Complete Works of Henrik Ibsen (106 page)

PEER
Could I?

ÅSE
The old man’s too feeble
not to give his child her way.
He is stiff-necked in a fashion
but at last ‘tis Ingrid rules;
and where she leads, step by step,
stumps the gaffer, grumbling, after.
[Begins to cry again.]
Ah, my Peer! — a golden girl —
land entailed on her! just think,
had you set your mind upon it,
you’d be now a bridegroom brave, —
you that stand here grimed and tattered!

PEER
[briskly]
Come, we’ll go a-wooing, then!

ÅSE
Where?

PEER
At Hegstad!

ÅSE
Ah, poor boy;
Hegstad way is barred to wooers!

PEER
How is that?

ÅSE
Ah, I must sigh!
Lost the moment, lost the luck —

PEER
Speak!

ÅSE
[sobbing]
While in the Wester-hills
you in air were riding reindeer,
here Mads Moen’s won the girl!

PEER
What! That women’s-bugbear! He — !

ÅSE
Ay, she’s taking him for husband.

PEER
Wait you here till I have harnessed
horse and waggon —
[Going.]

ÅSE
Spare your pains.
They are to be wed to-morrow —

PEER
Pooh; this evening I’ll be there!

ÅSE
Fie now! Would you crown our miseries
with a load of all men’s scorn?

PEER
Never fear; ‘twill all go well.
[Shouting and laughing at the same time.]
Mother, jump! We’ll spare the waggon;
‘twould take time to fetch the mare up —
[Lifts her up in his arms.]

ÅSE
Put me down!

PEER
No, in my arms
I will bear you to the wedding!
[Wades out into the stream.]

ÅSE
Help! The Lord have mercy on us!
Peer! We’re drowning —

PEER
I was born
for a braver death —

ÅSE
Ay, true;
sure enough you’ll hang at last!
[Tugging at his hair.]
Oh, you brute!

PEER
Keep quiet now;
here the bottom’s slippery-slimy.

ÅSE
Ass!

PEER
That’s right, don’t spare your tongue;
that does no one any harm.
Now it’s shelving up again —

ÅSE
Don’t you drop me!

PEER
Heisan! Hop!
Now we’ll play at Peer and reindeer; —
[Curvetting.]
I’m the reindeer, you are Peer!

ÅSE
Oh, I’m going clean distraught!

PEER
There see; now we’ve reached the shallows; —
[Wades ashore.]
come, a kiss now, for the reindeer;
just to thank him for the ride —

ÅSE
[boxing his ears]
This is how I thank him!

PEER
Ow!
That’s a miserable fare!

ÅSE
Put me down!

PEER
First to the wedding.
Be my spokesman. You’re so clever;
talk to him, the old curmudgeon;
say Mads Moen’s good for nothing —

ÅSE
Put me down!

PEER
And tell him then
what a rare lad is Peer Gynt.

ÅSE
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 —

PEER
Will you?

ÅSE
[kicking with rage]
I won’t stay my tongue
till the old man sets his dog
at you, as you were a tramp!

PEER
Hm; then I must go alone.

ÅSE
Ay, but I’ll come after you!

PEER
Mother dear, you haven’t strength —

ÅSE
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!

PEER
You’ll promise then —

ÅSE
Nothing! I’ll to Hegstad with you!
They shall know you, what you are!

PEER
Then you’ll even have to stay here.

ÅSE
Never! To the feast I’m coming!

PEER
That you shan’t.

ÅSE
What will you do?

PEER
Perch you on the mill-house roof.
[He puts her up on the roof. ÅSE screams.]

ÅSE
Lift me down!

PEER
Yes, if you’ll listen —

ÅSE
Rubbish!

PEER
Dearest mother, pray — !

ÅSE
[throwing a sod of grass at him]
Lift me down this moment, Peer!

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.

ÅSE
You beast!

PEER
Do not kick!

ÅSE
I’d have you blown,
like a changeling, into space!

PEER
Mother, fie!

ÅSE
Bah!

PEER
Rather give your
blessing on my undertaking.
Will you? Eh?

ÅSE
I’ll thrash you soundly,
hulking fellow though you be!

PEER
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.]

ÅSE
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.]

FIRST WOMAN
Christ, who’s screaming?

ÅSE
It is I!

SECOND WOMAN
Åse! Well, you are exalted!

ÅSE
This won’t be the end of it; —
soon, God help me, I’ll be heaven-high!

FIRST WOMAN
Bless your passing!

ÅSE
Fetch a ladder;
I must be down! That devil Peer —

SECOND WOMAN
Peer! Your son?

ÅSE
Now you can say
you have seen how he behaves.

FIRST WOMAN
We’ll bear witness.

ÅSE
Only help me;
straight to Hegstad I will hasten —

SECOND WOMAN
Is he there?

FIRST WOMAN
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!

FIRST WOMAN
Oh, that lot has oft been talked of;
comfort you: what must be must be!

SECOND WOMAN
She is utterly demented.
[Calls up the hill.]
Eivind, Anders! Hei! Come here!

A MAN’S VOICE
What’s amiss?

SECOND WOMAN
Peer Gynt has perched his
mother on the mill-house roof!

SCENE SECON
D

[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 stretch of country below.]

PEER
There it 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 gnats. —
Hm, 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 pass by, going
downwards towards the farm.]

A MAN
[in conversation as they pass]
His father was drunken, his mother is weak.

A WOMAN
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.]

PEER
[softly]
Was it me they were talking of?
[With a forced shrug.]
Oh, let them chatter!
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 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]
What, Kaiser — !

THE SMITH
[leaning against the fence and grinning]
Up with you, Peer, my lad!

PEER
What the devil? The smith? What do you want here?

THE SMITH
[to the others]
He hasn’t got over the Lunde-spree yet.

PEER
[jumping up]
You’d better be off!

THE SMITH
I am going, yes.
But tell us, where have you dropped from, man?
You’ve been gone six weeks. Were you troll-taken, eh?

PEER
I have been doing strange deeds, Aslak Smith!

THE SMITH
[winking to the others]
Let us hear them, Peer!

PEER
They are nought to you.

THE SMITH
[after a pause]
You’re going to Hegstad?

PEER
No.

THE SMITH
Time was
they said that the girl there was fond of you.

PEER
You grimy crow — !

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 widows well on —

PEER
To hell — !

THE SMITH
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?
Hm, 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.]
They’re playing a dance!
[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 flies over the green!
Ay, Guttorm, he can make his fiddle speak out!
It gurgles and booms like a foss 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.]