :A priest I must catch, if it be with the tongs. : [He starts running.] ===SCENE TENTH=== [A heather-clad hillside with a path following the windings of the ridge.] PEER :This may come in useful in many ways, :said Esben as he picked up a magpie's wing. :Who could have thought one's account of sins :would come to one's aid on the last night of all? :Well, whether or no, it's a ticklish business; :a move from the frying-pan into the fire;- :but then there's a proverb of well-tried validity :which says that as long as there's life, there's hope. [A LEAN PERSON, in a priest's ca**ock, kilted-up high, and with a birding net over his shoulder, comes hurrying along the ridge.] PEER :Who goes there? A priest with a fowling-net! :Hei, hop! I'm the spoilt child of fortune indeed! :Good evening, Herr Pastor! the path is bad- THE LEAN ONE :Ah yes; but what wouldn't one do for a soul? PEER :Aha! then there's some one bound heavenwards? THE LEAN ONE :No; :I hope he is taking a different road. PEER :May I walk with Herr Pastor a bit of the way? THE LEAN ONE :With pleasure; I'm partial to company. PEER :I should like to consult you- THE LEAN ONE :Heraus! Go ahead! PEER :You see here before you a good sort of man. :The laws of the state I have strictly observed, :have made no acquaintance with fetters or bolts;- :but it happens at times that one misses one's footing :and stumbles- THE LEAN ONE :Ah yes; that occurs to the best of us. PEER :Now these trifles you see- THE LEAN ONE :Only trifles? PEER :Yes; :from sinning en gros I have ever refrained. THE LEAN ONE :Oh then, my dear fellow, pray leave me in peace;- :I'm not the person you seem to think me.- :You look at my fingers? What see you in them? PEER :A nail-system somewhat extremely developed. THE LEAN ONE :And now? You are casting a glance at my feet? PEER [pointing]. :That's a natural hoof? THE LEAN ONE :So I flatter myself. PEER [raises his hat]. :I'd have taken my oath you were simply a parson; :and I find I've the honour-. Well, best is best;- :when the hall door stands wide,-shun the kitchen way; :when the king's to be met with,-avoid the lackey. THE LEAN ONE :Your hand! You appear to be free from prejudice. :Say on then, my - friend; in what way can I serve you? :Now you mustn't ask me for wealth or power; :I couldn't supply them although I should hang for it. :You can't think how slack the whole business is;- :transactions have dwindled most pitiably. :Nothing doing in souls; only now and again :a stray one- PEER :The race has improved so remarkably? THE LEAN ONE :No, just the reverse; it's sunk shamefully low;- :the majority end in a casting-ladle. PEER :Ah yes-I have heard that ladle mentioned; :in fact, 'twas the cause of my coming to you. THE LEAN ONE :Speak out! PEER :If it were not too much to ask, :I should like- THE LEAN ONE :A harbour of refuge? eh? PEER :You've guessed my petition before I have asked. :You tell me the business is going awry; :so I daresay you will not be over-particular. THE LEAN ONE :But, my dear- PEER :My demands are in no way excessive. :I shouldn't insist on a salary; :but treatment as friendly as things will permit. THE LEAN ONE :A fire in your room? PEER :Not too much fire;-and chiefly :the power of departing in safety and peace,- :the right, as the phrase goes, of freely withdrawing :should an opening offer for happier days. THE LEAN ONE :My dear friend, I vow I'm sincerely distressed; :but you cannot imagine how many petitions :of similar purport good people send in :when they're quitting the scene of their earthly activity. PEER :But now that I think of my past career, :I feel I've an absolute claim to admission- THE LEAN ONE :'Twas but trifles, you said- PEER :In a certain sense;- :but, now I remember, I've trafficked in slaves- THE LEAN ONE :There are men that have trafficked in wills and souls, :but who bungled it so that they failed to get in. PEER :I've shipped Bramah-figures in plenty to China. THE LEAN ONE :Mere fustian again! Why, we laugh at such things. :There are people that ship off far gruesomer figures :in sermons, in art, and in literature- :yet have to stay out in the cold- PEER :Ah, but then, :do you know-I once went and set up as prophet! THE LEAN ONE :In foreign parts? Humbug! Why, most people's sehen :ins Blaue ends in the casting-ladle. :If you've no more than that to rely upon, :with the best of goodwill, I can't possibly house you. PEER :But hear this: In a shipwreck-I clung to a boat's keel,- :and it's written: A drowning man grasps at a straw,- :furthermore it is written: You're nearest yourself,- :so I half-way divested a cook of his life. THE LEAN ONE :It were all one to me if a kitchen-maid :you had half-way divested of something else. :What sort of stuff is this half-way jargon, :saving your presence? Who, think you, would care :to throw away dearly-bought fuel in times :like these on such spiritless rubbish as this? :There now, don't be enraged; 'twas your sins that scoffed at; :and excuse my speaking my mind so bluntly.- :Come, my dearest friend, banish this stuff from your head, :and get used to the thought of the casting-ladle. :What would you gain if I lodged you and boarded you? :Consider; I know you're a sensible man. :Well, you'd keep your memory; that's so far true;- :but the retrospect o'er recollection's domain :would be, both for heart and for intellect, :what the Swedes call "Mighty poor sport" indeed. :You have nothing either to howl or to smile about, :no cause for rejoicing nor yet for despair, :nothing to make you feel hot or cold; :only a sort of a something to fret over. PEER :It is written: It's never so easy to know :where the shoe is tight that one isn't wearing. THE LEAN ONE :Very true; I have-praise be to so-and-so!- :no occasion for more than a single odd shoe. :But it's lucky we happened to speak of shoes; :it reminds me that I must be hurrying on;- :I'm after a roast that I hope will prove fat; :so I really mustn't stand gossiping here.- PEER :And may one inquire, then, what sort of sin-diet :the man has been fattened on? THE LEAN ONE :I understand :he has been himself both by night and by day, :and that, after all, is the principal point. PEER :Himself? Then do such folks belong to your parish? THE LEAN ONE :That depends; the door, at least, stands ajar for them. :Remember, in two ways a man can be :himself-there's a right and wrong side to the jacket. :You know they have lately discovered in Paris :a way to take portraits by help of the sun. :One can either produce a straightforward picture, :or else what is known as a negative one. :In the latter the lights and the shades are reversed, :and they're apt to seem ugly to commonplace eyes; :but for all that the likeness is latent in them, :and all you require is to bring it out. :If, then, a soul shall have pictured itself :in the course of its life by the negative method, :the plate is not therefore entirely cashiered,- :but without more ado they consign it to me. :I take it in hand, then, for further treatment, :and by suitable methods effect its development. :I steam it, I dip it, I burn it, I scour it, :with sulphur and other ingredients like that, :till the image appears which the plate was designed for,- :that, namely, which people call positive. :But if one, like you, has smudged himself out, :neither sulphur nor potash avails in the least. PEER :I see; one must come to you black as a raven :to turn out a white ptarmigan? Pray what's the name :inscribed 'neath the negative counterfeit :that you're now to transfer to the positive side? THE LEAN ONE :The name's Peter Gynt. PEER :Peter Gynt! Indeed? :Is Herr Gynt himself? THE LEAN ONE :Yes, he vows he is. PEER :Well, he's one to be trusted, that same Herr Peter. THE LEAN ONE :You know him, perhaps? PEER :Oh yes, after a fashion;- :one knows all sorts of people. THE LEAN ONE :I'm pressed for time; :where saw you him last? PEER :It was down at the Cape. THE LEAN ONE :Di Buona Speranza? PEER :Just so; but he sails :very shortly again, if I'm not mistaken. THE LEAN ONE :I must hurry off then without delay. :I only hope I may catch him in time! :That Cape of Good Hope-I could never abide it;- :it's ruined by missionaries from Stavanger. ::[He rushes off southwards.] PEER :The stupid hound! There he takes to his heels :with his tongue lolling out. He'll be finely sold. :It delights me to humbug an a** like that. :He to give himself airs, and to lord it forsooth! :He's a mighty lot, truly, to swagger about! :He'll scarcely grow fat at his present trade;- :he'll soon drop from his perch with his whole apparatus.- :Hm, I'm not over-safe in the saddle either; : [A shooting star is seen; he nods after it.] :I'm expelled, one may say, from self-owning nobility. :Bear all hail from Peer Gynt, Brother Starry-Flash! :To flash forth, to go out, and be naught at a gulp- [Pulls himself together as though in terror, and goes deeper in among the mists; stillness for awhile; then he cries:] :Is there no one, no one in all the turmoil,- :in the void no one, no one in heaven-! [He comes forward again further down, throws his hat upon the ground, and tears at his hair. By degrees a stillness comes over him.] :So unspeakably poor, then, a soul can go :back to nothingness, into the grey of the mist. :Thou beautiful earth, be not angry with me :that I trampled thy gra**es to no avail. :Thou beautiful sun, thou hast squandered away :thy glory of light in an empty hut. :There was no one within it to hearten and warm;- :the owner, they tell me, was never at home. :Beautiful sun and beautiful earth, :you were foolish to bear and give light to my mother. :The spirit is n***ard and nature lavish; :and dearly one pays for one's birth with one's life.- :I will clamber up high, to the dizziest peak; :I will look once more on the rising sun, :gaze till I'm tired o'er the promised land; :then try to get snowdrifts piled up over me. :They can write above them: "Here No One lies buried;" :and afterwards,-then-! Let things go as they can. CHURCH-GOERS [singing on the forest path]. :Oh, morning thrice blessed, :when the tongues of God's kingdom :struck the earth like to flaming steel! :from the earth to His dwelling :now the heirs' song ascendeth :in the tongue of the kingdom of God. PEER [crouches as in terror]. :Never look there! there all's desert and waste.- :I fear I was dead long before I died. [Tries to slink in among the bushes, but comes upon the cross-roads.] THE bu*tON-MOULDER :Good morning, Peer Gynt! Where's the list of your sins? PEER :Do you think that I haven't been whistling and shouting :as hard as I could? THE bu*tON-MOULDER :And met no one at all? PEER :Not a soul but a tramping photographer. THE bu*tON-MOULDER :Well, the respite is over. PEER :Ay, everything's over. :The owl smells the daylight. just list to the hooting! THE bu*tON-MOULDER :It's the matin-bell ringing- PEER [pointing]. :What's that shining yonder? THE bu*tON-MOULDER :Only light from a hut. PEER :And that wailing sound-? THE bu*tON-MOULDER :But a woman singing. PEER :Ay, there-there I'll find :the list of my sins- THE bu*tON-MOULDER [seizing him]. :Set your house in order! [They have come out of the underwood, and are standing near the hut. Day is dawning.] PEER :Set my house in order? It's there! Away! :Get you gone! Though your ladle were huge as a coffin, :it were too small, I tell you, for me and my sins! THE bu*tON-MOULDER :Well, to the third cross-road, Peer; but then-! ::[Turns aside and goes.] PEER [approaches the hut]. :Forward and back, and it's just as far. :Out and in, and it's just as strait. ::: [Stops.] :No!-like a wild, an unending lament, :is the thought: to come back, to go in, to go home. : [Takes a few steps on, but stops again.] :Roundabout, said the Boyg! : [Hears singing in the hut.] :Ah, no; this time at least :right through, though the path may be never so strait! [He runs towards the hut; at the same moment SOLVEIG appears in the doorway, dressed for church, with psalm-book wrapped in a kerchief, and a staff in her hand. She stands there erect and mild.] PEER [flings himself down on the threshold]. :Hast thou doom for a sinner, then speak it forth! SOLVEIG :He is here! He is here! Oh, to God be the praise! : [Stretches out her arms as though groping for him.] PEER :Cry out all my sins and my trespa**es! SOLVEIG :In nought hast thou sinned, oh my own only boy. :: [Gropes for him again, and finds him.] THE bu*tON-MOULDER [behind the house]. :The sin-list, Peer Gynt? PEER :Cry aloud my crime! SOLVEIG [sits down beside him]. :Thou hast made all my life as a beautiful song. :Blessed be thou that at last thou hast come! :Blessed, thrice blessed our Whitsun-morn meeting! PEER :Then I am lost! SOLVEIG :There is one that rules all things. PEER [laughs]. :Lost! Unless thou canst answer riddles. SOLVEIG :Tell me them. PEER :Tell them! Come on! To be sure! :Canst thou tell where Peer Gynt has been since we parted? SOLVEIG :Been? PEER :With his destiny's seal on his brow; :been, as in God's thought he first sprang forth! :Canst thou tell me? If not, I must get me home,- :go down to the mist-shrouded regions. SOLVEIG [smiling]. :Oh, that riddle is easy. PEER :Then tell what thou knowest! :Where was I, as myself, as the whole man, the true man? :where was I, with God's sigil upon my brow? SOLVEIG :In my faith, in my hope, and in my love. PEER [starts back]. :What sayest thou-? Peace! These are juggling words. :Thou art mother thyself to the man that's there. SOLVEIG :Ay, that I am; but who is his father? :Surely he that forgives at the mother's prayer. PEER [a light shines in his face; he cries:] :My mother; my wife; oh, thou innocent woman!- :in thy love-oh, there hide me, hide me! [Clings to her and hides his face in her lap. A long silence. The sun rises.] SOLVEIG [sings softly]. :Sleep thou, dearest boy of mine! :I will cradle thee, I will watch thee- :The boy has been sitting on his mother's lap. :They two have been playing all the life-day long. :The boy has been resting at his mother's breast :all the life-day long. God's blessing on my joy! :The boy has been lying close in to my heart :all the life-day long. He is weary now. :Sleep thou, dearest boy of mine! :I will cradle thee, I will watch thee. THE bu*tON-MOULDER'S VOICE [behind the house]. :We'll meet at the last cross-road again, Peer; :and then we'll see whether-; I say no more. SOLVEIG [sings louder in the full daylight]. :I will cradle thee, I will watch thee; :Sleep and dream thou, dear my boy! THE END