Page:The collected works of Henrik Ibsen (Heinemann Volume 1).pdf/77



Rise, rise and tell me

Think you I do not know who the stranger is?

You know? And yet?

Think you the gates of Östråt shut so close, that never a whisper of the country's woe can slip through them? Think you I do not know that the heir of many a noble line wanders outlawed, without rest or shelter, while Danish masters lord it in the home of his fathers?

And what then?

I know well that many a high-born knight is hunted through the woods like a hungry wolf. No hearth has he to rest by, no bread to eat

[Coldly.] Enough! Now I understand you.

[Continuing.] And that is why the gates of Östråt must stand open by night! That is why he must remain a stranger to all, this guest of whom none must know whence he comes or