Ever was she thinking, "I'll ask the king a boon,
Which he, I know, will grant me readily and soon,
To bid my friends and kinsmen hither to Hunnish ground,"
None guess'd her secret malice, or harm in Kriemhild found.
XIV
So on a night reposing, as by the king she lay
(He in his arms embrac'd her, and bless'd the happy day,
That gave him such a consort, dear to him as his life;
She on her foes was thinking and th' old intestine strife),
XV
Thus spake she to the monarch, "Dear lord, full fain would I
Entreat of thee a favor, which thou wilt not deny
If thou think'st I deserve it, to let me see aright
If my friends in good earnest have favor in thy sight."
XVI
Then spake the mighty monarch (kind was his heart and true),
"Of that can I assure thee; whatever good accrue
To those bold knights, be certain to me content it lends;
Never through love of woman acquir'd I better friends."
XVII
Then thus made Kriemhild answer, "'Tis true, as thou dost know,
Right noble are my kinsmen, yet ever am I woe
That still they keep so distant nor I by them am seen.
I'm told, for a mere outcast people report your queen."