SCENE 2
(Enter the Judge's servants, who take Jeppe down from the gallows.)
JEPPE. Oh, kind judge, am I surely all alive again, or am I spooking?
JUDGE. You are quite alive, for the law that can take away a man's life can also give it back again. Can you not comprehend that?
JEPPE. No, indeed, I can't get it through my head, but I keep on thinking I'm a ghost, and am spooking.
JUDGE. Foolish fellow! It's perfectly easy to understand. He who takes a thing away from you can give it back again.
JEPPE. Then may I try it and hang the judge just for fun to see if I can sentence him back to life again?
JUDGE. No, that won't work, because you're not a judge.
JEPPE. But am I really alive again?
JUDGE. Yes, you are.
JEPPE. Then I'm not just a spook?
JUDGE. Certainly not.
JEPPE. I'm not a ghost at all?
JUDGE. No.
JEPPE. Am I the same Jeppe of the Hill as I was before?
JUDGE. Yes.
JEPPE. I'm no mere spirit?
JUDGE. No, certainly not.
JEPPE. Will you give me your oath that's true?
JUDGE. Yes, I swear to it; you're alive.
JEPPE. Swear that the devil may split you if it's not so. JUDGE. Come, take our word for it, and thank us for so graciously sentencing you back to life again.
JEPPE. If you hadn't hanged me yourselves, I would gladly thank you for taking me down from the gallows.
JUDGE. Be satisfied, Jeppe! Tell us if your good wife beats you too often, and we shall find a remedy. Here are four rix-dollars with which you can make merry for a while, and don't forget to drink our health.
[Jeppe kisses his hand and thanks him.]
[Exit Judge, followed by his servants.