XXXVIII
Then outspake Queen Brunhild; "Go some one straight and call
Hither the Prince of Rhineland; sure will I tell him all,
What infamy his sister has forc'd me to endure,
And how his wife she voices for Siegfried's paramour."
XXXIX
The king with his chieftains up came hastily;
There saw he his beloved weeping bitterly.
"Dearest heart!" soft said he, "who has serv'd you so?"
With many a sob she answer'd, "Deep cause have I for woe.
"Of my good name and honor than life more dear would fain
Thy cruel sister rob me; to thee I needs must plain.
She says her husband Siegfried my virgin favors won."
Thereto replied King Gunther, "Then she foul wrong has done."
"Besides, my long-lost girdle she weareth as in scorn,
My gold adorns her finger;—would I had ne'er been born!
Is not all this an outrage to sting and wound me sore?
King! if thou dost not clear me, I'll never love thee more."
XLII