Page:The collected works of Henrik Ibsen (Heinemann Volume 4).djvu/270

 Well, I can at any rate laugh at that danger;— For here on all fours I am firmly planted. [Scratches his head. A queer enough business, the whole concern! Life, as they say, plays with cards up its sleeve; But when one snatches at them, they've disappeared, And one grips something else,—or else nothing at all. [He has come near to the hut; he catches sight of it and starts.

This hut? On the heath! Ha!

[Rubs his eyes.

It seems exactly As though I had known this same building before.— The reindeer-horns jutting above the gable!— A mermaid, shaped like a fish from the navel!— Lies! there's no mermaid! But nails—and planks,— Bars too, to shut out hobgoblin thoughts!—

[Singing in the hut.]

Now all is ready for Whitsun Eve. Dearest boy of mine, far away, Comest thou soon? Is thy burden heavy, Take time, take time;— I will await thee; I promised of old.