And on a maiden that stood nigh
He with his elbow came.
Quick turned the wench, and, “Sir,” quoth she,
“Such game is rather rough for me.”
Juchhe, juchhe!
Juchheisa, heisa, he!
“For shame, I say, for shame!”
Yet merrily went it round and round,
And right and left they swept the ground,
And coat and kirtle flew;
And they grew red, and they grew warm,
And, panting, rested arm in arm;
Juchhe, juchhe!
Juchheisa, heisa, he!
And hips on elbows too.
And “Softly, softly,” quoth the quean,
“How many a bride hath cheated been
By men as fair as you!”
But he spoke a word in her ear aside,
And from the tree it shouted wide
Juchhe, juchhe!
Juchheisa, heisa, he!
With fife and fiddle too.
An Old Peasant.
Herr Doctor, ’tis most kind in you,
And all here prize the boon, I’m sure,
That one so learned should condescend
To share the pastimes of the poor.
Here, take this pitcher, filled ev’n now
With cooling water from the spring.
May God with grace to slake your thirst,
Bless the libation that we bring;
Be every drop a day to increase
Your years in happiness and peace!
Faust.
Your welcome offering I receive; the draught
By kind hands given, with grateful heart be quaffed!
[The people collect round him in a circle.
Old Peasant.
Soothly, Herr Doctor, on this tide,
