The Project Gutenberg eBook of Opera Stories from Wagner, by Florence Akin

You will find a large family of little black dwarfs who lived under the river, and you will find a splendid hero.

The little children of Germany used to curl up in their mothers' arms, when bedtime came, and listen to the stories of these strange people.

When these little children grew up, they told the same stories to their children.

The stories have been put together by a man named Richard Wagner. He put them together in such a way that they make one long and wonderful story.

After he had told these stories in words, he told them again in a more beautiful way. He told them in music.

Sometime you will hear this music, and you will think of beautiful water-maidens, singing and dancing in the sunshine.

You will think of the little black dwarfs under the river, and you will hear them hammering, hammering upon their anvils.

The Rhine-Gold

The Happy Rhine-Daughters

In the Rhine River there lived three beautiful maidens. They were called the Rhine-daughters.

They had long, golden hair, which floated upon the waves as they swam from rock to rock.

Every morning the beautiful Rhine-daughters would dance and sing about their gold.

Alberich

One morning, when the sun was shining very brightly, the Rhine-daughters were startled by a strange sound in the depths of the water.

"I am Alberich," answered the dwarf as he tried to climb up on the slippery rocks. "I came from the kingdom of the Nibelungs, down under the earth."

"What!" said the Rhine-daughters. "Surely you do not live down in the dark earth where there is no sunshine?"

"Yes," answered Alberich. "But I have come up to frolic in the sunshine with you"; and he held out his ugly, misshapen little hands to take the hands of the Rhine-daughters.

He blinked and scowled in the sunshine, because his eyes were not used to the light.

They went very close to him, pretending that they would take his hand, that he, too, might play in the sunshine. Then they would quickly dart away, mocking him, and laughing at him more loudly than ever.

The Careless Rhine-Daughters

The Nibelungs had cross, scowling faces, because they were always scolding each other.

They quarreled from morning till night, so, of course, their faces grew to look quarrelsome and ugly.

As Alberich hurried after the Rhine-daughters, he suddenly caught sight of the gold glittering in the morning sun.

He stood still. Then he straightened up as tall as his crooked, misshapen little back would let him. He opened his eyes wide.

"Oh! Sisters! See how Alberich is staring at our gold!" whispered one of the Rhine-daughters. "Perhaps this is the foe of which our father warned us. How careless we have been!"

"Nonsense," answered one. "Who would fear this little black fellow? He will do us no harm. Let him gaze upon the gold. Come, let us sing!"

The Theft

"Yes," replied the careless sisters, "it is magic gold. Who moulds this gold into a ring shall have all power upon the earth, save love."

Alberich muttered to himself: "What do I care for love if I have all the gold I want?"

Then he sprang upon the slippery rock and snatched the gold. With one wild leap he plunged into the depths below.

Down, down he went to his deep, dark kingdom, clutching fast the precious gold and muttering:--

Poor foolish Alberich! He did not know that the best things in this world are the things which gold cannot buy.

Too late! Far, far below, they heard a laugh, the rough, rude laugh of Alberich, the dwarf.

The Sad Rhine-Daughters

After that, when the Rhine-daughters came to the rock where the gold had been, they could not sing their happy song.

Their faces were very sad now, and they said: "Oh, why did Alberich steal our beautiful gold? It cannot make him happy, for no one can ever be truly happy who does not know love."

They often sat upon the rocks in the dusk of the evening and cried as if their hearts would break because they had lost their gold.

"The black waves surge in sorrow through the depths, And all the Rhine is wailing in its woe."

A Castle On The Rhine

On a mountain-side, above the banks of the Rhine, lived a family of splendid giants.

They had always lived out of doors, because the king had never been able to find a giant who was large enough to build such a grand castle as he wanted for his family.

But one day there came to the mountainside the largest giant Wotan had ever seen.

Fafner said: "I will build such a castle for you if you will give me your sister, Freya."

The Morning

The Payment

"While you slept I built the castle," said Fafner. "Now I am ready for the payment."

"What payment do I want?" shouted Fafner. "Surely you have not forgotten your promise? The price was Freya, and I shall take her home with me."

"Oh, that was only in jest," said Wotan. "I could not think of letting Freya go. But I shall pay you well for the castle. I shall give you something else that will be just as good for you."

"Cease your foolish talk. I built your beautiful stone palace. I drudged and toiled and heaped the massive rocks. Each stone lies firm and solid in its place, and I will have my pay!"

"But, surely," said Wotan, "you did not think I meant to give you Freya? 'T is she who feeds us golden apples. No one but Freya knows how to make them grow. If it were not for her fresh fruits my family would grow old. They would wither like the autumn flowers."

"Yes," raged Fafner; "I know it is fair Freya's golden apples that keep you young. But now Freya belongs to me. Nothing else will I have."

Loki

"The Rhine-daughters are in great trouble, Wotan. As I was coming by the river I heard them weeping and wailing. Black Alberich has stolen their gold, and I promised them that I would tell you about it. Perhaps you could help them."

"I have no time for the Rhine-daughters now," said Wotan. "I have trouble of my own. Tell me how I can save poor Freya!"

For many years Fafner had heard of this lump of gold. So he listened to all that Loki told. Then he asked: "Why does Alberich want the gold?"

"Because," replied Loki, "the gold can be made into a magic ring; if the one who would make the ring will forever give up all love, the magic ring will make its owner master of the whole wide world. Alberich declared that love was nothing to him if he could have all the gold he wanted."

To himself Fafner thought: "Perhaps it would be better for me to have the gold than to have Freya and her golden apples." Then aloud he said: "Let me tell you what I am willing to do, Wotan. If you will get that gold for me, I will accept it in place of Freya."

"Very well," said Fafner. "I did not come here to quarrel. Already I have waited too long. I shall take my pay. Come, Freya, you must go with me."

Poor, frightened Freya wept and cried aloud as Fafner picked her up and carried her off over the mountain.

He called back to Wotan and Loki: "I will keep Freya until evening. Then I shall come again, and if you have that glittering Rhine-gold for me, then you may have your sister. If you do not give me the gold, then Freya is mine and I will keep her always."

Youth Or Age?

Suddenly Loki cried out: "We have not eaten Freya's fruit to-day! Now she is gone, we shall all wither and die!"

Wotan had stood gazing at the ground, trying hard to think what he could do to save himself and his family.

"Come, Loki," he said. "We must go to the deep dark kingdom of the Nibelungs. I must have the gold! Let us go by way of the brimstone gorge. I cannot go by way of the river. I do not want to hear the wailing of the Rhine-daughters."

Wotan called back to his anxious family: "Only wait till evening and I promise I shall bring your lost youth back to you."

Nibelheim

It was as dark as night down in the kingdom of the Nibelungs, except for the light which flared from the smoking torches, or glowed in the coals upon the anvils.

From every little niche and corner came the sound of clinking anvils. Before Alberich stole the gold, the Nibelungs often sang as they worked.

They sometimes made pretty ornaments for their wives to wear or toys for their little children.

He made them work, work, work, both day and night, and all that they made belonged to him.

The Best Smith In Nibelheim

Mimi, who was Alberich's brother, was the best smith in all this swarm of black slaves.

Mimi had to make it just as Alberich said, but Mimi did not know how it was to be used. When it was finished, Mimi feared it had some wonderful power, and he did not want Alberich to have it.

"Give me that helmet," said Alberich. "I want you to know, Mimi, that everything in this cave belongs to me!"

Alberich put it on his head. "Now I shall see what magic there is in this wishing-cap. Come, Night and Darkness!" he called. "Make me so no one can see me!"

In an instant he was gone, and there was only a cloud of smoke where he had stood.

The cloud of smoke moved down the gloomy cave and Alberich's cruel voice laughed: "Ha! ha! Now I shall make you black slaves work! Now you dare not be idle, for when you do not see me I shall be watching you!"

His voice sank deeper. "Now I will make you dig, dig, dig, to the very depths of the earth to bring me gold!"

When the cloud of smoke had gone out of sight, he lay down upon the rocks and cried.

The Master

Wotan and Loki swung themselves over the ledge and slid down into the murky cave where Alberich lived.

From far down the passages came the sound of hundreds of slaves melting and welding precious metals for their master.

"Loki," said Wotan, "I believe it is always dark and gloomy where there is no love. What is that strange cry I hear?"

"Oh," replied Mimi, "that wretched Alberich, with his ring of gold, has made us all his slaves! With it he drives us down into the earth to dig more gold. What we get is all his. We slave for him both day and night.

"This curse of gold has filled our cavern with despair. Lately he made me forge a wishing-cap for him. With it he makes himself so none can see him. Now we slaves can never rest. Sh! sh! He is coming now!"

Wotan and Loki, peering through the darkness, could see him now and then as he passed under the light of a flaring torch.

He was driving a swarm of bent black slaves who were carrying great packs of gold and silver and precious ore upon their backs.

The Boaster

"Who is this that dares come into my cave?" he cried. "Mimi, get back to your work!"

"Get below, every one of you! Crawl into your dingy shafts and dig the gold! Begone, I say! You must obey the master of the ring!"

As soon as the black swarm had crept away, Alberich spoke angrily to Wotan and Loki. "What do you want in here?"

"We just came to see you," said Wotan. "We hoped you might be glad to have us. We think you must be a very clever man. We have heard a great deal about the wonderful things you can do."

"Yes," answered Loki; "it is the most gold I have ever seen, but what use is it? It does no one any good in here where nothing useful can be bought with it."

"I am heaping it up," said Alberich. "Some day, with this same treasure, heaped and hid, I hope to work some wonders. You shall see! I shall be master of the whole wide world! Ha! the smoke of Alberich's kingdom shall smudge even your flowery mountain-sides and your sparkling rivers. Everybody shall be my slave! Beware of this black Nibelung, I say, for he shall rule the world!"

The Wishing-Cap

Loki was very sly and cunning. While Alberich boasted, he was planning how he might trick the dwarf and take his gold.

To Alberich he said: "Surely, you will be the mightiest of men. But suppose that while you sleep, one of your slaves should creep upon you and steal your ring?"

Alberich smiled. "There is no danger of that," he said. "I will show you a trick or two. Do you see this helmet? It is a magic helmet. With it I can make myself so no one can see me, or I can change myself, quick as a flash, into anything I wish to be. So, you see, I am perfectly safe."

"I shall prove it to you," said the dwarf, never dreaming that the sly Loki was only laying a trap for him. "What form will you have me take?"

"Turn into anything you wish. Only let me see it done and then I shall believe."

Alberich put on the helmet. "Ho! Monster Dragon, come!" And quick as a flash he turned into a huge dragon.

Loki pretended to be frightened. As the fierce monster squirmed toward him, he made believe that he was going to rush from the cave.

The Trick

"Indeed, I do," replied Loki. "It is wonderful. But if you could shrink to some tiny thing, it would be even much more clever, because you could creep into a crevice and spy upon your enemies. But, of course, getting small would be too hard a thing to do."

"Now I shall catch him," thought Loki. "Could you make yourself as little as a toad that quickly slinks under the rock when there is danger near?"

"Come, little toad! Creep from your cranny!" Alberich was gone, and there at Wotan's feet hopped the tiny toad.

As soon as the cap was off, the toad disappeared, and there lay Alberich, held fast by Wotan's giant foot.

The Curse

Alberich held the ring close under his breast and muttered to himself: "They may have the gold! What do I care! With this ring I can soon make my slaves dig more."

Then aloud he said: "You may take the gold. My slaves shall heap it at your feet."

He slyly slipped his hand to his lips and, kissing the ring, called his slaves with its magic.

In a moment the little black Nibelungs came in swarms from every shaft, bearing the precious gold.

"Heap up the treasure!" he yelled. "Don't stop to stare at me. I am still your master. Now, crawl back into your shafts and drudge. I am coming in a minute, and it will not be well for you if I do not find you digging!"

"Take it, then," snarled the dwarf, thinking he could easily, with the power of the ring, force Mimi to make another, "but let me go, I say!"

"Just wait a minute, Alberich," said Wotan. "That ring I saw glittering on your finger,--I must have that too."

"That ring does not belong to you. You stole its gold from the Rhine-children," he said.

"Think twice, Wotan, before you take this ring from me! I warn you now a curse goes with it."

"Ha!" laughed Alberich in scorn. "It will never bring you happiness. Its owner shall always feel its curse of care, sorrow, and unrest."

Then, turning, he groped his way down the cavern, far poorer than the day he went stealing along the slippery bed of the river. Then, he had no gold. Now, he had no gold and no friends.

The Greedy Fafner

Already Fafner had made up his mind that if he gave Freya back, he must have a very great deal of gold.

When Freya again reached her own country, the sun grew brighter, the air grew sweeter, and the glow of youth came back to the cheeks of Wotan and his family.

"I am sorry to give Freya up," said Fafner. "Pile up the gold between her and me. You may keep her if there is gold enough to hide her completely from my sight. So long as I can see her, I cannot part with her."

Then Wotan and his family heaped the glittering gold. They piled it as loosely as they could, but when they had put on all the gold they had, the greedy Fafner cried:--

"More, more! It is not high enough! Still I can see fair Freya's shimmering hair. Throw on that shining helmet!"

"Put it on, Loki," commanded Wotan. "There, Fafner, is your pay. Freya again belongs to me."

"Not yet!" cried Fafner, as he peeped through a space in the heap. "I can see her eyes through here." Then, pointing to the ring on Wotan's finger: "Bring that ring and put it in this space."

Then Loki spoke. "The ring belongs to the Rhine-maidens, and Wotan is going to return it to them. Already we have given you more than you should expect, all that shining heap and the helmet besides."

"I will not give you any more!" roared Wotan. "Not all the mighty world shall take this ring from my finger!"

"Then I shall be gone," said Fafner. "I was afraid you would not give me enough gold. Freya is mine forevermore."

Wotan's family began to plead for Freya. "She is worth more to us than all the gold in this world! Without her we must all wither and die!"

A Slave To Gold

Fafner gathered up the hoard--the hoard for which he had worked--the hoard for which he had made so much trouble.

He carried it off to his own country. Now that he had it, he had no thought of using it.

He wanted it merely for gold's sake; not for the sake of the great, good things that might be done with it. The only thing he wished to do was to keep others from getting it.

He heaped it up in a cave in the forest. Then he put on the helmet and changed himself into a fierce, ugly dragon.

For the love of mere gold he was willing to give up being a splendid giant, who roamed freely over the beautiful mountains, and to become a hideous, twisting, squirming monster.

The rest of his life he would lie at the door of the cave and guard the treasure. The treasure should lie there useless to all the world.

The Beautiful Valhalla

As Fafner carried away his treasure, a great storm gathered over the mountain crest.

The sky grew black. The thunder rolled. Its echoes bounded on from cloud to cloud, from peak to peak, then rumbled down the valleys to the sea.

Then the clouds drifted away. The setting sun shot its long rays into the deep valley.

There, arching over the river and reaching from the flowery mountain-side to the very door of the gleaming castle, stood a shining rainbow bridge.

"Lo! our castle! Our beautiful Valhalla!" cried the king. "Let us cross over. It shall be our dwelling-place forevermore."

As Wotan walked slowly and sadly over, he heard the wailing of the Rhine-maidens in the river below:--

"I shall never be happy again," thought Wotan. "I have given my honor for Valhalla. What an awful price I have paid!"

The Walküre

A Matchless Sword

He could not forget Alberich's curse. What if Alberich should in some way gain possession of the ring again! He would destroy Valhalla.

"Oh, why was I not brave enough to give the ring back to the Rhine-children!" sighed Wotan.

"If only it might again be a mere thing of beauty to gladden their hearts, but so long as it is in the world, how many more will it not rob of their happiness.

"Surely, some great hero must come who will be brave enough to slay the dragon and give the ring back to its rightful owners."

Said Wotan to himself, "I shall make a mighty sword, and when the hero comes, his sword will be ready for him."

When it was finished, he took it and went into the forest. Straight he went to the home of the bold robber Hunding.

From the loud laughter and shouting that Wotan heard as he neared the hut, he knew that Hunding and his friends were having a merry feast.

Then, lifting the gleaming sword above his head, with one great lunging blow, he buried the bright blade, even to its hilt, in the great ash tree's quivering side.

In the years that followed, many came and went, and all tried hard to gain the sword, and still that magic blade slept on within the ash tree's sheath.

The Valiant Siegmund

One very dark and stormy night, Siegmund, a brave warrior, wandered alone in the forest.

He had lost his weapons, and now he trudged through the pathless woods, seeking some place where he might find balm for his wounds and shelter from the raging storm.

He was almost exhausted when he caught sight of a flickering candlelight in the window of a forest hut.

No one answered his call, and no longer caring if it were the home of friend or foe, he opened the door, and staggering in he sank upon the hearth.

A great fire burned in the rude fireplace, and, as he grew warm, being worn and weary, he sank into a heavy sleep.

Hunding'S Wife

As Siegmund slept, the door of the inner room was gently opened and a beautiful woman stole softly in.

She had heard Siegmund as he entered the room, and, thinking her chieftain had returned from the hunt, she came to greet him.

Instead she saw a stranger on the hearth, and, drawing near, she saw that his face looked sad and troubled.

"He sleeps," she said. "How weak and weary he seems. Perhaps he has been wounded or is faint from hunger."

The woman ran quickly, and, bringing a cup of cold water, held it to his parched lips.

Siegmund drank. Then, gazing into the woman's kind face, he gasped: "Where am I?"

But, with a startled look, she stood in silence, listening to the heavy tread outside the door.

Hunding

The woman hastened to say: "I found this stranger lying on our hearth. He was faint and needed help."

The chieftain grew dark with anger as he said: "Because it is the sacred law of my country that none shall be turned from the door who seek shelter from the night, this intruder may stay until the morning. Then he shall fight for his life."

Taking the woman by the arm, Hunding led her from the room, and Siegmund was left alone to think how he might save himself.

Long he leaned upon the hearth in troubled silence. Then, knowing he must flee, he turned toward the door.

That moment the last flickering light of the dying fire flashed upon the hilt of the magic sword in the ash tree.

Siegmund saw it, and, springing forward, he grasped its hilt. Then, bracing himself against the tree, with one mighty pull, behold! he drew the bright blade from its sheath.

The War-Maidens

Wotan gathered to Valhalla a company of nine war-maidens. They were called the Walküre.

They were strong, beautiful young women, who rode through the clouds upon swift horses.

The maidens wore wings upon their helmets, and each wore a splendid silver armor which glittered and flashed in the sunshine.

Wherever there was a battle on the earth, Wotan would send a battle-maiden for the most valiant hero on the field.

When the bravest man was wounded, she would quickly swoop down, and, snatching him up, would fly with him to Valhalla, where he was revived by fair Freya.

Sometimes, when evening came, every one of the war-maidens rode into Valhalla carrying a noble hero.

After a while he would have at the castle a company of the bravest heroes of the earth.

Wotan'S Wife

The king of the giants went forth from his castle and called Brunhilde, his favorite battle-maiden.

"Brunhilde," said Wotan, "to-day there is to be a fearful battle. The fierce Hunding is to fight with my dearest friend--the valiant Siegmund.

"Long have I wished to have my noble friend at Valhalla. Fly, Brunhilde, to the battlefield. Give to Siegmund the victory. Carry him here to dwell upon the heights."

"Wotan," she cried, "Siegmund must not be brought to Valhalla. I ask that my friend, the forest chief, shall be given aid. Send Brunhilde to bear Hunding to our castle."

"Take the sword from him," replied Wotan's wife in rage. "I plead for Hunding's rights. Promise me that you will forbid your war-maiden to give aid to Siegmund."

On Siegmund were centered all his hopes. Yet he feared to refuse his wife's request.

Wotan And Brunhilde

"Oh, woe and shame upon the giants! What I love best I must give up. I lose the friend I hold most dear. All my hopes are vanishing. A short time and the giants will be no more."

Loudly he moaned: "This is the curse that clutched me when I snatched the glittering gold."

"Tell me, Father, what thy child can do. Trust me, Father!" she pleaded. "Tell me all your woe."

How he had stooped to trickery and had stolen the gold with which to pay for Valhalla.

He told of the sad hearts of the Rhine-daughters, and of the greedy Fafner, lying at the door of his forest cave, guarding his hoard.

He told of his fear that the black Nibelung might regain the ring and by its power destroy Valhalla.

Off To The Battlefield

"But, Father, Alberich could not destroy Valhalla. Think of all the heroes gathered there. Surely, they can protect it from all danger."

"Brunhilde, my child," sighed Wotan, "you do not know the power of that ring when it is in the hands of Alberich. Once he gains it, he can do with it what he will, because he has given up all love. With it, he could turn my friends into enemies. Our heroes would then fight for Alberich.

"I have long hoped that a hero might come who would be brave enough to slay the dragon. I hoped it might be Siegmund. But now I must desert him in his time of need. Though it breaks my heart, I must give him up.

"Darkness and gloom are fast gathering upon Valhalla. Go, Brunhilde. Go quickly to the battlefield and shield my wife's friend."

"No, no, Father, I cannot!" cried the battle-maiden. "You love Siegmund, and I shall guard him well."

"How dare you disobey me, child? Go, I say! Give to Hunding the victory, and thus fulfill my promise."

The Flight

When she saw how fairly and valiantly the noble Siegmund fought, and how unfair and cowardly was the wicked Hunding, she thought:--

Siegmund raised his sword to deal the deadly blow, when lo! Wotan dashed through a rift in the clouds and struck Siegmund's sword with his mighty spear.

The sword fell in pieces at the feet of Brunhilde. The victory belonged to Hunding.

Brunhilde, terrified by the angry Wotan, snatched up the broken pieces of the sword, and, springing to her saddle, dashed away.

Faster and faster she fled to the forest, bearing the broken blade to Siegmund's wife.

"Siegmund is slain!" she cried. "These are the pieces of his mighty sword. Keep them for your son, Siegfried. He will be brave like his father.

If she could but reach the other battle-maidens before the wrathful Wotan overtook her, surely, they would protect her from his anger.

The Punishment

It was the custom for the battle-maidens to meet at Walküre Rock every evening at sunset. This was the highest peak in the mountains. From here they would ride into Valhalla, each carrying the hero whom she had snatched from the battlefield.

"Heiho! hoyotoho! heiho!" called each as she neared the peak, and "Heiho! hoyotoho! heiho!" came the answer.

"Heiho! hoyotoho! heiho!" they shouted; and "Heiho! hoyotoho! heiho!" came Brunhilde's answer.

"Never again shall you see the beautiful Valhalla. Never shall you carry another hero to your king.

"You shall lie down upon this mountain peak, and here you shall sleep until some wanderer in passing shall awaken you, and his wife you shall be."

"You cannot mean it, Father! Anything but this! Never to see Valhalla? Never to ride with the Walküre? Father! Father! Take back these words of doom!" Brunhilde's sisters began to plead for her.

Frightened by great Wotan's awful wrath, they spurred their horses and dashed away to Valhalla.

The Sleep

"Was it so wrong, this thing that I have done? 'T is you who taught me to shield the brave and the true. I only sought to care for one you loved."

"Brunhilde, you disobeyed me. I have told you what your punishment shall be. I cannot change it."

"Then grant me, Father, this one wish: that you will make the place where I sleep so no coward can reach me. Make it so none but a hero will dare come near."

"I grant your wish, my child. I shall encircle the place with magic fire. Only he who knows no fear may claim you for his bride."

The Magic Fire

Wotan strode a few steps away from where Brunhilde slept, then struck the rock with his mighty spear.

Red flames shot up, leaping almost to the sky. They were magic flames and would not harm any one.

From every place the spear touched the fire burst forth, until at length the mound where Brunhilde slept was entirely encircled by lurid flames.

Great Wotan looked upon his work. Then he turned and called to all the mountains and the valleys below:--

Siegfried

The Missing Mimi

The cunning Mimi secretly longed to steal out into the world and find that magic ring.

One night when all the other little Nibelungs were asleep, he slipped stealthily to his forge.

What surprise and excitement there must have been the next morning when the little black Nibelungs found that Mimi had run away and had taken all of his best tools with him!

How they must have rushed about, each anxious to tell another the news of the missing Mimi!

And how Alberich must have raged when he thought of what a sad day it would be for him should Mimi become owner of that ring!

He said to himself: "That ring is hidden somewhere in the forest. I will go there and search until I know who has it. Then I will find some way of getting it."

The boughs overlapped each other, so much that almost no sunshine could get through.

Mimi liked this place. It was soothing to his eyes, so used to the darkness of the Nibelungs' cavern.

The Dragon

The sly dwarf caught a glimpse of the huge monster lying at the door of its cave.

Mimi darted into the underbrush. How glad he was that the monster had not seen him.

Its awful snake-like tail twisted and lashed about. In the end of the tail was a deadly sting.

"Alberich's ring is in that cave," thought Mimi. "Now close to this forest I must find a good little cavern in which to live.

"Some day I shall find a hero to slay this fierce monster. Then I shall slink into the cave and snatch the ring.

"Ho! ho! my brother Alberich! We shall see who shall be master and who shall be slave!"

A Baby In The Forest

Daily he sneaked about in the underbrush, watching the dragon, and daily he became more anxious to gain the gold.

He was such a coward that he was frightened at almost every animal he saw in the woods and startled by every sound.

One day, when he had ventured farther from his cave than usual, he was startled by a strange little cry.

He slipped cautiously through the bushes, in the direction from which the sound came.

This was the same forest to which Brunhilde had fled, bearing the broken sword to Siegmund's wife.

Mimi And The Baby

He would not even have cared for a little child alone in the woods had he not thought that by so doing he might gain something for himself.

Going nearer to the child, he saw close beside it the broken pieces of Siegmund's sword.

"The finest piece of steel I ever saw," he chuckled, as he ran his fingers carefully along the keen edges.

"At last I have found the hero! This little baby is the son of some valiant warrior. These are the broken pieces of the warrior's sword. Such luck for Mimi!

"The boy will be a warrior like his father. I shall take him to my cave and take good care of him.

"When he is grown up I will make him pay me for my care and pains. He shall slay the dragon. Then I will take the ring."

He lifted the little baby as gently as he knew how, and started toward his cave.

"Ha! ha!" chuckled Mimi. "That voice does not know what a skillful smith Mimi is.

"A few more years, a few more years," he gurgled in glee, "and Mimi's hands shall clutch the precious gold."

Siegfried And His Friends

When the boy had grown large enough to play about in the woods, Mimi made for him a little silver horn.

He knew they were his best friends, for something in Mimi's face always showed him that the dwarf was false.

Siegfried would wander out into the forest with his silver horn swinging from his shoulder.

He would blow his little horn song, and his forest friends would hear the call and come to play with him.

And when the little eggs had told their secret, both the father and the mother birds carried food to the babies.

Siegfried saw how tenderly the mother foxes, wolves, and bears cared for their babies.

But it was when he watched the love-light in the eyes of the mother deer that he would shut his eyes and try to dream that he too had a loving mother.

The Broken Sword

Mimi always pretended to be Siegfried's father, and he pretended to love Siegfried.

Siegfried urged him to make one sword after another, but as fast as they were made the boy would shatter them to bits with one blow on the dwarf's forge.

Then he would cry in disgust: "Nonsense, Mimi. Your swords are mere toys. Just like little switches.

Mimi always kept the pieces of Siegmund's sword carefully hidden. While Siegfried roamed through the woods, the dwarf would work for hours trying to mend the magic blade, but its hard steel would never yield either to his fire or his hammer.

A Big Brown Bear

"I am not Mimi's son. The babes in the forest all look like their parents. I do not look like Mimi."

One day, as he studied this reflection and thought of the blinking, sneaking little black Mimi, he said:--

"I will endure his falsehoods no longer. I know he is not my father. This very day I am going to make him tell me who I am!"

When the cowardly Mind saw the bear, he crouched behind the forge and screamed:--

"Good-bye, Bruin," he said, as he gave him a friendly slap on the back, and the big bear trotted off to the woods.

Siegfried And Mimi

Mimi and Siegfried sat down upon the rocks in the cave, and Mimi told how he had found the baby in the woods and how he had brought him to the cave.

Mimi put in many words of how much Siegfried owed for all this care and trouble.

"You cowardly little wretch!" cried Siegfried. "You have told me so much that is not true that I can never believe you.

"Prove to me that this is true, or I shall make you sorry that you ever saw me. Prove it to me, I tell you!" cried Siegfried, as he grasped the shrinking dwarf by the shoulders.

"I will! I will!" gasped the frightened Mimi; and he brought out the broken sword.

Siegfried Mends His Father's Sword

"I cannot! Oh, I cannot!" groaned Mimi; and he gasped out the rest of what the voice had told him:--

Then he melted the dust and poured the hot liquid into a mould the shape of a blade.

"Now I will show Siegfried the dragon. He will not know a ring is in the dragon's cave.

"Mimi, you are no longer the despised little Nibelung. You are the king of the earth."

He brought it down with all his strength upon the forge, and with a mighty crash the huge rock fell in pieces.

Siegfried Goes To Fight The Dragon

"Now tell me what that thing is that I do not know. Fear? What is fear? Why did you not teach it to me?"

"I will teach you. Come with me. I will show you a horrible serpent, lying at the door of Hate Cavern.

"There you will learn what fear is, if you can learn it any place in this world.

"Have you never seen anything that made you shiver from head to foot and made your heart beat fast?"

"I never have," calmly answered Siegfried. "Take me quickly, Mimi. I am ready to learn."

"The ring is mine! At last the ring is mine! Now all the world shall kneel at my feet!"

"When he had gone as far as he dared, he pointed out the rest of the way to Siegfried.

"Just through here," he said. "And I shall go back now. When the dragon sees you it will be a terrible struggle! I shall wait anxiously for you, my Siegfried!"

But as Siegfried vanished from sight, he rubbed his black hands together and laughed:--

A Wood-Bird'S Song

When Siegfried had gone on a little way, he stretched himself upon a grassy mound beneath a tree to rest and think.

"How do you do, my little feathered friend!" said Siegfried. "I am sure what you are singing is very sweet, but I cannot understand your words."

Then Siegfried cut a reed near by, and putting it to his lips, tried to whistle answers to the little bird's notes.

Siegfried And The Dragon

"I often blow this little song. It is my call for a comrade. I long for one. None better have ever come to me than the bears and foxes."

Soon there was a great crackling in the underbrush. The huge dragon came, lashing its deadly tail, gaping its red jaws, and blowing out poison fumes.

"Ho!" laughed Siegfried. "What a fair comrade I have charmed from his cave! You savage brute, are you going to teach me what fear is?"

"I am going to eat you!" hissed the dragon, glaring at Siegfried and thrusting out its long forked tongue.

Snorting fire and smoke from its nostrils, the monster raised to strike a deadly blow.

Siegfried sprang forward; a flash of steel, and his blade sank to the monster's heart.

A Change Comes Over Siegfried

As Siegfried drew his blade from the breast of the dying dragon, a drop of its black blood fell on his finger.

Siegfried went through the brush in the direction from which the monster had come.

He looked upon the wishing-cap, but surely no one could turn into anything better than a hero, and Siegfried was already a hero.

Mimi Has A Surprise

When he saw it lying dead under the trees, he looked about for Siegfried, but Siegfried was nowhere to be seen.

"Now I shall rush in and snatch the ring! At last I shall have my pay for all these years of trouble with that rogue I hate!"

But scarcely had Mimi turned toward the dragon's cave when suddenly Alberich sprang before him.

"You sly, crafty rascal!" cried Alberich. "What do you want here? Ha! I have caught you at your sneaking tricks! Long have I guarded here! You shall not steal my gold! Get back to your murky cave."

"You shall not have the gold! 'T is mine! Long years have I toiled and waited! The gold is mine, I say!" "Yours?" Alberich snarled in scorn. "Yours? You snatched it from the Rhine-daughters, did you? You paid the price to mould that ring?"

"Who made the helmet, that wondrous cap that in a flash can change a man into anything he wants to be?"

Mimi And Alberich Stop To Quarrel Too Long

While Mimi and Alberich quarreled, Siegfried came from the dragon's cave, bearing the helmet and the ring.

"Each year you have your mate and your little birdlings in the nest. You sing songs with the other birds.

"Is there nowhere in all this world some one whom I may love? Some one who will love me?"

Then the wood-bird began to sing a pretty love-song of a maiden sleeping on the crest of a mountain, encircled by fire.

Siegfried sprang to his feet. "I do not know fear. I have tried with all my might to learn it. Oh, help me to find the mountain where she sleeps!"

The little bird flew away in the opposite direction from where the wicked Nibelungs stood quarreling, and Siegfried joyously hurried after.

Siegfried Reaches The Mountain

A heavy storm arose as Siegfried and the bird neared the foot of the mountain where Brunhilde slept. There were peals of deep thunder.

The storm did not last long, and as the light again broke through the clouds, Siegfried looked about for his little guide, but all in vain. The bird had fled.

Siegfried started on up the mountain, when suddenly the giant Wotan stood before him.

"I am going to the top of this mountain. There a maiden lies sleeping. I will awaken her, and she shall be my bride."

"Go back to your forest!" commanded Wotan. "This mountain is encircled by fire."

"This is the magic spear that rules the world!" said Wotan. "Put away that sword, or the spear that once shattered it will shatter it again!"

There was a flash of Siegfried's blade, then a crash that echoed over mountains and valleys, and Siegfried had shattered Wotan's spear. It lay in splinters on the ground.

He knew this meant the downfall of the giants. No longer would the earth be ruled from fair Valhalla's heights.

Siegfried Learns What Fear Is

Lifting his silver horn to his lips, and blowing his Comrade Call so sweet and clear, he plunged into their depths.

But on he went, blowing his horn, until at length the sea of flames slowly sank to earth.

Eagerly he raised the helmet. There fell a mass of waving golden hair. "A burst of glorious sunshine," whispered Siegfried.

The Awakening

As she remembered Wotan's words: "Only he who knows no fear may claim you for his bride," she knew at last her hero had come.

She looked into Siegfried's strong, brave face, and as he told her of his love, she no longer wished to go back to Valhalla.

She knew that she loved Siegfried with all her heart, and she promised to be his bride.

Götterdämmerung

A Song Of The Past

Their faces and hands were deep-wrinkled with age, and their hair was as white as the snow.

They had come up from the great, dark earth-hole, where they lived, and now they crouched upon the rocks to spin their thread.

The eldest was the first to spin the thread, and as she spun, she sang a song about the past, when Wotan and his happy family lived out of doors upon the mountain-side.

She sang of the time when he split from the world's ash tree the piece of wood from which he made the magic spear, which had ruled the world for so many hundreds of years.

At length her voice wavered, the strange, weird song ceased, and she tossed the thread to the second Norn.

A Song Of The Present

As the second Norn took the thread in her worn hands, she crooned a sorrowful song about the present.

She sang of Alberich and the stolen gold. Of the love that he had given up in order to make the ring.

She sang of Wotan and how he grasped the ring and carried it into the world, bringing with it Alberich's curse.

A Song Of The Future

She sang of the time when Wotan and his family would be no more, and bright Valhalla's halls would be only a ruin.

Then, snatching up the broken ends of their thread of fate, they vanished in the gloom.

A Pledge Of Love

The days went by. Siegfried and Brunhilde were perfectly happy upon the mountain.

One day they decided that Siegfried should go forth to do brave deeds in the world.

He told Brunhilde how anxious he would be to get back to her, and that he would come just as soon as he could.

Brunhilde told Siegfried how lonely she would be without him, and how she would listen both day and night for the glad call of his silver horn.

"This, Brunhilde, shall stay with you. It shall be a pledge of my love until I come again."

Brunhilde gave Siegfried her swift horse. On it he should ride to great victories.

And after that Brunhilde listened to the clear notes of his silver horn, until at length its last faint echo died away.

The Doom Of Valhalla

She was thinking of Siegfried and of how he was proving his courage to the world.

She lifted her hand to her lips and kissed the ring, Siegfried's pledge of love.

Was it possible that one of the Walküre would so far dare Wotan's wrath as to venture to the mountain's crest?

Brunhilde was very happy to see her sister again, but the battle-maiden looked sad.

She and Brunhilde sat down upon the rock, and the battle-maiden told the sad story of the last days of the giants.

"Brunhilde," she said, "Wotan does not know that I have come. Valhalla is in deepest gloom.

"Not long ago he came home with his magic spear broken into splinters. He sat down and buried his face in his hands, and there he sits day after day.

"He tell us the giants are passing from the earth. A little while and Valhalla shall be no more.

"Yesterday I heard him say, 'Oh! if Brunhilde would only give the ring back to the Rhine-daughters, and release the world from the terrible curse of gold!'

"And, Brunhilde, I have come to beg of you, will you not give the ring back to the Rhine-daughters?"

Love

The next morning Brunhilde stood upon Walküre Rock and watched the glorious sunrise.

"Siegfried! Siegfried!" she cried in joy, and hurried down the mountain to greet him.

All the earth seemed as glad as at that glad time when Siegfried came to Walküre Rock to claim Brunhilde for his bride.

She could not forget the sorrowful news which her sister had brought, of the gloom at Valhalla.

So, after their first glad greeting, they sat down upon the rocks, and Brunhilde told Siegfried the sad story of the ring, from the time when Alberich snatched it from the Rhine-daughters, until the day Siegfried took it from Hate Cavern.

Then, hand in hand, they went, the valiant Siegfried and the noble Brunhilde, to the banks of the Rhine.

They called to the Rhine-daughters and the Rhine-daughters came out upon the rocks.

The happiest song that ever echoed along the banks of the Rhine was sung by the Rhine-daughters on that glad morning.

A greater power than gold or giant strength had come to rule the world, and that power was Love.

More About The Stories

The author would not have you think that when you have read this little book you know all that Richard Wagner told about Siegfried.

When you are older, do not fail to read The Rhine-Gold, The Walküre, Siegfried, and Götterdämmerung, as Richard Wagner told them.

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	The Rhine-Maidens And Alberich
	Wotan
	He Tugged In Vain
	Walküre
	Siegfried
	"Eat Him, Bruin," Laughed Siegfried
	"I Am Going To Eat You," Hissed The Dragon
	Three Norns Came To The Mountain Crest To Spin