Page:The collected works of Henrik Ibsen (Heinemann Volume 3).djvu/263



[Whistling.]

That was, I need not say, a lie.

Really, a lie?

I just let loose At the first fancy that came by; Is it a sin such means to use In such a cause?

God bless me, no Need is an adequate excuse.

And then, to-morrow, when the glow Of agitation's dead, or dying, What will it matter if the end Was gain'd by telling truth, or lying?

I am no formalist, my friend.

[Looks up into the wild.]

But is't not Brand that yonder drags His slow course upward?

Ay, you're right! A lonely warrior off to fight!

Nay, there's another too—that lags Far in the rear!