First Girl.
Force is kindness!
Second Girl.
And kindness is force!
Third Girl.
If lads are a wanting, one plays with the trolls!
Peer.
Why, where are the lads, then?
All Three.
[With a horse-laugh.]
They cannot come hither!
First Girl.
Mine called me his sweetheart and called me his darling.
Now he has married a grey-headed widow.
Second Girl.
Mine met a gipsy-wench north on the upland.
Now they are tramping the country together.
Third Girl.
Mine put an end to our bastard brat.
Now his head's grinning aloft on a stake.
All Three.
Trond of the Valfjeld! Bård and Kårë!
Troll-pack! To-night would you sleep in our arms!
Peer.
[Stands, with a sudden leap, in the midst of them.]
I'm a three-headed troll, and the boy for three girls!