Page:The collected works of Henrik Ibsen (Volume 6).djvu/63

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Fieldbo.

You too? So am I, so am I!

Stensgård.

Yes, I should be the meanest hound on earth if all heaven's bounty didn't make me good and true. How have I deserved it, Fieldbo? What have I, sinner that I am, done to be so richly blessed?

Fieldbo.

There is my hand! This evening I am your friend indeed!

Stensgård.

Thanks! Be faithful and true, as I shall be!—Oh, isn't it an unspeakable joy to carry all that multitude away and along with you? How can you help becoming good from mere thankfulness? And how it makes you love all your fellow creatures! I feel as if I could clasp them all in one embrace, and weep, and beg their forgiveness because God has been so partial as to give me more than them.

Fieldbo.

[Quietly.] Yes, treasures without price may fall to one man's lot. This evening I would not crush an insect, not a green leaf upon my path.

Stensgård.

You?

Fieldbo.

Never mind. That's apart from the question. I only mean that I understand you.

Stensgård.

What a lovely night! Listen to the music and merriment floating out over the meadows. And