The collected works of Henrik Ibsen, Vol. 04 (of 11)Ibsen, Henrik
General
The collected works of Henrik Ibsen, Vol. 04 (of 11)
Ibsen, Henrik
Ibsen, Henrik, 1828-1906 -- Translations into English; Norwegian drama -- Translations into English
All of a sudden the Trolls came, with a fiddle and a fiddler; some began
dancing, while others fell to eating the Christmas fare on the table;
some fried bacon, and some fried frogs and toads, and other disgusting
things: these were the Christmas dainties they had brought with them. In
the meantime some of the Trolls found the shoe Peer had made; they
thought it must be for a very big foot. Then they all wanted to try it
on; and when each of them had put a foot into it, Peer tightened the
rope, shoved one of the handspikes into it, and twisted it up till they
were all stuck fast in the shoe.
Just then the bear put his nose out and smelt the fry.
“Will you have a sausage, white pussy?” said one of the Trolls, and
threw a red-hot frog right into the bear’s jaws.
“Claw and smite Bruin!” said Peer Gynt.
And then the bear got into such a rage that he rushed at the Trolls and
smote and clawed them all, and Peer Gynt took the other handspike and
hammered away at them as if he wanted to beat their brains out. So the
Trolls had to clear out, and Peer stayed and enjoyed himself on the
Christmas cheer the whole feast-time. After that the Trolls were not
heard of again for many years. The farmer had a light-coloured mare, and
Peer advised him to breed from her, and let her foals in their turn run
and breed among the hills there.
Many years afterwards, about Christmas-time, the farmer was out in the
forest cutting wood for the feast-time, when a Troll came towards him
and shouted—
“Have you got that big white pussy of yours yet?”
“Yes, she’s at home behind the stove,” said the farmer; “and she’s got
seven kittens now, much bigger and fiercer than herself.”
“We’ll never come to you any more, then,” shouted the Troll.
“That Peer Gynt was a strange one,” said Anders. “He was such an
out-and-out tale-maker and yarn-spinner, you couldn’t have helped
laughing at him. He always made out that he himself had been mixed up in
all the stories that people said had happened in the olden times.”
GUDBRAND GLESNË.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account