This etext was produced by Charles Franks, Greg Weeks, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
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.
