Page:The collected works of Henrik Ibsen (Heinemann Volume 4).djvu/48

 Leapt sky-high, and down we plunged, Both of us, into the depths!

['' totters, and catches at the trunk of a tree. continues'':

Mountain walls behind us, black, And below a void unfathomed! First we clove through banks of mist, Then we clove a flock of sea-gulls, So that they, in mid-air startled, Flew in all directions, screaming. Downward rushed we, ever downward. But beneath us something shimmered, Whitish, like a reindeer's belly.— Mother, 'twas our own reflection In the glass-smooth mountain tarn, Shooting up towards the surface With the same wild rush of speed Wherewith we were shooting downwards.

[Gasping for breath.]

Peer! God help me! Quickly, tell

Buck from over, buck from under, In a moment clashed together, Scattering foam-flecks all around. There we lay then, floating, plashing,— But at last we made our way Somehow to the northern shore; Swam the buck, I clung behind him:— I ran homewards

But the buck, dear?