] Alas! the time is up. Pehr, do you wish
to go out and taste of life?
PEHR. Yes, yes!
FAIRY. Good and bad?
PEHR. Bad? That I think I know; the good I would learn to know.
FAIRY. You think so? But you shall soon see that all which seems
good is not good, and all that seems bad is not bad.
PEHR. Only let me get out--and away from here!
FAIRY. You may go; but first I want to give you, as a help on your
journey, a gift which will be of service to you. When you have it,
you will have been given more than others, and therefore more will
be required of you at some future time.
PEHR. Let me see it!
FAIRY. This ring has the power to grant you all your wishes--to
your credit, but to no one's harm.
PEHR. That's a fine ring! But what will the old man say?
FAIRY. He is only going to meet with his just punishment--
punishment for his selfishness.
PEHR. Yes, that is just. All the same I feel sorry for him.
FAIRY. Do not grieve for him; I shall watch over his sorrow.
PEHR. Sorrow! Nothing else? Sorrow, he says, is the one pleasure in
life. Let him sit and enjoy it then. I shall probably furnish him
with opportunities.
FAIRY. And lastly, young man, will you take provisions from the
Wise Man?
PEHR. What should they be?--Good advice?
FAIRY. Yes.
PEHR. Alas, I have such quantities of that!
FAIRY. I know that, and I know its fate. Farewell then! May life so
teach you to live that when your journey is over you shall be--
whether great or obscure; successful or unsuccessful; learned or
ignorant--a man, and above all, a manly man.
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