Page:The collected works of Henrik Ibsen (Heinemann Volume 4).djvu/169

 One may drop off before one dreams of it. And then there were the thousand pitfalls Laid by the philanthropic camp; Besides, of course, the hostile cruisers, And all the wind-and-weather risks. All this together won the day. I thought: Now, Peter, reef your sails: See to it you amend your faults! So in the South I bought some land, And kept the last meat-importation, Which chanced to be a superfine one. They throve so, grew so fat and sleek, That 'twas a joy to me, and them too. Yes, without boasting, I may say I acted as a father to them,— And found my profit in so doing. I built them schools, too, so that virtue Might uniformly be maintained at A certain general niveau,[1] And kept strict watch that never its Thermometer should sink below it. Now, furthermore, from all this business I've beat a definite retreat;— I've sold the whole plantation, and It's tale of live-stock, hide and hair. At parting, too, I served around, To big and little, gratis grog,[1] So men and women all got drunk, And widows got their snuff as well. So that is why I trust,—provided The saying is not idle breath: Whoso does not do ill, does good,— My former errors are forgotten, And I, much more than most, can hold My misdeeds balanced by my virtues.