Page:The collected works of Henrik Ibsen (Heinemann Volume 4).djvu/287

 And to change me about from Peer Gynt to a troll. What did I do then? I stood out against it,— Swore I would stand on no feet but my own; Love, power, and glory at once I renounced, And all for the sake of remaining myself. Now this fact, you see, you must swear to in Court

No, I'm blest if I can.

Why, what nonsense is this?

You surely don't want to compel me to lie? You pulled on the troll-breeches, don't you remember, And tasted the mead

Ay, you lured me seductively;— But I flatly declined the decisive test, And that is the thing you must judge your man by. It's the end of the ditty that all depends on.

But it ended, Peer, just in the opposite way.

What rubbish is this?

When you left the Rondë, You inscribed my motto upon your escutcheon.