Page:The collected works of Henrik Ibsen (Heinemann Volume 4).djvu/300

Peer.

                     Not too much fire;—and chiefly
The power of departing in safety and peace,—
The right, as the phrase goes, of freely withdrawing
Should an opening offer for happier days.

The Lean One.

My dear friend, I vow I'm sincerely distressed;
But you cannot imagine how many petitions
Of similar purport good people send in,
When they're quitting the scene of their earthly activity.

Peer.

But now that I think of my past career,
I feel I've an absolute claim to admission——

The Lean One.

'Twas but trifles, you said——

Peer.

                                In a certain sense;—
But, now I remember, I've trafficked in slaves——

The Lean One.

There are men that have trafficked in wills and souls,
But who bungled it so that they failed to get in.

Peer.

I've shipped Bramah-figures in plenty to China.

The Lean One.

Mere wish-wash again! Why, we laugh at such things.