Page:The collected works of Henrik Ibsen (Heinemann Volume 1).pdf/279



I? Nay, I meant naught. My brain Is wildered; but ah, I am blithe and fain To be, as of old, with you sisters twain. But tell me,—Signë—?

She comes anon. To greet her kinsman she needs must don Her trinkets—a task that takes time, 'tis plain.

I must see—I must see if she knows me again.

[Following him-with her eyes.] How fair and manlike he is! [With a sigh.] There is little likeness 'twixt him and—[Begins putting things in order on the table, but presently stops.] "You then were free," he said. Yes, then! [A short pause.] 'Twas a strange tale, that of the Princess who—She held another dear, and then—Aye, those women of far-off lands—I have heard it before—they are not weak as we are; they do not fear to pass from thought to deed. [Takes up a goblet which stands on the table.] 'Twas in this beaker that Gudman and I, when he went away, drank to his happy return. 'Tis well-nigh the only heirloom I brought with me to Solhoug. [Putting the goblet away in a cupboard.] How soft is