Page:The collected works of Henrik Ibsen (Heinemann Volume 4).djvu/280

Peer.

You're surely not meaning to melt me up,
With Dick, Tom, and Hal,^[1] into something new?

The Button-moulder.

That just what I do mean, and nothing else.
We've done it already to plenty of folks.
At Kongsberg^[2] they do just the same with coin
That's been current so long that its impress is lost.

Peer.

But this is the wretchedest miserliness!
My dear good friend, let me get off free;—
A loopless button, a worn out farthing,—
What is <g>that</g> to a man in your Master's position?

The Button-moulder.

Oh, so long as, and seeing, the spirit is in you,
You always have value as so much metal.

Peer.

No, I say! No! With both teeth and claws
I'll fight against this! Sooner anything else!

The Button-moulder.

But what else? Come now, be reasonable.
You know you're not airy enough for heaven——

Peer.

I'm not hard to content; I don't aim so high;—
But I won't be deprived of one doit of my Self.

1. Literally, "With Peter and Paul."
2. The Royal Mint is at Kongsberg, a town in southern
   Norway.