A low knocking at the door was heard in the midst of this stillness, startling all the inmates of the cottage;for there are times when a little circumstance, happening quite unexpectedly, can unduly alarm us. But there was here the additional cause of alarm that the enchanted forest lay so near, and that the little promontory seemed just now inaccessible to human beings.They looked at each other doubtingly, as the knocking was repeated accompanied by a deep groan, and the knight sprang to reach his sword.But the old man whispered softly:“If it be what I fear, no weapon will help us.”
Undine meanwhile approached the door and called out angrily and boldly:“Spirits of the earth, if you wish to carry on your mischief, Kuhleborn shall teach you something better.”
The terror of the rest was increased by these mysterious words;they looked fearfully at the girl, and Huldbrand was just regaining courage enough to ask what she meant, when a voice said without:“I am no spirit of the earth, but a spirit indeed still within its earthly body. You within the cottage, if you fear God and will help me, open to me.”At these words, Undine had already opened the door, and had held a lamp out in the stormy night, by which they perceived an aged priest standing there, who stepped back in terror at theunexpected sight of the beautiful maiden.He might well think that witchcraft and magic were at work when such a lovely form appeared at such an humble cottage door:he therefore began to pray:“All good spirits praise the Lord!”
“I am no spectre,”said Undine, smiling;“do I then look so ugly?Besides you may see the holy words do not frighten me. I too know of God and understand how to praise Him;every one to be sure in his own way, for so He has created us.Come in, venerable father;you come among good people.”
The holy man entered, bowing and looking round him, with a profound, yet tender demeanor. But the water was dropping from every fold of his dark garment, and from his long white beard and from his gray locks.The fisherman and the knight took him to another apartment and furnished him with other clothes, while they gave the women his own wet attire to dry.The aged stranger thanked them humbly and courteously, but he would on no account accept the knight's splendid mantle, which was offered to him;but he chose instead an old gray overcoat belonging to the fsherman.They then returned to the apartment, and the good old dame immediately vacated her easy-chair for the reverend father, and would not rest till he had taken possession of it.“For,”said she,“you are old and exhausted, and you are moreover a man of God.”Undine pushed under the stranger's feet her little stool, on which she had been wont to sit by the side of Huldbrand, and she showed herself in every way most gentle and kind in her care of the good old man.Huldbrand whispered some raillery at it in her ear, but she replied very seriously:“He is a servant of Him who created us all;holy things arenot to be jested with.”
The knight and the fisherman then refreshed their reverend guest with food and wine, and when he had somewhat recovered himself, he began to relate how he had the day before set out from his cloister, which lay far beyond the great lake, intending to travel to the bishop, in order to acquaint him with the distress into which the monastery and its tributary villages had fallen on account of the extraordinary foods. After a long, circuitous route, which these very floods had obliged him to take, he had been this day compelled, toward evening, to procure the aid of a couple of good boatmen to cross an arm of the lake, which had overfowed its banks.
“Scarcely however,”continued he,“had our small craft touched the waves, than that furious tempest burst forth which is now raging over our heads. It seemed as if the waters had only waited for us, to commence their wildest whirling dance with our little boat.The oars were soon torn out of the hands of my men, and were dashed by the force of the waves further and further beyond our reach.We ourselves, yielding to the resistless powers of nature, helplessly drifted over the surging billows of the lake toward your distant shore, which we already saw looming through the mist and foam.Presently our boat turned round and round as in a giddy whirlpool;I know not whether it was upset, or whether I fell overboard.In a vague terror of inevitable death I drifted on, till a wave cast me here, under the trees on your island.”
“Yes, island!”cried the fsherman;“a short time ago it was only a point of land;but now, since the forest-stream and the lake have become well-nigh bewitched, things are quite different with us.”
“I remarked something of the sort,”said the priest,“as I crept along the shore in the dark, and hearing nothing but the uproar around me. I at last perceived that a beaten foot-path disappeared just in the direction from which the sound proceeded.I now saw the light in your cottage, and ventured hither, and I cannot suffciently thank my heavenly Father that after preserving me from the waters, He has led me to such good and pious people as you are;and I feel this all the more, as I do not know whether I shall ever behold any other beings is this world, except those I now address.”
“What do you mean?”asked the fsherman.
“Do you know then how long this commotion of the elements is to last?”replied the holy man.“And I am old in years. Easily enough may the stream of my life run itself out before the overfowing of the forest-stream may subside.And indeed it were not impossible that more and more of the foaming waters may force their way between you and yonder forest, until you are so far sundered from the rest of the world that your little fshing-boat will no longer be suffcient to carry you across, and the inhabitants of the continent in the midst of their diversions will have entirely forgotten you in your old age.”
The fisherman's wife started at this, crossed herself and exclaimed.“God forbid.”But her husband looked at her with a smile, and said“What creatures we are after all!even were it so, things would not be very different—at least not for you, dear wife—than they now are. For have you for many years been further than the edge of the forest?and have you seen any other human beings than Undine and myself?The knight and this holy man have only come to as lately.They will remain with us if we do become aforgotten island;so you would even be a gainer by it after all.”
“I don't know,”said the old woman;“it is somehow a gloomy thought, when one imagines that one is irrecoverably separated from other people, although, were it otherwise, one might neither know nor see them.”
“Then you will remain with us!then you will remain with us!”whispered Undine, in a low, half-singing tone, as she nestled closer to Huldbrand's side. But he was absorbed in the deep and strange visions of his own mind.
The region on the other side of the forest-river seemed to dissolve into distance during the priest's last words:and the blooming island upon which he lived grew more green, and smiled more freshly in his mind's vision. His beloved one glowed as the fairest rose of this little spot of earth, and even of the whole world, and the priest was actually there.Added to this, at that moment an angry glance from the old dame was directed at the beautiful girl, because even in the presence of the reverend father she leaned so closely on the knight, and it seemed as if a torrent of reproving words were on the point of following.Presently, turning to the priest, Huldbrand broke forth:“Venerable father, you see before you here a pair pledged to each other:and if this maiden and these good old people have no objection, you shall unite us this very evening.”The aged couple were extremely surprised.They had, it is true, hitherto often thought of something of the sort, but they had never yet expressed it, and when the knight now spoke thus, it came upon them as something wholly new and unprecedented.
Undine had become suddenly grave, and looked downthoughtfully while the priest inquired respecting the circumstances of the case, and asked if the old people gave their consent. After much discussion together, the matter was settled;the old dame went to arrange the bridal chamber for the young people, and to look out two consecrated tapers which she had had in her possession for some time, and which she thought essential to the nuptial ceremony.The knight in the mean while examined his gold chain, from which he wished to disengage two rings, that he might make an exchange of them with his bride.
She, however, observing what he was doing, started up from her reverie, and exclaimed:“Not so!my parents have not sent me into the world quite destitute;on the contrary, they must have anticipated with certainty that such an evening as this would come.”Thus saving, she quickly left the room and reappeared in a moment with two costly rings, one of which she gave to her bridegroom, and kept the other for herself. The old fsherman was extremely astonished at this, and still more so his wife, who just then entered, for neither had ever seen these jewels in the child's possession.
“My parents,”said Undine,“sewed these little things into the beautiful frock which I had on, when I came to you. They forbid me, moreover, to mention them to anyone before my wedding evening, so I secretly took them, and kept them concealed until now.”
The priest interrupted all further questionings by lighting the consecrated tapers, which he placed upon a table, and summoned the bridal pair to stand opposite to him. He then gave them to each other with a few short solemn words;the elder couple gave their blessing to the younger, and the bride, trembling and thoughtful, leaned uponthe knight.Then the priest suddenly said:“You are strange people after all.Why did you tell me you were the only people here on the island?and during the whole ceremony, a tall stately man, in a white mantle, has been looking at me through the window opposite.He must still be standing before the door, to see if you will invite him to come into the house.”
“God forbid,”said the old dame with a start;the fisherman shook his head in silence, and Huldbrand sprang to the window. It seemed even to him as if he could still see a white streak, but it soon completely disappeared in the darkness.He convinced the priest that he must have been absolutely mistaken, and they all sat down together round the hearth.
正在大家覺得尷尬,忽然一陣輕輕的叩門聲從靜空氣里傳了過來,屋子里的人一齊駭然。這是我們都有經(jīng)驗的,一樁很無足輕重的事實,因為他突然而來,往往引起絕大的恐慌,但是這一回我們應(yīng)該記得那奧妙的森林就在他們附近,而且他們這塊地是人跡不到的地方,所以他們相顧惶惶。又聽見叩了幾下,跟著一聲深深的嘆息。騎士就起來去拿刀,但是老人悄悄說道:“假使來的是我所慮的,有兵器也不中用。”
同時渦堤孩已經(jīng)走近門邊,厲聲叫道:“你若來不懷好意,你地鬼,枯爾龐自會教訓你好樣子。”
其余屋里的人,聽見她古怪的話,更嚇了;他們都看著她,黑爾勃郎正要開口問她,門外有人說道:“我不是地鬼,我是好好的人。要是你們愿意救我,要是你們怕上帝,你村舍里面的人,趕快讓我進來!”
但是他話還沒有說完,渦堤孩早已呀的一聲把門打開,手里拿著燈往外面黑夜里一照。他們看見一個年老的牧師,他無意見這樣神仙似的一個少女,倒嚇得縮了回去。他心里想這樣荒野地方,一間小茅屋發(fā)現(xiàn)了如此美麗的幻象,一定是什么精怪在那里作弄他,所以他就禱告:“一切善靈,頌揚上帝!”
渦堤孩笑起來了,說道:“我不是鬼,難道我長來丑得像鬼?無論如何,你明明看見你的圣咒沒有嚇我。我也知道上帝,知道贊美他。神父,進來吧,屋子里都是好人?!?/p>
牧師戰(zhàn)兢兢鞠了一躬,走了進來,他神氣很和善可敬。但是他的長袍上,他的白胡子上,他的白發(fā)上,處處都在那里滴水。漁人同騎士立即引他到內(nèi)房,拿衣服給他換,一面將他的濕衣交給老太太去烘干。這老牧師至至誠誠地謝他們,但是不敢穿那騎士取給他的錦繡的披肩。他另外選了漁人一件舊灰色外套穿上。等他回到外房,主婦趕快將她自己的太師椅讓他坐,再也不許他客氣?!耙驗椋彼f,“你年高又‘累’了,而且是上帝的人?!睖u堤孩老規(guī)矩將她平常坐在黑爾勃郎身旁的小凳子推到牧師的腳邊,并且很殷勤地招呼這老人。黑爾勃郎輕輕向她說了一句笑話,但是她正色答道——
“他是服侍創(chuàng)造我們一切的他。這并不是鬧著玩的事?!?/p>
于是騎士和漁人拿酒食給他,牧師吃過喝過,開頭講他昨天從大湖的對面的修道院動身,打算到僧正管區(qū)去告訴大水為災(zāi),修道院和鄰近村落都受損失。但是他走到傍晚辰光,有一處被水沖斷了,他只得雇了兩個船家渡他過去。
“但是,”他接著說,“我們的小船剛劃得不遠,大風雨忽然發(fā)作,水勢既狂,旋渦更兇。一不小心,船家的槳都叫浪頭打劫了去,轉(zhuǎn)瞬不知去向。我們只得聽天由命,幾陣浪頭將我們漂到湖的這邊。后來我神魂飄蕩,只覺得去死不遠,但是我知覺回復(fù)的時候,我身子已被浪頭送到你們島上的樹下?!?/p>
“你說我們島上!”漁人說道,“本來連著對面的。但是這幾天森林里的急流同湖水發(fā)了瘋,我們連自己都不知道在哪里了?!?/p>
牧師說:“我在水邊黑暗里爬著,滿耳荒野的聲音,看見一條走熟的路,領(lǐng)到那邊咆哮的水里。后來我見到你們屋子里的光,我就摸了過來,我不知道怎樣感謝天父,他從水里救了我出來,又送我到你們這樣虔敬的人家;況且我不知道我這輩子除了你們四位以外,會不會再見人類呢?”
“你這話怎樣講?”漁人問道。
牧師說:“誰知道這水幾時才能退?我是老衰了。也許水還沒有靜下去,我的老命倒用到頭了。而況水勢要是盡漲,你這里離陸地愈遠,你的小小漁舟又不能過湖,也許我們從此再不能與世人接觸也未可知?!?/p>
老主婦聽了用手支著十字說道:“上帝不許!”但是漁人望她笑笑,答道——
“那也并沒有什么稀奇,尤其于你不相干,老妻是不是?這幾年來你除了森林到過哪里?除了渦堤孩和我,你又見過什么人呢?騎士先生來了沒有幾時,神父剛剛到得。假使我們果真同世間隔絕了,他們兩位也和我們同住,那豈不是更好嗎?”
老太太說:“難說得很,同世界上隔絕,想想都可怕?!?/p>
“但是你要和我們住了,你要和我們住了?!睖u堤孩挨到黑爾勃郎身邊輕輕地唱著。
但是他正在那里出神。自從牧師講了最后一番話,那森林背后的世界,好像愈退愈遠;這花草遍地的島上愈覺得青青可愛,似乎對他笑得加倍的鮮甜。他的新娘在這大地一點上好比一朵最嬌艷的薔薇婷婷開著,并且如今牧師都在身邊。他一頭想,那老太太見渦堤孩在牧師面前和黑爾勃郎黏得如此緊,露出一臉怒氣,似乎一頓罵就要發(fā)作。騎士再也忍不住,轉(zhuǎn)過來對牧師說道——
“神父呀!你看在你的跟前一個新郎和新婦。如其這孩子和她父母不反對,請你今晚就替我們結(jié)婚?!?/p>
這對老夫婦嚇了一大跳。他們固然早已想到這件事體,但是他們都放在肚里,就是老夫妻間彼此也沒有明講過,現(xiàn)在騎士忽然老老實實說了出來,他們倒覺得非常離奇。渦堤孩頓然正色不語,呆鈍鈍看著地上,一面牧師在那里打聽仔細實際情形,又問老夫妻主意如何。講了好一陣子,一切都很滿意的決定。主婦就起身去替小夫妻鋪排新房,又尋出一對神燭來。同時騎士拿下他的金鏈來,打算拗成兩個戒指,預(yù)備結(jié)婚時交換。但是她一看見忽然好像從她思想的底里泅了上來,說道——
“不必!我的父母并沒有打發(fā)我到世上來要飯。他們的確想到遲早這么一晚總要臨到我的?!?/p>
說著,她奔出門去,一會兒回來手里拿著兩個寶貴的戒指,一個遞給新郎,一個自己戴上。老漁人很驚駭?shù)刈⒁曀?,老太太更覺稀奇,因為他們從來不知道小孩子有這對戒指。
渦堤孩說:“我的父母將這些小物事縫在我來時穿的衣服里。但是他們不許我告訴隨便哪個,除非我結(jié)婚。所以我一聲不響將它們藏在門外,直到今晚。”
牧師已經(jīng)將神燭點起,放在桌上,打斷他們的問答,吩咐那兩口子站在他跟前。然后他替他們結(jié)婚,老夫妻祝福小夫妻,新娘倚在新郎身上微微顫動,在那里想心事。突然牧師喊道:“你們這群人好古怪!為什么你們告訴我這島上除了你們四人,再也沒有生靈?但是我行禮的時候我見對著我一個高大穿白袍的人在窗外望。他這時候一定到了門口,或者他要這屋子里什么東西?!?/p>
老太太跳將起來叫道:“上帝禁止!”漁人一聲不發(fā)搖搖頭,黑爾勃郎跳到窗口,他似乎看見一道白光,突然遁入黑夜里去了。但是他告訴牧師一定是他偶爾眼花,看錯了,于是大家歡歡喜喜圍著爐火坐了下來。