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- and to change me about from Peer Gynt to a troll.
- What did I do then? I stood out against it,-
- swore I would stand on no feet but my own;
- love, power, and glory at once I renounced,
- and all for the sake of remaining myself.
- Now this fact, you see, you must swear to in Court-
THE OLD MAN
- No, I'm blest if I can.
PEER
- Why, what nonsense is this?
THE OLD MAN
- You surely don't want to compel me to lie?
- You pulled on the troll-breeches, don't you remember,
- and tasted the mead-
PEER
- Ay, you lured me seductively;-
- but I flatly declined the decisive test,
- and that is the thing you must judge your man by.
- It's the end of the ditty that all depends on.
THE OLD MAN
- But it ended, Peer, just in the opposite way.
PEER
- What rubbish is this?
THE OLD MAN
- When you left the Ronde,
- you inscribed my motto upon your 'scutcheon.
