Jacob.  Very well.  They were here a while ago and asked how soon brother would be at home.

Montanus.  Brother again!  It’s not from mere pride that I object, Jacob, but it simply won’t do.

Jacob.  Then what shall I call you, brother?

Montanus.  You must call me “Monsieur Montanus,” for that is what I am called in Copenhagen.

Jacob.  If I could only keep it in my head.  Was it “Monsieur Dromedarius”?

Montanus.  Can’t you hear?  I say “Monsieur Montanus.”

Jacob.  Mossur Montanus, Mossur Montanus.

Montanus.  That’s right.  “Montanus” in Latin is the same as “Berg” in
Danish.

Jacob.  Then can’t I be called “Jacob Montanus”?

Montanus.  When you have been to school as long as I have and passed your examinations, then you can give yourself a Latin name, too; but as long as you are a peasant boy, you must be satisfied with plain Jacob Berg.  By the way, have you noticed that my sweetheart has been longing for me?

Jacob.  Indeed she has.  She has been very impatient at your staying away so long, brother.

Montanus.  There you go again, yokel!

Jacob.  I meant to say:  Mossur’s sweetheart has been impatient because brother stayed away so long.

Montanus.  Well, I’m here now, Jacob, and all for her sake; but I shall not stay very long, for as soon as we’ve had the wedding I shall take her to Copenhagen with me.

Jacob.  Won’t Mossur take me along?

Montanus.  What would you do there?

Jacob.  I should like to look around in the world a bit.

Montanus.  I wish you were six or seven years younger, so that I could put you into a Latin school, and then you could be a college man, too.

JABOC.  No, that wouldn’t do.

Montanus.  Why not?

JABOC.  If that happened, our parents would have to go begging.

Montanus.  Hear how the fellow talks!

Jacob.  Oh, I am full of ideas.  If I had studied, I should have been the devil of a rogue.

Montanus.  I have been told that you had a good head.  But what else should you like to do in Copenhagen?

Jacob.  I should like to see the Round Tower and the cloister where they make the linen.

Montanus.  Ha, ha, ha!  They’re busy with other things besides linen-making in the cloister.  But tell me, has my future father-in-law as much money as they say?

Jacob.  He surely has.  He is a rich old man, and owns nearly a third of the village.

Montanus.  Have you heard whether he intends to give his daughter a dowry?

Jacob.  Oh, I think he will give her a good one, especially if he once hears Mossur preach here in the village.