MIME [Aside.
I see a craftsman
Is useless here;
By his own folly the fool is best served.
Look how he toils
With lusty strokes;
The steel disappears,
And still he keeps cool.
[Siegfried has blown the fire to a bright flame.
Though I am as old
As cave and wood,
The like I never yet saw!
[While Siegfried continues to file the piece of the sword impetuously, Mime seats himself a little further off.
He will forge the sword—
I see it plain—
Boldly weld it anew.
The Wanderer was right.
Where shall I hide
My luckless head?
If nothing teaches him fear,
Forfeit it falls to the boy.
[Springing up and bending down in growing agitation.
But woe to Mime!
If Siegfried learn fear,
The dragon will never be slain;
And, if so, how gain the ring?
Accurst dilemma!
Would I escape,
I must find out some way
Of subduing the boy for myself.
SIEGFRIED