Page:The collected works of Henrik Ibsen (Volume 4).djvu/65

 eak. A WOMAN
 * Ay, then it's no wonder the lad's good for nought.

[They pass on. Presently PEER GYNT comes forward, his face flushed with shame. He peers after them.] PEER [softly].
 * Was it me they were talking of?
 * [With a forced shrug.]
 * Oh, let them chatter!
 * After all, they can't sneer the life out of my body.

[Casts himself down upon the heathery slope; lies for some time flat on his back with his hands under his head, gazing up into the sky.]
 * What a strange sort of cloud! It is just like a horse.
 * There's a man on it too-and saddle-and bridle.-
 * And after it comes an old crone on a broomstick.
 * [Laughs quietly to himself.]
 * It is mother. She's scolding and screaming: You beast!
 * Hei you, Peer Gynt-[His eyes gradually close.] Ay, now
 * she is frightened.-
 * Peer Gynt he rides first, and there follow him many.-
 * His steed it is gold-shod and crested with silver.
 * Himself he has gauntlets and sabre and scabbard.
 * His cloak it is long, and its lining is silken.
 * Full brave is the company riding behind him.
 * None of them, though, sits his charger so stoutly.