CHAPTER XVII.
THE KNIGHT'S DREAM.
It was between night and dawn of day that the knight was lying onhis couch, half-waking, half-sleeping. Whenever he was on the pointof falling asleep a terror seemed to come upon him and scare hisrest away, for his slumbers were haunted with spectres. If he tried,however, to rouse himself in good earnest he felt fanned as by thewings of a swan, and he heard the soft murmuring of waters, untilsoothed by the agreeable delusion, he sunk back again into ahalf-conscious state. At length he must have fallen sound asleep, forit seemed to him as if he were lifted up upon the fluttering wings ofthe swans and borne by them far over land and sea, while they sangto him their sweetest music. "The music of the swan! the music ofthe swan!" he kept saying to himself; "does it not always portenddeath?" But it had yet another meaning. All at once he felt as if hewere hovering over the Mediterranean Sea. A swan was singingmusically in his ear that this was the Mediterranean Sea. And whilehe was looking down upon the waters below they became clear ascrystal, so that he could see through them to the bottom. He wasdelighted at this, for he could see Undine sitting beneath thecrystal arch. It is true she was weeping bitterly, and looking muchsadder than in the happy days when they had lived together at thecastle of Ringstetten, especially at their commencement, andafterward also, shortly before they had begun their unhappy Danubeexcursion. The knight could not help thinking upon all this veryfully and deeply, but it did not seem as if Undine perceived him.
Meanwhile Kuhleborn had approached her, and was on the point ofreproving her for her weeping. But she drew herself up, and lookedat him with such a noble and commanding air that he almost shrunkback with fear. "Although I live here beneath the waters," said she,"I have yet brought down my soul with me; and therefore I may wellweep, although you can not divine what such tears are. They too areblessed, for everything is blessed to him in whom a true souldwells."
He shook his head incredulously, and said, after some reflection:"And yet, niece, you are subject to the laws of our element, and ifhe marries again and is unfaithful to you, you are in duty bound totake away his life."
"He is a widower to this very hour," replied Undine, "and his sadheart still holds me dear."
"He is, however, at the same time betrothed," laughed Kuhleborn,with scorn; "and let only a few days pass, and the priest will havegiven the nuptial blessing, and then you will have to go upon earthto accomplish the death of him who has taken another to wife."
"That I cannot do," laughed Undine in return; "I have sealed up thefountain securely against myself and my race."
"But suppose he should leave his castle," said Kuhleborn, "or shouldhave the fountain opened again! for he thinks little enough of thesethings."
"It is just for that reason," said Undine, still smiling amid hertears, "it is just for that reason, that he is now hovering inspirit over the Mediterranean Sea, and is dreaming of thisconversation of ours as a warning. I have intentionally arranged itso."
Kuhleborn, furious with rage, looked up at the knight, threatened,stamped with his feet, and then swift as an arrow shot under thewaves. It seemed as if he were swelling in his fury to the size of awhale. Again the swans began to sing, to flap their wings, and tofly. It seemed to the knight as if he were soaring away overmountains and streams, and that he at length reached the castleRingstetten, and awoke on his couch.
He did, in reality, awake upon his couch, and his squire coming inat that moment informed him that Father Heilmann was still lingeringin the neighborhood; that he had met him the night before in theforest, in a hut which he had formed for himself of the branches oftrees, and covered with moss and brushwood. To the question what hewas doing here, since he would not give the nuptial blessing, he hadanswered: "There are other blessings besides those at the nuptialaltar, and though I have not gone to the wedding, it may be that Ishall be at another solemn ceremony. We must be ready for allthings. Besides, marrying and mourning are not so unlike, and everyone not wilfully blinded must see that well."
The knight placed various strange constructions upon these words,and upon his dream, but it is very difficult to break off a thingwhich a man has once regarded as certain, and so everything remainedas it had been arranged.