Page:The collected works of Henrik Ibsen (Volume 4).djvu/259

 Now homewards! Though narrow and steep the path,
 * though Fate to the end may be never so biting-
 * still old Peer Gynt will pursue his own way,
 * and remain what he is: poor, but virtuous ever.
 * [Goes out.]

SCENE FOURTH
[A hillside seamed by the dry bed of a torrent. A ruined mill-house beside the stream. The ground is torn up, and the whole place waste. Further up the hill, a large farm-house.] [An auction is going on in front of the farm-house. There is a great gathering of people, who are drinking, with much noise. PEER GYNT iS sitting on a rubbish-heap beside the mill.] PEER
 * Forward and back, and it's just as far;
 * out and in, and it's just as strait.-
 * Time wears away and the river gnaws on.
 * Go roundabout, the Boyg said;-and here one must.

A MAN DRESSED IN MOURNING
 * Now there is only rubbish left over.
 * [Catches sight of PEER GYNT.]
 * Are there strangers here too! God be with you, good friend!

PEER
 * Well met! You have lively times here to-day.
 * Is't a christening junket or a wedding feast?

THE MAN IN MOURNING
 * I'd rather call it a house-warming treat;-
 * the bride is laid in a wormy bed.