IV
THE DEATH OF THE DRAGON
As Siegfried was digging, he became aware of a tall one-eyed stranger, clad in a long gray cloak, who was standing near by, watching him intently. The stranger inquired what Siegfried was doing, and upon being told, earnestly advised the youth to dig several pits, each opening out of the other, so that he might escape the flow of blood which would otherwise drown him.
Siegfried was very grateful for the advice, and began to act upon it at once. Then Wotan (for the one-eyed stranger was none other than the god) disappeared from view. When he was through digging, Siegfried heaped brush and weeds above the first pit, so that it might not be noticed, and getting down into it, awaited the coming of the dragon.
He had not long to wait. Of a sudden, a great noise, like the tramping of a thousand horses, fell upon his ear. Then came a roaring as of the sea, and he saw the huge monster come slowly along, thrashing the earth with its great tail, and spouting flames to the left and the right.
On and on it came, until he could feel its breath hot above his face. He firmly grasped his sword, and gave one swift upward thrust, quickly withdrawing it, and then he nimbly leaped into the next pit, followed by a rush of blood, and then through the next, and so on, till he reached safe ground.
When he went back to the first pit, he found the dragon writhing and groaning in its death agony. As soon as it saw him, it cried out, for it still retained the power of human speech:
"Oh! you unlucky one, the gold will prove your ruin as it has mine. A curse is on it. Who has it is accursed!"
Saying this, the creature died.
"THE GOLD WILL PROVE YOUR RUIN!"
Then Siegfried carefully cleaned his sword, and replaced it in its sheath, and as he did so, he noticed some blood upon his hand. He licked it off, and no sooner had it touched his tongue, than a strange thing happened. He could understand everything which the birds overhead were saying. He stood still and listened, and what was his astonishment to find that they were actually talking to him!
One told him that Mimi was untrue to him, and was constantly plotting his death; that even at that very moment the dwarf was approaching with a poisoned drink which he would offer to Siegfried, so that he might not have to keep his promise of sharing the Rhine gold. The bird advised him to kill the dwarf.
Sure enough, at that very moment Mimi came forward, praising Siegfried's bravery, and offering him the poisoned drink in the most friendly manner, smiling deceitfully all the while. Our hero turned upon him in anger, and forced him to drain the cup himself, whereupon the wretched dwarf fell to earth, lifeless.
Then the birds told Siegfried to enter the dragon's cave, and get the ring and the tarnhelm, the possession of which would make him all-powerful. This he did, and then he rolled the dragon's enormous body to the entrance of the cave, where the Rhine gold still lay, and sealed up the entrance with it.
As he stood there, wondering what he should do next, he heard the birds singing of a mountain far away, where a maiden named Brunhilda lay in an enchanted sleep, surrounded by a ring of magic flames. Here she must slumber till there should appear a man strong and brave enough to dash through the flames and waken her with a kiss.
Siegfried determined to journey to the mountain. So he returned to the smithy, and saddled Mimi's horse, which was a strong, faithful creature, and then he rode away to seek the sleeping maiden.
Many days and nights he wandered, and at length, early one morning as he ascended the highlands, he saw a rosy glow in the distance, which grew ever brighter and brighter. "The rising sun," he said to himself, but he knew that it was not the rising sun. On and on he rode, and ever brighter and brighter grew the sky, until at length he came upon the flames themselves, and he knew that he had reached his journey's end.
