SCENE IX
Enter GUNTHER with HAGEN and the others.
GUNTHER.
It is as I have said,
She reckons on the deed as we believe
That autumn brings us apples. The old nurse
Has tried to rouse her, and has quietly
Bestrewn her chamber all with grains of wheat;
They lie there undisturbed.
GISELHER.
How can it be
That she should venture life for life to stake?
HAGEN.
I marvel at her also.
GUNTHER. And withal
She neither drives nor urges, as with things
Bound up with time and place and human will
'Twere natural to do. She questions not
Nor changes countenance, but sits amazed
That any man should speak and not announce—
The deed is done!
HAGEN.
But I must tell thee this:
His spell is on her, and her very hate
Is rooted deep in love!
GUNTHER.
Believ'st thou so?
HAGEN.
'Tis not such love as binds, a man and wife,
In holy union.
GUNTHER.
How then?
HAGEN.
'Tis a charm,
A magic, that would keep her race alive.
So drives the giantess to seek her mate,
Joyless and choiceless, since they are the last.
GUNTHER.
Is there no hope?
HAGEN.
'Tis death must break the spell.
Her blood congeals when his has ceased to flow.
His destiny it was that he should slay
The dragon and then take the dragon's road.
[A tumult is heard.]
GUNTHER.
What may that be?
HAGEN.
'Tis those false messengers.
And Dankwart drives them forth. He does it well.
Lovers will hear it even while they kiss.
SCENE X
Enter SIEGFRIED; as HAGEN notices hint.
HAGEN.
By all the fiends of hell! No! ten times no!
It were disgrace for us, and Siegfried thinks
Assuredly as I do. Here he comes!
Now speak, thou may'st decide it.—
(As DANKWART enters.)
Though thy word
Can alter nothing more. The answer's gone.
(To DANKWART.)
Thou surely hast not spared to scourge them well
(To SIEGFRIED.)
Yet set thy seal upon it even so!
SIEGFRIED.
What's this?
HAGEN.
The dogs have come again to sue
For peace. I ordered that the worthless knaves
With scourges should be driven from the court
Before they gave their message.
SIEGFRIED.
'Twas well done!
HAGEN.
The King indeed reproves me, for he thinks
We know not what has happened.
SIEGFRIED.
What? Not know?
I know! For when a wolf is chased along,
He harms not those before him!
HAGEN.
That is true!
SIEGFRIED.
And more than that! Behind them is a horde
Of savage tribesmen who will never sow,
And yet they want to reap.
HAGEN.
Now do you see?
SIEGFRIED.
But you should show no mercy on the wolf
Because he has no time to guard himself.
HAGEN.
We surely shall not.
SIEGFRIED.
Come, we'll help the foxes
And drive him to his final hiding place,
Within the foxes' bellies.
HAGEN.
That we'll do;
Yet let us not exert ourselves in vain,
And so—Let's hunt today.
GISELHER.
I will not go.
GERENOT.
Nor will I either.
SIEGFRIED.
You are young and brave,
Yet follow not the chase, but bide at home?
They would have had to tie me, and the cords
I would have gnawed in two. Oh huntsman's joy!
If one could only sing it!
HAGEN.
Wilt thou go?
SIEGFRIED.
Go!—Friend, I am so full of rage and wrath
That I could quarrel now with any man,
And so I long for bloodshed.
HAGEN.
And I too!
SCENE XI
Enter KRIEMHILD.
KRIEMHILD.
You're going hunting?
SIEGFRIED.
Yes, and pray command
What I shall bring thee.
KRIEMHILD.
Siegfried, stay at home!
SIEGFRIED.
My child, one thing thou canst not learn too soon,
Thou must not beg a man to stay at home,
But beg him: Take me too!
KRIEMHILD.
Then, may I go?
HAGEN.
That may not be!
SIEGFRIED.
Why not? She's not afraid!
And surely she has often gone before.
Bring falcons here! For she shall take the birds,
And we the beasts. There'll be more pleasure so.
HAGEN.
One woman hides her shame within her room—
Her rival rideth gaily to the hunt?
'Twould look like taunting her.
SIEGFRIED.
I had not thought.
Ah well, it may not be.
KRIEMHILD. Then change again
Thy garments!
SIEGFRIED.
Yet again? Thy every wish
I'll follow, not thy fancies.
KRIEMHILD.
Thou'rt severe.
SIEGFRIED.
But let me go! The breeze will change my mood.
Tomorrow night I'll make my peace with thee.
HAGEN.
Then come!
SIEGFRIED.
I will. But now my farewell kiss.
[He embraces KRIEMHILD.]
Thou'lt not deny me? Thou'lt not say, tomorrow,
As I do? Thou art noble.
KRIEMHILD.
Oh, come back!
SIEGFRIED.
But what a strange desire! What's wrong, I pray?
I go a-hunting with my own good friends,
And if the lofty mountains do not fall
And bury us, we cannot suffer harm.
KRIEMHILD.
Alas! That is the very thing I dreamed.
SIEGFRIED.
My child, the hills stand firm.
KRIEMHILD (throws her arms around him once more).
Come back! Come back!
[Exeunt warriors.]
SCENE XII
KRIEMHILD.
Siegfried!
SIEGFRIED (appears once more).
What now?
KRIEMHILD.
If thou wouldst not be angry—
HAGEN (follows SIEGFRIED hastily).
Well, hast thou got thy spindle yet?
SIEGFRIED (to KRIEMHILD).
Thou Nearest,
The hounds can be no longer held in leash;
What dost thou wish?
HAGEN.
Oh wait, pray, for thy flax!
And spin it in the moonlight with the elves.
KRIEMHILD.
Now go! I longed to see thee once again!
[HAGEN and SIEGFRIED go out.]
SCENE XIII
KRIEMHILD.
And should I call him to me ten times more
I'd never find the heart to tell it him.
How can we do what straightway we repent!
SCENE XIV
Enter GERENOT and GISELHER.
KRIEMHILD.
Are you not gone? The Lord hath sent them here!
My dearest brothers, earnestly I beg
Vouchsafe me my desire, though to you
It seems but foolish. Go ye with my lord
Where'er he goes, and keep behind his back.
GERENOT.
We are not going. We've no wish to go.
KRIEMHILD.
No wish to go!
GISELHER.
What say'st thou? We've no time!
We've much to do before our men march forth.
KRIEMHILD.
And is all that intrusted to your youth?
If I am dear to you, if you have not
Forgotten that one mother nourished us,
Ride after them.
GISELHER.
They're long since in the wood.
GERENOT.
And then thou hast one brother with him, now,
KRIEMHILD.
I beg of you!
GISELHER.
We must collect the arms,
As thou shalt see.
[Starts to go.]
KRIEMHILD.
Then tell me one thing more
Is Hagen Siegfried's friend?
GERENOT.
Why not, I pray?
KRIEMHILD.
But has he ever praised him?
GISELHER.
It is praise
If Hagen does not blame, and I've not heard
That he found fault with Siegfried.
[Both leave.]
KRIEMHILD.
Most of all
This frightens me. They are not with my lord!
SCENE XV
Enter FRIGGA.
KRIEMHILD.
How, nurse? Art seeking me?
FRIGGA.
I seek for none.
KRIEMHILD.
Then is there something wanted for the Queen?
FRIGGA.
There is not. She needs nothing.
KRIEMHILD.
Nothing still?
But can she not forgive?
FRIGGA.
I do not know!
She has had no occasion to forgive;
She never was offended. I heard horns.
Is there a hunt?
KRIEMHILD.
Hast thou then ordered it?
FRIGGA.
I—No!
[Exit.]
SCENE XVI
KRIEMHILD.
Oh, had I only told it him!
Oh, my beloved, no woman host thou known,
I see it now! Else nevermore hadst thou
Unto a trembling girl who doth betray
Herself through fear, intrusted such a secret.
Still do I hear the playful whispered words
With which thou told'st it to me when I praised
The dragon's death. And then I made thee swear
To tell no other soul in all the world,
And now—Oh birds that circle overhead,
Oh snow white doves that fly about me now,
Take pity on me, warn him, fly to him!
[Exit.]
ACT V
Oden Forest.
SCENE I
Enter HAGEN, GUNTHER, VOLKER, DANKWART and serving men.
HAGEN.
This is the place. The spring is gushing forth,
The bushes cover it. If I stand here,
I can impale the man who stoops to drink
Against the rock.
GUNTHER.
I've given no command.
HAGEN.
When thou hast taken thought thou wilt command.
There is no other way, and there will come
No second day like this one. Therefore speak,
Or if thou wilt not speak, be still!
(To the serving men.)
Hello!
'Tis here we rest!
[The serving men prepare a meal.]
GUNTHER.
Thou'st always hated him.
HAGEN.
I'll not deny that gladly to this work
I lend my hand, and I would surely meet
In combat any man who came between
My enemy and me, and yet the deed
I hold not for that reason less than just.
GUNTHER.
And yet my brothers spoke against the deed
And turned their backs upon us.
HAGEN.
Had they then
The courage to warn him and hinder us?
They must have felt that we are in the right,
And it is but their youth that makes them shrink
From blood that is not shed in open fight.
GUNTHER.
It must be so.
HAGEN.
Why he has bought off death
And so ennobled murder.
(To the serving men.)
Sound the horns,
And call the hunt together. For 'tis time
That we should eat.
[The horns are blown.]
Now take things as they are
And leave it all to me. If thou art not
Offended, or forgivest what is past,
So be it, yet forbid thy servant not
To rescue and avenge thy noble wife!
She will not break the solemn oath she swore.
If she's deceived in her firm trust in us—Her
confidence that we'll redeem the pledge—Then
all the joy of life that once again,
May be aroused within her youthful heart
When shadows deepen and the end is near,
Will be transformed into one dreadful curse,
One final imprecation upon thee!
GUNTHER.
There still is time.
SCENE II
Enter SIEGFRIED with RUMOLT and huntsmen.
SIEGFRIED.
I'm here! And now ye hunters,
Where are your spoils? Mine were to follow me
Upon a wagon, but the wagon broke.
HAGEN.
A lion is the game I chase today,
But I have failed to find one.
SIEGFRIED.
That I know,
For I myself have killed him!—Food is spread.
Sound trumpets in his praise who ordered that,
For now we feel the need. Accursed ravens,
Here too? Now blow your bugles till they burst!
I've thrown near every kind of game I killed
At this black flock; at last I threw a fox,
But still they would not fly, and yet I hate
Nothing so much in all the woodland green
As that deep black—'tis like the devil's hue.
The doves have never flocked around me so!
Shall we stay here to pass the night?
GUNTHER.
We thought—
SIEGFRIED.
'Tis well, the choice is fitting, and there gapes
A hollow tree. I'll take it for myself.
For all my life have I been used to that,
And I know nothing better than at night
On soft dry wood to lay my weary head,
And so to dream, half waking, half asleep,
To count the passing hours by the birds
That waken slowly, softly, one by one,
Each singing in his turn. Then tick, tick, tick!
Now it is two. Tock, tock, and one must stretch!
Kiwitt, kiwitt! The sun is blinking now,
And now its eyes are open. Chanticleer
Bids all arise, lest they should sneeze.
VOLKER.
I know!
It is as if Time wakened them himself,
As in the dark he feels his way along,
To beat the rhythm of his pace for him.
In measured intervals, as from the glass
Trickles the sand, and as the shadow long
Creeps on the dial, so there follow now
The mountain cock, the blackbird and the thrush,
And none disturbs the other as by day,
Nor coaxes him to warble ere his time.
I've watched it oft myself.
SIEGFRIED.
I too.—My brother,
Thou art not happy.
GUNTHER.
But I am!
SIEGFRIED.
Oh, no!
I have seen people at a wedding feast,
And following a bier, and so I know
How different they look. Now let us do
As strangers might, who'd never met before
Until by accident within the wood
They meet, and one has this, the other that,
And so they put together all they have,
And thus with joy receive and also give.
'Tis well! For I bring meat of every kind,
And I will give to you a mountain bull,
Five boars and thirty, even forty stags,
And pheasants too, as many as you will,
Not mentioning the lion and the bear,
All this for one small beaker of cool wine.
DANKWART.
Alas!
SIEGFRIED.
What's Wrong?
HAGEN.
The wine has been forgotten.
SIEGFRIED.
Yes, I'll believe it. That may well befall
A hunter who is resting from the chase
And has a red hot coal for his own tongue
Inside his mouth. Well, I must seek myself,
Although I cannot scent it like a, hound—
But let it be—I'll never spoil your sport!
[He seeks.]
There is none here, nor here! Where is the cask?
I pray thee, minstrel, save me, else I'll lose
The tongue that has till now been wagging so.
HAGEN.
And that may happen, for—there is no wine.
SIEGFRIED.
The devil and his fiends may take your hunt
If I am not to have a hunter's fare!
Whose duty was it to provide the drink?
HAGEN.
Mine! Yet I did not know where we should be,
[Illustration: Schnorr von Carolsfeld KRIEMHILD FINDS THE SLAIN
SIEGFRIED]
And sent the wine to Spessart, where it seems
There are no thirsty men.
SIEGFRIED.
Give thanks who will!
But have we then no water? Must a man
Be satisfied with evening dew, and lap
The drops from off the leaves?
HAGEN.
But hold thy tongue!
Thine ear will bring thee comfort!
SIEGFRIED (listens).
Hark, a spring!
Oh welcome stream! 'Tis true I love thee more
When thou, instead of welling from the stone
So suddenly and rushing to my mouth,
Thy winding way pursuest through the grape;
For from thy journey many things thou bring'st,
That fill our heads with foolish gaiety.
Yet even so be praised.
[He goes to the spring.]
Ah no! I must
Do penance first and ye shall witness bear
That I have done it. I'm the thirstiest man
Among you all and I will drink the last,
Because I was so harsh with poor Kriemhild.
HAGEN.
Then I'll begin.
[He goes to the spring.]
SIEGFRIED (to GUNTHER).
Pray look more cheerfully.
I know a way to reconcile thy bride;
Brunhilda's kisses shall ere long be thine.
My joy I will forego as long as thou.
HAGEN (comes back and lays aside his weapons).
The weapons will impede me when I stoop.
[Retires again.]
SIEGFRIED.
Before the full assemblage of thy folk,
Kriemhild will sue for pardon ere we go.
This pledge was freely given, but she longs
To leave and hide her blushes.
HAGEN (returns).
Cold as ice!
SIEGFRIED.
Who next?
VOLKER.
First let us eat.
SIEGFRIED.
'Tis well! [He goes toward the spring but turns back again.]
Ah yes!
[He lays aside his weapons. Exit.]
HAGEN (pointing to the weapons).
Away with them!
DANKWART (carries the weapons away).
HAGEN (who has taken up his own weapons again and has meanwhile kept his back turned toward GUNTHER; takes a running start and throws his spear).
SIEGFRIED (cries out).
My friends!
HAGEN (exclaims).
Not quiet yet?
(To the others.)
No word with him, whatever he may say!
SIEGFRIED (crawls forward).
Murdered—while I was drinking! Gunther, Gunther?
Have I deserved this from thee? In thy need
I stood by thee.
HAGEN.
Lop branches from the trees,
We need a bier. Quick, choose the strongest limbs,
For heavy is a dead man.
SIEGFRIED.
I am slain,
But yet not wholly!
[He springs up.]
Where then is my sword?
They've taken it! Oh, by thy manhood, Hagen,
Give the dead man a sword! I challenge thee
E'en now to mortal combat!
HAGEN.
In his mouth
He has his enemy, yet seeks him still.
SIEGFRIED.
My life drips from me like a candle spent,
And e'en my sword this murderer denies,
Though granting it would render him less vile.
For shame! Such cowardice! He fears my thumb,
For that is all that's left of me.
[He stumbles over his shield.]
My shield!
My faithful shield, I'll throw thee at the hound!
[He stoops over the shield, but cannot lift it, and rises
unsteadily once more.]
As if 'twere nailed there! E'en for this revenge
'Tis now too late!
HAGEN.
Oh, if this chatterer
Would maim his foolish tongue between his teeth
Where it has sinned so long all unreproved—
His idle tongue that is not silenced yet!—
Then would he have revenge, for that alone
Has brought him to this pass.
SIEGFRIED.
Thou liest! 'Twas
Thine envy!
HAGEN.
Silence!
SIEGFRIED.
Threats for a dead man?
Aimed I so true that thou dost fear me still?
Then draw, for now I fall, and thou canst dare
To spit upon me like a heap of dust,
For here I lie—
[He falls to the ground.]
And you are free from Siegfried!
Yet know, the blow that slew him killed you too,
For who will trust you? They will drive you forth
As I had driven the Danes.
HAGEN.
This simpleton!
He hath not grasped our trick!
SIEGFRIED.
Then 'tis not true?
Oh, horrible, that men should lie like this!
Ah well! You are alone in this! And folk
Will always curse you too, whene'er they curse.
They'll say: Toads, vipers and Burgundians!
Nay you are first: Burgundians, vipers, toads.
For all is lost to you—nobility
And honor, fame and all, are lost with me!
There is no bound nor limit now for crime,
The arm indeed may pierce the heart, but when
The heart is dead the arm is useless too.
My wife! My poor, foreboding, tender wife—
How wilt thou bear the blow! If Gunther's heart
Still means to do one deed of faith and love,
May he be kind to thee!—Yet rather go
Unto my father!—Hearest thou, Kriemhild?
[He dies.]
HAGEN.
He's silent now. Small merit is in that!
DANKWART.
What shall we tell?
HAGEN.
Some stupid tale of thieves
Who killed him in the forest. It is true
None will believe it, yet I think that none
Will call us liars. Once again we stand
Where none will dare to call us to account;
For we're like fire and water. Till the Rhine
Seeks out some lie to justify its floods,
And fire explains why it has broken forth,
We need not fear accusers. Thou, my King,
Gav'st no commands—thou should'st remember that!
The blame is mine alone. Now bear him forth!
[Exeunt with the body.]
SCENE III
KRIEMHILD'S room. Deep night.
KRIEMHILD.
'Tis far too early yet. It is my blood
That wakened me, and not the cock I heard,
Or seemed to hear.
[She goes to the window and opens it partly.]
The stars are shining still,
It surely is an hour yet till mass.
Today I long to go to church and pray.
SCENE IV
Enter UTE softly.
UTE.
Already up, Kriemhild?
KRIEMHILD.
I am amazed
That thou art up, for thou hast always slept
More soundly after dawn and claimed thy right
To have thy daughter wake thee, as thou her
So long ago.
UTE.
Today I could not sleep,
I heard strange sounds.
KRIEMHILD.
And didst thou mark them too?
UTE.
It was like people trying to be still.
KRIEMHILD.
So I was right?
UTE.
They seemed to hold their breath,
Yet dropped a sword that clanged! On tiptoe walked,
And yet upset the brazier! Hushed the dog,
Yet trod upon his paw.
KRIEMHILD.
They have perhaps
Returned.
UTE.
The hunters?
KRIEMHILD.
Once it seemed to me
That some one softly crept up to my door.
I thought it must be Siegfried.
UTE. Didst thou make
Some sign that thou wast wakeful?
KRIEMHILD.
No.
UTE.
Indeed
It might then have been Siegfried, but 'twould be
Almost too soon.
KRIEMHILD.
To me it seems so too!
And then he did not knock.
UTE.
The hunt was not,
Or so I think, to bring us game for food;
They wanted our poor farmers to have peace,
Who have been threatening to burn their ploughs
Because the wild boar harvests where they sow!
KRIEMHILD.
Was that it?
UTE.
Child, thou art already dressed,
Yet hast not any maid with thee?
KRIEMHILD.
I thought
That I would learn who woke the first of all.
Besides, it was a pastime.
UTE.
Each in turn,
My candle in my hand, I gazed upon.
For each year brings a different kind of sleep.
Fifteen and sixteen sleep like five and six,
But seventeen brings dreams, and eighteen, thoughts,
And nineteen brings desires—
SCENE V
A Chamberlain cries out before the door.
CHAMBERLAIN.
Almighty God!
UTE.
What is it? What is wrong?
CHAMBERLAIN (enters).
I almost fell.
UTE.
And that was why you called?
CHAMBERLAIN.
Some one is dead!
UTE.
What's that?
CHAMBERLAIN.
A dead man lying at the door!
UTE.
A dead man?
KRIEMHILD (falls).
Then 'tis Siegfried, 'tis my lord!
UTE (catches her in her arms).
Impossible!
(To the CHAMBERLAIN.)
Bring light!
[CHAMBERLAIN brings a light and then nods his head.]
UTE.
'Tis Siegfried? Go!
Awaken all!
CHAMBERLAIN.
Help, help!
[The maidens rush in.]
UTE.
O piteous wife!
KRIEMHILD (rising).
Brunhild commanded, Hagen did the deed!—
A light!
UTE.
My child!
KRIEMHILD (seizes a torch).
'Tis he! I know, I know!
Let no one tread on him; for thou didst hear
The servants stumble over him.—The servants!
Yet once great kings made way for him.
UTE.
The light!
KRIEMHILD.
I'll place it there myself.
[She opens the door and falls to the floor.]
Oh Mother, Mother,
Why didst thou bear thy child! Oh thou dear head,
But let me kiss thee. I'll not seek thy mouth,
For all to me is precious. Thou canst not
Forbid me as thou would'st perhaps.—Thy lips—
'Tis too much pain!
CHAMBERLAIN.
She's dying.
UTE.
I could wish
That she might die!
SCENE VI
Enter GUNTHER with DANKWART, RUMOLT, GISELHER and GERENOT.
UTE (approaching GUNTHER).
My son, what deed was this?
GUNTHER.
I fain would weep myself. Yet of his death
You've heard already? By the holy words
Of our good priest you were to learn of this.
I went to tell him in the night.
UTE (with a motion of the head).
Thou see'st
The dead man told his story for himself.
GUNTHER (aside to DANKWART).
But how was this?
DANKWART.
My brother bore him here!
GUNTHER.
For shame!
DANKWART.
From his intent he'd not desist,
And when he came again he laughed and said:
This is my gratitude for his farewell.
SCENE VII
Enter the Chaplain.
GUNTHER (going to meet him).
Too late!
CHAPLAIN.
And such a man slain in the woods!
DANKWART.
The robber's spear was guided by blind chance,
So that it struck the spot. In such a way
A child may kill a giant.
UTE (still busying herself with the maidens over KRIEMHILD).
Rise, Kriemhild!
KRIEMHILD.
Another parting? No, I'll cling to him,
And to the grave together will we go,
Or you must leave him here. But half my love
I gave him living. Now that he is dead
I know it. Were it the reverse! His eyes
I never yet had kissed! All, all is new!
We thought we'd time before us.
UTE.
Come my child!
We cannot leave him lying in the dust.
KRIEMHILD. Oh that is true! The costliest and rarest
Today shall be as naught.
[She rises.]
Here, take the keys!
[She throws down keys.]
There'll be no festivals again! The silk,
The wondrous golden garments, and the linen—
Bring everything. Be sure to gather flowers—
He loved them so! And you must cut them all,
Even the little buds that have not bloomed.
For whom then should they blossom? Lay them all
Within his coffin, then my bridal robes,
And lay him softly down, and I'll do so,
[She stretches out her arms.]
And I will be his covering!
GUNTHER (to his followers).
Your oath!
Let no one harm her more.
KRIEMHILD (turns around).
The murderer's here?
Away, for fear the blood should flow again!
No! No! Come here!
[She lays hold of DANKWART.]
That Siegfried may bear witness!
[She wipes her hand on her dress.]
Alas, alas! My right hand nevermore
May dare to touch him. Does the blood gush forth?
O Mother, look! I cannot! No? Then these
But hide the deed. I seek the murderer.
If Hagen Tronje's here, let him come forth!
He is not guilty—I'll give him my hand.
UTE.
My child—
KRIEMHILD.
Now go and hear Brunhilda laugh.
She's eating too, and drinking.
UTE.
It was robbers—
KRIEMHILD.
I know them well.
[She takes GISELHER and GERENOT by the hand.]
Thou wast not with them there!
Thou didst not go!
UTE.
But hear me!
RUMOLT.
Through the wood
We had been scattered; for it was his wish,
And 'tis our custom too. We found him dying
At our next meeting place.
KRIEMHILD.
You found him there?
What did he say? A word! His dying word!
I will believe thy tale, if thou canst tell,
And if it is no curse. But oh, beware!
For sooner would a rose bloom from thy mouth
Than thou imagine what thou didst not hear.
(As RUMOLT hesitates.)
It is a lie!
CHAPLAIN.
'Tis possible! I've heard
A magpie dropped a knife that killed a man
Who could not have been reached by human hands.
And what a wingéd thief by chance could do
Because his gleaming booty burdened him,
A robber well might do.
KRIEMHILD.
Oh, holy father,
Thou knowest not!
DANKWART.
Princess, thy grief is sacred,
But yet unjust and blind. Our warriors here,
Our noblest will bear witness—
[Meanwhile the door has been closed and the body is no longer visible.]
KRIEMHILD (who observes this). Halt! Who dares—
[She hastens to the door.]
UTE.
Stop, stop! He was but gently lifted up
As thou thyself would'st wish.
KRIEMHILD.
Oh, give him back!
Else they will rob me, they will bury him
Where I shall never find him!
CHAPLAIN.
To the church!
I'll follow him, for now he's God's alone.
[Exit.]
SCENE VIII
KRIEMHILD.
So be it! To the church!
(To GUNTHER.)
'Twas robbers then?
I bid thee gather all thy kindred there
To try the test of murder.
GUNTHER.
Be it so.
KRIEMHILD.
But bring them one and all, for now I find
That some are missing. Call the absent too!
[Exeunt omnes; the men and women by
different doors.]