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Page 24
She was about to add something more, when Huldbrand, with the most
heartfelt tenderness and love, clasped her in his arms, and again
bore her back to the shore. There, amid tears and kisses, he first
swore never to forsake his affectionate wife, and esteemed himself
even more happy than Pygmalion, for whom Venus gave life to his
beautiful statue, and thus changed it into a beloved wife. Supported
by his arm, and in the confidence of affection, Undine returned to
the cottage; and now she first realized with her whole heart how
little cause she had for regretting what she had left--the crystal
palace of her mysterious father.
CHAPTER 5
Next morning, when Huldbrand awoke from slumber, and perceived that
his beautiful wife was not by his side, he began to give way again to
his wild imaginations--that his marriage, and even the lovely Undine
herself, were only shadows without substance--only mere illusions of
enchantment. But she entered the door at the same moment, kissed
him, seated herself on the bed by his side, and said:
"I have been out somewhat early this morning, to see whether my uncle
keeps his word. He has already restored the waters of the flood to
his own calm channel, and he now flows through the forest a rivulet
as before, in a lonely and dreamlike current. His friends, too, both
of the water and the air, have resumed their usual peaceful tenor;
all will again proceed with order and tranquillity; and you can
travel homeward, without fear of the flood, whenever you choose."
It seemed to the mind of Huldbrand that he must be in some waking
dream, so little was he able to understand the nature of his wife's
strange relative. Notwithstanding this he made no remark upon what
she had told him, and her surpassing loveliness soon lulled every
misgiving and discomfort to rest.
Some time afterwards, while he was standing with her before the door,
and surveying the verdant point of land, with its boundary of bright
waters, such a feeling of bliss came over him in this cradle of his
love, that he exclaimed:
"Shall we, then, so early as to-day, begin our journey? Why should
we? It is probable that abroad in the world we shall find no days
more delightful than those we have spent in this green isle so secret
and so secure. Let us yet see the sun go down here two or three
times more."
"Just as my lord wills," replied Undine meekly. "Only we must
remember, that my foster-parents will, at all events, see me depart
with pain; and should they now, for the first time, discover the true
soul in me, and how fervently I can now love and honour them, their
feeble eyes would surely become blind with weeping. As yet they
consider my present quietness and gentleness as of no better promise
than they were formerly--like the calm of the lake just while the air
remains tranquil--and they will learn soon to cherish a little tree
or flower as they have cherished me. Let me not, then, make known to
them this newly bestowed, this loving heart, at the very moment they
must lose it for this world; and how could I conceal what I have
gained, if we continued longer together?"
Huldbrand yielded to her representation, and went to the aged couple
to confer with them respecting his journey, on which he proposed to
set out that very hour. The priest offered himself as a companion to
the young married pair; and, after taking a short farewell, he held
the bridle, while the knight lifted his beautiful wife upon his
horse; and with rapid steps they crossed the dry channel with her
toward the forest. Undine wept in silent but intense emotion; the
old people, as she moved away, were more clamorous in the expression
of their grief. They appeared to feel, at the moment of separation,
all that they were losing in their affectionate foster-daughter.
The three travellers had reached the thickest shades of the forest
without interchanging a word. It must have been a fair sight, in
that hall of leafy verdure, to see this lovely woman's form sitting
on the noble and richly-ornamented steed, on her left hand the
venerable priest in the white garb of his order, on her right the
blooming young knight, clad in splendid raiment of scarlet, gold, and
violet, girt with a sword that flashed in the sun, and attentively
walking beside her. Huldbrand had no eyes but for his wife; Undine,
who had dried her tears of tenderness, had no eyes but for him; and
they soon entered into the still and voiceless converse of looks and
gestures, from which, after some time, they were awakened by the low
discourse which the priest was holding with a fourth traveller, who
had meanwhile joined them unobserved.
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