Page:The collected works of Henrik Ibsen (Heinemann Volume 4).djvu/243

 Oh ay, that is all very well on dry land, But I'm blest if it matters a snuff on board ship, When a decent man's out on the seas with such riff-raff. At sea one can never be one's self; One must go with the others from deck to keel; If for boatswain and cook the hour of vengeance should strike, I shall no doubt be swept to the deuce with the rest;— One's personal welfare is clean set aside;— One counts but as a sausage in slaughtering-time.— My mistake is this: I have been too meek; And I've had no thanks for it after all. Were I younger, I think I would shift the saddle, And try how it answered to lord it awhile. There is time enough yet! They shall know in the parish That Peer has come sailing aloft o'er the seas! I'll get back the farmstead by fair means or foul;— I will build it anew; it shall shine like a palace. But none shall be suffered to enter the hall! They shall stand at the gateway, all twirling their caps;— They shall beg and beseech—that they freely may do; But none gets so much as a farthing of mine. If I've had to howl 'neath the lashes of fate, Trust me to find folks I can lash in my turn

[''Stands in the darkness at side, and salutes him in friendly fashion.'']

Good evening!