SWANWHITE. The morning is the only time when I can go into the rosery, for there the bloodhounds of my stepmother are kept. They never let me reach the shore—and so I get no chance to bathe.
PRINCE. Have you then never seen the shore? And never heard the ocean wash the sand along the beach?
SWANWHITE. No—never! Here I can only hear the roaring waves in time of storm.
PRINCE. Then you have never heard the murmur made by winds that sweep across the waters?
SWANWHITE. It cannot reach me here.
PRINCE. [Pushing his helmet across the table to SWANWHITE] Put it to your ear and listen.
SWANWHITE. [With the helmet at her ear] What is that I hear?
PRINCE. The song of waves, the whispering winds
SWANWHITE. No, I hear human voices—hush! My stepmother is speaking—speaking to the steward—and mentioning my name—and that of the young king, too! She's speaking evil words. She's swearing that I never shall be queen—and vowing that—you—shall take that daughter of her own—that loathsome Lena——
PRINCE. Indeed!—And you can hear it in the helmet?