Produced by Charles Franks, Greg Weeks, and the OnlineDistributed Proofreading Team. HTML version by Al Haines.
UNDINE
BY
DE LA MOTTE FOUQUE
TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN
BY F. E. BUNNETT
CONTENTS.
DEDICATION
CHAPTER
I. HOW THE KNIGHT CAME TO THE FISHERMAN II. IN WHAT WAY UNDINE HAD COME TO THE FISHERMAN III. HOW THEY FOUND UNDINE AGAIN IV. OF THAT WHICH THE KNIGHT ENCOUNTERED IN THE WOOD V. HOW THE KNIGHT LIVED ON THE LITTLE PROMONTORY VI. OF A NUPTIAL CEREMONY VII. WHAT FURTHER HAPPENED ON THE EVENING OF THE WEDDING VIII. THE DAY AFTER THE WEDDING IX. HOW THE KNIGHT TOOK HIS YOUNG WIFE WITH HIM X. HOW THEY LIVED IN THE CITY XI. THE ANNIVERSARY OF BERTALDA'S NAME-DAY XII. HOW THEY DEPARTED FROM THE IMPERIAL CITY XIII. HOW THEY LIVED AT CASTLE RINGSTETTEN XIV. HOW BERTALDA RETURNED HOME WITH THE KNIGHT XV. THE JOURNEY TO VIENNA XVI. HOW IT FARED FURTHER WITH HULDBRAND XVII. THE KNIGHT'S DREAM XVIII. HOW THE KNIGHT HULDBRAND IS MARRIED XIX. HOW THE KNIGHT HULDBRAND WAS BURIED
DEDICATION.
Undine, thou image fair and blest, Since first thy strange mysterious glance, Shone on me from some old romance, How hast thou sung my heart to rest!
How hast thou clung to me and smiled, And wouldest, whispering in my ear, Give vent to all thy miseries drear, A little half-spoiled timorous child!
Yet hath my zither caught the sound, And breathed from out its gates of gold, Each gentle word thy lips have told, Until their fame is spread around.
And many a heart has loved thee well, In spite of every wayward deed, And many a one will gladly read, The pages which thy history tell.
I catch the whispered hope expressed, That thou should'st once again appear; So cast aside each doubt and fear, And come, Undine! thou spirit blest!
Greet every noble in the hall, And greet 'fore all, with trusting air, The beauteous women gathered there; I know that thou art loved by all.
And if one ask thee after me, Say: he's a true and noble knight, Fair woman's slave in song and fight And in all deeds of chivalry.
UNDINE.
CHAPTER I.
HOW THE KNIGHT CAME TO THE FISHERMAN.
There was once, it may be now many hundred years ago, a good oldfisherman, who was sitting one fine evening before his door, mendinghis nets. The part of the country in which he lived was extremelypretty. The greensward, on which his cottage stood, ran far into thelake, and it seemed as if it was from love for the blue clear watersthat the tongue of land had stretched itself out into them, whilewith an equally fond embrace the lake had encircled the greenpasture rich with waving grass and flowers, and the refreshing shadeof trees. The one welcomed the other, and it was just this that madeeach so beautiful. There were indeed few human beings, or rathernone at all, to be met with on this pleasant spot, except thefisherman and his family. For at the back of this little promontorythere lay a very wild forest, which, both from its gloom andpathless solitude as well as from the wonderful creatures andillusions with which it was said to abound, was avoided by mostpeople except in cases of necessity.
The pious old fisherman, however, passed through it many a timeundisturbed, when he was taking the choice fish, which he had caughtat his beautiful home, to a large town situated not far from theconfines of the forest. The principal reason why it was so easy forhim to pass through this forest was because the tone of his thoughtswas almost entirely of a religious character, and besides this,whenever he set foot upon the evil reputed shades, he was wont tosing some holy song, with a clear voice and a sincere heart.
While sitting over his nets this evening, unsuspicious of any evil,a sudden fear came upon him, at the sound of a rustling in the gloomof the forest, as of a horse and rider, the noise approaching nearerand nearer to the little promontory. All that he had dreamed, inmany a stormy night, of the mysteries of the forest, now flashed atonce through his mind; foremost of all, the image of a giganticsnow-white man, who kept unceasingly nodding his head in aportentous manner. Indeed, when he raised his eyes toward the woodit seemed to him as if he actually saw the nodding man approachingthrough the dense foliage. He soon, however, reassured himself,reflecting that nothing serious had ever befallen him even in theforest itself, and that upon this open tongue of land the evilspirit would be still less daring in the exercise of his power. Atthe same time he repeated aloud a text from the Bible with all hisheart, and this so inspired him with courage that he almost smiledat the illusion he had allowed to possess him. The white nodding manwas suddenly transformed into a brook long familiar to him, whichran foaming from the forest and discharged itself into the lake. Thenoise, however, which he had heard, was caused by a knightbeautifully apparelled, who, emerging from the deep shadows of thewood, came riding toward the cottage. A scarlet mantle was thrownover his purple gold-embroidered doublet; a red and violet plumewaved from his golden-colored head-gear; and a beautifully andrichly ornamented sword flashed from his shoulder-belt. The whitesteed that bore the knight was more slenderly formed than war-horsesgenerally are, and he stepped so lightly over the turf that thisgreen and flowery carpet seemed scarcely to receive the slightestinjury from his tread.
The old fisherman did not, however, feel perfectly secure in hismind, although he tried to convince himself that no evil was to befeared from so graceful an apparition; and therefore he politelytook off his hat as the knight approached, and remained quietly withhis nets.
Presently the stranger drew up, and inquired whether he and hishorse could have shelter and care for the night. "As regards yourhorse, good sir," replied the fisherman. "I can assign him no betterstable than this shady pasture, and no better provender than thegrass growing on it. Yourself, however, I will gladly welcome to mysmall cottage, and give you supper and lodging as good as we have."The knight was well satisfied with this; he alighted from his horse,and, with the assistance of the fisherman, he relieved it fromsaddle and bridle, and turned it loose upon the flowery green. Thenaddressing his host, he said: "Even had I found you less hospitableand kindly disposed, my worthy old fisherman, you would neverthelessscarcely have got rid of me to-day, for, as I see, a broad lake liesbefore us, and to ride back into that mysterious wood, with theshades of evening coming on, heaven keep me from it!"
"We will not talk too much of that," said the fisherman, and he ledhis guest into the cottage.
There, beside the hearth, from which a scanty fire shed a dim lightthrough the cleanly-kept room, sat the fisherman's aged wife in acapacious chair. At the entrance of the noble guest she rose to givehim a kindly welcome, but resumed her seat of honor without offeringit to the stranger. Upon this the fisherman said with a smile: "Youmust not take it amiss of her, young sir, that she has not given upto you the most comfortable seat in the house; it is a custom amongpoor people, that it should belong exclusively to the aged."
"Why, husband," said the wife, with a quiet smile, "what can you bethinking of? Our guest belongs no doubt to Christian men, and howcould it come into the head of the good young blood to drive oldpeople from their chairs? Take a seat, my young master," shecontinued, turning toward the knight; "over there, there is a rightpretty little chair, only you must not move about on it too roughly,for one of its legs is no longer of the firmest." The knight fetchedthe chair carefully, sat down upon it good-humoredly, and it seemedto him as if he were related to this little household, and had justreturned from abroad.
The three worthy people now began to talk together in the mostfriendly and familiar manner. With regard to the forest, about whichthe knight made some inquiries, the old man was not inclined to becommunicative; he felt it was not a subject suited to appro
achingnight, but the aged couple spoke freely of their home and formerlife, and listened also gladly when the knight recounted to them histravels, and told them that he had a castle near the source of theDanube, and that his name was Sir Huldbrand of Ringstetten. Duringthe conversation, the stranger had already occasionally heard asplash against the little low window, as if some one were sprinklingwater against it. Every time the noise occurred, the old man knithis brow with displeasure; but when at last a whole shower wasdashed against the panes, and bubbled into the room through thedecayed casement, he rose angrily, and called threateningly from thewindow: "Undine! will you for once leave off these childish tricks?and to-day, besides, there is a stranger knight with us in thecottage." All was silent without, only a suppressed laugh wasaudible, and the fisherman said as he returned: "You must pardon itin her, my honored guest, and perhaps many a naughty trick besides;but she means no harm by it. It is our foster-child, Undine, and shewill not wean herself from this childishness, although she hasalready entered her eighteenth year. But, as I said, at heart she isthoroughly good."
"You may well talk," replied the old woman, shaking her head; "whenyou come home from fishing or from a journey, her frolics may thenbe very delightful, but to have her about one the whole day long,and never to hear a sensible word, and instead of finding her a helpin the housekeeping as she grows older, always to be obliged to betaking care that her follies do not completely ruin us, that isquite another thing, and the patience of a saint would be worn outat last."
"Well, well," said her husband with a smile, "you have your troubleswith Undine, and I have mine with the lake. It often breaks away mydams, and tears my nets to pieces, but for all that, I have anaffection for it, and so have you for the pretty child, in spite ofall your crosses and vexations. Isn't it so?"
"One can't be very angry with her, certainly," said the old woman,and she smiled approvingly.
Just then the door flew open, and a beautiful, fair girl glidedlaughing into the room, and said "You have only been jesting,father, for where is your guest?"
At the same moment, however, she perceived the knight, and stoodfixed with astonishment before the handsome youth, Huldbrand wasstruck with her charming appearance, and dwelt the more earnestly onher lovely features, as he imagined it was only her surprise thatgave him this brief enjoyment, and that she would presently turnfrom his gaze with increased bashfulness. It was, however, quiteotherwise; for after having looked at him for some time, she drewnear him confidingly, knelt down before him, and said, as she playedwith a gold medal which he wore on his breast, suspended from a richchain: "Why, you handsome, kind guest, how have you come to our poorcottage at last? Have you been obliged then to wander through theworld for years, before you could find your way to us? Do you comeout of that wild forest, my beautiful knight?" The old woman'sreproof allowed him no time for reply. She admonished the girl tostand up and behave herself and to go to her work. Undine, however,without making any answer drew a little footstool close toHuldbrand's chair, sat down upon it with her spinning, and saidpleasantly: "I will work here." The old man did as parents are wontto do with spoiled children. He affected to observe nothing ofUndine's naughtiness and was beginning to talk of something else.But this the girl would not let him do; she said: "I have asked ourcharming guest whence he comes, and he has not yet answered me."
"I come from the forest, you beautiful little vision," returnedHuldbrand; and she went on to say:--
"Then you must tell me how you came there, for it is usually sofeared, and what marvellous adventures you met with in it, for it isimpossible to escape without something of the sort."
Huldbrand felt a slight shudder at this remembrance, and lookedinvoluntarily toward the window, for it seemed to him as if one ofthe strange figures he had encountered in the forest were grinningin there; but he saw nothing but the deep dark night, which had nowshrouded everything without. Upon this he composed himself and wason the point of beginning his little history, when the old maninterrupted him by saying: "Not so, sir knight! this is no fit hourfor such things." Undine, however, sprang angrily from her littlestool, and standing straight before the fisherman with her fair armsfixed in her sides, she exclaimed: "He shall not tell his story,father? He shall not? but it is my will. He shall! He shall in spiteof you!" and thus saying she stamped her pretty little footvehemently on the floor, but she did it all with such a comicallygraceful air that Huldbrand now felt his gaze almost more rivetedupon her in her anger than before in her gentleness.
The restrained wrath of the old man, on the contrary, burst forthviolently. He severely reproved Undine's disobedience and unbecomingbehavior to the stranger, and his good old wife joined with himheartily. Undine quickly retorted: "If you want to chide me, andwon't do what I wish, then sleep alone in your old smoky hut!" andswift as an arrow she flew from the room, and fled into the darknight.