Page:The collected works of Henrik Ibsen (Heinemann Volume 1).pdf/473



No, I've heard say It is at times a risky game to play.

The very devil!

Only for the great.

[zealously].

No, no, for all us servants of the state. Only imagine how my future chances Would dwindle, if the governor once knew I keep a Pegasus that neighs and prances In office hours—and such an office, too! From first to last, you know, in our profession, The winged horse is viewed with reprobation: But worst of all would be, if it got wind That I against our primal law had sinn'd By bringing secret matters to the light—

That's penal, is it—such an oversight?

[mysteriously].

It can a servant of the state compel To beg for his dismissal out of hand. On us officials lies a strict command, Even by the hearth to be inscrutable.

O those despotical authorities, Muzzling the—clerk that treadeth out the grain!