As Huldbrand and Undine talked joyfully together, a stranger joined the priest, yet they in their joy did not notice this.
The stranger wore a garment such as a monk might wear. The hood was drawn forward and wellnigh hid his face, while the whole robe hung loosely around him, in great folds, so that at each step he must gather it up and throw it over his arm.
The three travellers soon reached the leafy shades of the forest
'I have lived in the forest for many years,' said the stranger to the priest, 'and I love it for its great beauty. As I flit in and out among the dark shadows of the trees, I play with the stray sunbeams as they cast their glances here and there on my white robe.'
'Tell me your name, for I would fain know who you are,' said the priest to his companion.
'Nay, tell me first who are you who ask?' said the stranger.
'Father Heilman is my name,' answered the priest, 'and I am journeying back to my monastery, after an absence of many days.'
'Now I,' said the stranger, 'am named Lord Kühleborn, though sometimes I am called Kühleborn the Free, for indeed I am free as the wild birds of the air to go hither and thither as I will. Meanwhile, Sir Priest, I bid you farewell, for I would speak to yonder lady.'