It seems exactly
As though I had known this same building before.—
The reindeer-horns jutting above the gable!—
A mermaid, shaped like a fish from the navel!—
Lies! there’s no mermaid! But nails—and planks,—
Bars too, to shut out hobgoblin thoughts!—
Solveig.
[Singing in the hut.]
Now all is ready for Whitsun Eve.
Dearest boy of mine, far away,