[He stops and looks out to the left.]
* * *
* *
OLAF. (Alfhild still sleeping. Thorgjerd comes
from
behind
the hut on the left.)
OLAF. Well met, stranger!
THORGJERD. Thanks, the same to you. You
are early about!
OLAF. Or late; early in the morning, but late
in the night.
THORGJERD. You belong in the village below,
I take it.
OLAF. My family lives there. And you?
THORGJERD. Wherever the mind is at rest, there
is one at home; that is why I like best to wander
in here;—my neighbors shall not do me any
injustice.
OLAF. That I have noticed.
THORGJERD. Then you have been here before?
OLAF. I chased a hind this summer in here; but
when I look closely I see ’tis a royal child
that has been bewitched.
THORGJERD. [Looks at him sharply.] That hunt is
dangerous!
OLAF. For the hunter?
[THORGJERD nods.]
OLAF. I was sitting and thinking the same thing
myself; it seems to me that I was bewitched on that
hunt.
THORGJERD. Farewell and good luck to you!
OLAF. Out upon you! If you wish a huntsman
good luck he will never come within shot of the prey.
THORGJERD. If the shot should strike the hunter
himself, the best luck that could happen to him would
be to have no luck at all.
OLAF. You speak wisely.
THORGJERD. Yes, yes; there is many a thing to
be learned in here.
OLAF. Too true! I have learned here the
best that I know.
THORGJERD. Farewell! I’ll take greetings
from you to your kinsmen.
OLAF. You mean to go down?
THORGJERD. Such was my purpose. These
are merry days down there, I am told. A mighty
knight is celebrating his wedding—
OLAF. Then you should have been there last night;
now I fear the best part of the fun is past.
THORGJERD. I dare say I’ll come in time
even yet.
OLAF. Perhaps! But still you should have
been there last night; so bright and so warm a festive
hall you never have seen before.
THORGJERD. It was well for him who was within.
OLAF. I know one who had to stand outside.
THORGJERD. Yes, yes, outside,—that
is the poor man’s place.
OLAF. I know one who had to stand outside and
who nevertheless was both worse off and better off
than those within.
THORGJERD. I must go down,—I see
that clearly; I shall play for the guests. Now
I shall fetch my harp, and then—
OLAF. You are a minstrel?
THORGJERD. And not among the worst. Now
shall I fetch my harp from where it lies hidden near
the waterfall; those strings you should hear.
With them I sat once on the edge of the bed and played
the bride out of the festive hall over ridge and field.—Have
you never heard little Ingrid’s lay? He
who could play the bride out of the bridegroom’s
arms can surely play his child home to her father
again. Farewell! If you linger here we
may meet again when I get down there.
