[Tenderly.
The one alluring the other;
And thou didst say,
When I asked thee why,
That they were wives with their husbands.
They chattered so sweetly,
Were never apart;
They builded a nest
In which they might brood;
The fluttering young ones
Came flying out,
And both took care of the young.
The roes in the woods, too,
Rested in pairs,
The wild wolves even, and foxes.
Food was found them and brought
By the father,
The mother suckled the young ones.
And there I learned
What love was like;
A whelp from its mother
I never took.
But where hast thou, Mime,
A wife dear and loving,
That I may call her mother?
MIME [Angrily.
What dost thou mean?
Fool, thou art mad!
Art thou then a bird or a fox?
SIEGFRIED
When I was a babe
Thou wert my nurse,
Made the mite clothing
To keep him warm;
But tell me, whence
Did the tiny mite come?
Could babe without mother
Be born to thee?
MIME [Greatly embarrassed.