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Page 25
He wore a white gown, resembling in form the dress of the priest's
order, except that his hood hung very low over his face, and that the
whole drapery floated in such wide folds around him as obliged him
every moment to gather it up and throw it over his arm, or by some
management of this sort to get it out of his way, and still it did
not seem in the least to impede his movements. When the young couple
became aware of his presence, he was saying:
"And so, venerable sir, many as have been the years I have dwelt here
in this forest, I have never received the name of hermit in your
sense of the word. For, as I said before, I know nothing of penance,
and I think, too, that I have no particular need of it. Do you ask
me why I am so attached to the forest? It is because its scenery is
so peculiarly picturesque, and affords me so much pastime when, in my
floating white garments, I pass through its world of leaves and dusky
shadows;--and when a sweet sunbeam glances down upon me at times
unexpectedly."
"You are a very singular man," replied the priest, "and I should like
to have a more intimate acquaintance with you."
"And who, then, may you be yourself, to pass from one thing to
another?" inquired the stranger.
"I am called Father Heilmann," answered the holy man; "and I am from
the cloister of Our Lady of the Salutation, beyond the lake."
"Well, well," replied the stranger, "my name is Kuhleborn; and were I
a stickler for the nice distinctions of rank, I might, with equal
propriety, require you to give me the title of noble lord of
Kuhleborn, or free lord of Kuhleborn; for I am as free as the birds
in the forest, and, it may be, a trifle more so. For example, I now
have something to tell that young lady there." And before they were
aware of his purpose, he was on the other side of the priest, close
to Undine, and stretching himself high into the air, in order to
whisper something in her ear. But she shrank from him in terror, and
exclaimed:
"I have nothing more to do with you."
"Ho, ho," cried the stranger with a laugh, "you have made a grand
marriage indeed, since you no longer know your own relations! Have
you no recollection, then, of your uncle Kuhleborn, who so faithfully
bore you on his back to this region?"
"However that may be," replied Undine, "I entreat you never to appear
in my presence again. I am now afraid of you; and will not my
husband fear and forsake me, if he sees me associate with such
strange company and kindred?"
"You must not forget, my little niece," said Kuhleborn, "that I am
with you here as a guide; otherwise those madcap spirits of the
earth, the gnomes that haunt this forest, would play you some of
their mischievous pranks. Let me therefore still accompany you in
peace. Even the old priest there had a better recollection of me
than you have; for he just now assured me that I seemed to be very
familiar to him, and that I must have been with him in the ferry-
boat, out of which he tumbled into the waves. He certainly did see
me there; for I was no other than the water-spout that tore him out
of it, and kept him from sinking, while I safely wafted him ashore to
your wedding."
Undine and the knight turned their eyes upon Father Heilmann; but he
appeared to be moving forward, just as if he were dreaming or walking
in his sleep, and no longer to be conscious of a word that was
spoken. Undine then said to Kuhleborn: "I already see yonder the end
of the forest. We have no further need of your assistance, and
nothing now gives us alarm but yourself. I therefore beseech you, by
our mutual love and good-will, to vanish, and allow us to proceed in
peace."
Kuhleborn seemed to become angry at this: he darted a frightful look
at Undine, and grinned fiercely upon her. She shrieked aloud, and
called her husband to protect her. The knight sprang round the horse
as quick as lightning, and, brandishing his sword, struck at
Kuhleborn's head. But instead of severing it from his body, the
sword merely flashed through a torrent, which rushed foaming near
them from a lofty cliff; and with a splash, which much resembled in
sound a burst of laughter, the stream all at once poured upon them
and gave them a thorough wetting. The priest, as if suddenly
awakening from a trance, coolly observed: "This is what I have been
some time expecting, because the brook has descended from the steep
so close beside us--though at first sight, indeed, it appeared to
resemble a man, and to possess the power of speech."
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