When Huldbrand awoke from his sleep on the following morning, and missed his beautiful wife from his side, he began to indulge again in the strange thoughts, that his marriage and the charming Undine herself were but feeting and deceptive illusions. But at the same moment she entered the room, sat down beside him, and said:“I have been out rather early to see if my uncle keeps his word.He has already led all the waters back again into his own calm channel, and he now fows through the forest, solitarily and dreamily as before.His friends in the water and the air have also returned to repose:all will again go on quietly and regularly, and you can travel homeward when you will, dry-shod.”
It seemed to Huldbrand as though he were in a waking dream, so little could he reconcile himself to the strange relationship of his wife. Nevertheless he made no remark on the matter, and the exquisite grace of his bride soon lulled to rest every uneasy misgiving.When he was afterward standing before the door with her, and looking over the green peninsula with its boundary of clear waters, he felt so happy in this cradle of his love, that he exclaimed:“Why shall we travel so soon as to-day?We shall scarcely find more pleasantdays in the world yonder than those we have spent in this quiet little shelter.Let us yet see the sun go down here twice or thrice more.”
“As my lord wills,”replied Undine, humbly.“It is only that the old people will, at all events, part from me with pain, and when they now for the first time perceive the true soul within me, and how I can now heartily love and honor, their feeble eyes will be dimmed with plentiful tears. At present they consider my quietness and gentleness of no better promise than before, like the calmness of the lake when the air is still;and, as matters now are, they will soon learn to cherish a flower or a tree as they have cherished me.Do not, therefore, let me reveal to them this newly-bestowed and loving heart, just at the moment when they must lose it for this world;and how could I conceal it, if we remain longer together?”
Huldbrand conceded the point;he went to the aged people and talked with them over the journey, which he proposed to undertake immediately. The holy father offered to accompany the young married pair, and, after a hasty farewell, he and the knight assisted the beautiful bride to mount her horse, and walked with rapid step by her side over the dry channel of the forest-stream into the wood beyond.Undine wept silently but bitterly, and the old people gave loud expression to their grief.It seemed as if they had a presentiment of all they were now losing in their foster-child.
The three travellers had reached in silence the densest shades of the forest. It must have been a fair sight, under that green canopy of leaves, to see Undine's lovely form, as she sat on her noble and richly ornamented steed, with the venerable priest in the white garb of his order on one side of her, and on the other the blooming youngknight in his gay and splendid attire, with his sword at his girdle.Huldbrand had no eyes but for his beautiful wife Undine, who had dried her tears, had no eyes but for him, and they soon fell into a mute, voiceless converse of glance and gesture, from which they were only roused at length by the low talking of the reverend father with a fourth traveller, who in the mean while had joined them unobserved.
He wore a white garment almost resembling the dress of the priests order, except that his hood hung low over his face, and his whole attire foated round him in such vast folds that he was obliged every moment to gather it up, and throw it over his arm, or dispose of it in some way, and yet it did not in the least seem to impede his movements. When the young couple frst perceived him, he was just saying:“And so, venerable sir.I have now dwelt for many years here in the forest, and yet no one could call me a hermit, in your sense of the word.For, as I said, I know nothing of penance, and I do not think I have any especial need of it.I lose the forest only for this reason, that its beauty is quite peculiar to itself, and it amuses me to pass along in my fowing white garments among the eases and dusky shadows, while now and then a sweet sunbeam shines down unexpectedly upon me.”
“You are a very strange man,”replied the priest,“and I should like to be more closely acquainted with you.”
“And to pass from one thing to another, who may you be yourself?”asked the stranger.
“I am called Father Heilmann,”said the holy man;“and I come from the monastery of‘our Lady'which lies on the other side of thelake.”
“Indeed,”replied the stranger;“my name is Kuhleborn, and so far as courtesy is concerned I might claim the title of Lord of Kuhleborn, or free Lord of Kuhleborn;for I am as free as the birds in the forest and perhaps a little more so. For example, I have now something to say to the young lady there.”And before they were aware of his intention, he was at the other side of the priest, close beside Undine, stretching himself up to whisper something in her ear.
But she turned from him with alarm, and exclaimed:“I have nothing more to do with you.”
“Ho, ho,”laughed the stranger,“what is this immensely grand marriage you have made, that you don't know your own relations any longer?Have you forgotten your uncle Kuhleborn, who so faithfully bore you on his back through this region?”
“I beg you, nevertheless,”replied Undine,“not to appear in my presence again. I am now afraid of you;and suppose my husband should learn to avoid me when he sees me in such strange company and with such relations!”
“My little niece,”said Kuhleborn,“you must not forget that I am with you here as a guide;the spirits of earth that haunt this place might otherwise play some of their stupid pranks with you. Let me therefore go quietly on with you;the old priest there remembered me better than you appear to have done, for he assured me just now that I seemed familiar to him, and that I must have been with him in the boat, out of which he fell into the water.I was so, truly enough;for I was the water-spout that carried him out of it and washed himsafely ashore for your wedding.”
Undine and the knight turned toward Father Heilmann;but he seemed walking on, as in a sort of dream, and no longer to be conscious of all that was passing. Undine then said to Kuhleborn,“I see yonder the end of the forest.We no longer need your help, and nothing causes us alarm but yourself.I beg you, therefore, in all love and good-will, vanish, and let us proceed in peace.”
Kuhleborn seemed to become angry at this;his countenance assumed a frightful expression, and he grinned fercely at Undine, who screamed aloud and called upon her husband for assistance. As quick as lightning, the knight sprang to the other side of the horse, and aimed his sharp sword at Kuhleborn's head.But the sword cut through a waterfall, which was rushing down near them from a lofty crag;and with a splash, which almost sounded like a burst of laughter, it poured over them and wet them through to the skin.
The priest, as if suddenly awaking, exclaimed:“I have long been expecting that, for the stream ran down from the height so close to us. At first it really seemed to me like a man, and as if it could speak.”As the waterfall came rushing down, it distinctly uttered these words in Huldbrand's ear:—
Rash knight,
Brave knight,
Rage, feel I not,
Chide, will I not.
But ever guard thy little wife as well,
Rash knight, brave knight!Protect her well!
A few footsteps more, and they were upon open ground. The imperial city lay bright before them, and the evening sun, which gilded its towers, kindly dried the garments of the drenched wanderers.
明天一早黑爾勃郎醒過(guò)來(lái)的時(shí)候,不見(jiàn)了共衾的渦堤孩,他不覺(jué)又疑懼起來(lái)。但是他正在胡想,她已經(jīng)走近身來(lái),吻他一下,坐在床邊,說(shuō)道——
“我今天起得早些,我去見(jiàn)我伯父,問(wèn)定當(dāng)一聲。他已將水完全收了回去,他現(xiàn)在在樹(shù)林里幽幽淡淡地流著,重新歸復(fù)他隱士的生活。他水里空中許多同伴也都休息去了,所以一天星斗全已散消,隨你什么時(shí)候動(dòng)身都可以,你穿過(guò)樹(shù)林也足都不會(huì)打濕?!?/p>
黑爾勃郎還有些恍恍惚惚,前后事實(shí)好像一個(gè)荒唐大夢(mèng),他怎么會(huì)同渦堤孩發(fā)生了夫婦關(guān)系。但是他外貌依舊坦然,不讓渦堤孩覺(jué)察,況且這樣蜜甜一個(gè)美婦人,她就是妖精鬼怪要吃他的腦髓他都舍不得逃走哩。后來(lái)他們一起站在門口看風(fēng)景,青草綠水,美日和風(fēng),他穩(wěn)坐在愛(ài)情的搖籃里,覺(jué)得異??鞓?lè),他說(shuō)道——
“我們何必一定今天動(dòng)身呢?一到外邊世界上去,我們?cè)僖膊灰脒^(guò)這樣幽靜鮮甜的日子。讓我們至少再看兩三個(gè)太陽(yáng)落山,再去不遲?!?/p>
渦堤孩很謙卑地回答說(shuō):“悉聽(tīng)主公尊便!就是這對(duì)老夫妻總是舍不得離開(kāi)我的,假使我們?cè)僮∠氯?,使他們看?jiàn)有了靈魂以后的我,充滿愛(ài)情和尊嚴(yán)的泉流,那時(shí)若然分別豈不是害他們連老眼都要哭瞎了嗎?現(xiàn)在他們還以為我暫時(shí)的平靜安詳,猶之沒(méi)有風(fēng)時(shí)候湖里不起波浪一般,我的感情不過(guò)像稚嫩的花苗而已。要若然我新生命愈加充滿豈不是連累彼此都受更深切的痛苦嗎?要是再住下去我這一番變化又如何瞞得過(guò)他們呢?”
黑爾勃郎很以為然。他就去見(jiàn)漁翁,告訴他立刻要?jiǎng)由?,趕快預(yù)備。牧師也愿意一起上路。他們扶了渦堤孩上馬,經(jīng)過(guò)那水沖過(guò)一塊地向森林里進(jìn)發(fā)。渦堤孩吞聲飲泣,老夫妻放聲大哭。他們就此分別了。
三個(gè)人已經(jīng)進(jìn)了森林的寂靜和深厚的樹(shù)蔭。你看這是多有趣的一幅圖畫(huà),左右上下是一碧純青,好像一座綠玉雕成的宮殿,一頭錦鞍玉轡的昂昂戰(zhàn)馬上坐著天仙似的一個(gè)美女,一邊是神圣高年白袍長(zhǎng)袖的老牧師,一邊是英武風(fēng)流遍體金繡的美少年,擁護(hù)著緩緩前進(jìn)。黑爾勃郎一心兩眼,只在他嬌妻身上。渦堤孩余悲未盡,也將她一汪秋波傾瀉在她情人眼里,彼此萬(wàn)縷情絲互相連結(jié)。他們走了一陣,旁邊忽然發(fā)現(xiàn)了一個(gè)行客,牧師與他隨便招呼了一下。
他穿一件白袍,很像牧師那件祭服,他的帽子一直拉到眼邊,他衣服很長(zhǎng),拖了一地,所以他走路都不很方便,時(shí)常要用手去整理。等到他對(duì)牧師說(shuō)道——
“神父,我在這樹(shù)林住了好幾年,從來(lái)也沒(méi)有想到人家會(huì)叫我隱士。我不知道什么悔罪修道,我也無(wú)罪可悔無(wú)道可修。我就愛(ài)這樹(shù)林因?yàn)樗朱o又美,我日常在綠蔭深處游行徘徊,拖著這件長(zhǎng)白袍霍霍作響,偶爾有幾線陽(yáng)光從葉縫里漏下來(lái)照著我,我總是無(wú)憂無(wú)慮,自得其樂(lè)。”
牧師答道:“如此說(shuō)來(lái)你是一位很隱僻的人,我很愿意多領(lǐng)教一點(diǎn)?!?/p>
他問(wèn)道:“你老先生又是哪里來(lái)的呢?讓我們換個(gè)題目談?wù)?。?/p>
神父道:“他們叫我哈哀爾孟神父,我是從湖的那邊馬利亞格拉司修道院里來(lái)的?!?/p>
“噢,是嗎?”這生客說(shuō)道,“我的名字叫枯爾龐,人家也叫我枯爾龐男爵;我在這林里同飛鳥(niǎo)一樣自由,恐怕比他們還要自由些。我乘便有句話對(duì)那女郎說(shuō)。”
他本來(lái)在牧師右邊走著,一霎那間他忽然在牧師的左邊出現(xiàn),靠近著渦堤孩,他探起身來(lái)向她耳邊輕輕說(shuō)了幾句話。但是渦堤孩很驚慌地一縮,說(shuō)道:“你再也不要纏我?!?/p>
“哈哈,”生客笑道,“你倒結(jié)得好婚姻,連親戚都不認(rèn)了!什么,連你伯父枯爾龐都不理睬,你記不記得他當(dāng)初背著你到這兒來(lái)的?”
渦堤孩答道:“我一定要請(qǐng)求你再也不來(lái)見(jiàn)我。我現(xiàn)在很怕你,要是我丈夫見(jiàn)我和這樣怪伴在一起,有這樣稀奇的親戚,他不要吃嚇嗎?”
枯爾龐說(shuō)道:“胡說(shuō)!你不要忘記我是你此地的保護(hù)人。要不是我,那些地鬼就要來(lái)欺侮你。所以讓我靜靜地護(hù)住你同走。這老牧師似乎比你還記得我些,方才他告訴我說(shuō)他看我很面熟,他說(shuō)他落水時(shí)候似乎見(jiàn)我在他近邊。對(duì)的,當(dāng)初是我一片水將他從浪里托出來(lái),后來(lái)他平安游到岸上?!?/p>
渦堤孩和騎士都向著哈哀爾孟神父看,但是他一路走好像做夢(mèng),人家說(shuō)話他也不理。渦堤孩對(duì)枯爾龐說(shuō)——
枯爾龐笑道:“小侄女,你不要忘記我是你此地的保護(hù)人?!?/p>
“我們快到森林邊兒了,我們?cè)僖膊粍谀惚Wo(hù),其實(shí)你雖然好意而來(lái),反而使我們害怕。所以求你慈悲,你離開(kāi)我們?nèi)グ?。?/p>
但是枯爾龐似乎很不愿意。他將臉子一沉,對(duì)著渦堤孩切齒而視,她嚇得喊了出來(lái),叫她丈夫保護(hù)。電光似一閃,騎士跳到馬的那邊,舉起利刃向枯爾龐頭上砍去。但是刀鋒沒(méi)有碰到什么枯爾龐,倒斬著一條滔滔的急流,從一塊方石上流將下來(lái),一直沖到他們身上,驟然一響,好像一聲怪笑,連他們衣服一齊濺濕。
牧師頓然似乎醒過(guò)來(lái),說(shuō)道:“我早已料到,因?yàn)檫@山邊的澗貼緊我們流著。在先我覺(jué)得他是個(gè)人,能說(shuō)話?!痹诤跔柌啥校@瀑布明明在那里說(shuō)話——
敏捷的騎士,
壯健的騎士,
我不生氣,
我也不鬧。
望你永遠(yuǎn)如此保護(hù)你可愛(ài)的新娘。
騎士,
你如此壯健,活潑的青年!
不上幾步,他們已出了樹(shù)林?;食且言谒麄兠媲?,太陽(yáng)正在西沉,城里的樓臺(tái)都好比鍍金一樣,他們的濕衣服也漸漸曬干。
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