SCENE 1

(Jeppe is discovered hanging from a gallows.  The Judge stands aside, unseen by Nille.)

Nille.  Oh, oh, can it be that I see my good husband hanging on the gallows?  Oh, my dearest husband!  Forgive me all the wrong I have done you.  Oh, now my conscience is roused; now I repent, but too late, for the ill nature I showed you; now that I miss you, for the first time I can realize what a good husband I have lost.  Oh, that I could only save you from death with my own life’s blood.

[She wipes her eyes, and weeps bitterly.  Meanwhile the effects of the sleeping-potion have worn off, and Jeppe wakes.  He sees that be is hanging on the gallows, and that his hands are tied behind him, and he hears his wife’s laments.]

Jeppe.  Be calm, my dear wife, we must all go the same way.  Go home and look after the house and take good care of my children.  You can have my red jacket made over for little Christoffer, and what’s left will do for a cap for Marthe.  Above all, see to it that my piebald horse is well cared for, for I loved that beast as if he had been my own brother.  If I weren’t dead, I’d have more to say to you.

Nille.  O—­o—­o—!  What is that?  What do I hear?  Can a dead man talk?

Jeppe.  Don’t be afraid, Nille, I shan’t hurt you.

Nille.  But, my dearest husband, how can you talk when you’re dead?

Jeppe.  I don’t know myself how it happens.  But listen, my dear wife!  Run like wildfire and bring me eightpence worth of brandy, for I am thirstier now than I ever was when I was alive.

Nille.  Shame, you beast!  You scoundrel!  You hopeless drunkard!  Haven’t you drunk enough brandy in your living lifetime?  Are you still thirsty, you sot, now that you are dead?  I call that being a full-blown hog.

Jeppe.  Shut your mouth, you scum of the earth! and run for the brandy.  If you don’t, devil take me if I don’t haunt you in the house every night.  You shall soon find out that I am not afraid of Master Eric any more, for now I can’t feel a beating.

[Nille runs home after Master Eric, comes out again, and beats him as be hangs.]

Jeppe.  Ow, ow, ow!  Stop it, Nille, stop!  You’ll kill me all over again.  Ow! ow! ow!

The judge [coming forward].  Listen, my good woman!  You must not beat him any more.  Be reassured; for your sake we will pardon your husband’s transgression, and furthermore sentence him back to life again.

Nille.  No, no, good sir!  Let him hang, for he’s not worth letting live.

Judge.  Fie, you are a wicked woman; away with you, or we shall have you hanged alongside of him.

[Nille runs away.

SCENE 2

(Enter the Judge’s servants, who take Jeppe down from the gallows.)