Page:The collected works of Henrik Ibsen (Heinemann Volume 2).djvu/342



King Håkon himself!

[Shout.] Hail to King Håkon Håkonsson!

[Enters from the right, followed by and many others.] Ay, now are you humble, you Trönders; you have stood against me long enough.

[Kneeling.] Mercy, my lord! Skule Bårdsson bore so hardly on us!

[Also kneeling.] He compelled us, else had we never followed him.

He seized our goods and forced us to fight for his unrighteous cause.

Alas, noble lord, he has been a scourge to his friends no less than to his foes.

Ay, ay,—Skule Bårdsson has been a scourge to the whole land.

That, at least, is true enough.

Good; with you townsfolk I will speak later;