III
SIEGFRIED'S SWORD
When Mimi had finished his story, he looked at Siegfried, who had been drinking in every word with breathless interest, and asked:
"Well, my lad, what do you think of that? Do you think you could kill the dragon?"
Siegfried answered, with shining eyes:
"Come, Mimi, forge me a mighty sword, and lead the way to Fafner's cave, and I will show you what I can do."
So Mimi set to work to fashion a sword for Siegfried. It was to be the strongest, sharpest one that man had ever made. The dwarf worked day and night until it was finished.
When he gave it to Siegfried, the boy examined it carefully, shook his head as though in doubt, and then strode to the anvil. He struck the iron one powerful blow with the sword, and the weapon lay in pieces.
Mimi told him not to worry, and at once set to work upon some of his most finely tempered steel, resolved to make a sword that would be a match for Siegfried's unheard-of strength.
But when it was finished, Siegfried took it as he had taken the first, and in a moment the blade was shattered on the anvil. Then he grew angry and rushed at the dwarf, crying:
"Oh! you worthless fellow, get you hence or I will kill you!"
Mimi was badly frightened, and hid himself behind the fireplace not knowing what might happen next. But after a while Siegfried's anger began to cool; then Mimi emerged from his hiding-place, and Siegfried saw that he held something in each hand. When the dwarf came close enough, the lad saw that he carried two halves of a splendid sword.
This Mimi declared was none other than the sword Wotan had carried on the day upon which Otto was killed. "And," he continued, "if I can but weld it together, you will have the finest sword that ever a hero wielded." Siegfried could scarcely wait until Mimi finished the work, so anxious was he to try the weapon.
THE MIGHTY SWORD WAS UNHURT
At length it was ready, and he seized it, crying: "Now for the test! Now for the test!" Then he raised the mighty blade high above his head, and brought it down with all his strength upon the anvil. The whole house shook and trembled, and the anvil was split in two, but the weapon—the mighty sword that Wotan himself had flourished—was unhurt.
And now Mimi was thoroughly frightened, for he thought that Siegfried must be Thor himself. But he hid his fear, and cried:
"Avenge me, Siegfried! Slay this dragon, and one-half of the Rhine gold shall be yours."
"Lead the way," the lad replied, "and I will make short work of him."
So Mimi started for the heath, and Siegfried followed him joyfully.
When they drew near the place, Mimi pointed out a wide, blackened trail leading through the grass. This, he said, had been made by Fafner, for it was the path the dragon took each day when he went to the spring to drink. The dwarf told the boy that Fafner spouted flames to the right and left as he went along, and threshed the grass with his monstrous tail at every step.
Then he advised Siegfried to dig a deep pit, hide himself in it, and as the dragon crawled over it, to pierce him to the heart from underneath. Siegfried thought the plan a good one, and proceeded at once to dig.
He did not hear Mimi chuckling to himself, behind his back. For Mimi was bent upon destroying him, and knew that as soon as he had killed the monster, its blood would fill the pit, and drown him. Therefore the dwarf rejoiced. He withdrew to a safe distance, and hid himself, to await the coming of the dragon, which he greatly feared.
