CHAPTER XV.
THE JOURNEY TO VIENNA.
After this last adventure, they lived quietly and happily at thecastle. The knight more and more perceived the heavenly goodness ofhis wife, which had been so nobly exhibited by her pursuit, and byher rescue of them in the Black Valley, where Kuhleborn's poweragain commenced; Undine herself felt that peace and security, whichis never lacking to a mind so long as it is distinctly conscious ofbeing on the right path, and besides, in the newly-awakened love andesteem of her husband, many a gleam of hope and joy shone upon her.Bertalda, on the other hand, showed herself grateful, humble andtimid, without regarding her conduct as anything meritorious.Whenever Huldbrand or Undine were about to give her any explanationregarding the covering of the fountain or the adventure in the BlackValley, she would earnestly entreat them to spare her the recital,as she felt too much shame at the recollection of the fountain, andtoo much fear at the remembrance of the Black Valley. She learnedtherefore nothing further of either; and for what end was suchknowledge necessary? Peace and joy had visibly taken up their abodeat castle Ringstetten. They felt secure on this point, and imaginedthat life could now produce nothing but pleasant flowers and fruits.
In this happy condition of things, winter had come and passed away,and spring, with its fresh green shoots and its blue sky, wasgladdening the joyous inmates of the castle. Spring was in harmonywith them, and they with spring. What wonder then, that its storksand swallows inspired them also with a desire to travel? One daywhen they were taking a pleasant walk to one of the sources of theDanube, Huldbrand spoke of the magnificence of the noble river, andhow it widened as it flowed through countries fertilized by itswaters, how the charming city of Vienna shone forth on its banks,and how with every step of its course it increased in power andloveliness.
"It must be glorious to go down the river as far as Vienna!"exclaimed Bertalda, but immediately relapsing into her presentmodesty and humility, she paused and blushed deeply.
This touched Undine deeply, and with the liveliest desire to givepleasure to her friend, she said: "What hinders us from starting onthe little voyage?"
Bertalda exhibited the greatest delight, and both she and Undinebegan at once to picture the tour of the Danube in the brightestcolors. Huldbrand also gladly agreed to the prospect; only he oncewhispered anxiously in Undine's ear,--
"But Kuhleborn becomes possessed of his power again out there!"
"Let him come," she replied with a smile, "I shall be there, and heventures upon none of his mischief before me." The last impedimentwas thus removed; they prepared for the journey, and soon after setout upon it with fresh spirits and the brightest hopes.
But wonder not, oh man, if events always turn out different to whatwe have intended. That malicious power, lurking for our destruction,gladly lulls its chosen victim to sleep with sweet songs and goldendelusions; while on the other hand the rescuing messenger fromHeaven often knocks sharply and alarmingly at our door.
During the first few days of their voyage down the Danube they wereextremely happy. Everything grew more and more beautiful as theysailed further and further down the proudly flowing stream. But in aregion otherwise so pleasant, and in the enjoyment of which they hadpromised themselves the purest delight, the ungovernable Kuhlebornbegan, undisguisedly, to exhibit his power of interference. This wasindeed manifested in mere teasing tricks, for Undine often rebukedthe agitated waves, or the contrary winds, and then the violence ofthe enemy would be immediately humbled; but again the attacks wouldbe renewed, and again Undine's reproofs would become necessary, sothat the pleasure of the little party was completely destroyed. Theboatmen too were continually whispering to each other in dismay, andlooking with distrust at the three strangers, whose servants evenbegan more and more to forebode something uncomfortable, and towatch their superiors with suspicious glances. Huldbrand often saidto himself: "This comes from like not being linked with like, from aman uniting himself with a mermaid!" Excusing himself as we all loveto do, he would often think indeed as he said this: "I did notreally know that she was a sea-maiden, mine is the misfortune, thatevery step I take is disturbed and haunted by the wild caprices ofher race, but mine is not the fault." By thoughts such as these, hefelt himself in some measure strengthened, but on the other hand, hefelt increasing ill-humor, and almost animosity toward Undine. Hewould look at her with an expression of anger, the meaning of whichthe poor wife understood well. Wearied with this exhibition ofdispleasure, and exhausted by the constant effort to frustrateKuhleborn's artifices, she sank one evening into a deep slumber,rocked soothingly by the softly gliding bark.
Scarcely, however, had she closed her eyes than every one in thevessel imagined he saw, in whatever direction he turned, a mosthorrible human head; it rose out of the waves, not like that of aperson swimming, but perfectly perpendicular as if invisiblysupported upright on the watery surface, and floating along in thesame course with the bark. Each wanted to point out to the other thecause of his alarm, but each found the same expression of horrordepicted on the face of his neighbor, only that his hands and eyeswere directed to a different point where the monster, half-laughingand half-threatening, rose before him. When, however, they allwished to make each other understand what each saw, and all werecrying out: "Look there! No, there!" the horrible heads all at oneand the same time appeared to their view, and the whole river aroundthe vessel swarmed with the most hideous apparitions. The universalcry raised at the sight awoke Undine. As she opened her eyes, thewild crowd of distorted visages disappeared. But Huldbrand wasindignant at such unsightly jugglery. He would have burst forth inuncontrolled imprecations had not Undine said to him with a humblemanner and a softly imploring tone: "For God's sake, my husband, weare on the water, do not be angry with me now."
The knight was silent, and sat down absorbed in revery. Undinewhispered in his ear: "Would it not be better, my love, if we gaveup this foolish journey, and returned to castle Ringstetten inpeace?"
But Huldbrand murmured moodily: "So I must be a prisoner in my owncastle, and only be able to breathe so long as the fountain isclosed! I would your mad kindred"--Undine lovingly pressed her fairhand upon his lips. He paused, pondering in silence over much thatUndine had before said to him.
Bertalda had meanwhile given herself up to a variety of strangethoughts. She knew a good deal of Undine's origin, and yet not thewhole, and the fearful Kuhleborn especially had remained to her aterrible but wholly unrevealed mystery. She had indeed never evenheard his name. Musing on these strange things, she unclasped,scarcely conscious of the act, a gold necklace, which Huldbrand hadlately purchased for her of a travelling trader; half dreamingly shedrew it along the surface of the water, enjoying the light glimmerit cast upon the evening-tinted stream. Suddenly a huge hand wasstretched out of the Danube, it seized the necklace and vanishedwith it beneath the waters. Bertalda screamed aloud, and a scornfullaugh resounded from the depths of the stream. The knight could nowrestrain his anger no longer. Starting up, he inveighed against theriver; he cursed all who ventured to interfere with his family andhis life, and challenged them, be they spirits or sirens, to showthemselves before his avenging sword.
Bertalda wept meanwhile for her lost ornament, which was so preciousto her, and her tears added fuel to the flame of the knight's anger,while Undine held her hand over the side of the vessel, dipping itinto the water, softly murmuring to herself, and only now and theninterrupting her strange mysterious whisper, as she entreated herhusband: "My dearly loved one, do not scold me here; reprove othersif you will, but not me here. You know why!" And indeed, herestrained the words of anger that were trembling on his tongue.Presently in her wet hand which she had been holding under thewaves, she brought up a beautiful coral necklace of so muchbrilliancy that the eyes of all were dazzled by it.
"Take this," said she, holding it out kindly to Bertalda; "I haveordered this to be brought for you as a compensation, and don't begrieved any more, my poor child."
But the knight sprang betw
een them. He tore the beautiful ornamentfrom Undine's hand, hurled it again into the river, exclaiming inpassionate rage: "Have you then still a connection with them? In thename of all the witches, remain among them with your presents, andleave us mortals in peace, you sorceress!"
Poor Undine gazed at him with fixed but tearful eyes, her hand stillstretched out, as when she had offered her beautiful present solovingly to Bertalda. She then began to weep more and moreviolently, like a dear innocent child bitterly afflicted. At last,wearied out she said:
"Alas, sweet friend, alas! farewell! They shall do you no harm; onlyremain true, so that I may be able to keep them from you. I must,alas! go away; I must go hence at this early stage of life. Oh woe,woe! what have you done! Oh woe, woe!"
She vanished over the side of the vessel. Whether she plunged intothe stream, or flowed away with it, they knew not; her disappearancewas like both and neither. Soon, however, she was completely lostsight of in the Danube; only a few little waves kept whispering, asif sobbing, round the boat, and they almost seemed to be saying: "Ohwoe, woe! oh remain true! oh woe!"
Huldbrand lay on the deck of the vessel, bathed in hot tears, and adeep swoon soon cast its veil of forgetfulness over the unhappy man.