Truls still followed them with his eyes;
suddenly he leaped up, and a wild thought burned
in his breast. But with an effort he checked
himself, grasped his violin, and struck a wailing
chord of lament. Then he laid his ear close
to the instrument, as if he were listening to
some living voice hidden there within, ran wa-
rily with the bow over the strings, and warbled,
and caroled, and sang with maddening glee, and
still with a shivering undercurrent of woe. And
the dusk which slept upon the black rafters was
quickened and shook with the weird sound;
every pulse in the wide hall beat more rapidly,
and every eye kindled with a bolder fire.
Pressently{sic} a Strong male voice sang out to the
measure of the violin:
"Come, fairest maid, tread the dance with me;
O heigh ho!"
And a clear, tremulous treble answered:
"So gladly tread I the dance with thee;
O heigh ho!"
Truls knew the voices only too well; it was Syvert Stein
and Borghild who were singing a stave.[8]
[8] A stave is an improvised responsive song. It is an ancient pastime
in Norway, and is kept up until this day, especially among the peasantry.
The students, also, at their social gatherings, throw improvised
rhymes to each other across the table, and the rest of the company
repeat the refrain.
Syvert--Like brier-roses thy red cheeks blush,
Borghild--And thine are rough like the thorny bush;
Both--An' a heigho!
Syvert--So fresh and green is the sunny lea;
O heigh ho!
Borghild--The fiddle twangeth so merrily;
O heigh ho!
Syvert--So lightly goeth the lusty reel,
Borghild--And round we whirl like a spinning-wheel;
Both--An' a heigho!
Syvert--Thine eyes are bright like the sunny fjord;
O heigh ho!
Borghild--And thine do flash like a Viking's sword;
O heigh ho!
Syvert--So lightly trippeth thy foot along,
Borghild--The air is teeming with joyful song;
Both--An' a heigh ho!
Syvert--Then fairest maid, while the woods are green,
O heigh ho!
Borghild--And thrushes sing the fresh leaves between;
O heigh ho!
Syvert--Come, let us dance in the gladsome day,
Borghild--Dance hate, and sorrow, and care away;
Both--An' a heigh ho!
The stave was at an end.
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