Page:The collected works of Henrik Ibsen (Volume 4).djvu/194

 t!
 * The Prophet is mild; to his mildness be praises;
 * he opens to sinners his Paradise!

PEER [his eyes following ANITRA during the dance].
 * Legs as nimble as drumsticks flitting.
 * She's a dainty morsel indeed, that wench!
 * It's true she has somewhat extravagant contours,-
 * not quite in accord with the norms of beauty.
 * But what is beauty? A mere convention,-
 * a coin made current by time and place.
 * And just the extravagant seems most attractive
 * when one of the normal has drunk one's fill.
 * In the law-bound one misses all intoxication.
 * Either plump to excess or excessively lean;
 * either parlously young or portentously old;-
 * the medium is mawkish.-
 * Her feet-they are not altogether clean;
 * no more are her arms; in especial one of them.
 * But that is at bottom no drawback at all.
 * I should rather call it a qualification-
 * Anitra, come listen!

ANITRA [approaching].
 * Thy handmaiden hears!

PEER
 * You are tempting, my daughter! The Prophet is touched.
 * If you don't believe me, then hear the proof;-
 * I'll make you a Houri in Paradise!

ANITRA
 * Impossible, Lord!