He stops to hear,
So now for my song!
[He blows into the pipe, breaks off, and cuts it again to improve it. He resumes his blowing, shakes his head, and cuts the pipe once more. After another attempt he gets angry, presses the pipe with his hand, and tries again. He ceases playing and smiles.
That rings not right;
For the lovely tune
The reed is not suited at all.
I fear, sweet bird,
I am too dull;
Thy song cannot I learn.
[He hears the bird again and looks up to him.
He listens so roguishly
There that he shames me;
[Very tenderly.
He waits, and nothing rewards him.
Heida! Come hearken
Now to my horn;
[He flings the pipe away.
All I do sounds wrong
On the stupid reed;
To a song of the woods
That I know,
A merry song, listen now rather.
I hoped it would bring
Some comrade to me,
But wolves and bears
Were the best that came.
Now I will see
Who answers its note:
What comrade will come to its call.
[He takes the silver hunting-horn and blows on it. During the long-sustained notes he keeps his eyes expectantly on the bird. A movement in the background. Fafner, in the form of a monstrous lizard-like dragon, has risen from his lair in the cave. He breaks through the underwood and drags himself up to the higher ground, so that the front part of his body rests on it, while he utters a loud sound, as if yawning.
SIEGFRIED
[Looks round and gazes at Fafner in astonishment. He laughs.
My horn with its note
Has allured something lovely;
A jolly companion wert thou.
FAFNER
[At the sight of Siegfried has paused on the high ground, and remains there.
What is that?
SIEGFRIED
If thou art a beast
Who can use its tongue,
Perchance thou couldst teach me something.
Here stands one
Who would learn to fear;
Say, wilt thou be his teacher?
FAFNER
Is this insolence?
SIEGFRIED
Courage or insolence,
What matter?
With my sword I will slay thee,
Wilt thou not teach me to fear.
FAFNER [Makes a laughing sound.
Drink I came for;
Now food I find too!
[He opens his jaws and shows his teeth.
SIEGFRIED
What a fine set of teeth
Thou showest me there!
Sweetly they smile
In thy dainty mouth!
'Twere well if I closed up thy gullet;
Thy jaws are gaping too wide!
FAFNER
They were not made
For idle talk,
But they will serve
To swallow thee.
SIEGFRIED
Hoho! Ferocious,
Merciless churl!
I have no fancy
To be eaten.
Better it seems to me
That without delay thou shouldst die!
FAFNER [Roaring.
Pruh! Come,
Boy, with thy boasts!
SIEGFRIED [Draws his sword.
Beware, growler!
The boaster comes!
[He springs towards Fafner and remains defiantly confronting him. Fafner drags himself further up the knoll and spits at Siegfried from his nostrils. Siegfried avoids the poison, springs nearer, and stands on one side. Fafner tries to reach him with his tail. Siegfried, who is nearly caught, springs over Fafner with one bound, and wounds him in the tail. Fafner roars, pulls his tail angrily away, and raises the front part of his body so that he may throw its full weight on Siegfried, thus offering his breast to the stroke. Siegfried quickly looks to see where his heart is, and thrusts his sword into it up to the hilt. Fafner raises himself still higher in his pain, and, when Siegfried has let go his sword and sprung aside, he sinks on the wound.
SIEGFRIED
Lie there, envious brute! Nothung's point home has speeded!
FAFNER [In a weaker voice.
Who art thou, boy bold-hearted,
That hast pierced my breast?
Who stirred up thy childish soul
To the murderous deed?
Thy brain schemed not the harm
Wrought by thy hand.
SIEGFRIED
Not much have I learned,
Not even who I am;
Thou thyself with thy taunting
Stirred me to fight and to slay.
FAFNER
O boy bright-eyed,
Who knowest not yet who thou art,
Whom thou hast murdered
Hear from me.
Two mighty giants there were,
Fasolt and Fafner;
The brothers now are both fallen.
For the cursèd gold
We got from the Gods
I did Fasolt to death.
He who now guards
The hoard as dragon,
Fafner, the last remaining,
Falls, by a rosy boy slain.
Boy in thy bloom,
Watch and be wary:
He who stirred thee blind to this deed
Takes thought how to compass thy death.
[Dying.
Mark the ending!
Think on me!
SIEGFRIED
Who was my father?
Tell, if thou canst.
Dying, thou showest,
Wild one, much wisdom.
Siegfried my name is; haply
That may help thee to guess.
FAFNER
Siegfried!...
[He raises himself and dies.
SIEGFRIED
The dead can tell no tidings.
My living sword, lead!
Lead onward, my sword!
[Fafner has rolled to the side in dying. Siegfried now draws the sword from his breast. In doing so his hand gets sprinkled with the blood; he draws it back quickly.
The hot blood burns like fire!
[Involuntarily he raises his fingers to his mouth to suck the blood from them. As he looks musingly before him his attention becomes more and more attracted by the singing of the birds.
I almost seem
To hear the birds speaking to me.
Is there a spell,
Perhaps, in the blood?
The curious bird up there—
Hark! he sings to me.
VOICE OF THE WOOD-BIRD
[From the branches of the lime-tree above Siegfried.
Hei! Siegfried now owns
All the Nibelung hoard!
Oh! could he the hoard
In the cave but find!
Tarnhelm, if he could but win it,
Would help him to deeds of renown;
And could he discover the ring,
It would make him the lord of the world!
SIEGFRIED
[Has listened holding his breath and beaming with delight.
Thanks, bonnie bird,
For the counsel good:
I follow the call!
[He turns towards the back and descends to the cave, where he at once disappears.
Mime steals up, looking about him timidly to assure himself of Fafner's death. At the same time Alberich comes out of the cleft on the opposite side. He observes Mime, rushes on him and bars his way, as the latter turns towards the cave.
ALBERICH
On what errand
Furtive and sly,
Knave, dost thou slink?
MIME
Accursèd brother,
That thou shouldst come!
What brings thee here?
ALBERICH
Rogue, has my gold
Provoked thy greed?
Dost covet my goods?
MIME
Get thee gone quickly!
This corner is mine;
What huntest thou here?
ALBERICH
Have I disturbed thee,
Thief, at thy work,
Secret and sly?
MIME
What I have slaved
And toiled to win
Shall not escape me.
ALBERICH
Who was it robbed
The Rhine of gold for the ring?
And whose cunning wrought
The spell of magical might?
MIME
Who made the Tarnhelm,
Changing its wearer's form?
Though thou didst want it,
Was it designed by thee?
ALBERICH
And what of thyself
Couldst aright have fashioned, thou bungler?
The magic ring
Forced thee to master thy craft.
MIME
And where is the ring?
'Twas reft from thy clutch by the giants.
What thou hast lost
I will gain and keep by my guile.
ALBERICH
What the boy has won
Would the niggard deny him?
'Tis not thine; the hero
Who won it is now its lord.
MIME
I brought him up;
For my pains now he shall pay;
For its reward
My trouble has waited too long.
ALBERICH
Just for rearing him,
The old niggardly,
Beggarly knave,
Bold as brass,
A king now would become?
The ring would befit
Better a dog
Than bumpkin like thee.
Never to thee
The magical ring shall fall!
MIME [Scratches his head.
Well, keep it, then,
And guard with care
The gleaming gold;
Be thou lord,
But treat me as a brother;
Give me against it
Tarnhelm for toy,
Fairly exchanged;
Divided thus,
There will be booty for both.
[He rubs his hands confidingly.
ALBERICH [With a mocking laugh.
Share it with thee?
And the Tarnhelm too!
How sly thou art!
I could never
Sleep for a moment safely.
MIME [Beside himself.
What! not even
Strike a bargain!
I must go bare,
Beggared of gain!
Thou wouldst leave me with nothing!
[Shrieking.
ALBERICH
Nothing, not so
Much as a nail,
Shall fall to thy portion.
MIME [In a fury.
Neither ring nor Tarnhelm
Shall thy hand touch, then;
'Tis I will not share!
I will call on Siegfried,
Summon the aid
Of his keen-edged sword;
The lad will make
Short work, dear brother, of thee!
ALBERICH
[Siegfried having appeared in the background.
Turn and look there!
From the cavern hither he comes.
MIME
He will have chosen
Trivial toys.
ALBERICH
He bears the Tarnhelm!
MIME
Also the ring!
ALBERICH
Curst luck! The ring!
MIME [Laughing maliciously.
Get him to give thee the ring now!
'Tis I, not thou, who shall win it.
ALBERICH
And yet to its lord
Must it at last be surrendered!
[He disappears in the cleft.
[During the foregoing Siegfried, with Tarnhelm and ring, has come slowly and meditatively from the cave; he regards his booty thoughtfully, and stops on the knoll in the middle of the stage.
SIEGFRIED
I do not know
Of what use
Ye are; I chose you
From out the heaped-up hoard
Because of friendly advice.
Meanwhile, of this day
Be ye worn as witness,
Recalling to mind
How with fallen Fafner I fought,
And yet could not learn how to fear.
[He hangs the Tarnhelm on his girdle and puts the ring on his finger. Silence. His notice is involuntarily drawn to the bird again, and he listens to him with breathless attention.
THE WOOD-BIRD'S VOICE
Hei! Siegfried now owns
Both the helm and the ring!
Oh! let him not listen
To Mime, the false!
He were wise to be wary of
Mime's treacherous tongue.
He will understand
Mime's secret intent,
Because he has tasted the blood.
[Siegfried's mien and gestures show that he has understood the bird's song. He sees Mime approaching, and remains without moving, leaning on his sword, observant and self-contained, in his place on the knoll till the close of the following scene.
MIME
[Steals forward, and observes Siegfried from the foreground.
He weighs in his mind
The booty's worth;
Can there by chance
Have come this way
A Wanderer wise
Who talked to the child,
And taught him crafty runes?
Doubly sly
Be then the dwarf;
My snares must be cunning,
Cleverly set,
That with cajoling
And wily falsehoods
The insolent boy I may fool.
[He goes nearer to Siegfried and welcomes him with flattering gestures.
Ha! Welcome, Siegfried!
Say, bold fighter,
Hast thou been taught how to fear?
SIEGFRIED
A teacher still is to find.
MIME
But the dragon grim
Has fallen before thee?
A fell and fierce monster was he.
SIEGFRIED
Though grim and spiteful the brute,
I grieve over his death,
While there live still, unpunished,
Blacker scoundrels than he was!
The one who bade me slay
I hate far more than the slain.
MIME [Very friendly.
Have patience! Thou wilt not
Look on me long.
[Sweetly.
In endless sleep
Soon thine eyelids will be sealed.
Thy uses are over,
[As if praising him.
Done is the deed;
The only task left
For me is to win the booty.
Methinks that task will not tax me;
Thou wert always easy to fool.
SIEGFRIED
To me thou art plotting harm, then?
MIME [Astonished.
What makes thee think that?
[Continuing tenderly.
Siegfried, listen, my own one!
I have always loathed
Thee and all that are like thee.
It was not from love
That I reared thee with care:
The gold hid in Fafner's cave
I worked for as my reward.
[As if he were promising him something nice.
If thou wilt not yield
It up to me,
[As if he were ready to lay down his life for him.
Siegfried, my son,
Thou plainly must see
[As if in friendly jest.
I have no choice but to slay thee!
SIEGFRIED
That I am hated
Pleases me;
But must I lose my life for thy pleasure?
MIME [Angrily.
I never said that;
Thou hast made a mistake.
See, thou art weary
From stress of strife,
Burning with fever and thirst;
Mime, the kind one,
To cool thy thirst
Brought a quickening draught.
While thy blade thou didst melt
I brewed thee the drink;
Touch it, and straight
Thy sword shall be mine,
And mine the hoard and Tarnhelm too.
[Tittering.
SIEGFRIED
So thou of my sword
And all it has won me—
Ring and booty—wouldst rob me?
MIME [Violently.
Why wilt mistake so my words!
Do I drivel or dote?
I use the utmost
Pains with my speech,
That what in my heart
I mean may be hidden;
And the stupid boy
Misunderstands what I say!
Open thy ears, boy,
And attend to me!
Hear, now, what Mime means.
Take this: the drink will refresh thee
As my drinks oft have done.
Many a time
When fretful and bad,
Though loth enough,
The draughts I brought thou hast swallowed.
SIEGFRIED
Of a cooling drink
I were glad;
Say, how has this one been brewed?
MIME
[Jesting merrily, as if describing to him a pleasant state of intoxication which the liquor is to bring about.
Hei! Just drink it!
Trust to my skill.
In mist and darkness
Soon shall thy senses be sunk;
None to watch or ward them,
Stark-stretched shall thy limbs be.
Thou lying thus,
'Twere not hard
To take the booty and hide it;
But wert thou to awake,
Nevermore would
Mime be safe,
Even owning the ring.
So with the sword
He has made so sharp
[With a gesture of extravagant joy.
First I will hack
The child's head off!
Then I shall have both rest and the ring!
[Tittering.
SIEGFRIED
Thou wouldst, then, slay me when sleeping?
MIME [Furiously.
Do what, child? Did I say that?
[He takes pains to assume the utmost tenderness. Carefully and distinctly.
I only mean
To chop off thy head!
[With the appearance of heartfelt solicitude for Siegfried's health.
For even if I
Had loathed thee less,
And had not thy scoffs
And my drudgery shameful
So loudly urged to vengeance,
[Gently.
I should never dare to pause
Till from my path I thrust thee:
[Jestingly again.
How else could I come by the booty,
Which Alberich covets as well?
[He pours the liquid into the drinking-horn, and offers it to Siegfried with pressing gestures.
Now, my Wälsung,
Wolf-begot,
Drink the draught and be choked,
And never drink again!
[Tittering.
SIEGFRIED [Threatens him with his sword.
Taste thou my sword,
Loathsome babbler!
[As if seized by violent loathing, he gives Mime a sharp stroke with his sword. Instantly Mime falls dead to the ground. Alberich's voice in mocking laughter from the cleft.
SIEGFRIED
[Looking at Mime on the ground, quietly hangs his sword again on his belt.
Envy's wage
Pays Nothung;
'Twas for this that I forged him.
[He picks up Mime's body, carries it to the knoll, and throws it into the cave.
In the cavern, there,
Lie on the hoard;
With steadfast guile
The gold thou hast gained:
Now let it belong to its master!
And a watchman good
I give thee, that thieves
Never may enter and steal.
[With a great effort he pushes the body of the dragon in front of the entrance to the cave, which it completely stops up.
There lie thou too,
Dragon grim;
Along with thy foe
Greedy of gain
Thou shalt guard the glittering gold:
So both at last shall rest in peace.
[He looks down thoughtfully into the cave for a time, and then turns slowly to the front of the stage as if tired. He passes his hand over his brow.
Hot I feel
From the heavy toil;
Fast and furious
Flows my blood,
My hand burns on my head.
High stands the sun in heaven;
From azure heights
Falls his gaze
Through a cloudless sky on my crown.
Pleasant shadows will cool me under the linden.
[He stretches himself out under the lime-tree, and again looks up through the boughs.
If only, pretty warbler,
So long and so
Rudely disturbed,
I could once more hear thee singing!
On a branch I see thee
Merrily swaying;
Chirping and chattering,
Brothers and sisters
Are happily hovering round.
But I—I am alone,
Without brother or sister;
My mother died,
My father fell,
Unseen by their son!
The one soul I knew
Was a loathsome old dwarf;
[Warmly.
Love he festered not
By kindness;
Many a cunning
Snare did he set me;
At last I was forced to slay him.
[He looks sorrowfully up at the branches.
Bird sweet and friendly,
I ask thee a boon:
Wilt thou find for me
A comrade true?—
Wilt thou choose for me the right one?
So oft I have called,
And yet no one has come!
Thou, my friend,
Wilt manage it better,
So wise thy counsel has been.
[Softly.
Now sing! I hearken to thy song.
THE WOOD-BIRD'S VOICE
Hei! Siegfried has slain
The deceitful dwarf!
I know for him now
A glorious bride.
She sleeps where rugged rocks soar;
Ringed is her chamber by fire.
Who battles the flames,
Wakens the bride,
Brünnhilde wins as reward.
SIEGFRIED
[Starts up impetuously from his seat.
O lovely song,
Flower-sweet breath!
Thy yearning music
Burns in my breast!
Like leaping flame
It kindles my heart.
What races so swift
Through soul and senses?
Sweetest of friends, O say!
[He listens.
THE WOOD-BIRD'S VOICE
Grieving yet glad,
Love I am singing;
Blissful, from woe
Weaving my song:
They only who yearn understand.
SIEGFRIED
Forth, forth then,
Swift and rejoicing!
Forth from the wood to the fell!
Just one thing more
I would learn, sweet singer:
Say, shall I break through the fire?
Can I awaken the bride?
[He listens again.
THE WOOD-BIRD'S VOICE
No coward wins
Brünnhild' for bride,
Or wakes the maid:
Only a heart without fear.
SIEGFRIED [Shouting with joy.
The foolish boy
Who has never learned fear,
Dear bird, that dullard am I!
To-day I took endless
Trouble in vain,
To find out what fear was from Fafner.
With longing I burn
Now from Brünnhild' to learn it.
What path soonest leads to the fell?
[The bird flutters up, circles over Siegfried, and flies hesitatingly before him.
SIEGFRIED
The bird to my goal will guide me.
Fly where thou wilt,
I follow thy flight!
[He runs after the bird, who for a time flies uncertainly hither and thither to tease him; at last he follows him, when, taking a definite direction towards the back, the bird flies away.
A wild spot at the foot of a rocky mountain which rises precipitously at the back on the left. Night, storm, lightning and violent thunder. The latter ceases shortly, but the lightning continues to flash from the clouds for some time. The Wanderer enters and walks resolutely towards a cavernous opening in a rock in the foreground, and takes up his position there, leaning on his spear, while he calls the following towards the entrance to the cave.
WANDERER
Waken, Wala!
Wala! Awake!
From thy long sleep,
Slumberer, wake at my call!
I summon thee forth:
Arise! Arise!
From cloud-covered caves
In earth's dim abysses, arise!
Erda! Erda,
Old as the world!
From depths dark and hidden
Rise to the day!
With song I call thee,
I sing to wake thee,
From deep dreams of wisdom
Bid thee arise.
All-knowing one!
Fount of knowledge!
Erda! Erda,
Old as the world!
Waken! Awaken, thou Vala! Awaken!
[A dim bluish light begins to dawn in the cavern. In this light Erda, during the following, rises very gradually from below. She appears to be covered with hoar-frost, which glitters on her hair and garments.
ERBA
Loud is the call;
Strong the spell that summons;
I have been roused
From dark and wise dreams:
Who wakes me from my sleep?
WANDERER
'Tis I who awake thee
With song of magic,
That what in slumber
Was folded fast may rise.
The wide earth ranging,
Far I have roamed,
Seeking for knowledge,
Wisdom at fountains primeval.
No one that lives
Is wiser than thou;
Thou knowest all
In the hidden depths,
What moves on hill,
Dale, in water and air.
Where life is found,
There thou art breathing;
And where brains ponder,
There is thy thought.
Men say that all
Knowledge is thine.
That I might ask of thee counsel,
I have called thee from sleep.
ERBA
My sleep is dreaming,
My dreaming brooding,
My brooding wisdom's calm working.
But while I sleep
The Norns are wakeful:
They twine the rope,
And deftly weave what I know.
The Norns thou shouldst have questioned.
WANDERER
In thrall to the world
Sit the Norns weaving;
They cannot alter
What ordained is.
But I would fain
Be taught of thy wisdom
How a wheel on the roll can be stayed.
ERBA
Dark and troubled
My mind grows through men's deeds.
A God once subdued
The Wala's self to his will.
A wish-maiden
I bore to Wotan;
From fields of battle
She brought him slain heroes;
Bold is she
And wise to boot:
Why waken me?
Why seek not counsel
From Erda's and Wotan's child?
WANDERER
The Valkyrie, Brünnhild'?
Meanest thou her?
She flouted the storm-controller,
When, sorely urged, himself he controlled.
What the swayer and lord
Of battles longed for,
What he refrained from
Against his desire,
Brünnhilde, bold,
Rash, over-confident,
When the fight was at fiercest,
Strove for herself to perform.
War-father
Punished the maid:
He pressed slumber into her eyes,
On the flame-girt rock she sleeps.
The hallowed maid
Will waken alone,
That she may love and wed with a man.
Small hope of answer from her.
ERBA
Dazed have I felt
Since I woke;
Wild, confused
Seems the world!
The Valkyrie,
The Wala's child,
Bound lay, fettered by sleep,
While her all-knowing mother slept!
Does revolt's teacher
Chide revolt?
Does the deed he urged to
Anger him, done?
He who guards the right,
To whom vows are sacred,
Hinders the right?—
Reigns through falsehood?
Let me down to the dark,
That my wisdom may slumber!
WANDERER
I will not let thee descend,
For a potent magic I wield.
All-wise one,
Planted by thee
The sting of care was
In Wotan's dauntless heart;
For, through thy wisdom,
Downfall and shameful
Doom were foretold him;
My mind was fettered by fear.
Now let the world's
Wisest of women
Answer and say
How a God may conquer his care.
ERBA
Thou art not
What thou hast said.
Why art thou come, wild and wayward,
To trouble the Wala's sleep?
WANDERER
Thou art not
What thou hast dreamed.
Thy end draws near,
Mother of wisdom;
Thy wisdom at war
With me shall perish.
Knowest thou Wotan's will?
[A long silence.
I tell thee
That thou mayest sleep
For evermore unvexed by care.
That the Gods are doomed,
No longer dismays me,
Since I will it so.
What, with myself at war, in anguish,
Despairing, once I resolved,
Gaily, gladly,
With delight I now do.
Mad with disgust I decreed once
The world to the Nibelung's hate,
But now to the valiant Wälsung
I leave it with joy.
One who never knew me,
Though chosen by me,
A boy bold and fearless,
Helped not by Wotan,
Has won the Nibelung's ring.
Blest in love,
Void of all envy,
On him shall fall harmless
Alberich's curse,
For no fear does he know.
Soon thy child and mine,
Brünnhild',
Shall be waked by him;
And when waked
Our child shall achieve
A deed to redeem the world.
So slumber again,
Closing thine eyelids;
Dreaming behold my downfall!
Whatever comes after,
The God rejoicing
Yields to youth ever young.
Descend, then, Erda,
Mother of fear!
World-sorrow!
Descend! Descend!
And sleep for aye!
[Erda, whose eyes are already closed, and who has gradually been sinking deeper, disappears entirely. The cavern has become quite dark again.
Dawn lights up the stage; the storm has ceased. The Wanderer has gone close to the cave, and leans with his back against it, facing the wings.
WANDERER
Lo! Yonder Siegfried comes.
[He remains where he is without changing his position. Siegfried's wood-bird flutters towards the foreground. Suddenly the bird stops in his direct flight, flutters to and fro in alarm, and disappears quickly towards the back.
SIEGFRIED [Enters and stops.
My bird has vanished from sight!
With fluttering wings
And lovely song
Blithely he showed me the way,
And then forsook me and fled!
I must discover
The rock for myself:
The path I followed so far
'Twere best still to pursue.
[He goes towards the back.
WANDERER [Still in the same position.
Boy, pray tell me,
Whither away?
SIEGFRIED [Halts and turns round.
Did some one speak?
Perhaps he knows the road.
[He goes nearer to the Wanderer.
I would find a rock
That by flaming fire is surrounded:
There sleeps a maid
Whom I would awake.
WANDERER
Who bade thee seek
This rock flame-circled?—
Taught thee to yearn for the woman?
SIEGFRIED
It was a singing
Woodland bird;
He gave me welcome tidings.
WANDERER
A wood-bird chatters idly
What no man understands;
How then couldst thou tell
The song's true meaning?
SIEGFRIED
Because of the blood
Of a dragon grim
That fell before me at Neidhöhl'—
The burning blood
Had scarce touched my tongue
When the sense of the singer grew plain.
WANDERER
Who was it urged thee on
To try thy strength,
And slay this dragon so dread?
SIEGFRIED
My guide was Mime,
A faithless dwarf:
What fear is fain he had taught me.
But 'twas the dragon
Roused me himself,
Wrathful, to strike the blow;
For he threatened me with his jaws.
WANDERER
Who forged the sword
So hard and keen
That it slew the daunting foe?
SIEGFRIED
I forged it myself
When the smith was beaten;
Swordless else I should have been still.
WANDERER
But who made
The mighty splinters
From which the sword was welded strong?
SIEGFRIED
What know I of that?
I only know
That the splintered steel was useless
Were not the sword forged anew.
WANDERER
[Bursts out laughing with gleeful good-humour.
I fully agree.
SIEGFRIED [Surprised.
At what dost thou laugh?
Prying greybeard!
Prithee have done;
Keep me no longer here talking.
Speak if thou knowest
Whither my way lies;
And hold thy tongue
Unless thou canst tell.
WANDERER
Good boy, have patience!
If I seem old,
More need to show me due honour.
SIEGFRIED
What an odd notion!
My whole life long
A hateful old man
Has blocked my pathway;
Him I at last swept aside.
Standest thou longer
Trying here to stay me,
I warn thee frankly
[With a significant gesture.
That thou like Mime shalt fare.
[He goes still nearer to the Wanderer.
But what art thou like?
Why wearest thou
Such a monstrous hat,
And why hangs it so over thy face?
WANDERER [Still without altering his position.
That is the way I wear it
When against the wind I go.
SIEGFRIED [Inspecting him still more closely.
But an eye beneath it is wanting.
Perchance by some one
Whose way thou didst
Too boldly bar
It has been struck out.
Take thyself off,
Or else very soon
The other thou shalt lose also!
WANDERER
I see, my son,
Where thou art blind,
And hence thy jaunty assurance.
With the eye that is
Amissing in me
Thou lookest now on the other
That still is left me for sight.
SIEGFRIED
[Who has been listening thoughtfully, now bursts involuntarily into hearty laughter.
Thy foolish talk sets me laughing!
But come, this nonsense must finish.
At once show me my way;
Then proceed thou too on thine own;
For me further
Use thou hast none:
So speak, or off thou shalt pack!
WANDERER [Gently.
Child, didst thou know
Who I am,
Thy scoffs I had been spared!
From one so dear,
Insult hard to endure is.
Long have I loved
Thy radiant race,
Though from my fury
In terror it shrank.
Thou whom I love so,
All too fair one,
Rouse my wrath not to-day;
It would ruin both thee and me.
SIEGFRIED
Still art thou dumb,
Stubborn old man?
Stand to one side, then;
That pathway, I know,
Leads to the slumbering maid;
For thither the wood-bird
Was guiding when he flew off.
[It suddenly becomes dark again.
WANDERER
[Breaking out in anger and assuming a commanding attitude.
In fear of its life it fled.
It knew that here
Was the ravens' lord;
Dire his plight were he caught!
The way that it guided
Thou shalt not go!
SIEGFRIED
[Amazed, falls hack and assumes a defiant attitude.
Hoho! Interferer!
Who then art thou
That wilt not let me pass?
WANDERER
Fear thou the rock's defender!
My might it is
Holds the maiden fettered by sleep.
He who would wake her,
He who would win her,
Impotent makes me for ever.
A burning sea
Encircles the maid,
Fires fiercely glowing
Surround the rock;
He who craves the bride
The flames must boldly defy.
[He points with his spear towards the rocky heights.
Look up above!
That light dost thou see?
The surging heat,
The splendour, grows;
Clouds of fire rolling,
Tongues of flame writhing,
Roaring and raging,
Come ravening down.
Thy head now
Is flooded with light;
[A flickering glow, increasing in brightness, appears on the summit of the rock.
The fire will seize thee,
Seize and devour thee.—
Back, back, there, foolhardy boy!
SIEGFRIED
Stand back, old babbler, thyself!
For where the fire is burning,
To Brünnhilde yonder I go!
[He advances; the Wanderer bars his way.
WANDERER
Hast thou no fear of the fire,
Then barred by my spear be thy path!
I still hold the haft
That conquers all;
The sword thou dost wield
It shivered long ago:
Upon my spear eternal
Break it once more.
[He stretches out his spear.
SIEGFRIED [Drawing his sword.
'Tis my father's foe,
Found here at last!
Now, then, for vengeance!
In luck am I!
Brandish thy spear:
My sword will hew it in twain!
[With one stroke he hews the Wanderer's spear in two pieces. Lightning flashes from the spear up towards the rocks, where the light, until now dim, begins to flame brighter and brighter. A violent thunder-clap, which quickly dies away, accompanies the stroke.
WANDERER
[Quietly picking up the pieces of the spear which have fallen at his feet.
Fare on! I cannot prevent thee!
[He suddenly disappears in utter darkness.
SIEGFRIED
With his spear in splinters
Vanished the coward!
[The growing brightness of the clouds of fire, which keep sinking down lower and lower, attracts Siegfried's eye.
Ha! Rapturous fire!
Glorious light!
Shining my pathway
Opens before me.
In fiery flames plunging,
Through fire I will win to the bride!
Hoho! Hahei!
To summon a comrade I call!
[He sets his horn to his lips and plunges into the fiery billows, which, flowing down from the heights, now spread over the foreground. Siegfried, who is soon lost to view, seems, from the sound of his horn, to be ascending the mountain. The flames begin to fade, and change gradually into a dissolving cloud lit by the glow of dawn.