I was born!
Peer
Liar! What I can do, that no one else can.
I one day conjured him into a nut.
It was worm-bored, you see!
Several [laughing]
Ay, that’s easily guessed!
Peer
He cursed, and he wept, and he wanted to bribe me
with all sorts of things —
One Of The Crowd
But he had to go in?
Peer
Of course. I stopped up the hole with a peg.
Hei! If you’d heard him rumbling and grumbling!
A Girl
Only think!
Peer
It was just like a humble-bee buzzing.
The Girl
Have you got him still in the nut?
Peer
Why, no;
by this time that devil has flown on his way.
The grudge the smith bears me is all his doing.
A Lad
Indeed?
Peer
I went to the smithy, and begged
that he would crack that same nutshell for me.
He promised he would!— laid it down on his anvil;
but Aslak, you know, is so heavy of hand;—
for ever swinging that great sledge-hammer —
A Voice From The Crowd
Did he kill the foul fiend?
Peer
He laid on like a man.
But the devil showed fight, and tore off in a flame
through the roof, and shattered the wall asunder.
Several Voices
And the smith —?
Peer
Stood there with his hands all scorched.
And from that day onwards, we’ve never been friends.
[General laughter.]
Some Of The Crowd
That yarn is a good one.
Others
About his best.
Peer
Do you think I am making it up?
A Man
Oh no,
that you’re certainly not; for I’ve heard the most on’t
from my grandfather —
Peer
Liar! It happened to me!
The Man
Yes, like everything else.
Peer [with a fling]
I can ride, I can,
clean through the air, on the bravest of steeds!
Oh, many’s the thing I can do, I tell you!
[Another roar of laughter.]
One Of The Group
Peer, ride through the air a bit!
Many
Do, dear Peer Gynt —!
Peer
You may spare you the trouble of begging so hard.
I will ride like a hurricane over you all!
Every man in the parish shall fall at my feet!
An Elderly Man
Now he is clean off his head.
Another
The dolt!
A Third
Braggart!
A Fourth
Liar!
Peer [threatening them]
Ay, wait till you see!
A Man [half drunk]
Ay, wait; you’ll soon get your jacket dusted!
Others
Your back beaten tender! Your eyes painted blue!
[The crowd disperses, the elder men angry, the younger laughing and jeering.]
The Bridegroom [close to PEER GYNT]
Peer, is it true you can ride through the air?
Peer [shortly]
It’s all true, Mads! You must know I’m a rare one!
The Bridegroom
Then have you got the Invisible Cloak too?
Peer
The Invisible Hat, do you mean? Yes, I have.
[Turns away from him. SOLVEIG crosses the yard, leading little HELGA.]
Peer [goes towards them; his face lights up]
Solveig! Oh, it is well you have come!
[Takes hold of her wrist.]
Now will I swing you round fast and fine!
Solveig
Loose me!
Peer
Wherefore?
Solveig
You are so wild.
Peer
The reindeer is wild, too, when summer is dawning.
Come then, lass; do not be wayward now!
Solveig [withdrawing her arm]
Dare not.
Peer
Wherefore?
Solveig
No, you’ve been drinking.
[Moves off with HELGA.]
Peer
Oh, if I had but my knife-blade driven
clean through the heart of them,— one and all!
The Bridegroom [nudging him with his elbow]
Peer, can’t you help me to get at the bride?
Peer [absently]
The bride? Where is she?
The Bridegroom
In the store-house.
Peer
Ah.
The Bridegroom
Oh, dear Peer Gynt, you must try at least!
Peer
No, you must get on without my help.
[A thought strikes him; he says softly but sharply:]
Ingrid! The store-house!
[Goes Up to SOLVEIG.]