CHAPTER VI.
OF A NUPTIAL CEREMONY.
A low knocking at the door was heard in the midst of this stillness,startling all the inmates of the cottage; for there are times when alittle circumstance, happening quite unexpectedly, can unduly alarmus. But there was here the additional cause of alarm that theenchanted forest lay so near, and that the little promontory seemedjust now inaccessible to human beings. They looked at each otherdoubtingly, as the knocking was repeated accompanied by a deepgroan, and the knight sprang to reach his sword. But the old manwhispered softly: "If it be what I fear, no weapon will help us."
Undine meanwhile approached the door and called out angrily andboldly: "Spirits of the earth, if you wish to carry on yourmischief, Kuhleborn shall teach you something better."
The terror of the rest was increased by these mysterious words; theylooked fearfully at the girl, and Huldbrand was just regainingcourage enough to ask what she meant, when a voice said without: "Iam no spirit of the earth, but a spirit indeed still within itsearthly body. You within the cottage, if you fear God and will helpme, open to me." At these words, Undine had already opened the door,and had held a lamp out in the stormy night, by which they perceivedan aged priest standing there, who stepped back in terror at theunexpected sight of the beautiful maiden. He might well think thatwitchcraft and magic were at work when such a lovely form appearedat such an humble cottage door: he therefore began to pray: "Allgood spirits praise the Lord!"
"I am no spectre," said Undine, smiling; "do I then look so ugly?Besides you may see the holy words do not frighten me. I too know ofGod and understand how to praise Him; every one to be sure in hisown way, for so He has created us. Come in, venerable father; youcome among good people."
The holy man entered, bowing and looking round him, with a profound,yet tender demeanor. But the water was dropping from every fold ofhis dark garment, and from his long white beard and from his graylocks. The fisherman and the knight took him to another apartmentand furnished him with other clothes, while they gave the women hisown wet attire to dry. The aged stranger thanked them humbly andcourteously, but he would on no account accept the knight's splendidmantle, which was offered to him; but he chose instead an old grayovercoat belonging to the fisherman. They then returned to theapartment, and the good old dame immediately vacated her easy-chairfor the reverend father, and would not rest till he had takenpossession of it. "For," said she, "you are old and exhausted, andyou are moreover a man of God." Undine pushed under the stranger'sfeet her little stool, on which she had been wont to sit by the sideof Huldbrand, and she showed herself in every way most gentle andkind in her care of the good old man. Huldbrand whispered someraillery at it in her ear, but she replied very seriously: "He is aservant of Him who created us all; holy things are not to be jestedwith." The knight and the fisherman then refreshed their reverendguest with food and wine, and when he had somewhat recoveredhimself, he began to relate how he had the day before set out fromhis cloister, which lay far beyond the great lake, intending totravel to the bishop, in order to acquaint him with the distressinto which the monastery and its tributary villages had fallen onaccount of the extraordinary floods.
After a long, circuitous route, which these very floods had obligedhim to take, he had been this day compelled, toward evening, toprocure the aid of a couple of good boatmen to cross an arm of thelake, which had overflowed its banks.
"Scarcely however," continued he, "had our small craft touched thewaves, than that furious tempest burst forth which is now ragingover our heads. It seemed as if the waters had only waited for us,to commence their wildest whirling dance with our little boat. Theoars were soon torn out of the hands of my men, and were dashed bythe force of the waves further and further beyond our reach. Weourselves, yielding to the resistless powers of nature, helplesslydrifted over the surging billows of the lake toward your distantshore, which we already saw looming through the mist and foam.Presently our boat turned round and round as in a giddy whirlpool; Iknow not whether it was upset, or whether I fell overboard. In avague terror of inevitable death I drifted on, till a wave cast mehere, under the trees on your island."
"Yes, island!" cried the fisherman; "a short time ago it was only apoint of land; but now, since the forest-stream and the lake havebecome well-nigh bewitched, things are quite different with us."
"I remarked something of the sort," said the priest, "as I creptalong the shore in the dark, and hearing nothing but the uproararound me. I at last perceived that a beaten foot-path disappearedjust in the direction from which the sound proceeded. I now saw thelight in your cottage, and ventured hither, and I cannotsufficiently thank my heavenly Father that after preserving me fromthe waters, He has led me to such good and pious people as you are;and I feel this all the more, as I do not know whether I shall everbehold any other beings is this world, except those I now address."
"What do you mean?" asked the fisherman.
"Do you know then how long this commotion of the elements is tolast?" replied the holy man. "And I am old in years. Easily enoughmay the stream of my life run itself out before the overflowing ofthe forest-stream may subside. And indeed it were not impossiblethat more and more of the foaming waters may force their way betweenyou and yonder forest, until you are so far sundered from the restof the world that your little fishing-boat will no longer besufficient to carry you across, and the inhabitants of the continentin the midst of their diversions will have entirely forgotten you inyour old age."
The fisherman's wife started at this, crossed herself and exclaimed."God forbid." But her husband looked at her with a smile, and said"What creatures we are after all! even were it so, things would notbe very different--at least not for you, dear wife--than they noware. For have you for many years been further than the edge of theforest? and have you seen any other human beings than Undine andmyself? The knight and this holy man have only come to as lately.They will remain with us if we do become a forgotten island; so youwould even be a gainer by it after all."
"I don't know," said the old woman; "it is somehow a gloomy thought,when one imagines that one is irrecoverably separated from otherpeople, although, were it otherwise, one might neither know nor seethem."
"Then you will remain with us! then you will remain with us!"whispered Undine, in a low, half-singing tone, as she nestled closerto Huldbrand's side. But he was absorbed in the deep and strangevisions of his own mind.
The region on the other side of the forest-river seemed to dissolveinto distance during the priest's last words: and the bloomingisland upon which he lived grew more green, and smiled more freshlyin his mind's vision. His beloved one glowed as the fairest rose ofthis little spot of earth, and even of the whole world, and thepriest was actually there. Added to this, at that moment an angryglance from the old dame was directed at the beautiful girl,because even in the presence of the reverend father she leaned soclosely on the knight, and it seemed as if a torrent of reprovingwords were on the point of following. Presently, turning to thepriest, Huldbrand broke forth: "Venerable father, you see before youhere a pair pledged to each other: and if this maiden and these goodold people have no objection, you shall unite us this very evening."The aged couple were extremely surprised. They had, it is true,hitherto often thought of something of the sort, but they had neveryet expressed it, and when the knight now spoke thus, it came uponthem as something wholly new and unprecedented.
Undine had become suddenly grave, and looked down thoughtfully whilethe priest inquired respecting the circumstances of the case, andasked if the old people gave their consent. After much discussiontogether, the matter was settled; the old dame went to arrange thebridal chamber for the young people, and to look out two consecratedtapers which she had had in her possession for some time, and whichshe thought essential to the nuptial ceremony. The knight in themean while examined his gold chain, from which he wished todisengage two rings, that he might make an exchange of them with hisbride.
She, however, observing what he wa
s doing, started up from herreverie, and exclaimed: "Not so! my parents have not sent me intothe world quite destitute; on the contrary, they must haveanticipated with certainty that such an evening as this would come."Thus saving, she quickly left the room and reappeared in a momentwith two costly rings, one of which she gave to her bridegroom, andkept the other for herself. The old fisherman was extremelyastonished at this, and still more so his wife, who just thenentered, for neither had ever seen these jewels in the child'spossession.
"My parents," said Undine, "sewed these little things into thebeautiful frock which I had on, when I came to you. They forbid me,moreover, to mention them to anyone before my wedding evening, so Isecretly took them, and kept them concealed until now."
The priest interrupted all further questionings by lighting theconsecrated tapers, which he placed upon a table, and summoned thebridal pair to stand opposite to him. He then gave them to eachother with a few short solemn words; the elder couple gave theirblessing to the younger, and the bride, trembling and thoughtful,leaned upon the knight. Then the priest suddenly said: "You arestrange people after all. Why did you tell me you were the onlypeople here on the island? and during the whole ceremony, a tallstately man, in a white mantle, has been looking at me through thewindow opposite. He must still be standing before the door, to seeif you will invite him to come into the house."
"God forbid," said the old dame with a start; the fisherman shookhis head in silence, and Huldbrand sprang to the window. It seemedeven to him as if he could still see a white streak, but it sooncompletely disappeared in the darkness. He convinced the priest thathe must have been absolutely mistaken, and they all sat downtogether round the hearth.