And then there was an old woodpecker. He bustled up and down the tree-trunks, pecking with his pointed beak, and gorging himself with grubs and everything that turns to gall. To right and left you heard him going: prik, prik, prik! And that was the woodpecker.
Erik.
Excuse me, wasn’t it a stork, or a——?[[16]]
Heire.
Say no more!
Stensgård.
That was the old woodpecker. But now there came life into the crew; for they found something to cackle evil about. And they flustered together, and cackled in chorus, until at last the young cuckoo began to join in the cackling——
Fieldbo.
[Unnoticed.] For God’s sake, man, be quiet!
Stensgård.