Undine (2nd translation) | Page 4

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UNDINE BY DE LA MOTTE FOUQUE

TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN BY F. E. BUNNETT

CONTENTS.
DEDICATION

CHAPTER
I.
HOW THE KNIGHT CAME TO THE FISHERMAN
II. IN WHAT WAY UNDINE HAD COME TO THE FISHERMAN
III. HOW THEY FOUND UNDINE AGAIN
IV. OF THAT WHICH THE KNIGHT ENCOUNTERED IN THE
WOOD
V. HOW THE KNIGHT LIVED ON THE LITTLE PROMONTORY
VI. OF A NUPTIAL CEREMONY
VII. WHAT FURTHER HAPPENED ON THE EVENING OF THE
WEDDING
VIII. THE DAY AFTER THE WEDDING
IX. HOW THE KNIGHT TOOK HIS YOUNG WIFE WITH HIM
X. HOW THEY LIVED IN THE CITY
XI. THE ANNIVERSARY OF BERTALDA'S NAME-DAY
XII. HOW THEY DEPARTED FROM THE IMPERIAL CITY
XIII. HOW THEY LIVED AT CASTLE RINGSTETTEN
XIV. HOW BERTALDA RETURNED HOME WITH THE KNIGHT
XV. THE JOURNEY TO VIENNA
XVI. HOW IT FARED FURTHER WITH HULDBRAND

XVII. THE KNIGHT'S DREAM
XVIII. HOW THE KNIGHT HULDBRAND IS MARRIED
XIX. HOW THE KNIGHT HULDBRAND WAS BURIED

DEDICATION.
Undine, thou image fair and blest, Since first thy strange mysterious
glance, Shone on me from some old romance, How hast thou sung my
heart to rest!
How hast thou clung to me and smiled, And wouldest, whispering in
my ear, Give vent to all thy miseries drear, A little half-spoiled
timorous child!
Yet hath my zither caught the sound, And breathed from out its gates of
gold, Each gentle word thy lips have told, Until their fame is spread
around.
And many a heart has loved thee well, In spite of every wayward deed,
And many a one will gladly read, The pages which thy history tell.
I catch the whispered hope expressed, That thou should'st once again
appear; So cast aside each doubt and fear, And come, Undine! thou
spirit blest!
Greet every noble in the hall, And greet 'fore all, with trusting air, The
beauteous women gathered there; I know that thou art loved by all.
And if one ask thee after me, Say: he's a true and noble knight, Fair
woman's slave in song and fight And in all deeds of chivalry.

UNDINE.

CHAPTER I.
HOW THE KNIGHT CAME TO THE FISHERMAN.
There was once, it may be now many hundred years ago, a good old
fisherman, who was sitting one fine evening before his door, mending
his nets. The part of the country in which he lived was extremely pretty.
The greensward, on which his cottage stood, ran far into the lake, and it
seemed as if it was from love for the blue clear waters that the tongue
of land had stretched itself out into them, while with an equally fond
embrace the lake had encircled the green pasture rich with waving grass
and flowers, and the refreshing shade of trees. The one welcomed the
other, and it was just this that made each so beautiful. There were
indeed few human beings, or rather none at all, to be met with on this
pleasant spot, except the fisherman and his family. For at the back of
this little promontory there lay a very wild forest, which, both from its
gloom and pathless solitude as well as from the wonderful creatures
and illusions with which it was said to abound, was avoided by most
people except in cases of necessity.
The pious old fisherman, however, passed through it many a time
undisturbed, when he was taking the choice fish, which he had caught
at his beautiful home, to a large town situated not far from the confines
of the forest. The principal reason why it was so easy for him to pass
through this forest was because the tone of his thoughts was almost
entirely of a religious character, and besides this, whenever he set foot
upon the evil reputed shades, he was wont to sing some holy song, with
a clear voice and a sincere heart.
While sitting over his nets this evening, unsuspicious of any evil, a
sudden fear came upon him, at the sound of a rustling in the gloom of
the forest, as of a horse and rider, the noise approaching nearer and
nearer to the little promontory. All that he had dreamed, in many a
stormy night, of the mysteries of the forest, now flashed at once
through his mind; foremost of all, the image of a gigantic snow-white

man, who kept unceasingly nodding his head in a portentous manner.
Indeed, when he raised his eyes toward the wood it seemed to him as if
he actually saw the nodding man approaching through the dense foliage.
He soon, however, reassured himself, reflecting that nothing serious
had ever befallen him even in the forest itself, and that upon this open
tongue of land the evil