Page:The collected works of Henrik Ibsen (Volume 4).djvu/111

 AN
 * And next-now for putting your wits to the test.
 * [Draws himself up in his seat.]

THE OLDEST TROLL-COURTIER [to PEER GYNT].
 * Let us see if you have a wisdom-tooth
 * that can crack the Dovre-King's riddle-nut!

THE OLD MAN
 * What difference is there 'twixt trolls and men?

PEER
 * No difference at all, as it seems to me.
 * Big trolls would roast you and small trolls would claw you;-
 * with us it were likewise, if only they dared.

THE OLD MAN
 * True enough; in that and in more we're alike.
 * Yet morning is morning, and even is even,
 * and there is a difference all the same.-
 * Now let me tell you wherein it lies:
 * Out yonder, under the shining vault,
 * among men the saying goes: "Man, be thyself!"
 * At home here with us, 'mid the tribe of the trolls,
 * the saying goes: "Troll, to thyself be-enough!"

THE TROLL-COURTIER [to PEER GYNT].
 * Can you fathom the depth?

PEER
 * It strikes me as misty.

THE OLD M