Third Fairy—Sister, it flashed like a silver cross.
Fourth Fairy—And plopped into the brook. Did you see the ripples
Glitter in the moon?
Second Fairy— O sisters, see!
The will-o'-the-wisps rush down the valley fogs,
Their white veils trailing round the tall dark crags.
(They hurry down the mountain. Selma, startled, gets off the stump and runs a little way back in the wood and, stopping, looks after them.)
Voice of Canzler— (Up the slope.)
Where are you, child? (He enters.)
Why do you stand out here
In darkness?
Selma—They have gone away again.
Canzler— (Who waits till she comes near him.)
Do not ask anything to stay, my child.
Where the leaf goes the tree goes, and the rocks
Flow away with the waters to the sea. (They go up the slope together.)
Selma—He does not come and they will not tell.
(She stops and looks back.)
Canzler—Let us go home and watch the stars come out
Above the mountains where Val-father lives.
Perhaps the Norns will spin us a white thread.