{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_9456/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_9456","id":"gutenberg_9456","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/9456","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Opera","Operas -- Stories, plots, etc.","Wagner, Richard, 1813-1883 -- Stories, plots, etc."],"text":"Produced by Project Gutenberg Distributed Proofreaders\n\n\n\n\n\nOPERA STORIES FROM WAGNER\n\nBY\n\nFLORENCE AKIN\n\nWITH ILLUSTRATIONS\n\n1915\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: SIEGFRIED]\n\nNOTE:  The verses printed in this book are quoted from Dr. Oliver\n       Huckel's translations of _The Rhine-Gold_, _The Walkuere_,\n       _Siegfried_, and _Goetterdaemmerung_, by the kind permission\n       of the publishers, Messrs. Thomas Y. Crowell & Company. An\n       occasional sentence in several of the stories is borrowed\n       from the same source.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\nTHE RHINE-GOLD\n  THE HAPPY RHINE-DAUGHTERS\n  ALBERICH\n  THE CARELESS RHINE-DAUGHTERS\n  THE THEFT\n  THE SAD RHINE-DAUGHTERS\n  A CASTLE ON THE RHINE\n  THE MORNING\n  THE PAYMENT\n  LOKI\n  YOUTH OR AGE?\n  NIBELHEIM\n  THE BEST SMITH IN NIBELHEIM\n  THE MASTER\n  THE BOASTER\n  THE WISHING-CAP\n  THE TRICK\n  THE CURSE\n  THE GREEDY FAFNER\n  A SLAVE TO GOLD\n  THE BEAUTIFUL VALHALLA\n\nTHE WALKUERE\n  A MATCHLESS SWORD\n  THE VALIANT SIEGMUND\n  HUNDING'S WIFE\n  HUNDING\n  THE WAR-MAIDENS\n  WOTAN'S WIFE\n  WOTAN AND BRUNHILDE\n  OFF TO THE BATTLEFIELD\n  THE FLIGHT\n  THE PUNISHMENT\n  THE SLEEP\n  THE MAGIC FIRE\n\nSIEGFRIED\n  THE MISSING MIMI\n  THE DRAGON\n  A BABY IN THE FOREST\n  MIMI AND THE BABY\n  SIEGFRIED AND HIS FRIENDS\n  THE BROKEN SWORD\n  A BIG BROWN BEAR\n  SIEGFRIED AND MIMI\n  SIEGFRIED MENDS HIS FATHER'S SWORD\n  SIEGFRIED GOES TO FIGHT THE DRAGON\n  A WOOD-BIRD'S SONG\n  SIEGFRIED AND THE DRAGON\n  A CHANGE COMES OVER SIEGFRIED\n  MIMI HAS A SURPRISE\n  MIMI AND ALBERICH STOP TO QUARREL TOO LONG\n  SIEGFRIED REACHES THE MOUNTAIN\n  SIEGFRIED LEARNS WHAT FEAR IS\n  THE AWAKENING\n\nGOETTERDAEMMERUNG\n  A SONG OF THE PAST\n  A SONG OF THE PRESENT\n  A SONG OF THE FUTURE\n  A PLEDGE OF LOVE\n  THE DOOM OF VALHALLA\n  LOVE\n\nMORE ABOUT THE STORIES\n\n\n\n\nILLUSTRATIONS\n\n\nSIEGFRIED\nTHE RHINE-MAIDENS AND ALBERICH\nWOTAN\nHE TUGGED IN VAIN\nWALKUERE CARRYING HEROES TO VALHALLA\n\"EAT HIM, BRUIN,\" LAUGHED SIEGFRIED\n\"I AM GOING TO EAT YOU,\" HISSED THE DRAGON\nTHREE NORNS CAME TO THE MOUNTAIN CREST TO SPIN\n\n_From drawings by E. Pollak-Ottendorff_\n\n\n\n\n\nTO THE GIRLS AND BOYS\n\n\nIn these stories you will find some wonderful giants.\n\nYou will find beautiful maidens who lived in a river.\n\nYou will find a large family of little black dwarfs who lived under the\nriver, and you will find a splendid hero.\n\nThe little children of Germany used to curl up in their mothers' arms,\nwhen bedtime came, and listen to the stories of these strange people.\n\nWhen these little children grew up, they told the same stories to their\nchildren.\n\nSo it went for many, many years.\n\nThe stories have been put together by a man named Richard Wagner. He put\nthem together in such a way that they make one long and wonderful story.\n\nAfter he had told these stories in words, he told them again in a more\nbeautiful way. He told them in music.\n\nSometime you will hear this music, and you will think of beautiful\nwater-maidens, singing and dancing in the sunshine.\n\nYou will think of great giants walking over mountains.\n\nYou will think of the little black dwarfs under the river, and you will\nhear them hammering, hammering upon their anvils.\n\n\n\n\n\nOPERA STORIES FROM WAGNER\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE RHINE-GOLD\n\n\nTHE HAPPY RHINE-DAUGHTERS\n\nIn the Rhine River there lived three beautiful maidens. They were called\nthe Rhine-daughters.\n\nThey had long, golden hair, which floated upon the waves as they swam\nfrom rock to rock.\n\nWhen their father went away, he left in their care a great lump of pure\ngold.\n\nThis gold was on the very top of the highest rock in the river.\n\nEvery morning the beautiful Rhine-daughters would dance and sing about\ntheir gold.\n\nThey sang a happy song:--\n\n  \"Heigh-ho! hither, ye waters!\n  Waver and waft me to sleep on your breast!\n  Heigh-ho! hither, ye waters!\n  Weave me sweet dreams on your billowy crest!\"\n\n\n\nALBERICH\n\n\nOne morning, when the sun was shining very brightly, the Rhine-daughters\nwere startled by a strange sound in the depths of the water.\n\n\"Look!\" whispered one. \"What is that scowling at us from the rocks\nbelow?\"\n\nThere, stealing along the river-bed, they saw a hideous little black\ndwarf.\n\n\"Who are you, and what do you want?\" asked the Rhine-daughters.\n\n\"I am Alberich,\" answered the dwarf as he tried to climb up on the\nslippery rocks. \"I came from the kingdom of the Nibelungs, down under\nthe earth.\"\n\n\"What!\" said the Rhine-daughters. \"Surely you do not live down in the\ndark earth where there is no sunshine?\"\n\n\"Yes,\" answered Alberich. \"But I have come up to frolic in the sunshine\nwith you\"; and he held out his ugly, misshapen little hands to take the\nhands of the Rhine-daughters.\n\nThey only laughed at him and darted away to a higher rock.\n\nAlberich hurried after them.\n\nHe blinked and scowled in the sunshine, because his eyes were not used\nto the light.\n\nThe maidens laughed and shouted in their play.\n\nThey called to Alberich and teased him.\n\nThey went very close to him, pretending that they would take his hand,\nthat he, too, might play in the sunshine. Then they would quickly dart\naway, mocking him, and laughing at him more loudly than ever.\n\nAlberich grew fierce and angry.\n\nHe clenched his fists and cried:--\n\n\"Woe be to you if I should catch you now.\"\n\n\nTHE CARELESS RHINE-DAUGHTERS\n\nAlberich was the most hideous of all the black, ugly little Nibelungs.\n\nThe Nibelungs had cross, scowling faces, because they were always\nscolding each other.\n\nThey quarreled from morning till night, so, of course, their faces grew\nto look quarrelsome and ugly.\n\nAs Alberich hurried after the Rhine-daughters, he suddenly caught sight\nof the gold glittering in the morning sun.\n\nHe stood still. Then he straightened up as tall as his crooked,\nmisshapen little back would let him. He opened his eyes wide.\n\n\"Oh! Sisters! See how Alberich is staring at our gold!\" whispered one of\nthe Rhine-daughters. \"Perhaps this is the foe of which our father warned\nus. How careless we have been!\"\n\n\"Nonsense,\" answered one. \"Who would fear this little black fellow? He\nwill do us no harm. Let him gaze upon the gold. Come, let us sing!\"\n\n[Illustration: THE RHINE-MAIDENS AND ALBERICH]\n\nThe maidens joined hands and circled about the gold, singing:--\n\n  \"Hail to thee! Hail to thee!\n  Treasure most bright!\n  Rhine-gold! Rhine-gold!\n  Beautiful sight!\n\n  \"Hail to thee! Hail to thee!\n  Out of the night!\n  Rhine-gold! Rhine-gold!\n  Wakened so bright!\"\n\n\nTHE THEFT\n\nStill Alberich stood and stared at the gold.\n\n\"What is it?\" he gasped. \"What is it?\"\n\nThe Rhine-daughters shouted back to him:--\n\n  \"Heigh-ho! and heigh-ho!\n  Dear little imp of woe,\n  Laugh with us, laugh with us!\n  Heigh-ho and heigh-ho!\"\n\nBut Alberich did not laugh with them.\n\nHe would not take his eyes off the gold.\n\n\"That,\" said the maidens, \"is our Rhine-gold.\"\n\n\"A very pretty plaything it is,\" said Alberich.\n\n\"Yes,\" replied the careless sisters, \"it is magic gold. Who moulds this\ngold into a ring shall have all power upon the earth, save love.\"\n\nAlberich muttered to himself: \"What do I care for love if I have all the\ngold I want?\"\n\nThen he sprang upon the slippery rock and snatched the gold. With one\nwild leap he plunged into the depths below.\n\nDown, down he went to his deep, dark kingdom, clutching fast the\nprecious gold and muttering:--\n\n\"Now all the earth is mine. It is mine, all mine. Now I shall rule the\nworld.\"\n\nPoor foolish Alberich! He did not know that the best things in this\nworld are the things which gold cannot buy.\n\nThe power of love is greater than the power of gold.\n\nThe maidens shrieked and screamed: \"Our gold! Our gold! Our precious\ngold!\"\n\nToo late! Far, far below, they heard a laugh, the rough, rude laugh of\nAlberich, the dwarf.\n\n\nTHE SAD RHINE-DAUGHTERS\n\nAfter that, when the Rhine-daughters came to the rock where the gold had\nbeen, they could not sing their happy song.\n\nTheir faces were very sad now, and they said: \"Oh, why did Alberich\nsteal our beautiful gold? It cannot make him happy, for no one can ever\nbe truly happy who does not know love.\"\n\nThey often sat upon the rocks in the dusk of the evening and cried as if\ntheir hearts would break because they had lost their gold.\n\n\"The black waves surge in sorrow through the depths, And all the Rhine\nis wailing in its woe.\"\n\n\nA CASTLE ON THE RHINE\n\nOn a mountain-side, above the banks of the Rhine, lived a family of\nsplendid giants.\n\nThe greatest of the giants was Wotan. He was the king.\n\nThey had always lived out of doors, because the king had never been\nable to find a giant who was large enough to build such a grand castle\nas he wanted for his family.\n\nBut one day there came to the mountainside the largest giant Wotan had\never seen.\n\nHis name was Fafner.\n\nHe was many times larger than Wotan.\n\nWotan told Fafner how much he wanted a wonderful castle.\n\nFafner said: \"I will build such a castle for you if you will give me\nyour sister, Freya.\"\n\nFafner wanted to take the beautiful Freya to his own country.\n\nWotan did not stop to think what an awful thing it would be to lose\nFreya.\n\nHis thoughts were of nothing but the wonderful castle.\n\n\"Build it, Fafner,\" said Wotan.\n\nThat night Wotan and his family lay down upon their mountain to sleep.\n\nWotan dreamed of a wonderful stone castle with glittering towers.\n\nHe dreamed he saw the castle gleaming in the morning sun.\n\n[Illustration: WOTAN]\n\n\nTHE MORNING\n\nIt was morning in the beautiful country where the Rhine River flows.\n\nThe giants upon the hillside were just awakening from their night's\nsleep.\n\nDuring the night Fafner had built the wonderful castle.\n\nWotan's wife was the first to see it.\n\n\"Awake, Wotan! Awake!\" she cried.\n\nAs Wotan opened his eyes he saw the castle upon the summit of the\nmountain.\n\nWhat a great shining castle it was!\n\nIn delight Wotan cried: \"'T is finished! And my glorious dream is true!\"\n\nAll night long Fafner had toiled hard.\n\nHe finished just as the morning dawned.\n\nHe was waiting now for Wotan to awaken and to give to him the beautiful\nFreya.\n\nHe would take her and hurry to his own country.\n\n\nTHE PAYMENT\n\n\"While you slept I built the castle,\" said Fafner. \"Now I am ready for\nthe payment.\"\n\n\"What payment do you want?\" asked Wotan.\n\n\"What payment do I want?\" shouted Fafner. \"Surely you have not forgotten\nyour promise? The price was Freya, and I shall take her home with me.\"\n\n\"Oh, that was only in jest,\" said Wotan. \"I could not think of letting\nFreya go. But I shall pay you well for the castle. I shall give you\nsomething else that will be just as good for you.\"\n\nFafner grew very angry and screamed:--\n\n\"Cease your foolish talk. I built your beautiful stone palace. I drudged\nand toiled and heaped the massive rocks. Each stone lies firm and solid\nin its place, and I will have my pay!\"\n\n\"But, surely,\" said Wotan, \"you did not think I meant to give you Freya?\n'T is she who feeds us golden apples. No one but Freya knows how to\nmake them grow. If it were not for her fresh fruits my family would grow\nold. They would wither like the autumn flowers.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" raged Fafner; \"I know it is fair Freya's golden apples that keep\nyou young. But now Freya belongs to me. Nothing else will I have.\"\n\nJust then Wotan saw his brother, Loki, coming over the mountain.\n\n\"Wait, Fafner! Wait until I can talk with my brother about this!\"\n\n\nLOKI\n\n\"Loki, why are you so late?\" complained Wotan, when Loki came.\n\nLoki was much excited.\n\n\"The Rhine-daughters are in great trouble, Wotan. As I was coming by the\nriver I heard them weeping and wailing. Black Alberich has stolen their\ngold, and I promised them that I would tell you about it. Perhaps you\ncould help them.\"\n\n\"I have no time for the Rhine-daughters now,\" said Wotan. \"I have\ntrouble of my own. Tell me how I can save poor Freya!\"\n\nFor many years Fafner had heard of this lump of gold. So he listened to\nall that Loki told. Then he asked: \"Why does Alberich want the gold?\"\n\n\"Because,\" replied Loki, \"the gold can be made into a magic ring; if the\none who would make the ring will forever give up all love, the magic\nring will make its owner master of the whole wide world. Alberich\ndeclared that love was nothing to him if he could have all the gold\nhe wanted.\"\n\nTo himself Fafner thought: \"Perhaps it would be better for me to have\nthe gold than to have Freya and her golden apples.\" Then aloud he said:\n\"Let me tell you what I am willing to do, Wotan. If you will get that\ngold for me, I will accept it in place of Freya.\"\n\n\"You rascal!\" roared Wotan. \"How can I give you gold that is not mine?\"\n\n\"Very well,\" said Fafner. \"I did not come here to quarrel. Already I\nhave waited too long. I shall take my pay. Come, Freya, you must go\nwith me.\"\n\nPoor, frightened Freya wept and cried aloud as Fafner picked her up and\ncarried her off over the mountain.\n\nHe called back to Wotan and Loki: \"I will keep Freya until evening. Then\nI shall come again, and if you have that glittering Rhine-gold for me,\nthen you may have your sister. If you do not give me the gold, then\nFreya is mine and I will keep her always.\"\n\n\nYOUTH OR AGE?\n\nAs soon as Freya was gone, the flowers began to droop their heads.\n\nWotan and his family began to grow old and gray.\n\nIt seemed to Wotan like some awful dream.\n\nSuddenly Loki cried out: \"We have not eaten Freya's fruit to-day! Now\nshe is gone, we shall all wither and die!\"\n\nWotan had stood gazing at the ground, trying hard to think what he\ncould do to save himself and his family.\n\n\"Come, Loki,\" he said. \"We must go to the deep dark kingdom of the\nNibelungs. I must have the gold! Let us go by way of the brimstone\ngorge. I cannot go by way of the river. I do not want to hear the\nwailing of the Rhine-daughters.\"\n\nWotan called back to his anxious family: \"Only wait till evening and I\npromise I shall bring your lost youth back to you.\"\n\n\nNIBELHEIM\n\n  \"Far, far below the ground are gloomy depths,--\n  A mighty cavern, rocky, dark and vast.\"\n\nIt was as dark as night down in the kingdom of the Nibelungs, except for\nthe light which flared from the smoking torches, or glowed in the coals\nupon the anvils.\n\nThe family of dwarfs were skilled blacksmiths and metal-workers.\n\nFrom every little niche and corner came the sound of clinking anvils.\nBefore Alberich stole the gold, the Nibelungs often sang as they worked.\n\nThey sometimes made pretty ornaments for their wives to wear or toys for\ntheir little children.\n\nBut now Alberich had made the ring of gold which bound them to do his\nwill.\n\nHe had no love in his heart, so he drove and scolded all the time.\n\nHe made them work, work, work, both day and night, and all that they\nmade belonged to him.\n\nSo Alberich was daily becoming mightier than ever.\n\n\nTHE BEST SMITH IN NIBELHEIM\n\nMimi, who was Alberich's brother, was the best smith in all this swarm\nof black slaves.\n\nAlberich forced Mimi to make for him a strange wishing-cap.\n\nIt was made of woven steel.\n\nMimi had to make it just as Alberich said, but Mimi did not know how it\nwas to be used. When it was finished, Mimi feared it had some\nwonderful power, and he did not want Alberich to have it.\n\nHe wished he might keep it for himself.\n\nHe had worked hard to make it.\n\n\"Give me that helmet,\" said Alberich. \"I want you to know, Mimi, that\neverything in this cave belongs to me!\"\n\nMimi had to give it up.\n\nAlberich put it on his head. \"Now I shall see what magic there is in\nthis wishing-cap. Come, Night and Darkness!\" he called. \"Make me so no\none can see me!\"\n\nIn an instant he was gone, and there was only a cloud of smoke where he\nhad stood.\n\n\"Now, Mimi!\" he called, \"look sharp! Can you see me?\"\n\n\"No,\" gasped Mimi. \"I cannot see you at all.\"\n\nThe cloud of smoke moved down the gloomy cave and Alberich's cruel voice\nlaughed: \"Ha! ha! Now I shall make you black slaves work! Now you dare\nnot be idle, for when you do not see me I shall be watching you!\"\n\nHis voice sank deeper. \"Now I will make you dig, dig, dig, to the very\ndepths of the earth to bring me gold!\"\n\nMimi was so frightened.\n\nWhen the cloud of smoke had gone out of sight, he lay down upon the\nrocks and cried.\n\n\nTHE MASTER\n\nWotan and Loki swung themselves over the ledge and slid down into the\nmurky cave where Alberich lived.\n\nWotan looked around and said:--\n\n\"So this is the Kingdom of the Nibelungs! What an awful place it is!\"\n\nFrom far down the passages came the sound of hundreds of slaves melting\nand welding precious metals for their master.\n\n\"Loki,\" said Wotan, \"I believe it is always dark and gloomy where there\nis no love. What is that strange cry I hear?\"\n\n\"Ho, Mimi, is that you?\" said Loki.\n\n\"Leave me alone!\" cried Mimi.\n\n\"Then tell me what you are crying about?\"\n\n\"Oh,\" replied Mimi, \"that wretched Alberich, with his ring of gold, has\nmade us all his slaves! With it he drives us down into the earth to dig\nmore gold. What we get is all his. We slave for him both day and night.\n\n\"This curse of gold has filled our cavern with despair. Lately he made\nme forge a wishing-cap for him. With it he makes himself so none can see\nhim. Now we slaves can never rest. _Sh! sh!_ He is coming now!\"\n\nWotan and Loki, peering through the darkness, could see him now and then\nas he passed under the light of a flaring torch.\n\nHe was driving a swarm of bent black slaves who were carrying great\npacks of gold and silver and precious ore upon their backs.\n\nThe helmet was hanging at his waist.\n\nIn his hand he was swinging a whip and the giants could hear him\nyelling:--\n\n\"Pile up the gold! Hurry! Hurry, you lazy rogues!\"\n\n\nTHE BOASTER\n\nSuddenly Alberich saw the giants.\n\n\"Who is this that dares come into my cave?\" he cried. \"Mimi, get back to\nyour work!\"\n\nThen to all the other slaves he called:--\n\n\"Get below, every one of you! Crawl into your dingy shafts and dig the\ngold! Begone, I say! You must obey the master of the ring!\"\n\nAs soon as the black swarm had crept away, Alberich spoke angrily to\nWotan and Loki. \"What do you want in here?\"\n\n\"We just came to see you,\" said Wotan. \"We hoped you might be glad to\nhave us. We think you must be a very clever man. We have heard a great\ndeal about the wonderful things you can do.\"\n\nThis pleased Alberich. He grew very proud and began to boast.\n\n\"See all this gold of mine!\" he said.\n\n\"Yes,\" answered Loki; \"it is the most gold I have ever seen, but what\nuse is it? It does no one any good in here where nothing useful can be\nbought with it.\"\n\n\"I am heaping it up,\" said Alberich. \"Some day, with this same treasure,\nheaped and hid, I hope to work some wonders. You shall see! I shall be\nmaster of the whole wide world! Ha! the smoke of Alberich's kingdom\nshall smudge even your flowery mountain-sides and your sparkling rivers.\nEverybody shall be my slave! Beware of this black Nibelung, I say, for\nhe shall rule the world!\"\n\n\nTHE WISHING-CAP\n\nLoki was very sly and cunning. While Alberich boasted, he was planning\nhow he might trick the dwarf and take his gold.\n\nTo Alberich he said: \"Surely, you will be the mightiest of men. But\nsuppose that while you sleep, one of your slaves should creep upon you\nand steal your ring?\"\n\nAlberich smiled. \"There is no danger of that,\" he said. \"I will show you\na trick or two. Do you see this helmet? It is a magic helmet. With it I\ncan make myself so no one can see me, or I can change myself, quick as a\nflash, into anything I wish to be. So, you see, I am perfectly safe.\"\n\n\"I never heard of such wonders,\" answered Loki. \"I really cannot believe\nit.\"\n\n\"I shall prove it to you,\" said the dwarf, never dreaming that the sly\nLoki was only laying a trap for him. \"What form will you have me take?\"\n\n\"Turn into anything you wish. Only let me see it done and then I shall\nbelieve.\"\n\nAlberich put on the helmet. \"Ho! Monster Dragon, come!\" And quick as a\nflash he turned into a huge dragon.\n\nLoki pretended to be frightened. As the fierce monster squirmed toward\nhim, he made believe that he was going to rush from the cave.\n\n\nTHE TRICK\n\nThe dragon vanished and there stood Alberich again.\n\n\"Now do you believe?\" he asked.\n\n\"Indeed, I do,\" replied Loki. \"It is wonderful. But if you could shrink\nto some tiny thing, it would be even much more clever, because you could\ncreep into a crevice and spy upon your enemies. But, of course, getting\nsmall would be too hard a thing to do.\"\n\n\"Only tell me what you would have me be,\" said Alberich.\n\n\"Now I shall catch him,\" thought Loki. \"Could you make yourself as\nlittle as a toad that quickly slinks under the rock when there is\ndanger near?\"\n\n\"Ha! Nothing easier,\" laughed Alberich.\n\nAnd again putting the helmet on his head he coaxed:--\n\n\"Come, little toad! Creep from your cranny!\" Alberich was gone, and\nthere at Wotan's feet hopped the tiny toad.\n\n\"Quick, Wotan!\" cried Loki.\n\nAnd in an instant Wotan put his heavy foot upon the toad.\n\nLoki reached down and took the magic wishing-cap.\n\nAs soon as the cap was off, the toad disappeared, and there lay\nAlberich, held fast by Wotan's giant foot.\n\n\"Let me go!\" shrieked the dwarf. \"Take your foot off of me, this\nminute!\"\n\nWotan calmly answered: \"You may go when you have promised all I ask.\"\n\n\"Then what do you want?\" groaned Alberich.\n\n\"I want all your glittering gold,\" said Wotan.\n\n\nTHE CURSE\n\nAlberich held the ring close under his breast and muttered to himself:\n\"They may have the gold! What do I care! With this ring I can soon make\nmy slaves dig more.\"\n\nThen aloud he said: \"You may take the gold. My slaves shall heap it at\nyour feet.\"\n\nHe slyly slipped his hand to his lips and, kissing the ring, called his\nslaves with its magic.\n\nIn a moment the little black Nibelungs came in swarms from every shaft,\nbearing the precious gold.\n\nAlberich did not like to have them see him under Wotan's foot.\n\n\"Heap up the treasure!\" he yelled. \"Don't stop to stare at me. I am\nstill your master. Now, crawl back into your shafts and drudge. I am\ncoming in a minute, and it will not be well for you if I do not find\nyou digging!\"\n\nTrembling with fear, they scurried to the darkest depths.\n\n\"Now, there is your gold!\" said Alberich. \"Give back my helmet and let\nme go!\"\n\nBut Loki quickly tossed the helmet upon the shining heap.\n\n\"Take it, then,\" snarled the dwarf, thinking he could easily, with the\npower of the ring, force Mimi to make another, \"but let me go, I say!\"\n\n\"Just wait a minute, Alberich,\" said Wotan. \"That ring I saw glittering\non your finger,--I must have that too.\"\n\n\"The ring!\" Alberich screamed in horror. \"No, you shall never have the\nring!\"\n\nWotan's face grew stern.\n\n\"That ring does not belong to you. You stole its gold from the\nRhine-children,\" he said.\n\n\"Think twice, Wotan, before you take this ring from me! I warn you now a\ncurse goes with it.\"\n\nBut Wotan drew the ring from the dwarf's finger, then set him free.\n\n\"Farewell, Alberich! Farewell!\"\n\n\"Ha!\" laughed Alberich in scorn. \"It will never bring you happiness. Its\nowner shall always feel its curse of care, sorrow, and unrest.\"\n\nThen, turning, he groped his way down the cavern, far poorer than the\nday he went stealing along the slippery bed of the river. Then, he had\nno gold. Now, he had no gold and no friends.\n\n\nTHE GREEDY FAFNER\n\nWotan and Loki hurried back to the mountain-side with their treasure.\n\nAt the same time Fafner returned, bringing Freya.\n\nAlready Fafner had made up his mind that if he gave Freya back, he must\nhave a very great deal of gold.\n\nWhen Freya again reached her own country, the sun grew brighter, the air\ngrew sweeter, and the glow of youth came back to the cheeks of Wotan and\nhis family.\n\n\"Here, Fafner, is your gold!\" great Wotan cried.\n\n\"I am sorry to give Freya up,\" said Fafner. \"Pile up the gold between\nher and me. You may keep her if there is gold enough to hide her\ncompletely from my sight. So long as I can see her, I cannot part\nwith her.\"\n\nThen Wotan and his family heaped the glittering gold. They piled it as\nloosely as they could, but when they had put on all the gold they had,\nthe greedy Fafner cried:--\n\n\"More, more! It is not high enough! Still I can see fair Freya's\nshimmering hair. Throw on that shining helmet!\"\n\n\"Put it on, Loki,\" commanded Wotan. \"There, Fafner, is your pay. Freya\nagain belongs to me.\"\n\n\"Not yet!\" cried Fafner, as he peeped through a space in the heap. \"I\ncan see her eyes through here.\" Then, pointing to the ring on Wotan's\nfinger: \"Bring that ring and put it in this space.\"\n\n\"Never!\" cried Wotan.\n\nThen Loki spoke. \"The ring belongs to the Rhine-maidens, and Wotan is\ngoing to return it to them. Already we have given you more than you\nshould expect, all that shining heap and the helmet besides.\"\n\n\"I will not give you any more!\" roared Wotan. \"Not all the mighty world\nshall take this ring from my finger!\"\n\n\"Then I shall be gone,\" said Fafner. \"I was afraid you would not give me\nenough gold. Freya is mine forevermore.\"\n\nWotan's family began to plead for Freya. \"She is worth more to us than\nall the gold in this world! Without her we must all wither and die!\"\n\nIt was no use to resist. Wotan knew that he dared not lose Freya.\n\nTaking the ring from his finger, he flung it upon the shining heap.\n\n\nA SLAVE TO GOLD\n\nFafner gathered up the hoard--the hoard for which he had worked--the\nhoard for which he had made so much trouble.\n\nHe carried it off to his own country. Now that he had it, he had no\nthought of using it.\n\nHe wanted it merely for gold's sake; not for the sake of the great, good\nthings that might be done with it. The only thing he wished to do was to\nkeep others from getting it.\n\nHe heaped it up in a cave in the forest. Then he put on the helmet and\nchanged himself into a fierce, ugly dragon.\n\nFor the love of mere gold he was willing to give up being a splendid\ngiant, who roamed freely over the beautiful mountains, and to become a\nhideous, twisting, squirming monster.\n\nThe rest of his life he would lie at the door of the cave and guard the\ntreasure. The treasure should lie there useless to all the world.\n\nFafner,--a slave to gold!\n\n\nTHE BEAUTIFUL VALHALLA\n\nAs Fafner carried away his treasure, a great storm gathered over the\nmountain crest.\n\nThe sky grew black. The thunder rolled. Its echoes bounded on from cloud\nto cloud, from peak to peak, then rumbled down the valleys to the sea.\n\nThen the clouds drifted away. The setting sun shot its long rays into\nthe deep valley.\n\nThere, arching over the river and reaching from the flowery\nmountain-side to the very door of the gleaming castle, stood a shining\nrainbow bridge.\n\n\"Lo! our castle! Our beautiful Valhalla!\" cried the king. \"Let us cross\nover. It shall be our dwelling-place forevermore.\"\n\nOne by one they stepped upon the bridge.\n\nAs Wotan walked slowly and sadly over, he heard the wailing of the\nRhine-maidens in the river below:--\n\n  \"Rhine-gold! Rhine-gold!\n  We long for your light!\"\n\n\"I shall never be happy again,\" thought Wotan. \"I have given my honor\nfor Valhalla. What an awful price I have paid!\"\n\n\n\n\nTHE WALKUERE\n\n\nA MATCHLESS SWORD\n\nMany years passed. The giants lived on in their beautiful Valhalla.\n\nBut their king was sad.\n\nHe could not forget Alberich's curse. What if Alberich should in some\nway gain possession of the ring again! He would destroy Valhalla.\n\n\"Oh, why was I not brave enough to give the ring back to the\nRhine-children!\" sighed Wotan.\n\n\"If only it might again be a mere thing of beauty to gladden their\nhearts, but so long as it is in the world, how many more will it not rob\nof their happiness.\n\n\"Surely, some great hero must come who will be brave enough to slay the\ndragon and give the ring back to its rightful owners.\"\n\nSaid Wotan to himself, \"I shall make a mighty sword, and when the hero\ncomes, his sword will be ready for him.\"\n\nThen the great Wotan wrought a matchless sword.\n\nWhen it was finished, he took it and went into the forest. Straight he\nwent to the home of the bold robber Hunding.\n\nIt was a beautiful moonlight night when he reached Hunding's hut.\n\nFrom the loud laughter and shouting that Wotan heard as he neared the\nhut, he knew that Hunding and his friends were having a merry feast.\n\nWotan lifted the latch and entered.\n\nThe great, rude room was built around the trunk of a mighty ash tree.\n\nThe walls were made of roughly hewn logs.\n\nThe floors were covered with the skins of wild animals of the forest.\n\nMats of reeds and grasses hung upon the walls.\n\nThe huge fireplace was built of rough stones.\n\nThe mighty Wotan scowled upon the crowd.\n\nThen, lifting the gleaming sword above his head, with one great lunging\nblow, he buried the bright blade, even to its hilt, in the great ash\ntree's quivering side.\n\nThen, turning to the guests, he said:--\n\n\"The sword shall belong to him who can draw it from the ash tree's\nheart.\"\n\n[Illustration: HE TUGGED IN VAIN]\n\nThough each guest tugged with all his might, he tugged in vain.\n\nIn the years that followed, many came and went, and all tried hard to\ngain the sword, and still that magic blade slept on within the ash\ntree's sheath.\n\n\nTHE VALIANT SIEGMUND\n\nOne very dark and stormy night, Siegmund, a brave warrior, wandered\nalone in the forest.\n\nThat day a desperate battle had been fought.\n\nAs the darkness came on, Siegmund escaped from the enemy.\n\nHe had lost his weapons, and now he trudged through the pathless woods,\nseeking some place where he might find balm for his wounds and shelter\nfrom the raging storm.\n\nHe was almost exhausted when he caught sight of a flickering candlelight\nin the window of a forest hut.\n\nWith the little strength that he had left, he dragged himself to its\ndoor.\n\nNo one answered his call, and no longer caring if it were the home of\nfriend or foe, he opened the door, and staggering in he sank upon\nthe hearth.\n\nAs he looked about him he thought, \"This is the home of some forest\nchief.\"\n\nA great fire burned in the rude fireplace, and, as he grew warm, being\nworn and weary, he sank into a heavy sleep.\n\n\nHUNDING'S WIFE\n\nAs Siegmund slept, the door of the inner room was gently opened and a\nbeautiful woman stole softly in.\n\nShe was clad in snowy white.\n\nHer head was crowned with a wealth of golden hair.\n\nShe had heard Siegmund as he entered the room, and, thinking her\nchieftain had returned from the hunt, she came to greet him.\n\nInstead she saw a stranger on the hearth, and, drawing near, she saw\nthat his face looked sad and troubled.\n\n\"Who are you?\" she asked, but Siegmund did not stir.\n\nThen she knelt beside him and looked into his face.\n\nIt was the strong, noble face of a hero.\n\n\"He sleeps,\" she said. \"How weak and weary he seems. Perhaps he has been\nwounded or is faint from hunger.\"\n\nSiegmund roused and asked for water.\n\nThe woman ran quickly, and, bringing a cup of cold water, held it to his\nparched lips.\n\nSiegmund drank. Then, gazing into the woman's kind face, he gasped:\n\"Where am I?\"\n\nBut, with a startled look, she stood in silence, listening to the heavy\ntread outside the door.\n\n\nHUNDING\n\nThe next moment the chieftain entered and glared fiercely at Siegmund.\n\nThe woman hastened to say: \"I found this stranger lying on our hearth.\nHe was faint and needed help.\"\n\n\"And did you give it?\" growled the chieftain.\n\n\"I gave him water. I could not drive him out into the stormy night.\"\n\nThe chieftain grew dark with anger as he said: \"Because it is the sacred\nlaw of my country that none shall be turned from the door who seek\nshelter from the night, this intruder may stay until the morning. Then\nhe shall fight for his life.\"\n\nSiegmund knew now that he was in the house of the fierce Hunding.\n\nTaking the woman by the arm, Hunding led her from the room, and Siegmund\nwas left alone to think how he might save himself.\n\nLong he leaned upon the hearth in troubled silence. Then, knowing he\nmust flee, he turned toward the door.\n\nThat moment the last flickering light of the dying fire flashed upon the\nhilt of the magic sword in the ash tree.\n\nSiegmund saw it, and, springing forward, he grasped its hilt. Then,\nbracing himself against the tree, with one mighty pull, behold! he drew\nthe bright blade from its sheath.\n\n\nTHE WAR-MAIDENS\n\nWotan gathered to Valhalla a company of nine war-maidens. They were\ncalled the Walkuere.\n\nThey were strong, beautiful young women, who rode through the clouds\nupon swift horses.\n\nThe horses could not only run on the ground; they could fly through the\nair.\n\nThe maidens wore wings upon their helmets, and each wore a splendid\nsilver armor which glittered and flashed in the sunshine.\n\nWherever there was a battle on the earth, Wotan would send a\nbattle-maiden for the most valiant hero on the field.\n\nThe maiden would fly over the battlefield and watch while the warriors\nfought.\n\nWhen the bravest man was wounded, she would quickly swoop down, and,\nsnatching him up, would fly with him to Valhalla, where he was revived\nby fair Freya.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nSometimes, when evening came, every one of the war-maidens rode into\nValhalla carrying a noble hero.\n\nThis was Wotan's plan for protecting the palace.\n\nAfter a while he would have at the castle a company of the bravest\nheroes of the earth.\n\nHe hoped he would then be happier.\n\nThe heroes would protect the beautiful Valhalla in time of danger.\n\n\nWOTAN'S WIFE\n\nMorning dawned.\n\nThe king of the giants went forth from his castle and called Brunhilde,\nhis favorite battle-maiden.\n\nHe loved Brunhilde more than any other of the Walkuere.\n\nShe was the bravest of them all.\n\nHe loved her as a father loves a daughter.\n\n\"Brunhilde,\" said Wotan, \"to-day there is to be a fearful battle. The\nfierce Hunding is to fight with my dearest friend--the valiant Siegmund.\n\n\"Long have I wished to have my noble friend at Valhalla. Fly, Brunhilde,\nto the battlefield. Give to Siegmund the victory. Carry him here to\ndwell upon the heights.\"\n\nAt that moment Wotan's wife rushed to them in great anger.\n\n\"Wotan,\" she cried, \"Siegmund must not be brought to Valhalla. I ask\nthat my friend, the forest chief, shall be given aid. Send Brunhilde to\nbear Hunding to our castle.\"\n\n\"No,\" replied Wotan, \"I must protect Siegmund. He it is who won my\nsword.\"\n\n\"Take the sword from him,\" replied Wotan's wife in rage. \"I plead for\nHunding's rights. Promise me that you will forbid your war-maiden to\ngive aid to Siegmund.\"\n\nWotan's heart ached at the thought of failing this friend he loved so\nwell.\n\nOn Siegmund were centered all his hopes. Yet he feared to refuse his\nwife's request.\n\nQuarrels and strife must not come into Valhalla.\n\nHe threw himself upon a rocky seat and hung his head and thought in\nsilence.\n\nAt length he said:--\n\n\"I promise. From Siegmund I withdraw my aid.\"\n\n\nWOTAN AND BRUNHILDE\n\nNow that Wotan's wife had gained his promise, she turned back to\nValhalla.\n\nWotan buried his face in his hand and cried out in despair:--\n\n\"Oh, woe and shame upon the giants! What I love best I must give up. I\nlose the friend I hold most dear. All my hopes are vanishing. A short\ntime and the giants will be no more.\"\n\nLoudly he moaned: \"This is the curse that clutched me when I snatched\nthe glittering gold.\"\n\nBrunhilde knelt at Wotan's feet, and, looking into his sad eyes\nbegged:--\n\n\"Tell me, Father, what thy child can do. Trust me, Father!\" she pleaded.\n\"Tell me all your woe.\"\n\nWotan took her hands in his and told her the story of the ring.\n\nHow he had taken it from the finger of the dwarf.\n\nHow he had stooped to trickery and had stolen the gold with which to pay\nfor Valhalla.\n\nHe told of the sad hearts of the Rhine-daughters, and of the greedy\nFafner, lying at the door of his forest cave, guarding his hoard.\n\nBut last of all, he told of the dread of Alberich's curse.\n\nHe told of his fear that the black Nibelung might regain the ring and by\nits power destroy Valhalla.\n\n\nOFF TO THE BATTLEFIELD\n\nWhen Brunhilde had heard the story of the curse, she said:--\n\n\"But, Father, Alberich could not destroy Valhalla. Think of all the\nheroes gathered there. Surely, they can protect it from all danger.\"\n\n\"Brunhilde, my child,\" sighed Wotan, \"you do not know the power of that\nring when it is in the hands of Alberich. Once he gains it, he can do\nwith it what he will, because he has given up all love. With it, he\ncould turn my friends into enemies. Our heroes would then fight\nfor Alberich.\n\n\"I have long hoped that a hero might come who would be brave enough to\nslay the dragon. I hoped it might be Siegmund. But now I must desert him\nin his time of need. Though it breaks my heart, I must give him up.\n\n\"Darkness and gloom are fast gathering upon Valhalla. Go, Brunhilde. Go\nquickly to the battlefield and shield my wife's friend.\"\n\n\"No, no, Father, I cannot!\" cried the battle-maiden. \"You love Siegmund,\nand I shall guard him well.\"\n\nAt these words the mighty Wotan grew wrathful and cried:--\n\n\"How dare you disobey me, child? Go, I say! Give to Hunding the victory,\nand thus fulfill my promise.\"\n\nSadly Brunhilde took up her spear and shield and rode away to the\nbattlefield.\n\n\nTHE FLIGHT\n\nClosely Brunhilde watched the struggle.\n\nWhen she saw how fairly and valiantly the noble Siegmund fought, and how\nunfair and cowardly was the wicked Hunding, she thought:--\n\n\"I shall obey my king's wishes, not his words. He loves Siegmund.\"\n\nShe hovered nearer as the battle grew more terrible.\n\nSuddenly she dashed to Siegmund's side and cried:--\n\n\"Slay him, Siegmund, with your matchless sword!\"\n\nSiegmund raised his sword to deal the deadly blow, when lo! Wotan dashed\nthrough a rift in the clouds and struck Siegmund's sword with his\nmighty spear.\n\nThe sword fell in pieces at the feet of Brunhilde. The victory belonged\nto Hunding.\n\nBrunhilde, terrified by the angry Wotan, snatched up the broken pieces\nof the sword, and, springing to her saddle, dashed away.\n\nFaster and faster she fled to the forest, bearing the broken blade to\nSiegmund's wife.\n\n\"Siegmund is slain!\" she cried. \"These are the pieces of his mighty\nsword. Keep them for your son, Siegfried. He will be brave like\nhis father.\n\n\"Yes, Siegfried will be the bravest hero the world has ever known.\"\n\nThen, springing again to her saddle, she fled toward the mountains.\n\n\"On! on! my fiery steed!\" she urged.\n\nNo battle-maiden ever rode so fast.\n\nIf she could but reach the other battle-maidens before the wrathful\nWotan overtook her, surely, they would protect her from his anger.\n\n\nTHE PUNISHMENT\n\nIt was the custom for the battle-maidens to meet at Walkuere Rock every\nevening at sunset. This was the highest peak in the mountains. From\nhere they would ride into Valhalla, each carrying the hero whom she had\nsnatched from the battlefield.\n\n\"Heiho! hoyotoho! heiho!\" called each as she neared the peak, and\n\"Heiho! hoyotoho! heiho!\" came the answer.\n\nAt length all but one had reached the rock.\n\n\"Why does Brunhilde not come?\" they asked of each other anxiously.\n\n\"What has happened that she should be so late?\"\n\nLoudly they called: \"Heiho! hoyotoho! heiho!\"\n\nLooking toward the valley, they saw Brunhilde riding fast.\n\nHer horse was flecked with foam.\n\n\"Heiho! hoyotoho! heiho!\" they shouted; and \"Heiho! hoyotoho! heiho!\"\ncame Brunhilde's answer.\n\nShe reached the peak and sprang from her saddle, crying:--\n\n\"Help me, Sisters! help me! I disobeyed our king!\"\n\nEven as she cried Wotan drew near.\n\n\"Where is Brunhilde?\" he screamed in anger.\n\nThe skies grew black with the storm of his wrath.\n\n\"Every one of you who dares to shield her shall share her punishment.\"\n\nBrunhilde, weeping, walked out from her hiding-place among her sisters.\n\nSinking at Wotan's feet she cried:--\n\n\"Here I am, Father. What punishment is mine?\"\n\nWotan spoke in solemn tones:--\n\n\"Never again shall you see the beautiful Valhalla. Never shall you carry\nanother hero to your king.\n\n\"You shall lie down upon this mountain peak, and here you shall sleep\nuntil some wanderer in passing shall awaken you, and his wife you\nshall be.\"\n\n\"You cannot mean it, Father! Anything but this! Never to see Valhalla?\nNever to ride with the Walkuere? Father! Father! Take back these words of\ndoom!\" Brunhilde's sisters began to plead for her.\n\n\"Go!\" he cried, \"every one of you. Leave Brunhilde to me!\"\n\nFrightened by great Wotan's awful wrath, they spurred their horses and\ndashed away to Valhalla.\n\n\nTHE SLEEP\n\nSlowly the storm clouds drifted away. The twilight came.\n\nStill Brunhilde lay in fear and grief at Wotan's feet.\n\nAt length she lifted her sad eyes to Wotan and cried:--\n\n\"Was it so wrong, this thing that I have done? 'T is you who taught me\nto shield the brave and the true. I only sought to care for one\nyou loved.\"\n\n\"Brunhilde, you disobeyed me. I have told you what your punishment shall\nbe. I cannot change it.\"\n\n\"Then grant me, Father, this one wish: that you will make the place\nwhere I sleep so no coward can reach me. Make it so none but a hero will\ndare come near.\"\n\nThen, taking Brunhilde in his arms, he said:--\n\n\"I grant your wish, my child. I shall encircle the place with magic\nfire. Only he who knows no fear may claim you for his bride.\"\n\nThen Wotan kissed Brunhilde upon each eyelid, and she fell fast asleep.\n\nGently he bore her to a mossy mound beneath a spreading fir tree.\n\nLaying her down, he looked long and lovingly upon her sweet, brave face.\n\nHe drew her helmet close over her eyes, and laid her shield upon her\nbreast.\n\nThe flowers went to sleep.\n\nBrunhilde's noble steed lay down and slept.\n\n  \"Farewell, my child, most brave and beautiful!\n  Thou life and light of all my heart, farewell!\n  Pride of my soul, farewell, a long farewell!\"\n\n\nTHE MAGIC FIRE\n\nWotan strode a few steps away from where Brunhilde slept, then struck\nthe rock with his mighty spear.\n\nRed flames shot up, leaping almost to the sky. They were magic flames\nand would not harm any one.\n\nBut they looked like real fire, and none but a hero would dare go into\nthem.\n\nThey would frighten away all cowards.\n\nWotan walked around the peak, drawing a line with his spear.\n\nFrom every place the spear touched the fire burst forth, until at length\nthe mound where Brunhilde slept was entirely encircled by lurid flames.\n\nGreat Wotan looked upon his work. Then he turned and called to all the\nmountains and the valleys below:--\n\n  \"Whoso dareth Wotan's spear,\n  Whoso knoweth naught of fear,\n  Let him burst these flames of war,\n  Let him leap this fiery bar!\"\n\n\n\n\nSIEGFRIED\n\n\nTHE MISSING MIMI\n\nThe cunning Mimi secretly longed to steal out into the world and find\nthat magic ring.\n\nOne night when all the other little Nibelungs were asleep, he slipped\nstealthily to his forge.\n\nHe gathered up his best tools.\n\nMaking sure that all were soundly sleeping, he stole quietly out.\n\nWhat surprise and excitement there must have been the next morning when\nthe little black Nibelungs found that Mimi had run away and had taken\nall of his best tools with him!\n\nHow they must have rushed about, each anxious to tell another the news\nof the missing Mimi!\n\nOf course, Alberich guessed very quickly for what purpose his brother\nhad gone.\n\nAnd how Alberich must have raged when he thought of what a sad day it\nwould be for him should Mimi become owner of that ring!\n\nMimi was strangely clever.\n\nHe said to himself: \"That ring is hidden somewhere in the forest. I will\ngo there and search until I know who has it. Then I will find some way\nof getting it.\"\n\nOn he went, until he came to the darkest place in the woods.\n\nThe boughs overlapped each other, so much that almost no sunshine could\nget through.\n\nMimi liked this place. It was soothing to his eyes, so used to the\ndarkness of the Nibelungs' cavern.\n\n\nTHE DRAGON\n\nMimi had found the very forest which he sought to find.\n\nThis was the one in which the dragon lay guarding the hoard.\n\nThe sly dwarf caught a glimpse of the huge monster lying at the door of\nits cave.\n\nIts great yawning jaws and sharp teeth filled him with terror.\n\nMimi darted into the underbrush. How glad he was that the monster had\nnot seen him.\n\nHe shook and trembled with fear as he peeped at the loathsome creature.\n\nIts body was covered with green scales. Poison breath came from its\nnostrils.\n\nIts awful snake-like tail twisted and lashed about. In the end of the\ntail was a deadly sting.\n\n\"Alberich's ring is in that cave,\" thought Mimi. \"Now close to this\nforest I must find a good little cavern in which to live.\n\n\"Then I can come often to watch the dragon.\n\n\"Some day I shall find a hero to slay this fierce monster. Then I shall\nslink into the cave and snatch the ring.\n\n\"Ho! ho! my brother Alberich! We shall see who shall be master and who\nshall be slave!\"\n\n\nA BABY IN THE FOREST\n\nMimi found a cavern in a rocky cleft. It was just the kind of place he\nliked.\n\nIn it was just the right kind of rock for a forge.\n\nThere he hammered at weapons or chains or whatever happened to be his\nneed.\n\nDaily he sneaked about in the underbrush, watching the dragon, and daily\nhe became more anxious to gain the gold.\n\nHe was such a coward that he was frightened at almost every animal he\nsaw in the woods and startled by every sound.\n\nOne day, when he had ventured farther from his cave than usual, he was\nstartled by a strange little cry.\n\nHe listened a moment and thought:--\n\n\"It sounds like the cry of a little child. I shall run to my cave.\"\n\nBut as he heard the cry again, something made him want to see what it\nwas.\n\nHe slipped cautiously through the bushes, in the direction from which\nthe sound came.\n\nWhen he reached the place he found a little baby boy.\n\nThis was the same forest to which Brunhilde had fled, bearing the broken\nsword to Siegmund's wife.\n\nBut now the mother had died, and Siegmund's child was left alone in the\nwoods.\n\n\nMIMI AND THE BABY\n\nMimi was mean and selfish.\n\nHe would not even have cared for a little child alone in the woods had\nhe not thought that by so doing he might gain something for himself.\n\nAs he looked at the baby he heard a strange voice saying:--\n\n\"Siegfried is his name, and only he who knows no fear can mend the\nsword.\"\n\n\"The sword? The sword?\" questioned Mimi. \"What does the voice mean?\"\n\nGoing nearer to the child, he saw close beside it the broken pieces of\nSiegmund's sword.\n\nMimi picked up the pieces and looked at them.\n\n\"The finest piece of steel I ever saw,\" he chuckled, as he ran his\nfingers carefully along the keen edges.\n\nThen he cried aloud in joy.\n\n\"At last I have found the hero! This little baby is the son of some\nvaliant warrior. These are the broken pieces of the warrior's sword.\nSuch luck for Mimi!\n\n\"The boy will be a warrior like his father. I shall take him to my cave\nand take good care of him.\n\n\"When he is grown up I will make him pay me for my care and pains. He\nshall slay the dragon. Then I will take the ring.\"\n\nHe lifted the little baby as gently as he knew how, and started toward\nhis cave.\n\nAgain he heard the same strange voice:--\n\n\"Siegfried is his name, and only he who knows no fear can mend the\nsword.\"\n\n\"Ha! ha!\" chuckled Mimi. \"That voice does not know what a skillful\nsmith Mimi is.\n\n\"I will mend the sword and Siegfried shall use it to slay the dragon.\"\n\nHe folded the baby close in his rough, black little arms.\n\n\"A few more years, a few more years,\" he gurgled in glee, \"and Mimi's\nhands shall clutch the precious gold.\"\n\n\nSIEGFRIED AND HIS FRIENDS\n\nMimi took good care of Siegfried.\n\nWhen the boy had grown large enough to play about in the woods, Mimi\nmade for him a little silver horn.\n\nSiegfried loved all the birds and the wild animals.\n\nHe knew they were his best friends, for something in Mimi's face always\nshowed him that the dwarf was false.\n\nSiegfried would wander out into the forest with his silver horn swinging\nfrom his shoulder.\n\nHe would blow his little horn song, and his forest friends would hear\nthe call and come to play with him.\n\nHe watched the birds as they built their nests.\n\nHe listened to the father bird as he warbled his pretty little love\nsongs.\n\nHow sweetly he sang to the mother bird while she sat upon the nest!\n\nAnd when the little eggs had told their secret, both the father and the\nmother birds carried food to the babies.\n\nSiegfried saw how tenderly the mother foxes, wolves, and bears cared for\ntheir babies.\n\nFrom these friends in the forest he learned what love is.\n\nNever for all the world would he have stolen one baby from its mother.\n\nBut it was when he watched the love-light in the eyes of the mother deer\nthat he would shut his eyes and try to dream that he too had a\nloving mother.\n\n\nTHE BROKEN SWORD\n\nMimi always pretended to be Siegfried's father, and he pretended to love\nSiegfried.\n\nBut Siegfried knew there was no love in Mimi's heart.\n\nDaily Siegfried grew larger and stronger.\n\nMimi continually boasted of his work at the forge.\n\nOften he said: \"No one in this world can make such marvelous swords as\nMimi.\"\n\nSiegfried urged him to make one sword after another, but as fast as they\nwere made the boy would shatter them to bits with one blow on the\ndwarf's forge.\n\nThen he would cry in disgust: \"Nonsense, Mimi. Your swords are mere\ntoys. Just like little switches.\n\n\"Either make me a good strong sword or quit your bragging.\"\n\nMimi always kept the pieces of Siegmund's sword carefully hidden.\nWhile Siegfried roamed through the woods, the dwarf would work for hours\ntrying to mend the magic blade, but its hard steel would never yield\neither to his fire or his hammer.\n\nMimi grew tired and discouraged.\n\n\"I can never mend it,\" he groaned.\n\n\nA BIG BROWN BEAR\n\nSiegfried grew to be a young man.\n\nOften he saw his reflection in the water, and he said:--\n\n\"I am not Mimi's son. The babes in the forest all look like their\nparents. I do not look like Mimi.\"\n\nSiegfried's reflection showed him a fearless face with large, honest\neyes.\n\nAbout the face fell a wealth of waving, sunny hair.\n\nOne day, as he studied this reflection and thought of the blinking,\nsneaking little black Mimi, he said:--\n\n\"I will endure his falsehoods no longer. I know he is not my father.\nThis very day I am going to make him tell me who I am!\"\n\nLifting his silver horn, he blew a loud blast.\n\nOut of the woods came one of his good friends, a great brown bear.\n\n\"Come, Bruin,\" said Siegfried.\n\nAnd he put a rope around Bruin's neck.\n\n\"We will go to Mimi's cave and we will make him tell us all we want to\nknow.\"\n\nSiegfried led the big bear to the mouth of Mimi's cave.\n\nWhen the cowardly Mind saw the bear, he crouched behind the forge and\nscreamed:--\n\n\"Take him away! Oh, Siegfried, take him away!\"\n\n\"Eat him, Bruin,\" laughed Siegfried, as Mimi trembled with fear.\n\nThe bear growled at Mimi.\n\n\"Oh! keep him off!\" gasped Mimi.\n\n\"I shall,\" said Siegfried, \"if you will promise to answer all I ask.\"\n\n[Illustration: \"EAT HIM, BRUIN,\" LAUGHED SIEGFRIED]\n\n\"I will! I will! I will tell you anything you want to know,\" stammered\nMimi.\n\nSiegfried untied the rope.\n\n\"Good-bye, Bruin,\" he said, as he gave him a friendly slap on the back,\nand the big bear trotted off to the woods.\n\n\nSIEGFRIED AND MIMI\n\nMimi and Siegfried sat down upon the rocks in the cave, and Mimi told\nhow he had found the baby in the woods and how he had brought him to\nthe cave.\n\nMimi put in many words of how much Siegfried owed for all this care and\ntrouble.\n\n  \"Thou givest me always trouble and pain,\n  I wear to shreds poor foolish me!\n  Now, for my care, this is my gain,--\n  Only abuse and hate from thee.\"\n\nSiegfried looked straight into Mimi's eyes.\n\nHe tried to see if Mimi were telling the truth.\n\n\"How did you know my name was Siegfried?\" he asked.\n\nThen Mimi told of the strange voice which said:--\n\n\"Siegfried is his name.\"\n\nBut not once did the dwarf mention the sword.\n\n\"You cowardly little wretch!\" cried Siegfried. \"You have told me so\nmuch that is not true that I can never believe you.\n\n\"How do I know that this is not another of your miserable falsehoods?\n\n\"Prove to me that this is true, or I shall make you sorry that you ever\nsaw me. Prove it to me, I tell you!\" cried Siegfried, as he grasped the\nshrinking dwarf by the shoulders.\n\n\"I will! I will!\" gasped the frightened Mimi; and he brought out the\nbroken sword.\n\n\nSIEGFRIED MENDS HIS FATHER'S SWORD\n\nSiegfried looked at the sword.\n\nThen handing it back to Mimi, he said:--\n\n\"Mend it for me, Mimi! Mend it! Now is your chance to prove your skill!\"\n\n\"I cannot! Oh, I cannot!\" groaned Mimi; and he gasped out the rest of\nwhat the voice had told him:--\n\n\"Only he who knows no fear can mend the sword.\"\n\nSiegfried took the broken pieces to the forge and began filing them to\ndust.\n\n\"Stop, Siegfried, stop!\" cried Mimi. \"You will ruin that blade!\"\n\nBut Siegfried kept on filing.\n\nHe sang as he worked, until the pieces were filed to dust.\n\nThen he melted the dust and poured the hot liquid into a mould the shape\nof a blade.\n\nWhen it had hardened, he took it out and sharpened it.\n\nThen he welded the blade to its hilt.\n\n\"Ha! ha!\" chuckled Mimi. \"At last the sword is mended.\n\n\"Now I will show Siegfried the dragon. He will not know a ring is in the\ndragon's cave.\n\n\"When the dragon is dead, the ring shall be Mimi's.\n\n\"Mimi, you are no longer the despised little Nibelung. You are the king\nof the earth.\"\n\nJoyously Siegfried waved the bright blade above his head.\n\nHe brought it down with all his strength upon the forge, and with a\nmighty crash the huge rock fell in pieces.\n\nMimi sank in terror to the ground.\n\n\nSIEGFRIED GOES TO FIGHT THE DRAGON\n\n\"Get up, you coward!\" cried Siegfried.\n\n\"Now tell me what that thing is that I do not know. Fear? What is fear?\nWhy did you not teach it to me?\"\n\nThe wicked dwarf slipped to Siegfried's side.\n\n\"I will teach you. Come with me. I will show you a horrible serpent,\nlying at the door of Hate Cavern.\n\n\"There you will learn what fear is, if you can learn it any place in\nthis world.\n\n\"Have you never seen anything that made you shiver from head to foot and\nmade your heart beat fast?\"\n\n\"I never have,\" calmly answered Siegfried. \"Take me quickly, Mimi. I am\nready to learn.\"\n\nAt every step Mimi chuckled to himself:--\n\n\"The ring is mine! At last the ring is mine! Now all the world shall\nkneel at my feet!\"\n\n\"When he had gone as far as he dared, he pointed out the rest of the way\nto Siegfried.\n\n\"Just through here,\" he said. \"And I shall go back now. When the dragon\nsees you it will be a terrible struggle! I shall wait anxiously for you,\nmy Siegfried!\"\n\nBut as Siegfried vanished from sight, he rubbed his black hands together\nand laughed:--\n\n\"Ah, it will be luck for Mimi if Siegfried and the dragon kill each\nother!\"\n\n\nA WOOD-BIRD'S SONG\n\nWhen Siegfried had gone on a little way, he stretched himself upon a\ngrassy mound beneath a tree to rest and think.\n\nLooking up through the branches at the clear sky, he cried:--\n\n\"I am free! Free! Never again will I go back to that loathsome\nNibelung.\"\n\nA bird in the tree began singing its sweet wood-song.\n\n\"How do you do, my little feathered friend!\" said Siegfried. \"I am sure\nwhat you are singing is very sweet, but I cannot understand your words.\"\n\nThen Siegfried cut a reed near by, and putting it to his lips, tried to\nwhistle answers to the little bird's notes.\n\nHis music did not sound much like the song of a bird.\n\n\"I give it up, my little friend,\" he said, and threw away the reed.\n\n\nSIEGFRIED AND THE DRAGON\n\n\"I will blow you a song on my silver horn,\" said Siegfried to the bird.\n\n\"I often blow this little song. It is my call for a comrade. I long for\none. None better have ever come to me than the bears and foxes.\"\n\nLoudly he blew his horn.\n\nSoon there was a great crackling in the underbrush. The huge dragon\ncame, lashing its deadly tail, gaping its red jaws, and blowing out\npoison fumes.\n\n\"Ho!\" laughed Siegfried. \"What a fair comrade I have charmed from his\ncave! You savage brute, are you going to teach me what fear is?\"\n\n[Illustration: \"I AM GOING TO EAT YOU,\" HISSED THE DRAGON]\n\n\"I am going to eat you!\" hissed the dragon, glaring at Siegfried and\nthrusting out its long forked tongue.\n\nSiegfried quickly drew his sword.\n\nSnorting fire and smoke from its nostrils, the monster raised to strike\na deadly blow.\n\nSiegfried sprang forward; a flash of steel, and his blade sank to the\nmonster's heart.\n\n\nA CHANGE COMES OVER SIEGFRIED\n\nAs Siegfried drew his blade from the breast of the dying dragon, a drop\nof its black blood fell on his finger.\n\nIt burned like fire.\n\nSiegfried quickly put his finger in his mouth.\n\nThe instant the dragon's blood touched his lips, a change came over him.\n\nHe could understand the words of the little bird singing in the tree:--\n\n  \"Now the gold is Siegfried's!\n  Now all the gold is Siegfried's!\n  Go into the cave, Siegfried!\n  Go in! Go in!\n  Find the helmet and the ring!\n  The helmet and the ring are Siegfried's!\n  Take them! Take them! Take them!\"\n\nSiegfried went through the brush in the direction from which the monster\nhad come.\n\nWhen he found the cave, he peered in.\n\nAll was deep, dreary darkness, but Siegfried had not learned fear.\n\nHe went in and found the gold, the helmet, and the ring.\n\nBut he did not need the gold. Its weight would only hinder him.\n\nHe looked upon the wishing-cap, but surely no one could turn into\nanything better than a hero, and Siegfried was already a hero.\n\nWhat use could he have for a wishing-cap?\n\nA hero does not try to make believe he is something which he is not.\n\nHe is brave enough to be just himself.\n\nBut the little bird fluttered at the door of the cave.\n\n\"Take the helmet and the ring, Siegfried! Take the helmet and the ring!\"\n\n\"I will obey my little friend,\" said Siegfried.\n\n\nMIMI HAS A SURPRISE\n\nThe sly, wicked Mimi came slinking to the place where the dragon lay.\n\nWhen he saw it lying dead under the trees, he looked about for\nSiegfried, but Siegfried was nowhere to be seen.\n\n\"Now I shall rush in and snatch the ring! At last I shall have my pay\nfor all these years of trouble with that rogue I hate!\"\n\nBut scarcely had Mimi turned toward the dragon's cave when suddenly\nAlberich sprang before him.\n\n\"You sly, crafty rascal!\" cried Alberich. \"What do you want here? Ha! I\nhave caught you at your sneaking tricks! Long have I guarded here! You\nshall not steal my gold! Get back to your murky cave.\"\n\nBut Mimi screamed:--\n\n\"You shall not have the gold! 'T is mine! Long years have I toiled and\nwaited! The gold is mine, I say!\" \"Yours?\" Alberich snarled in scorn.\n\"Yours? You snatched it from the Rhine-daughters, did you? You paid the\nprice to mould that ring?\"\n\nAnd Mimi raved:\n\n\"Who made the helmet, that wondrous cap that in a flash can change a man\ninto anything he wants to be?\"\n\n\nMIMI AND ALBERICH STOP TO QUARREL TOO LONG\n\nWhile Mimi and Alberich quarreled, Siegfried came from the dragon's\ncave, bearing the helmet and the ring.\n\nHe heard no sound save the rustling of the leaves and the song of the\nbird.\n\nAgain he sat down in the shadow of a tree.\n\n\"Little bird, can you not help me to find a true friend?\" asked\nSiegfried.\n\n\"Each year you have your mate and your little birdlings in the nest. You\nsing songs with the other birds.\n\n\"I have never known a father or a mother, a sister or a brother. I am\nlonely.\n\n\"Is there nowhere in all this world some one whom I may love? Some one\nwho will love me?\"\n\nThen the wood-bird began to sing a pretty love-song of a maiden sleeping\non the crest of a mountain, encircled by fire.\n\nSweetly he sang:--\"Only he who knows no fear may claim her for his\nbride.\"\n\nSiegfried sprang to his feet. \"I do not know fear. I have tried with all\nmy might to learn it. Oh, help me to find the mountain where\nshe sleeps!\"\n\nThe little bird flew away in the opposite direction from where the\nwicked Nibelungs stood quarreling, and Siegfried joyously hurried after.\n\n\nSIEGFRIED REACHES THE MOUNTAIN\n\nA heavy storm arose as Siegfried and the bird neared the foot of the\nmountain where Brunhilde slept. There were peals of deep thunder.\n\nThe sky grew very dark. The great boughs of the trees swayed with the\nwind.\n\nSiegfried took shelter under a low spreading fir.\n\nThe storm did not last long, and as the light again broke through the\nclouds, Siegfried looked about for his little guide, but all in vain.\nThe bird had fled.\n\nSiegfried started on up the mountain, when suddenly the giant Wotan\nstood before him.\n\n\"What are you doing here?\" demanded Wotan.\n\nSiegfried replied:--\n\n\"I am going to the top of this mountain. There a maiden lies sleeping. I\nwill awaken her, and she shall be my bride.\"\n\n\"Go back to your forest!\" commanded Wotan. \"This mountain is encircled\nby fire.\"\n\nAnd stretching forth his arm, he barred the path with his mighty spear.\n\nSiegfried quickly drew his sword from its sheath.\n\n\"This is the magic spear that rules the world!\" said Wotan. \"Put away\nthat sword, or the spear that once shattered it will shatter it again!\"\n\n\"Ha!\" cried Siegfried, \"then you were my father's foe!\"\n\nThere was a flash of Siegfried's blade, then a crash that echoed over\nmountains and valleys, and Siegfried had shattered Wotan's spear. It lay\nin splinters on the ground.\n\nWotan stepped aside and sadly bowed his head upon his breast.\n\nHe knew this meant the downfall of the giants. No longer would the earth\nbe ruled from fair Valhalla's heights.\n\n\nSIEGFRIED LEARNS WHAT FEAR IS\n\nSiegfried hurried up the mountain-side.\n\nThe fierce flames leaped as if to meet him.\n\nThey grew redder, and lapped their fiery tongues.\n\nSiegfried bounded toward them with joy.\n\nLifting his silver horn to his lips, and blowing his Comrade Call so\nsweet and clear, he plunged into their depths.\n\nThe maddened flames leaped and crackled as if to devour him.\n\nBut on he went, blowing his horn, until at length the sea of flames\nslowly sank to earth.\n\nThe redness of the sky gave way to blue, and all grew clear and\nbeautiful.\n\nSiegfried looked upon the sleeping figure.\n\nAll the world seemed wrapped in silence. Not a leaf moved on the trees.\n\nThere was not a sound to mar that perfect sleep.\n\nSiegfried looked in wonder at the shining coat of mail.\n\n\"It is some valiant knight,\" he whispered.\n\n\"How heavy seems the armor. It should be lifted so that he may rest\nbetter.\"\n\nCarefully Siegfried lifted the glittering shield and laid it to one\nside.\n\nEagerly he raised the helmet. There fell a mass of waving golden hair.\n\"A burst of glorious sunshine,\" whispered Siegfried.\n\nThen he sought to loosen the rings that held the coat of mail.\n\nFinding it difficult, he drew his sword and cut them.\n\nThe shining armor fell jingling to the ground.\n\nThe soft white folds of her woman's gown fell loosely about her.\n\nSiegfried started back and stared in silence.\n\nHe trembled from head to foot.\n\nHe pressed his hand to his fast-beating heart.\n\n\"At last!\" he cried. \"At last! I know what fear is.\"\n\n\nTHE AWAKENING\n\nAt length Siegfried went softly to Brunhilde's side.\n\nHe stood and looked upon her sweet, heroic face, and love came into his\nheart.\n\nBending low, he tenderly kissed her.\n\nBrunhilde slowly opened her eyes.\n\nShe looked up at the blue sky and the smiling sun, and cried:--\n\n\"All hail to thee, thou glorious sun in heaven!\"\n\nThe flowers slowly opened their petals, the birds began to sing.\n\nBrunhilde's horse awoke and neighed his glad call.\n\nBrunhilde looked upon Siegfried.\n\nSlowly her memory returned.\n\nAs she remembered Wotan's words: \"Only he who knows no fear may claim\nyou for his bride,\" she knew at last her hero had come.\n\nShe looked into Siegfried's strong, brave face, and as he told her of\nhis love, she no longer wished to go back to Valhalla.\n\nShe knew that she loved Siegfried with all her heart, and she promised\nto be his bride.\n\nShe told him that she would always be happy when she was by his side.\n\n\n\n\nGOETTERDAEMMERUNG\n\n\nA SONG OF THE PAST\n\nOne very dark night, three Norns came to the mountain crest to spin.\n\n[Illustration: THREE NORNS CAME TO THE MOUNTAIN CREST TO SPIN]\n\nIf you had seen them, you would have called them witches.\n\nThey spun the thread of fate.\n\nThey were very, very old. The eldest was almost as old as the world.\n\nThey were tall and gaunt, and wore long black gowns.\n\nTheir faces and hands were deep-wrinkled with age, and their hair was as\nwhite as the snow.\n\nThey had come up from the great, dark earth-hole, where they lived, and\nnow they crouched upon the rocks to spin their thread.\n\nThe eldest was the first to spin the thread, and as she spun, she sang a\nsong about the past, when Wotan and his happy family lived out of doors\nupon the mountain-side.\n\nShe sang of the time when he split from the world's ash tree the piece\nof wood from which he made the magic spear, which had ruled the world\nfor so many hundreds of years.\n\nShe sang of Freya's apples, and of the strength and youth of the giant\nfamily.\n\nAt length her voice wavered, the strange, weird song ceased, and she\ntossed the thread to the second Norn.\n\n\nA SONG OF THE PRESENT\n\nAs the second Norn took the thread in her worn hands, she crooned a\nsorrowful song about the present.\n\nShe sang of Alberich and the stolen gold. Of the love that he had given\nup in order to make the ring.\n\nShe sang of Wotan and how he grasped the ring and carried it into the\nworld, bringing with it Alberich's curse.\n\nThen she told of Fafner.\n\nMournfully she sang:--\n\n\"It has robbed all who have had it of their freedom and happiness.\n\n\"It has brought envy and discontent to those who have struggled to gain\nit.\n\n\"Now Wotan's magic spear is splintered.\n\n\"Oh! How this gold has tangled all my threads!\" she wailed.\n\nHer long, gaunt fingers pulled and worked at the knots, but all in vain.\n\nShe could not straighten out the snarls.\n\n\"Sing, oh, my Sister, sing!\" she cried. \"You know what the end will be.\"\n\nAnd she tossed the snarled threads to the third Norn.\n\n\nA SONG OF THE FUTURE\n\nThe third Norn took up the thread.\n\nTwisting and untying, she sang of the future.\n\nShe sang of the downfall of the giants.\n\nShe sang of the time when Wotan and his family would be no more, and\nbright Valhalla's halls would be only a ruin.\n\n\"But, Sisters, look!\" she cried. \"The day is dawning. We must make\nhaste!\"\n\nShe tugged at the thread. The knots grew tighter.\n\n\"Oh, see!\" she cried. \"I cannot make it reach.\"\n\nAnother pull, the thread snapped.\n\nThe three Norns wailed.\n\nThen, snatching up the broken ends of their thread of fate, they\nvanished in the gloom.\n\n\nA PLEDGE OF LOVE\n\nThe days went by. Siegfried and Brunhilde were perfectly happy upon the\nmountain.\n\nOne day they decided that Siegfried should go forth to do brave deeds in\nthe world.\n\nHe would come back when he had won honor and fame.\n\nHe told Brunhilde how anxious he would be to get back to her, and that\nhe would come just as soon as he could.\n\nBrunhilde told Siegfried how lonely she would be without him, and how\nshe would listen both day and night for the glad call of his\nsilver horn.\n\nSiegfried took Brunhilde's hand and put the ring upon her finger,\nsaying:--\n\n\"This, Brunhilde, shall stay with you. It shall be a pledge of my love\nuntil I come again.\"\n\nBrunhilde gave Siegfried her swift horse. On it he should ride to great\nvictories.\n\nSiegfried led the horse down the mountain.\n\nEvery little way he looked lovingly back at Brunhilde.\n\nThey called and waved to each other until he passed from sight.\n\nAnd after that Brunhilde listened to the clear notes of his silver horn,\nuntil at length its last faint echo died away.\n\n\nTHE DOOM OF VALHALLA\n\nSiegfried had been away several days.\n\nBrunhilde sat looking far out over the valley.\n\nShe was thinking of Siegfried and of how he was proving his courage to\nthe world.\n\nShe lifted her hand to her lips and kissed the ring, Siegfried's pledge\nof love.\n\n\"Heiho! hoyotoho! heiho!\" came from the valley below.\n\nBrunhilde sprang to her feet with the answer:--\n\n\"Heiho! hoyotoho! heiho!\"\n\nCould it be that one of her sisters was coming to see her?\n\nWas it possible that one of the Walkuere would so far dare Wotan's wrath\nas to venture to the mountain's crest?\n\nNearer came the call:--\n\n\"Heiho! hoyotoho! heiho!\"\n\nAnd a battle-maiden came in sight.\n\nBrunhilde was very happy to see her sister again, but the battle-maiden\nlooked sad.\n\nShe brought bad news from Valhalla.\n\nShe and Brunhilde sat down upon the rock, and the battle-maiden told the\nsad story of the last days of the giants.\n\n\"Brunhilde,\" she said, \"Wotan does not know that I have come. Valhalla\nis in deepest gloom.\n\n\"Wotan has never sent us to a battlefield since that day when we last\nsaw you.\n\n\"Not long ago he came home with his magic spear broken into splinters.\nHe sat down and buried his face in his hands, and there he sits day\nafter day.\n\n\"He tell us the giants are passing from the earth. A little while and\nValhalla shall be no more.\n\n\"He refuses all of Freya's golden fruit. He has grown very old and very\nsad.\n\n\"Yesterday I heard him say, 'Oh! if Brunhilde would only give the ring\nback to the Rhine-daughters, and release the world from the terrible\ncurse of gold!'\n\n\"And, Brunhilde, I have come to beg of you, will you not give the ring\nback to the Rhine-daughters?\"\n\nBrunhilde clasped the ring close to her breast.\n\n\"Give the ring to the Rhine-daughters?\" she cried.\n\nThen she looked far away toward the valley----and Siegfried.\n\n\"This ring of mine is Siegfried's pledge of love!\"\n\n\nLOVE\n\nThe next morning Brunhilde stood upon Walkuere Rock and watched the\nglorious sunrise.\n\nSuddenly she heard the glad notes of Siegfried's silver horn.\n\n\"Siegfried! Siegfried!\" she cried in joy, and hurried down the mountain\nto greet him.\n\nAll the earth seemed as glad as at that glad time when Siegfried came to\nWalkuere Rock to claim Brunhilde for his bride.\n\nBut Brunhilde was not altogether happy.\n\nShe could not forget the sorrowful news which her sister had brought, of\nthe gloom at Valhalla.\n\nSo, after their first glad greeting, they sat down upon the rocks, and\nBrunhilde told Siegfried the sad story of the ring, from the time when\nAlberich snatched it from the Rhine-daughters, until the day Siegfried\ntook it from Hate Cavern.\n\nThen, hand in hand, they went, the valiant Siegfried and the noble\nBrunhilde, to the banks of the Rhine.\n\nThey called to the Rhine-daughters and the Rhine-daughters came out upon\nthe rocks.\n\nWith a glad shout, Brunhilde flung the ring into the water.\n\nThe Rhine-daughters darted after it.\n\nIn a moment they came again to the surface of the water.\n\nAt last they held their precious, glittering\ngold.\n\nThe happiest song that ever echoed along the banks of the Rhine was sung\nby the Rhine-daughters on that glad morning.\n\n\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\nOnce more gold had become as harmless as a sunbeam.\n\nHurry, worry, falsehood, greed, and envy vanished from the earth.\n\nAnxiety disappeared from the brows of the tired fathers.\n\nA new happiness came into the eyes of the loving mothers.\n\nA greater power than gold or giant strength had come to rule the world,\nand that power was Love.\n\n\n\n\nMORE ABOUT THE STORIES\n\nThe author would not have you think that when you have read this little\nbook you know all that Richard Wagner told about Siegfried.\n\nWhen you are older, do not fail to read _The Rhine-Gold, The Walkuere,\nSiegfried_, and _Goetterdaemmerung,_ as Richard Wagner told them.\n\nYou will enjoy them more because of having read these little stories.","title":"Opera Stories from Wagner","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":12748}