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diff --git a/9456.txt b/9456.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3bf3cdb --- /dev/null +++ b/9456.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2800 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Opera Stories from Wagner, by Florence Akin + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Opera Stories from Wagner + +Author: Florence Akin + +Release Date: July 24, 2004 [EBook #9456] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OPERA STORIES FROM WAGNER *** + + + + +Produced by Project Gutenberg Distributed Proofreaders + + + + + +OPERA STORIES FROM WAGNER + +BY + +FLORENCE AKIN + +WITH ILLUSTRATIONS + +1915 + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: SIEGFRIED] + +NOTE: The verses printed in this book are quoted from Dr. Oliver + Huckel's translations of _The Rhine-Gold_, _The Walkuere_, + _Siegfried_, and _Goetterdaemmerung_, by the kind permission + of the publishers, Messrs. Thomas Y. Crowell & Company. An + occasional sentence in several of the stories is borrowed + from the same source. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +THE RHINE-GOLD + THE HAPPY RHINE-DAUGHTERS + ALBERICH + THE CARELESS RHINE-DAUGHTERS + THE THEFT + THE SAD RHINE-DAUGHTERS + A CASTLE ON THE RHINE + THE MORNING + THE PAYMENT + LOKI + YOUTH OR AGE? + NIBELHEIM + THE BEST SMITH IN NIBELHEIM + THE MASTER + THE BOASTER + THE WISHING-CAP + THE TRICK + THE CURSE + THE GREEDY FAFNER + A SLAVE TO GOLD + THE BEAUTIFUL VALHALLA + +THE WALKUERE + A MATCHLESS SWORD + THE VALIANT SIEGMUND + HUNDING'S WIFE + HUNDING + THE WAR-MAIDENS + WOTAN'S WIFE + WOTAN AND BRUNHILDE + OFF TO THE BATTLEFIELD + THE FLIGHT + THE PUNISHMENT + THE SLEEP + THE MAGIC FIRE + +SIEGFRIED + THE MISSING MIMI + THE DRAGON + A BABY IN THE FOREST + MIMI AND THE BABY + SIEGFRIED AND HIS FRIENDS + THE BROKEN SWORD + A BIG BROWN BEAR + SIEGFRIED AND MIMI + SIEGFRIED MENDS HIS FATHER'S SWORD + SIEGFRIED GOES TO FIGHT THE DRAGON + A WOOD-BIRD'S SONG + SIEGFRIED AND THE DRAGON + A CHANGE COMES OVER SIEGFRIED + MIMI HAS A SURPRISE + MIMI AND ALBERICH STOP TO QUARREL TOO LONG + SIEGFRIED REACHES THE MOUNTAIN + SIEGFRIED LEARNS WHAT FEAR IS + THE AWAKENING + +GOETTERDAEMMERUNG + A SONG OF THE PAST + A SONG OF THE PRESENT + A SONG OF THE FUTURE + A PLEDGE OF LOVE + THE DOOM OF VALHALLA + LOVE + +MORE ABOUT THE STORIES + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + +SIEGFRIED +THE RHINE-MAIDENS AND ALBERICH +WOTAN +HE TUGGED IN VAIN +WALKUERE CARRYING HEROES TO VALHALLA +"EAT HIM, BRUIN," LAUGHED SIEGFRIED +"I AM GOING TO EAT YOU," HISSED THE DRAGON +THREE NORNS CAME TO THE MOUNTAIN CREST TO SPIN + +_From drawings by E. Pollak-Ottendorff_ + + + + + +TO THE GIRLS AND BOYS + + +In these stories you will find some wonderful giants. + +You will find beautiful maidens who lived in a river. + +You will find a large family of little black dwarfs who lived under the +river, and you will find a splendid hero. + +The little children of Germany used to curl up in their mothers' arms, +when bedtime came, and listen to the stories of these strange people. + +When these little children grew up, they told the same stories to their +children. + +So it went for many, many years. + +The stories have been put together by a man named Richard Wagner. He put +them together in such a way that they make one long and wonderful story. + +After he had told these stories in words, he told them again in a more +beautiful way. He told them in music. + +Sometime you will hear this music, and you will think of beautiful +water-maidens, singing and dancing in the sunshine. + +You will think of great giants walking over mountains. + +You will think of the little black dwarfs under the river, and you will +hear them hammering, hammering upon their anvils. + + + + + +OPERA STORIES FROM WAGNER + + + + + + + +THE RHINE-GOLD + + +THE HAPPY RHINE-DAUGHTERS + +In the Rhine River there lived three beautiful maidens. They were called +the Rhine-daughters. + +They had long, golden hair, which floated upon the waves as they swam +from rock to rock. + +When their father went away, he left in their care a great lump of pure +gold. + +This gold was on the very top of the highest rock in the river. + +Every morning the beautiful Rhine-daughters would dance and sing about +their gold. + +They sang a happy song:-- + + "Heigh-ho! hither, ye waters! + Waver and waft me to sleep on your breast! + Heigh-ho! hither, ye waters! + Weave me sweet dreams on your billowy crest!" + + + +ALBERICH + + +One morning, when the sun was shining very brightly, the Rhine-daughters +were startled by a strange sound in the depths of the water. + +"Look!" whispered one. "What is that scowling at us from the rocks +below?" + +There, stealing along the river-bed, they saw a hideous little black +dwarf. + +"Who are you, and what do you want?" asked the Rhine-daughters. + +"I am Alberich," answered the dwarf as he tried to climb up on the +slippery rocks. "I came from the kingdom of the Nibelungs, down under +the earth." + +"What!" said the Rhine-daughters. "Surely you do not live down in the +dark earth where there is no sunshine?" + +"Yes," answered Alberich. "But I have come up to frolic in the sunshine +with you"; and he held out his ugly, misshapen little hands to take the +hands of the Rhine-daughters. + +They only laughed at him and darted away to a higher rock. + +Alberich hurried after them. + +He blinked and scowled in the sunshine, because his eyes were not used +to the light. + +The maidens laughed and shouted in their play. + +They called to Alberich and teased him. + +They went very close to him, pretending that they would take his hand, +that he, too, might play in the sunshine. Then they would quickly dart +away, mocking him, and laughing at him more loudly than ever. + +Alberich grew fierce and angry. + +He clenched his fists and cried:-- + +"Woe be to you if I should catch you now." + + +THE CARELESS RHINE-DAUGHTERS + +Alberich was the most hideous of all the black, ugly little Nibelungs. + +The Nibelungs had cross, scowling faces, because they were always +scolding each other. + +They quarreled from morning till night, so, of course, their faces grew +to look quarrelsome and ugly. + +As Alberich hurried after the Rhine-daughters, he suddenly caught sight +of the gold glittering in the morning sun. + +He stood still. Then he straightened up as tall as his crooked, +misshapen little back would let him. He opened his eyes wide. + +"Oh! Sisters! See how Alberich is staring at our gold!" whispered one of +the Rhine-daughters. "Perhaps this is the foe of which our father warned +us. How careless we have been!" + +"Nonsense," answered one. "Who would fear this little black fellow? He +will do us no harm. Let him gaze upon the gold. Come, let us sing!" + +[Illustration: THE RHINE-MAIDENS AND ALBERICH] + +The maidens joined hands and circled about the gold, singing:-- + + "Hail to thee! Hail to thee! + Treasure most bright! + Rhine-gold! Rhine-gold! + Beautiful sight! + + "Hail to thee! Hail to thee! + Out of the night! + Rhine-gold! Rhine-gold! + Wakened so bright!" + + +THE THEFT + +Still Alberich stood and stared at the gold. + +"What is it?" he gasped. "What is it?" + +The Rhine-daughters shouted back to him:-- + + "Heigh-ho! and heigh-ho! + Dear little imp of woe, + Laugh with us, laugh with us! + Heigh-ho and heigh-ho!" + +But Alberich did not laugh with them. + +He would not take his eyes off the gold. + +"That," said the maidens, "is our Rhine-gold." + +"A very pretty plaything it is," said Alberich. + +"Yes," replied the careless sisters, "it is magic gold. Who moulds this +gold into a ring shall have all power upon the earth, save love." + +Alberich muttered to himself: "What do I care for love if I have all the +gold I want?" + +Then he sprang upon the slippery rock and snatched the gold. With one +wild leap he plunged into the depths below. + +Down, down he went to his deep, dark kingdom, clutching fast the +precious gold and muttering:-- + +"Now all the earth is mine. It is mine, all mine. Now I shall rule the +world." + +Poor foolish Alberich! He did not know that the best things in this +world are the things which gold cannot buy. + +The power of love is greater than the power of gold. + +The maidens shrieked and screamed: "Our gold! Our gold! Our precious +gold!" + +Too late! Far, far below, they heard a laugh, the rough, rude laugh of +Alberich, the dwarf. + + +THE SAD RHINE-DAUGHTERS + +After that, when the Rhine-daughters came to the rock where the gold had +been, they could not sing their happy song. + +Their faces were very sad now, and they said: "Oh, why did Alberich +steal our beautiful gold? It cannot make him happy, for no one can ever +be truly happy who does not know love." + +They often sat upon the rocks in the dusk of the evening and cried as if +their hearts would break because they had lost their gold. + +"The black waves surge in sorrow through the depths, And all the Rhine +is wailing in its woe." + + +A CASTLE ON THE RHINE + +On a mountain-side, above the banks of the Rhine, lived a family of +splendid giants. + +The greatest of the giants was Wotan. He was the king. + +They had always lived out of doors, because the king had never been +able to find a giant who was large enough to build such a grand castle +as he wanted for his family. + +But one day there came to the mountainside the largest giant Wotan had +ever seen. + +His name was Fafner. + +He was many times larger than Wotan. + +Wotan told Fafner how much he wanted a wonderful castle. + +Fafner said: "I will build such a castle for you if you will give me +your sister, Freya." + +Fafner wanted to take the beautiful Freya to his own country. + +Wotan did not stop to think what an awful thing it would be to lose +Freya. + +His thoughts were of nothing but the wonderful castle. + +"Build it, Fafner," said Wotan. + +That night Wotan and his family lay down upon their mountain to sleep. + +Wotan dreamed of a wonderful stone castle with glittering towers. + +He dreamed he saw the castle gleaming in the morning sun. + +[Illustration: WOTAN] + + +THE MORNING + +It was morning in the beautiful country where the Rhine River flows. + +The giants upon the hillside were just awakening from their night's +sleep. + +During the night Fafner had built the wonderful castle. + +Wotan's wife was the first to see it. + +"Awake, Wotan! Awake!" she cried. + +As Wotan opened his eyes he saw the castle upon the summit of the +mountain. + +What a great shining castle it was! + +In delight Wotan cried: "'T is finished! And my glorious dream is true!" + +All night long Fafner had toiled hard. + +He finished just as the morning dawned. + +He was waiting now for Wotan to awaken and to give to him the beautiful +Freya. + +He would take her and hurry to his own country. + + +THE PAYMENT + +"While you slept I built the castle," said Fafner. "Now I am ready for +the payment." + +"What payment do you want?" asked Wotan. + +"What payment do I want?" shouted Fafner. "Surely you have not forgotten +your promise? The price was Freya, and I shall take her home with me." + +"Oh, that was only in jest," said Wotan. "I could not think of letting +Freya go. But I shall pay you well for the castle. I shall give you +something else that will be just as good for you." + +Fafner grew very angry and screamed:-- + +"Cease your foolish talk. I built your beautiful stone palace. I drudged +and toiled and heaped the massive rocks. Each stone lies firm and solid +in its place, and I will have my pay!" + +"But, surely," said Wotan, "you did not think I meant to give you Freya? +'T is she who feeds us golden apples. No one but Freya knows how to +make them grow. If it were not for her fresh fruits my family would grow +old. They would wither like the autumn flowers." + +"Yes," raged Fafner; "I know it is fair Freya's golden apples that keep +you young. But now Freya belongs to me. Nothing else will I have." + +Just then Wotan saw his brother, Loki, coming over the mountain. + +"Wait, Fafner! Wait until I can talk with my brother about this!" + + +LOKI + +"Loki, why are you so late?" complained Wotan, when Loki came. + +Loki was much excited. + +"The Rhine-daughters are in great trouble, Wotan. As I was coming by the +river I heard them weeping and wailing. Black Alberich has stolen their +gold, and I promised them that I would tell you about it. Perhaps you +could help them." + +"I have no time for the Rhine-daughters now," said Wotan. "I have +trouble of my own. Tell me how I can save poor Freya!" + +For many years Fafner had heard of this lump of gold. So he listened to +all that Loki told. Then he asked: "Why does Alberich want the gold?" + +"Because," replied Loki, "the gold can be made into a magic ring; if the +one who would make the ring will forever give up all love, the magic +ring will make its owner master of the whole wide world. Alberich +declared that love was nothing to him if he could have all the gold +he wanted." + +To himself Fafner thought: "Perhaps it would be better for me to have +the gold than to have Freya and her golden apples." Then aloud he said: +"Let me tell you what I am willing to do, Wotan. If you will get that +gold for me, I will accept it in place of Freya." + +"You rascal!" roared Wotan. "How can I give you gold that is not mine?" + +"Very well," said Fafner. "I did not come here to quarrel. Already I +have waited too long. I shall take my pay. Come, Freya, you must go +with me." + +Poor, frightened Freya wept and cried aloud as Fafner picked her up and +carried her off over the mountain. + +He called back to Wotan and Loki: "I will keep Freya until evening. Then +I shall come again, and if you have that glittering Rhine-gold for me, +then you may have your sister. If you do not give me the gold, then +Freya is mine and I will keep her always." + + +YOUTH OR AGE? + +As soon as Freya was gone, the flowers began to droop their heads. + +Wotan and his family began to grow old and gray. + +It seemed to Wotan like some awful dream. + +Suddenly Loki cried out: "We have not eaten Freya's fruit to-day! Now +she is gone, we shall all wither and die!" + +Wotan had stood gazing at the ground, trying hard to think what he +could do to save himself and his family. + +"Come, Loki," he said. "We must go to the deep dark kingdom of the +Nibelungs. I must have the gold! Let us go by way of the brimstone +gorge. I cannot go by way of the river. I do not want to hear the +wailing of the Rhine-daughters." + +Wotan called back to his anxious family: "Only wait till evening and I +promise I shall bring your lost youth back to you." + + +NIBELHEIM + + "Far, far below the ground are gloomy depths,-- + A mighty cavern, rocky, dark and vast." + +It was as dark as night down in the kingdom of the Nibelungs, except for +the light which flared from the smoking torches, or glowed in the coals +upon the anvils. + +The family of dwarfs were skilled blacksmiths and metal-workers. + +From every little niche and corner came the sound of clinking anvils. +Before Alberich stole the gold, the Nibelungs often sang as they worked. + +They sometimes made pretty ornaments for their wives to wear or toys for +their little children. + +But now Alberich had made the ring of gold which bound them to do his +will. + +He had no love in his heart, so he drove and scolded all the time. + +He made them work, work, work, both day and night, and all that they +made belonged to him. + +So Alberich was daily becoming mightier than ever. + + +THE BEST SMITH IN NIBELHEIM + +Mimi, who was Alberich's brother, was the best smith in all this swarm +of black slaves. + +Alberich forced Mimi to make for him a strange wishing-cap. + +It was made of woven steel. + +Mimi had to make it just as Alberich said, but Mimi did not know how it +was to be used. When it was finished, Mimi feared it had some +wonderful power, and he did not want Alberich to have it. + +He wished he might keep it for himself. + +He had worked hard to make it. + +"Give me that helmet," said Alberich. "I want you to know, Mimi, that +everything in this cave belongs to me!" + +Mimi had to give it up. + +Alberich put it on his head. "Now I shall see what magic there is in +this wishing-cap. Come, Night and Darkness!" he called. "Make me so no +one can see me!" + +In an instant he was gone, and there was only a cloud of smoke where he +had stood. + +"Now, Mimi!" he called, "look sharp! Can you see me?" + +"No," gasped Mimi. "I cannot see you at all." + +The cloud of smoke moved down the gloomy cave and Alberich's cruel voice +laughed: "Ha! ha! Now I shall make you black slaves work! Now you dare +not be idle, for when you do not see me I shall be watching you!" + +His voice sank deeper. "Now I will make you dig, dig, dig, to the very +depths of the earth to bring me gold!" + +Mimi was so frightened. + +When the cloud of smoke had gone out of sight, he lay down upon the +rocks and cried. + + +THE MASTER + +Wotan and Loki swung themselves over the ledge and slid down into the +murky cave where Alberich lived. + +Wotan looked around and said:-- + +"So this is the Kingdom of the Nibelungs! What an awful place it is!" + +From far down the passages came the sound of hundreds of slaves melting +and welding precious metals for their master. + +"Loki," said Wotan, "I believe it is always dark and gloomy where there +is no love. What is that strange cry I hear?" + +"Ho, Mimi, is that you?" said Loki. + +"Leave me alone!" cried Mimi. + +"Then tell me what you are crying about?" + +"Oh," replied Mimi, "that wretched Alberich, with his ring of gold, has +made us all his slaves! With it he drives us down into the earth to dig +more gold. What we get is all his. We slave for him both day and night. + +"This curse of gold has filled our cavern with despair. Lately he made +me forge a wishing-cap for him. With it he makes himself so none can see +him. Now we slaves can never rest. _Sh! sh!_ He is coming now!" + +Wotan and Loki, peering through the darkness, could see him now and then +as he passed under the light of a flaring torch. + +He was driving a swarm of bent black slaves who were carrying great +packs of gold and silver and precious ore upon their backs. + +The helmet was hanging at his waist. + +In his hand he was swinging a whip and the giants could hear him +yelling:-- + +"Pile up the gold! Hurry! Hurry, you lazy rogues!" + + +THE BOASTER + +Suddenly Alberich saw the giants. + +"Who is this that dares come into my cave?" he cried. "Mimi, get back to +your work!" + +Then to all the other slaves he called:-- + +"Get below, every one of you! Crawl into your dingy shafts and dig the +gold! Begone, I say! You must obey the master of the ring!" + +As soon as the black swarm had crept away, Alberich spoke angrily to +Wotan and Loki. "What do you want in here?" + +"We just came to see you," said Wotan. "We hoped you might be glad to +have us. We think you must be a very clever man. We have heard a great +deal about the wonderful things you can do." + +This pleased Alberich. He grew very proud and began to boast. + +"See all this gold of mine!" he said. + +"Yes," answered Loki; "it is the most gold I have ever seen, but what +use is it? It does no one any good in here where nothing useful can be +bought with it." + +"I am heaping it up," said Alberich. "Some day, with this same treasure, +heaped and hid, I hope to work some wonders. You shall see! I shall be +master of the whole wide world! Ha! the smoke of Alberich's kingdom +shall smudge even your flowery mountain-sides and your sparkling rivers. +Everybody shall be my slave! Beware of this black Nibelung, I say, for +he shall rule the world!" + + +THE WISHING-CAP + +Loki was very sly and cunning. While Alberich boasted, he was planning +how he might trick the dwarf and take his gold. + +To Alberich he said: "Surely, you will be the mightiest of men. But +suppose that while you sleep, one of your slaves should creep upon you +and steal your ring?" + +Alberich smiled. "There is no danger of that," he said. "I will show you +a trick or two. Do you see this helmet? It is a magic helmet. With it I +can make myself so no one can see me, or I can change myself, quick as a +flash, into anything I wish to be. So, you see, I am perfectly safe." + +"I never heard of such wonders," answered Loki. "I really cannot believe +it." + +"I shall prove it to you," said the dwarf, never dreaming that the sly +Loki was only laying a trap for him. "What form will you have me take?" + +"Turn into anything you wish. Only let me see it done and then I shall +believe." + +Alberich put on the helmet. "Ho! Monster Dragon, come!" And quick as a +flash he turned into a huge dragon. + +Loki pretended to be frightened. As the fierce monster squirmed toward +him, he made believe that he was going to rush from the cave. + + +THE TRICK + +The dragon vanished and there stood Alberich again. + +"Now do you believe?" he asked. + +"Indeed, I do," replied Loki. "It is wonderful. But if you could shrink +to some tiny thing, it would be even much more clever, because you could +creep into a crevice and spy upon your enemies. But, of course, getting +small would be too hard a thing to do." + +"Only tell me what you would have me be," said Alberich. + +"Now I shall catch him," thought Loki. "Could you make yourself as +little as a toad that quickly slinks under the rock when there is +danger near?" + +"Ha! Nothing easier," laughed Alberich. + +And again putting the helmet on his head he coaxed:-- + +"Come, little toad! Creep from your cranny!" Alberich was gone, and +there at Wotan's feet hopped the tiny toad. + +"Quick, Wotan!" cried Loki. + +And in an instant Wotan put his heavy foot upon the toad. + +Loki reached down and took the magic wishing-cap. + +As soon as the cap was off, the toad disappeared, and there lay +Alberich, held fast by Wotan's giant foot. + +"Let me go!" shrieked the dwarf. "Take your foot off of me, this +minute!" + +Wotan calmly answered: "You may go when you have promised all I ask." + +"Then what do you want?" groaned Alberich. + +"I want all your glittering gold," said Wotan. + + +THE CURSE + +Alberich held the ring close under his breast and muttered to himself: +"They may have the gold! What do I care! With this ring I can soon make +my slaves dig more." + +Then aloud he said: "You may take the gold. My slaves shall heap it at +your feet." + +He slyly slipped his hand to his lips and, kissing the ring, called his +slaves with its magic. + +In a moment the little black Nibelungs came in swarms from every shaft, +bearing the precious gold. + +Alberich did not like to have them see him under Wotan's foot. + +"Heap up the treasure!" he yelled. "Don't stop to stare at me. I am +still your master. Now, crawl back into your shafts and drudge. I am +coming in a minute, and it will not be well for you if I do not find +you digging!" + +Trembling with fear, they scurried to the darkest depths. + +"Now, there is your gold!" said Alberich. "Give back my helmet and let +me go!" + +But Loki quickly tossed the helmet upon the shining heap. + +"Take it, then," snarled the dwarf, thinking he could easily, with the +power of the ring, force Mimi to make another, "but let me go, I say!" + +"Just wait a minute, Alberich," said Wotan. "That ring I saw glittering +on your finger,--I must have that too." + +"The ring!" Alberich screamed in horror. "No, you shall never have the +ring!" + +Wotan's face grew stern. + +"That ring does not belong to you. You stole its gold from the +Rhine-children," he said. + +"Think twice, Wotan, before you take this ring from me! I warn you now a +curse goes with it." + +But Wotan drew the ring from the dwarf's finger, then set him free. + +"Farewell, Alberich! Farewell!" + +"Ha!" laughed Alberich in scorn. "It will never bring you happiness. Its +owner shall always feel its curse of care, sorrow, and unrest." + +Then, turning, he groped his way down the cavern, far poorer than the +day he went stealing along the slippery bed of the river. Then, he had +no gold. Now, he had no gold and no friends. + + +THE GREEDY FAFNER + +Wotan and Loki hurried back to the mountain-side with their treasure. + +At the same time Fafner returned, bringing Freya. + +Already Fafner had made up his mind that if he gave Freya back, he must +have a very great deal of gold. + +When Freya again reached her own country, the sun grew brighter, the air +grew sweeter, and the glow of youth came back to the cheeks of Wotan and +his family. + +"Here, Fafner, is your gold!" great Wotan cried. + +"I am sorry to give Freya up," said Fafner. "Pile up the gold between +her and me. You may keep her if there is gold enough to hide her +completely from my sight. So long as I can see her, I cannot part +with her." + +Then Wotan and his family heaped the glittering gold. They piled it as +loosely as they could, but when they had put on all the gold they had, +the greedy Fafner cried:-- + +"More, more! It is not high enough! Still I can see fair Freya's +shimmering hair. Throw on that shining helmet!" + +"Put it on, Loki," commanded Wotan. "There, Fafner, is your pay. Freya +again belongs to me." + +"Not yet!" cried Fafner, as he peeped through a space in the heap. "I +can see her eyes through here." Then, pointing to the ring on Wotan's +finger: "Bring that ring and put it in this space." + +"Never!" cried Wotan. + +Then Loki spoke. "The ring belongs to the Rhine-maidens, and Wotan is +going to return it to them. Already we have given you more than you +should expect, all that shining heap and the helmet besides." + +"I will not give you any more!" roared Wotan. "Not all the mighty world +shall take this ring from my finger!" + +"Then I shall be gone," said Fafner. "I was afraid you would not give me +enough gold. Freya is mine forevermore." + +Wotan's family began to plead for Freya. "She is worth more to us than +all the gold in this world! Without her we must all wither and die!" + +It was no use to resist. Wotan knew that he dared not lose Freya. + +Taking the ring from his finger, he flung it upon the shining heap. + + +A SLAVE TO GOLD + +Fafner gathered up the hoard--the hoard for which he had worked--the +hoard for which he had made so much trouble. + +He carried it off to his own country. Now that he had it, he had no +thought of using it. + +He wanted it merely for gold's sake; not for the sake of the great, good +things that might be done with it. The only thing he wished to do was to +keep others from getting it. + +He heaped it up in a cave in the forest. Then he put on the helmet and +changed himself into a fierce, ugly dragon. + +For the love of mere gold he was willing to give up being a splendid +giant, who roamed freely over the beautiful mountains, and to become a +hideous, twisting, squirming monster. + +The rest of his life he would lie at the door of the cave and guard the +treasure. The treasure should lie there useless to all the world. + +Fafner,--a slave to gold! + + +THE BEAUTIFUL VALHALLA + +As Fafner carried away his treasure, a great storm gathered over the +mountain crest. + +The sky grew black. The thunder rolled. Its echoes bounded on from cloud +to cloud, from peak to peak, then rumbled down the valleys to the sea. + +Then the clouds drifted away. The setting sun shot its long rays into +the deep valley. + +There, arching over the river and reaching from the flowery +mountain-side to the very door of the gleaming castle, stood a shining +rainbow bridge. + +"Lo! our castle! Our beautiful Valhalla!" cried the king. "Let us cross +over. It shall be our dwelling-place forevermore." + +One by one they stepped upon the bridge. + +As Wotan walked slowly and sadly over, he heard the wailing of the +Rhine-maidens in the river below:-- + + "Rhine-gold! Rhine-gold! + We long for your light!" + +"I shall never be happy again," thought Wotan. "I have given my honor +for Valhalla. What an awful price I have paid!" + + + + +THE WALKUERE + + +A MATCHLESS SWORD + +Many years passed. The giants lived on in their beautiful Valhalla. + +But their king was sad. + +He could not forget Alberich's curse. What if Alberich should in some +way gain possession of the ring again! He would destroy Valhalla. + +"Oh, why was I not brave enough to give the ring back to the +Rhine-children!" sighed Wotan. + +"If only it might again be a mere thing of beauty to gladden their +hearts, but so long as it is in the world, how many more will it not rob +of their happiness. + +"Surely, some great hero must come who will be brave enough to slay the +dragon and give the ring back to its rightful owners." + +Said Wotan to himself, "I shall make a mighty sword, and when the hero +comes, his sword will be ready for him." + +Then the great Wotan wrought a matchless sword. + +When it was finished, he took it and went into the forest. Straight he +went to the home of the bold robber Hunding. + +It was a beautiful moonlight night when he reached Hunding's hut. + +From the loud laughter and shouting that Wotan heard as he neared the +hut, he knew that Hunding and his friends were having a merry feast. + +Wotan lifted the latch and entered. + +The great, rude room was built around the trunk of a mighty ash tree. + +The walls were made of roughly hewn logs. + +The floors were covered with the skins of wild animals of the forest. + +Mats of reeds and grasses hung upon the walls. + +The huge fireplace was built of rough stones. + +The mighty Wotan scowled upon the crowd. + +Then, lifting the gleaming sword above his head, with one great lunging +blow, he buried the bright blade, even to its hilt, in the great ash +tree's quivering side. + +Then, turning to the guests, he said:-- + +"The sword shall belong to him who can draw it from the ash tree's +heart." + +[Illustration: HE TUGGED IN VAIN] + +Though each guest tugged with all his might, he tugged in vain. + +In the years that followed, many came and went, and all tried hard to +gain the sword, and still that magic blade slept on within the ash +tree's sheath. + + +THE VALIANT SIEGMUND + +One very dark and stormy night, Siegmund, a brave warrior, wandered +alone in the forest. + +That day a desperate battle had been fought. + +As the darkness came on, Siegmund escaped from the enemy. + +He had lost his weapons, and now he trudged through the pathless woods, +seeking some place where he might find balm for his wounds and shelter +from the raging storm. + +He was almost exhausted when he caught sight of a flickering candlelight +in the window of a forest hut. + +With the little strength that he had left, he dragged himself to its +door. + +No one answered his call, and no longer caring if it were the home of +friend or foe, he opened the door, and staggering in he sank upon +the hearth. + +As he looked about him he thought, "This is the home of some forest +chief." + +A great fire burned in the rude fireplace, and, as he grew warm, being +worn and weary, he sank into a heavy sleep. + + +HUNDING'S WIFE + +As Siegmund slept, the door of the inner room was gently opened and a +beautiful woman stole softly in. + +She was clad in snowy white. + +Her head was crowned with a wealth of golden hair. + +She had heard Siegmund as he entered the room, and, thinking her +chieftain had returned from the hunt, she came to greet him. + +Instead she saw a stranger on the hearth, and, drawing near, she saw +that his face looked sad and troubled. + +"Who are you?" she asked, but Siegmund did not stir. + +Then she knelt beside him and looked into his face. + +It was the strong, noble face of a hero. + +"He sleeps," she said. "How weak and weary he seems. Perhaps he has been +wounded or is faint from hunger." + +Siegmund roused and asked for water. + +The woman ran quickly, and, bringing a cup of cold water, held it to his +parched lips. + +Siegmund drank. Then, gazing into the woman's kind face, he gasped: +"Where am I?" + +But, with a startled look, she stood in silence, listening to the heavy +tread outside the door. + + +HUNDING + +The next moment the chieftain entered and glared fiercely at Siegmund. + +The woman hastened to say: "I found this stranger lying on our hearth. +He was faint and needed help." + +"And did you give it?" growled the chieftain. + +"I gave him water. I could not drive him out into the stormy night." + +The chieftain grew dark with anger as he said: "Because it is the sacred +law of my country that none shall be turned from the door who seek +shelter from the night, this intruder may stay until the morning. Then +he shall fight for his life." + +Siegmund knew now that he was in the house of the fierce Hunding. + +Taking the woman by the arm, Hunding led her from the room, and Siegmund +was left alone to think how he might save himself. + +Long he leaned upon the hearth in troubled silence. Then, knowing he +must flee, he turned toward the door. + +That moment the last flickering light of the dying fire flashed upon the +hilt of the magic sword in the ash tree. + +Siegmund saw it, and, springing forward, he grasped its hilt. Then, +bracing himself against the tree, with one mighty pull, behold! he drew +the bright blade from its sheath. + + +THE WAR-MAIDENS + +Wotan gathered to Valhalla a company of nine war-maidens. They were +called the Walkuere. + +They were strong, beautiful young women, who rode through the clouds +upon swift horses. + +The horses could not only run on the ground; they could fly through the +air. + +The maidens wore wings upon their helmets, and each wore a splendid +silver armor which glittered and flashed in the sunshine. + +Wherever there was a battle on the earth, Wotan would send a +battle-maiden for the most valiant hero on the field. + +The maiden would fly over the battlefield and watch while the warriors +fought. + +When the bravest man was wounded, she would quickly swoop down, and, +snatching him up, would fly with him to Valhalla, where he was revived +by fair Freya. + +[Illustration] + +Sometimes, when evening came, every one of the war-maidens rode into +Valhalla carrying a noble hero. + +This was Wotan's plan for protecting the palace. + +After a while he would have at the castle a company of the bravest +heroes of the earth. + +He hoped he would then be happier. + +The heroes would protect the beautiful Valhalla in time of danger. + + +WOTAN'S WIFE + +Morning dawned. + +The king of the giants went forth from his castle and called Brunhilde, +his favorite battle-maiden. + +He loved Brunhilde more than any other of the Walkuere. + +She was the bravest of them all. + +He loved her as a father loves a daughter. + +"Brunhilde," said Wotan, "to-day there is to be a fearful battle. The +fierce Hunding is to fight with my dearest friend--the valiant Siegmund. + +"Long have I wished to have my noble friend at Valhalla. Fly, Brunhilde, +to the battlefield. Give to Siegmund the victory. Carry him here to +dwell upon the heights." + +At that moment Wotan's wife rushed to them in great anger. + +"Wotan," she cried, "Siegmund must not be brought to Valhalla. I ask +that my friend, the forest chief, shall be given aid. Send Brunhilde to +bear Hunding to our castle." + +"No," replied Wotan, "I must protect Siegmund. He it is who won my +sword." + +"Take the sword from him," replied Wotan's wife in rage. "I plead for +Hunding's rights. Promise me that you will forbid your war-maiden to +give aid to Siegmund." + +Wotan's heart ached at the thought of failing this friend he loved so +well. + +On Siegmund were centered all his hopes. Yet he feared to refuse his +wife's request. + +Quarrels and strife must not come into Valhalla. + +He threw himself upon a rocky seat and hung his head and thought in +silence. + +At length he said:-- + +"I promise. From Siegmund I withdraw my aid." + + +WOTAN AND BRUNHILDE + +Now that Wotan's wife had gained his promise, she turned back to +Valhalla. + +Wotan buried his face in his hand and cried out in despair:-- + +"Oh, woe and shame upon the giants! What I love best I must give up. I +lose the friend I hold most dear. All my hopes are vanishing. A short +time and the giants will be no more." + +Loudly he moaned: "This is the curse that clutched me when I snatched +the glittering gold." + +Brunhilde knelt at Wotan's feet, and, looking into his sad eyes +begged:-- + +"Tell me, Father, what thy child can do. Trust me, Father!" she pleaded. +"Tell me all your woe." + +Wotan took her hands in his and told her the story of the ring. + +How he had taken it from the finger of the dwarf. + +How he had stooped to trickery and had stolen the gold with which to pay +for Valhalla. + +He told of the sad hearts of the Rhine-daughters, and of the greedy +Fafner, lying at the door of his forest cave, guarding his hoard. + +But last of all, he told of the dread of Alberich's curse. + +He told of his fear that the black Nibelung might regain the ring and by +its power destroy Valhalla. + + +OFF TO THE BATTLEFIELD + +When Brunhilde had heard the story of the curse, she said:-- + +"But, Father, Alberich could not destroy Valhalla. Think of all the +heroes gathered there. Surely, they can protect it from all danger." + +"Brunhilde, my child," sighed Wotan, "you do not know the power of that +ring when it is in the hands of Alberich. Once he gains it, he can do +with it what he will, because he has given up all love. With it, he +could turn my friends into enemies. Our heroes would then fight +for Alberich. + +"I have long hoped that a hero might come who would be brave enough to +slay the dragon. I hoped it might be Siegmund. But now I must desert him +in his time of need. Though it breaks my heart, I must give him up. + +"Darkness and gloom are fast gathering upon Valhalla. Go, Brunhilde. Go +quickly to the battlefield and shield my wife's friend." + +"No, no, Father, I cannot!" cried the battle-maiden. "You love Siegmund, +and I shall guard him well." + +At these words the mighty Wotan grew wrathful and cried:-- + +"How dare you disobey me, child? Go, I say! Give to Hunding the victory, +and thus fulfill my promise." + +Sadly Brunhilde took up her spear and shield and rode away to the +battlefield. + + +THE FLIGHT + +Closely Brunhilde watched the struggle. + +When she saw how fairly and valiantly the noble Siegmund fought, and how +unfair and cowardly was the wicked Hunding, she thought:-- + +"I shall obey my king's wishes, not his words. He loves Siegmund." + +She hovered nearer as the battle grew more terrible. + +Suddenly she dashed to Siegmund's side and cried:-- + +"Slay him, Siegmund, with your matchless sword!" + +Siegmund raised his sword to deal the deadly blow, when lo! Wotan dashed +through a rift in the clouds and struck Siegmund's sword with his +mighty spear. + +The sword fell in pieces at the feet of Brunhilde. The victory belonged +to Hunding. + +Brunhilde, terrified by the angry Wotan, snatched up the broken pieces +of the sword, and, springing to her saddle, dashed away. + +Faster and faster she fled to the forest, bearing the broken blade to +Siegmund's wife. + +"Siegmund is slain!" she cried. "These are the pieces of his mighty +sword. Keep them for your son, Siegfried. He will be brave like +his father. + +"Yes, Siegfried will be the bravest hero the world has ever known." + +Then, springing again to her saddle, she fled toward the mountains. + +"On! on! my fiery steed!" she urged. + +No battle-maiden ever rode so fast. + +If she could but reach the other battle-maidens before the wrathful +Wotan overtook her, surely, they would protect her from his anger. + + +THE PUNISHMENT + +It was the custom for the battle-maidens to meet at Walkuere Rock every +evening at sunset. This was the highest peak in the mountains. From +here they would ride into Valhalla, each carrying the hero whom she had +snatched from the battlefield. + +"Heiho! hoyotoho! heiho!" called each as she neared the peak, and +"Heiho! hoyotoho! heiho!" came the answer. + +At length all but one had reached the rock. + +"Why does Brunhilde not come?" they asked of each other anxiously. + +"What has happened that she should be so late?" + +Loudly they called: "Heiho! hoyotoho! heiho!" + +Looking toward the valley, they saw Brunhilde riding fast. + +Her horse was flecked with foam. + +"Heiho! hoyotoho! heiho!" they shouted; and "Heiho! hoyotoho! heiho!" +came Brunhilde's answer. + +She reached the peak and sprang from her saddle, crying:-- + +"Help me, Sisters! help me! I disobeyed our king!" + +Even as she cried Wotan drew near. + +"Where is Brunhilde?" he screamed in anger. + +The skies grew black with the storm of his wrath. + +"Every one of you who dares to shield her shall share her punishment." + +Brunhilde, weeping, walked out from her hiding-place among her sisters. + +Sinking at Wotan's feet she cried:-- + +"Here I am, Father. What punishment is mine?" + +Wotan spoke in solemn tones:-- + +"Never again shall you see the beautiful Valhalla. Never shall you carry +another hero to your king. + +"You shall lie down upon this mountain peak, and here you shall sleep +until some wanderer in passing shall awaken you, and his wife you +shall be." + +"You cannot mean it, Father! Anything but this! Never to see Valhalla? +Never to ride with the Walkuere? Father! Father! Take back these words of +doom!" Brunhilde's sisters began to plead for her. + +"Go!" he cried, "every one of you. Leave Brunhilde to me!" + +Frightened by great Wotan's awful wrath, they spurred their horses and +dashed away to Valhalla. + + +THE SLEEP + +Slowly the storm clouds drifted away. The twilight came. + +Still Brunhilde lay in fear and grief at Wotan's feet. + +At length she lifted her sad eyes to Wotan and cried:-- + +"Was it so wrong, this thing that I have done? 'T is you who taught me +to shield the brave and the true. I only sought to care for one +you loved." + +"Brunhilde, you disobeyed me. I have told you what your punishment shall +be. I cannot change it." + +"Then grant me, Father, this one wish: that you will make the place +where I sleep so no coward can reach me. Make it so none but a hero will +dare come near." + +Then, taking Brunhilde in his arms, he said:-- + +"I grant your wish, my child. I shall encircle the place with magic +fire. Only he who knows no fear may claim you for his bride." + +Then Wotan kissed Brunhilde upon each eyelid, and she fell fast asleep. + +Gently he bore her to a mossy mound beneath a spreading fir tree. + +Laying her down, he looked long and lovingly upon her sweet, brave face. + +He drew her helmet close over her eyes, and laid her shield upon her +breast. + +The flowers went to sleep. + +Brunhilde's noble steed lay down and slept. + + "Farewell, my child, most brave and beautiful! + Thou life and light of all my heart, farewell! + Pride of my soul, farewell, a long farewell!" + + +THE MAGIC FIRE + +Wotan strode a few steps away from where Brunhilde slept, then struck +the rock with his mighty spear. + +Red flames shot up, leaping almost to the sky. They were magic flames +and would not harm any one. + +But they looked like real fire, and none but a hero would dare go into +them. + +They would frighten away all cowards. + +Wotan walked around the peak, drawing a line with his spear. + +From every place the spear touched the fire burst forth, until at length +the mound where Brunhilde slept was entirely encircled by lurid flames. + +Great Wotan looked upon his work. Then he turned and called to all the +mountains and the valleys below:-- + + "Whoso dareth Wotan's spear, + Whoso knoweth naught of fear, + Let him burst these flames of war, + Let him leap this fiery bar!" + + + + +SIEGFRIED + + +THE MISSING MIMI + +The cunning Mimi secretly longed to steal out into the world and find +that magic ring. + +One night when all the other little Nibelungs were asleep, he slipped +stealthily to his forge. + +He gathered up his best tools. + +Making sure that all were soundly sleeping, he stole quietly out. + +What surprise and excitement there must have been the next morning when +the little black Nibelungs found that Mimi had run away and had taken +all of his best tools with him! + +How they must have rushed about, each anxious to tell another the news +of the missing Mimi! + +Of course, Alberich guessed very quickly for what purpose his brother +had gone. + +And how Alberich must have raged when he thought of what a sad day it +would be for him should Mimi become owner of that ring! + +Mimi was strangely clever. + +He said to himself: "That ring is hidden somewhere in the forest. I will +go there and search until I know who has it. Then I will find some way +of getting it." + +On he went, until he came to the darkest place in the woods. + +The boughs overlapped each other, so much that almost no sunshine could +get through. + +Mimi liked this place. It was soothing to his eyes, so used to the +darkness of the Nibelungs' cavern. + + +THE DRAGON + +Mimi had found the very forest which he sought to find. + +This was the one in which the dragon lay guarding the hoard. + +The sly dwarf caught a glimpse of the huge monster lying at the door of +its cave. + +Its great yawning jaws and sharp teeth filled him with terror. + +Mimi darted into the underbrush. How glad he was that the monster had +not seen him. + +He shook and trembled with fear as he peeped at the loathsome creature. + +Its body was covered with green scales. Poison breath came from its +nostrils. + +Its awful snake-like tail twisted and lashed about. In the end of the +tail was a deadly sting. + +"Alberich's ring is in that cave," thought Mimi. "Now close to this +forest I must find a good little cavern in which to live. + +"Then I can come often to watch the dragon. + +"Some day I shall find a hero to slay this fierce monster. Then I shall +slink into the cave and snatch the ring. + +"Ho! ho! my brother Alberich! We shall see who shall be master and who +shall be slave!" + + +A BABY IN THE FOREST + +Mimi found a cavern in a rocky cleft. It was just the kind of place he +liked. + +In it was just the right kind of rock for a forge. + +There he hammered at weapons or chains or whatever happened to be his +need. + +Daily he sneaked about in the underbrush, watching the dragon, and daily +he became more anxious to gain the gold. + +He was such a coward that he was frightened at almost every animal he +saw in the woods and startled by every sound. + +One day, when he had ventured farther from his cave than usual, he was +startled by a strange little cry. + +He listened a moment and thought:-- + +"It sounds like the cry of a little child. I shall run to my cave." + +But as he heard the cry again, something made him want to see what it +was. + +He slipped cautiously through the bushes, in the direction from which +the sound came. + +When he reached the place he found a little baby boy. + +This was the same forest to which Brunhilde had fled, bearing the broken +sword to Siegmund's wife. + +But now the mother had died, and Siegmund's child was left alone in the +woods. + + +MIMI AND THE BABY + +Mimi was mean and selfish. + +He would not even have cared for a little child alone in the woods had +he not thought that by so doing he might gain something for himself. + +As he looked at the baby he heard a strange voice saying:-- + +"Siegfried is his name, and only he who knows no fear can mend the +sword." + +"The sword? The sword?" questioned Mimi. "What does the voice mean?" + +Going nearer to the child, he saw close beside it the broken pieces of +Siegmund's sword. + +Mimi picked up the pieces and looked at them. + +"The finest piece of steel I ever saw," he chuckled, as he ran his +fingers carefully along the keen edges. + +Then he cried aloud in joy. + +"At last I have found the hero! This little baby is the son of some +valiant warrior. These are the broken pieces of the warrior's sword. +Such luck for Mimi! + +"The boy will be a warrior like his father. I shall take him to my cave +and take good care of him. + +"When he is grown up I will make him pay me for my care and pains. He +shall slay the dragon. Then I will take the ring." + +He lifted the little baby as gently as he knew how, and started toward +his cave. + +Again he heard the same strange voice:-- + +"Siegfried is his name, and only he who knows no fear can mend the +sword." + +"Ha! ha!" chuckled Mimi. "That voice does not know what a skillful +smith Mimi is. + +"I will mend the sword and Siegfried shall use it to slay the dragon." + +He folded the baby close in his rough, black little arms. + +"A few more years, a few more years," he gurgled in glee, "and Mimi's +hands shall clutch the precious gold." + + +SIEGFRIED AND HIS FRIENDS + +Mimi took good care of Siegfried. + +When the boy had grown large enough to play about in the woods, Mimi +made for him a little silver horn. + +Siegfried loved all the birds and the wild animals. + +He knew they were his best friends, for something in Mimi's face always +showed him that the dwarf was false. + +Siegfried would wander out into the forest with his silver horn swinging +from his shoulder. + +He would blow his little horn song, and his forest friends would hear +the call and come to play with him. + +He watched the birds as they built their nests. + +He listened to the father bird as he warbled his pretty little love +songs. + +How sweetly he sang to the mother bird while she sat upon the nest! + +And when the little eggs had told their secret, both the father and the +mother birds carried food to the babies. + +Siegfried saw how tenderly the mother foxes, wolves, and bears cared for +their babies. + +From these friends in the forest he learned what love is. + +Never for all the world would he have stolen one baby from its mother. + +But it was when he watched the love-light in the eyes of the mother deer +that he would shut his eyes and try to dream that he too had a +loving mother. + + +THE BROKEN SWORD + +Mimi always pretended to be Siegfried's father, and he pretended to love +Siegfried. + +But Siegfried knew there was no love in Mimi's heart. + +Daily Siegfried grew larger and stronger. + +Mimi continually boasted of his work at the forge. + +Often he said: "No one in this world can make such marvelous swords as +Mimi." + +Siegfried urged him to make one sword after another, but as fast as they +were made the boy would shatter them to bits with one blow on the +dwarf's forge. + +Then he would cry in disgust: "Nonsense, Mimi. Your swords are mere +toys. Just like little switches. + +"Either make me a good strong sword or quit your bragging." + +Mimi always kept the pieces of Siegmund's sword carefully hidden. +While Siegfried roamed through the woods, the dwarf would work for hours +trying to mend the magic blade, but its hard steel would never yield +either to his fire or his hammer. + +Mimi grew tired and discouraged. + +"I can never mend it," he groaned. + + +A BIG BROWN BEAR + +Siegfried grew to be a young man. + +Often he saw his reflection in the water, and he said:-- + +"I am not Mimi's son. The babes in the forest all look like their +parents. I do not look like Mimi." + +Siegfried's reflection showed him a fearless face with large, honest +eyes. + +About the face fell a wealth of waving, sunny hair. + +One day, as he studied this reflection and thought of the blinking, +sneaking little black Mimi, he said:-- + +"I will endure his falsehoods no longer. I know he is not my father. +This very day I am going to make him tell me who I am!" + +Lifting his silver horn, he blew a loud blast. + +Out of the woods came one of his good friends, a great brown bear. + +"Come, Bruin," said Siegfried. + +And he put a rope around Bruin's neck. + +"We will go to Mimi's cave and we will make him tell us all we want to +know." + +Siegfried led the big bear to the mouth of Mimi's cave. + +When the cowardly Mind saw the bear, he crouched behind the forge and +screamed:-- + +"Take him away! Oh, Siegfried, take him away!" + +"Eat him, Bruin," laughed Siegfried, as Mimi trembled with fear. + +The bear growled at Mimi. + +"Oh! keep him off!" gasped Mimi. + +"I shall," said Siegfried, "if you will promise to answer all I ask." + +[Illustration: "EAT HIM, BRUIN," LAUGHED SIEGFRIED] + +"I will! I will! I will tell you anything you want to know," stammered +Mimi. + +Siegfried untied the rope. + +"Good-bye, Bruin," he said, as he gave him a friendly slap on the back, +and the big bear trotted off to the woods. + + +SIEGFRIED AND MIMI + +Mimi and Siegfried sat down upon the rocks in the cave, and Mimi told +how he had found the baby in the woods and how he had brought him to +the cave. + +Mimi put in many words of how much Siegfried owed for all this care and +trouble. + + "Thou givest me always trouble and pain, + I wear to shreds poor foolish me! + Now, for my care, this is my gain,-- + Only abuse and hate from thee." + +Siegfried looked straight into Mimi's eyes. + +He tried to see if Mimi were telling the truth. + +"How did you know my name was Siegfried?" he asked. + +Then Mimi told of the strange voice which said:-- + +"Siegfried is his name." + +But not once did the dwarf mention the sword. + +"You cowardly little wretch!" cried Siegfried. "You have told me so +much that is not true that I can never believe you. + +"How do I know that this is not another of your miserable falsehoods? + +"Prove to me that this is true, or I shall make you sorry that you ever +saw me. Prove it to me, I tell you!" cried Siegfried, as he grasped the +shrinking dwarf by the shoulders. + +"I will! I will!" gasped the frightened Mimi; and he brought out the +broken sword. + + +SIEGFRIED MENDS HIS FATHER'S SWORD + +Siegfried looked at the sword. + +Then handing it back to Mimi, he said:-- + +"Mend it for me, Mimi! Mend it! Now is your chance to prove your skill!" + +"I cannot! Oh, I cannot!" groaned Mimi; and he gasped out the rest of +what the voice had told him:-- + +"Only he who knows no fear can mend the sword." + +Siegfried took the broken pieces to the forge and began filing them to +dust. + +"Stop, Siegfried, stop!" cried Mimi. "You will ruin that blade!" + +But Siegfried kept on filing. + +He sang as he worked, until the pieces were filed to dust. + +Then he melted the dust and poured the hot liquid into a mould the shape +of a blade. + +When it had hardened, he took it out and sharpened it. + +Then he welded the blade to its hilt. + +"Ha! ha!" chuckled Mimi. "At last the sword is mended. + +"Now I will show Siegfried the dragon. He will not know a ring is in the +dragon's cave. + +"When the dragon is dead, the ring shall be Mimi's. + +"Mimi, you are no longer the despised little Nibelung. You are the king +of the earth." + +Joyously Siegfried waved the bright blade above his head. + +He brought it down with all his strength upon the forge, and with a +mighty crash the huge rock fell in pieces. + +Mimi sank in terror to the ground. + + +SIEGFRIED GOES TO FIGHT THE DRAGON + +"Get up, you coward!" cried Siegfried. + +"Now tell me what that thing is that I do not know. Fear? What is fear? +Why did you not teach it to me?" + +The wicked dwarf slipped to Siegfried's side. + +"I will teach you. Come with me. I will show you a horrible serpent, +lying at the door of Hate Cavern. + +"There you will learn what fear is, if you can learn it any place in +this world. + +"Have you never seen anything that made you shiver from head to foot and +made your heart beat fast?" + +"I never have," calmly answered Siegfried. "Take me quickly, Mimi. I am +ready to learn." + +At every step Mimi chuckled to himself:-- + +"The ring is mine! At last the ring is mine! Now all the world shall +kneel at my feet!" + +"When he had gone as far as he dared, he pointed out the rest of the way +to Siegfried. + +"Just through here," he said. "And I shall go back now. When the dragon +sees you it will be a terrible struggle! I shall wait anxiously for you, +my Siegfried!" + +But as Siegfried vanished from sight, he rubbed his black hands together +and laughed:-- + +"Ah, it will be luck for Mimi if Siegfried and the dragon kill each +other!" + + +A WOOD-BIRD'S SONG + +When Siegfried had gone on a little way, he stretched himself upon a +grassy mound beneath a tree to rest and think. + +Looking up through the branches at the clear sky, he cried:-- + +"I am free! Free! Never again will I go back to that loathsome +Nibelung." + +A bird in the tree began singing its sweet wood-song. + +"How do you do, my little feathered friend!" said Siegfried. "I am sure +what you are singing is very sweet, but I cannot understand your words." + +Then Siegfried cut a reed near by, and putting it to his lips, tried to +whistle answers to the little bird's notes. + +His music did not sound much like the song of a bird. + +"I give it up, my little friend," he said, and threw away the reed. + + +SIEGFRIED AND THE DRAGON + +"I will blow you a song on my silver horn," said Siegfried to the bird. + +"I often blow this little song. It is my call for a comrade. I long for +one. None better have ever come to me than the bears and foxes." + +Loudly he blew his horn. + +Soon there was a great crackling in the underbrush. The huge dragon +came, lashing its deadly tail, gaping its red jaws, and blowing out +poison fumes. + +"Ho!" laughed Siegfried. "What a fair comrade I have charmed from his +cave! You savage brute, are you going to teach me what fear is?" + +[Illustration: "I AM GOING TO EAT YOU," HISSED THE DRAGON] + +"I am going to eat you!" hissed the dragon, glaring at Siegfried and +thrusting out its long forked tongue. + +Siegfried quickly drew his sword. + +Snorting fire and smoke from its nostrils, the monster raised to strike +a deadly blow. + +Siegfried sprang forward; a flash of steel, and his blade sank to the +monster's heart. + + +A CHANGE COMES OVER SIEGFRIED + +As Siegfried drew his blade from the breast of the dying dragon, a drop +of its black blood fell on his finger. + +It burned like fire. + +Siegfried quickly put his finger in his mouth. + +The instant the dragon's blood touched his lips, a change came over him. + +He could understand the words of the little bird singing in the tree:-- + + "Now the gold is Siegfried's! + Now all the gold is Siegfried's! + Go into the cave, Siegfried! + Go in! Go in! + Find the helmet and the ring! + The helmet and the ring are Siegfried's! + Take them! Take them! Take them!" + +Siegfried went through the brush in the direction from which the monster +had come. + +When he found the cave, he peered in. + +All was deep, dreary darkness, but Siegfried had not learned fear. + +He went in and found the gold, the helmet, and the ring. + +But he did not need the gold. Its weight would only hinder him. + +He looked upon the wishing-cap, but surely no one could turn into +anything better than a hero, and Siegfried was already a hero. + +What use could he have for a wishing-cap? + +A hero does not try to make believe he is something which he is not. + +He is brave enough to be just himself. + +But the little bird fluttered at the door of the cave. + +"Take the helmet and the ring, Siegfried! Take the helmet and the ring!" + +"I will obey my little friend," said Siegfried. + + +MIMI HAS A SURPRISE + +The sly, wicked Mimi came slinking to the place where the dragon lay. + +When he saw it lying dead under the trees, he looked about for +Siegfried, but Siegfried was nowhere to be seen. + +"Now I shall rush in and snatch the ring! At last I shall have my pay +for all these years of trouble with that rogue I hate!" + +But scarcely had Mimi turned toward the dragon's cave when suddenly +Alberich sprang before him. + +"You sly, crafty rascal!" cried Alberich. "What do you want here? Ha! I +have caught you at your sneaking tricks! Long have I guarded here! You +shall not steal my gold! Get back to your murky cave." + +But Mimi screamed:-- + +"You shall not have the gold! 'T is mine! Long years have I toiled and +waited! The gold is mine, I say!" "Yours?" Alberich snarled in scorn. +"Yours? You snatched it from the Rhine-daughters, did you? You paid the +price to mould that ring?" + +And Mimi raved: + +"Who made the helmet, that wondrous cap that in a flash can change a man +into anything he wants to be?" + + +MIMI AND ALBERICH STOP TO QUARREL TOO LONG + +While Mimi and Alberich quarreled, Siegfried came from the dragon's +cave, bearing the helmet and the ring. + +He heard no sound save the rustling of the leaves and the song of the +bird. + +Again he sat down in the shadow of a tree. + +"Little bird, can you not help me to find a true friend?" asked +Siegfried. + +"Each year you have your mate and your little birdlings in the nest. You +sing songs with the other birds. + +"I have never known a father or a mother, a sister or a brother. I am +lonely. + +"Is there nowhere in all this world some one whom I may love? Some one +who will love me?" + +Then the wood-bird began to sing a pretty love-song of a maiden sleeping +on the crest of a mountain, encircled by fire. + +Sweetly he sang:--"Only he who knows no fear may claim her for his +bride." + +Siegfried sprang to his feet. "I do not know fear. I have tried with all +my might to learn it. Oh, help me to find the mountain where +she sleeps!" + +The little bird flew away in the opposite direction from where the +wicked Nibelungs stood quarreling, and Siegfried joyously hurried after. + + +SIEGFRIED REACHES THE MOUNTAIN + +A heavy storm arose as Siegfried and the bird neared the foot of the +mountain where Brunhilde slept. There were peals of deep thunder. + +The sky grew very dark. The great boughs of the trees swayed with the +wind. + +Siegfried took shelter under a low spreading fir. + +The storm did not last long, and as the light again broke through the +clouds, Siegfried looked about for his little guide, but all in vain. +The bird had fled. + +Siegfried started on up the mountain, when suddenly the giant Wotan +stood before him. + +"What are you doing here?" demanded Wotan. + +Siegfried replied:-- + +"I am going to the top of this mountain. There a maiden lies sleeping. I +will awaken her, and she shall be my bride." + +"Go back to your forest!" commanded Wotan. "This mountain is encircled +by fire." + +And stretching forth his arm, he barred the path with his mighty spear. + +Siegfried quickly drew his sword from its sheath. + +"This is the magic spear that rules the world!" said Wotan. "Put away +that sword, or the spear that once shattered it will shatter it again!" + +"Ha!" cried Siegfried, "then you were my father's foe!" + +There was a flash of Siegfried's blade, then a crash that echoed over +mountains and valleys, and Siegfried had shattered Wotan's spear. It lay +in splinters on the ground. + +Wotan stepped aside and sadly bowed his head upon his breast. + +He knew this meant the downfall of the giants. No longer would the earth +be ruled from fair Valhalla's heights. + + +SIEGFRIED LEARNS WHAT FEAR IS + +Siegfried hurried up the mountain-side. + +The fierce flames leaped as if to meet him. + +They grew redder, and lapped their fiery tongues. + +Siegfried bounded toward them with joy. + +Lifting his silver horn to his lips, and blowing his Comrade Call so +sweet and clear, he plunged into their depths. + +The maddened flames leaped and crackled as if to devour him. + +But on he went, blowing his horn, until at length the sea of flames +slowly sank to earth. + +The redness of the sky gave way to blue, and all grew clear and +beautiful. + +Siegfried looked upon the sleeping figure. + +All the world seemed wrapped in silence. Not a leaf moved on the trees. + +There was not a sound to mar that perfect sleep. + +Siegfried looked in wonder at the shining coat of mail. + +"It is some valiant knight," he whispered. + +"How heavy seems the armor. It should be lifted so that he may rest +better." + +Carefully Siegfried lifted the glittering shield and laid it to one +side. + +Eagerly he raised the helmet. There fell a mass of waving golden hair. +"A burst of glorious sunshine," whispered Siegfried. + +Then he sought to loosen the rings that held the coat of mail. + +Finding it difficult, he drew his sword and cut them. + +The shining armor fell jingling to the ground. + +The soft white folds of her woman's gown fell loosely about her. + +Siegfried started back and stared in silence. + +He trembled from head to foot. + +He pressed his hand to his fast-beating heart. + +"At last!" he cried. "At last! I know what fear is." + + +THE AWAKENING + +At length Siegfried went softly to Brunhilde's side. + +He stood and looked upon her sweet, heroic face, and love came into his +heart. + +Bending low, he tenderly kissed her. + +Brunhilde slowly opened her eyes. + +She looked up at the blue sky and the smiling sun, and cried:-- + +"All hail to thee, thou glorious sun in heaven!" + +The flowers slowly opened their petals, the birds began to sing. + +Brunhilde's horse awoke and neighed his glad call. + +Brunhilde looked upon Siegfried. + +Slowly her memory returned. + +As she remembered Wotan's words: "Only he who knows no fear may claim +you for his bride," she knew at last her hero had come. + +She looked into Siegfried's strong, brave face, and as he told her of +his love, she no longer wished to go back to Valhalla. + +She knew that she loved Siegfried with all her heart, and she promised +to be his bride. + +She told him that she would always be happy when she was by his side. + + + + +GOETTERDAEMMERUNG + + +A SONG OF THE PAST + +One very dark night, three Norns came to the mountain crest to spin. + +[Illustration: THREE NORNS CAME TO THE MOUNTAIN CREST TO SPIN] + +If you had seen them, you would have called them witches. + +They spun the thread of fate. + +They were very, very old. The eldest was almost as old as the world. + +They were tall and gaunt, and wore long black gowns. + +Their faces and hands were deep-wrinkled with age, and their hair was as +white as the snow. + +They had come up from the great, dark earth-hole, where they lived, and +now they crouched upon the rocks to spin their thread. + +The eldest was the first to spin the thread, and as she spun, she sang a +song about the past, when Wotan and his happy family lived out of doors +upon the mountain-side. + +She sang of the time when he split from the world's ash tree the piece +of wood from which he made the magic spear, which had ruled the world +for so many hundreds of years. + +She sang of Freya's apples, and of the strength and youth of the giant +family. + +At length her voice wavered, the strange, weird song ceased, and she +tossed the thread to the second Norn. + + +A SONG OF THE PRESENT + +As the second Norn took the thread in her worn hands, she crooned a +sorrowful song about the present. + +She sang of Alberich and the stolen gold. Of the love that he had given +up in order to make the ring. + +She sang of Wotan and how he grasped the ring and carried it into the +world, bringing with it Alberich's curse. + +Then she told of Fafner. + +Mournfully she sang:-- + +"It has robbed all who have had it of their freedom and happiness. + +"It has brought envy and discontent to those who have struggled to gain +it. + +"Now Wotan's magic spear is splintered. + +"Oh! How this gold has tangled all my threads!" she wailed. + +Her long, gaunt fingers pulled and worked at the knots, but all in vain. + +She could not straighten out the snarls. + +"Sing, oh, my Sister, sing!" she cried. "You know what the end will be." + +And she tossed the snarled threads to the third Norn. + + +A SONG OF THE FUTURE + +The third Norn took up the thread. + +Twisting and untying, she sang of the future. + +She sang of the downfall of the giants. + +She sang of the time when Wotan and his family would be no more, and +bright Valhalla's halls would be only a ruin. + +"But, Sisters, look!" she cried. "The day is dawning. We must make +haste!" + +She tugged at the thread. The knots grew tighter. + +"Oh, see!" she cried. "I cannot make it reach." + +Another pull, the thread snapped. + +The three Norns wailed. + +Then, snatching up the broken ends of their thread of fate, they +vanished in the gloom. + + +A PLEDGE OF LOVE + +The days went by. Siegfried and Brunhilde were perfectly happy upon the +mountain. + +One day they decided that Siegfried should go forth to do brave deeds in +the world. + +He would come back when he had won honor and fame. + +He told Brunhilde how anxious he would be to get back to her, and that +he would come just as soon as he could. + +Brunhilde told Siegfried how lonely she would be without him, and how +she would listen both day and night for the glad call of his +silver horn. + +Siegfried took Brunhilde's hand and put the ring upon her finger, +saying:-- + +"This, Brunhilde, shall stay with you. It shall be a pledge of my love +until I come again." + +Brunhilde gave Siegfried her swift horse. On it he should ride to great +victories. + +Siegfried led the horse down the mountain. + +Every little way he looked lovingly back at Brunhilde. + +They called and waved to each other until he passed from sight. + +And after that Brunhilde listened to the clear notes of his silver horn, +until at length its last faint echo died away. + + +THE DOOM OF VALHALLA + +Siegfried had been away several days. + +Brunhilde sat looking far out over the valley. + +She was thinking of Siegfried and of how he was proving his courage to +the world. + +She lifted her hand to her lips and kissed the ring, Siegfried's pledge +of love. + +"Heiho! hoyotoho! heiho!" came from the valley below. + +Brunhilde sprang to her feet with the answer:-- + +"Heiho! hoyotoho! heiho!" + +Could it be that one of her sisters was coming to see her? + +Was it possible that one of the Walkuere would so far dare Wotan's wrath +as to venture to the mountain's crest? + +Nearer came the call:-- + +"Heiho! hoyotoho! heiho!" + +And a battle-maiden came in sight. + +Brunhilde was very happy to see her sister again, but the battle-maiden +looked sad. + +She brought bad news from Valhalla. + +She and Brunhilde sat down upon the rock, and the battle-maiden told the +sad story of the last days of the giants. + +"Brunhilde," she said, "Wotan does not know that I have come. Valhalla +is in deepest gloom. + +"Wotan has never sent us to a battlefield since that day when we last +saw you. + +"Not long ago he came home with his magic spear broken into splinters. +He sat down and buried his face in his hands, and there he sits day +after day. + +"He tell us the giants are passing from the earth. A little while and +Valhalla shall be no more. + +"He refuses all of Freya's golden fruit. He has grown very old and very +sad. + +"Yesterday I heard him say, 'Oh! if Brunhilde would only give the ring +back to the Rhine-daughters, and release the world from the terrible +curse of gold!' + +"And, Brunhilde, I have come to beg of you, will you not give the ring +back to the Rhine-daughters?" + +Brunhilde clasped the ring close to her breast. + +"Give the ring to the Rhine-daughters?" she cried. + +Then she looked far away toward the valley----and Siegfried. + +"This ring of mine is Siegfried's pledge of love!" + + +LOVE + +The next morning Brunhilde stood upon Walkuere Rock and watched the +glorious sunrise. + +Suddenly she heard the glad notes of Siegfried's silver horn. + +"Siegfried! Siegfried!" she cried in joy, and hurried down the mountain +to greet him. + +All the earth seemed as glad as at that glad time when Siegfried came to +Walkuere Rock to claim Brunhilde for his bride. + +But Brunhilde was not altogether happy. + +She could not forget the sorrowful news which her sister had brought, of +the gloom at Valhalla. + +So, after their first glad greeting, they sat down upon the rocks, and +Brunhilde told Siegfried the sad story of the ring, from the time when +Alberich snatched it from the Rhine-daughters, until the day Siegfried +took it from Hate Cavern. + +Then, hand in hand, they went, the valiant Siegfried and the noble +Brunhilde, to the banks of the Rhine. + +They called to the Rhine-daughters and the Rhine-daughters came out upon +the rocks. + +With a glad shout, Brunhilde flung the ring into the water. + +The Rhine-daughters darted after it. + +In a moment they came again to the surface of the water. + +At last they held their precious, glittering +gold. + +The happiest song that ever echoed along the banks of the Rhine was sung +by the Rhine-daughters on that glad morning. + + + + * * * * * + + + +Once more gold had become as harmless as a sunbeam. + +Hurry, worry, falsehood, greed, and envy vanished from the earth. + +Anxiety disappeared from the brows of the tired fathers. + +A new happiness came into the eyes of the loving mothers. + +A greater power than gold or giant strength had come to rule the world, +and that power was Love. + + + + +MORE ABOUT THE STORIES + +The author would not have you think that when you have read this little +book you know all that Richard Wagner told about Siegfried. + +When you are older, do not fail to read _The Rhine-Gold, The Walkuere, +Siegfried_, and _Goetterdaemmerung,_ as Richard Wagner told them. + +You will enjoy them more because of having read these little stories. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Opera Stories from Wagner, by Florence Akin + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OPERA STORIES FROM WAGNER *** + +***** This file should be named 9456.txt or 9456.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/9/4/5/9456/ + +Produced by Project Gutenberg Distributed Proofreaders + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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