Page:The collected works of Henrik Ibsen (Volume 4).djvu/278

 PEER
 * And in consequence, friend, I can go as I came?

THE BUTTON-MOULDER
 * No, in consequence, friend, I must melt you up.

PEER
 * What tricks are these that you've hit upon
 * at home here, while I've been in foreign parts?

THE BUTTON-MOULDER
 * The custom's as old as the Snake's creation;
 * it's designed to prevent loss of good material.
 * You've worked at the craft-you must know that often
 * a casting turns out, to speak plainly, mere dross;
 * the buttons, for instance, have sometimes no loop to them.
 * What did you do, then?

PEER
 * Flung the rubbish away.

THE BUTTON-MOULDER
 * Ah, yes; Jon Gynt was well known for a waster,
 * so long as he'd aught left in wallet or purse.
 * But Master, you see, he is thrifty, he is;
 * and that is why he's so well-to-do.
 * He flings nothing away as entirely worthless
 * that can be made use of as raw material.
 * Now, you were designed for a shining button
 * on the vest of the world; but your loop gave way;
 * so into the waste-box you needs must go,
 * and then, as they phrase it, be merged in the mass.