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AD
- 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
