The company were sitting at dinner;Bertalda, looking like some goddess of spring with her flowers and jewels, the presents of her foster-parents and friends, was placed between Undine and Huldbrand. When the rich repast was ended, and the last course had appeared, the doors were left open, according to a good old German custom, that the common people might look on, and take part in the festivity of the nobles.Servants were carrying round cake and wine among the spectators.Huldbrand and Bertalda were waiting with secret impatience for the promised explanation, and sat with their eyes fxed steadily on Undine.But the beautiful wife still continued silent, and only kept smiling to herself with secret and hearty satisfaction.All who knew of the promise she had given could see that she was every moment on the point of betraying her happy secret, and that it was with a sort of longing renunciation that she withheld it, just as children sometimes delay the enjoyment of their choicest morsels.Bertalda and Huldbrand shared this delightful feeling, and expected with fearful hope the tidings which were to fall from the lips of Undine.Several of the company pressed Undine to sing.The request seemed opportune, and ordering her lute to bebrought, she sang the following words:—
Bright opening day,
Wild flowers so gay,
Tall grasses their thirst that slake,
On the banks of the billowy lake!
What glimmers there so shining
The reedy growth entwining?
Is it a blossom white as snow
Fallen from heav’n here below?
It is an infant, frail and dear!
With flowerets playing in its dreams
And grasping morning’s golden beams;
Oh!whence, sweet stranger, art thou here?
From some far-off and unknown strand,
The lake has borne thee to this land.
Nay, grasp not tender little one,
With thy tiny hand outspread;
No hand will meet thy touch with love,
Mute is that flowery bed.
The flowers can deck themselves so fair
And breathe forth fragrance blest,
Yet none can press thee to itself,
Like that far-off mother’s breast.
So early at the gate of life,
With smiles of heav’n on thy brow,
Thou hast the best of treasures lost,
Poor wand’ring child, nor know’st it now.
A noble duke comes riding by,
And near thee checks his courser’s speed,
And full of ardent chivalry
He bears thee home upon his steed.
Much, endless much, has been thy gain!
Thou bloom’st the fairest in the land!
Yet ah!the priceless joy of all,
Thou’st left upon an unknown strand.
Undine dropped her lute with a melancholy smile, and the eyes of Bertalda's foster-parents were flled with tears.“Yes, so it was on the morning that I found you, my poor sweet orphan,”said the duke, deeply agitated;“the beautiful singer is certainly right;we have not been able to give you thatpriceless joy of all.'”
“But we must also hear how it fared with the poor parents,”said Undine, as she resumed her lute, and sang:—
Thro’every chamber roams the mother,
Moves and searches everywhere,
Seeks, she scarce knows what, with sadness,
And finds an empty house is there.
An empty house!Oh, word of sorrow,
To her who once had been so blest,
Who led her child about by day
And cradled it at night to rest.
The beech is growing green again,
The sunshine gilds its wonted spot,
But mother, cease thy searching vain!
Thy little loved one cometh not.
And when the breath of eve blows cool,
And father in his home appears,
The smile he almost tries to wear
Is quenched at once by gushing tears.
Full well he knows that in his home
He naught can find but wild despair,
He hears the mother’s grieved lament
And no bright infant greets him there.
“Oh!for God's sake, Undine, where are my parents?”cried the weeping Bertalda;“you surely know;you have discovered them, you wonderful being, for otherwise you would not have thus torn meheart. Are they perhaps already here?Can it be?”
Her eyes passed quickly over the brilliant company and lingered on a lady of high rank who was sitting next her foster-father. Undine, however, turned toward the door, while her eyes overfowed with the sweetest emotion.
“Where are the poor waiting parents?”she inquired, and, the old fsherman and his wife advanced hesitatingly from the crowd of spectators. Their glance rested inquiringly now on Undine, now on the beautiful girl who was said to be their daughter“It is she,”said the delighted benefactress, in a faltering tone, and the two old people hung round the neck of their recovered child, weeping and praising God.
But amazed and indignant, Bertalda tore herself from their embrace. Such a recognition was too much for this proud mind, at a moment when she had surely imagined that her former splendor would even be increased, and when hope was deluding her with a vision of almost royal honors.It seemed to her as if her rival had devised all this on purpose signally to humble her before Huldbrand and the whole world.She reviled Undine, she reviled the old people, and bitter invectives, such as“deceiver”and“bribed impostors,”fell from her lips.Then the old fsherman's wife said in a low voice to herself:“Ah me, she is become a wicked girl;and yet I feel in my heart that she is my child.”The old fisherman, however, had folded his hands, and was praying silently that this might not be his daughter.Undine, pale as death, turned with agitation from the parents to Bertalda, and from Bertalda to the parents;suddenly cast down from that heaven of happiness of which she had dreamed, andoverwhelmed with a fear and a terror such as she had never known even in imagination.
“Have you a soul?Have you really a soul, Bertalda?”she cried again and again to her angry friend, as if forcibly to rouse her to consciousness from some sudden delirium or maddening nightmare. But when Bertalda only became more and more enraged, when the repulsed parents began to weep aloud, and the company, in eager dispute, were taking different sides, she begged in such a dignifed and serious manner to be allowed to speak in this her husband's hall, that all around were in a moment silenced.She then advanced to the upper end of the table, where Bertalda has seated herself, and with a modest and yet proud air, while every eye was fxed upon her, she spoke as follows:—
“My friends, you look so angry and disturbed and you have interrupted my happy feast by your disputings. Ah!I knew nothing of your foolish habits and your heartless mode of thinking, and I shall never all my life long become accustomed to them.It is not my fault that this affair has resulted in evil;believe me, the fault is with yourselves alone, little as it may appear to you to be so.I have therefore but little to say to you, but one thing I must say:I have spoken nothing but truth.I neither can nor will give you proofs beyond my own assertion, but I will swear to the truth of this.I received this information from the very person who allured Bertalda into the water, away from her parents, and who afterward placed her on the green meadow in the duke's path.”
“She is an enchantress!”cried Bertalda,“a witch, who has intercourse with evil spirits. She acknowledges it herself.”
“I do not,”said Undine, with a whole heaven innocence and confdence beaming, in her eyes.“I am no witch;only look at me.”
“She is false and boastful,”interrupted Bertalda,“and she cannot prove that I am the child of these low people. My noble parents, I beg you to take me from this company and out of this city, where they are only bent on insulting me.”
But the aged and honorable duke remained unmoved, and his wife, said:“We must thoroughly examine how we are to act. God forbid that we should move a step from this hall until we have done so.”
Then the old wife of the fisherman drew near, and making a low reverence to the duchess, she said:“Noble, god-fearing lady, you have opened my heart. I must tell you, if this evil-disposed young lady is my daughter, she has a mark, like a violet, between her shoulders, and another like it on the instep of her left foot.If she would only go out of the hall with me!”
“I shall not uncover myself before the peasant woman!”exclaimed Bertalda, proudly turning her back on her.
“But before me you will.”rejoined the duchess, very gravely.“Follow me into that room, girl, and the good old woman shall come with us.”
The three disappeared, and the rest of the company remained where they were, in silent expectation. After a short time they returned;Bertalda was pale as death.“Right is right.”said the duchess;“I must therefore declare that our hostess has spoken perfect, truth.Bertalda is the fisherman's daughter, and that is as much as it is necessary to inform you here.”
The princely pair left with their adopted daughter;and at a sign from the duke, the fsherman and his wife followed them. The other guests retired in silence or with secret murmurs, and Undine sank weeping into Huldbrand's arms.
那天渦堤孩請客,主客都已入席。培兒托達遍戴珍珠花朵,朝外坐著,光艷四照,好比春季的女神,她的兩旁是渦堤孩和黑爾勃郎。等得正菜吃過,點心送上來時,德國舊時習慣,照例直開大門,好使外邊人望進來看見,是與眾共樂的意思。仆役拿盤托著酒和糕餅分給他們。黑爾勃郎和培兒托達都急于要知這渦堤孩答應(yīng)報告的消息,老是望著她。但是她不加理睬,獨自瞇瞇笑著只當沒有那回事。和她熟悉的人,見得出她歡容滿面,兩葉櫻唇,喜矜矜好像時常要吐露她忍著的秘密,但是她盤馬彎弓故意不發(fā),好比小孩難得吃到一塊甜食,舍不得一起咽下,含含舐舐,還要摸出來看看。黑爾勃郎和培兒托達明知她在那里賣關(guān)子,可也沒有法想,只得耐著,心里怦怦地跳動,靜等這乖乖獻寶。同座有幾個人請渦堤孩唱歌。她很愿意,叫人去取過她的琴來,彈著唱道——
朝氣一何清,
花色一何妍,
野草香且榮兮,
蒼茫在湖水之邊!
燦燦是何來!
豈其白華高自天,
跌入草田裾前哉?
呀!是個小孩蜜蜜甜!
蜜蜜甜無知亦無愆,
攀花折草兒自憐,
晨光一色黃金鮮,
鋪遍高陌和低阡。
何處兒從來?
蜜餞的嬰孩,
兒從何處來?
遠從彼岸人不知,
湖神載兒渡水來。
兒呀!草梗有刺棘,
小手嫩如芽,
兒切莫亂抓,
草不解兒意,
花亦不兒語,
紅紅紫紫徒自媚,
花心開蕤香粉墜,
兒亦無人哺,
饑餓復(fù)奈何,
兒以無娘胸,
誰唱“羅拉”歌;
阿兒初自天堂來,
仙福猶留眉宇間,
問兒父母今何在,
乖乖但解笑連連。
看呀!大公昂藏騎馬來,
收韁停馬止兒前,
錦繡園林玉樓臺,
兒今安食復(fù)安眠,
無邊幸福謝蒼天,
兒今長成美復(fù)賢,
唯憐生身父母不相見,
此恨何時方可消。
渦堤孩唱到此處琴聲戛然而止,她微微一笑,眼圈兒還紅著。培兒托達的養(yǎng)父母公爵和爵夫人也聽得一包眼淚。公爵很感動,說道:“那天早上我尋到你,你可憐蜜甜的孤兒,的確是那樣情形!歌唱得一點不錯,我們還沒有給你最大的幸福?!?/p>
渦堤孩說道:“但是你們應(yīng)該知道那兩老可憐的情形。”她又撥動了琴弦唱道——
娘入房中尋兒蹤,
鼠穴蟲家盡搜窮,
阿娘淚瀉汪洋海,
不見孩兒總是空。
兒失房空最可傷,
培兒托達
光陰寸寸壓娘腸,
哭笑咿呀猶在耳,
昨宵兒搖入睡鄉(xiāng)。
門前掬實又新芽,
明媚春光透碧紗,
阿娘覓兒兒不見,
滿頭飛滿白楊花。
白日西沉靜暮暉,
鷓鴣聲里阿翁歸,
為憐老妻猶強笑,
低頭不覺淚沾衣。
阿父知是兆不祥,
森林陰色召災(zāi)殃,
如今只有號啕母,
不見嬌兒嬉筐床。
“看上帝面上,渦堤孩,究竟我父母在哪里?”培兒托達哭著說,“你一定知道,你真能干,你一定已經(jīng)尋到了他們,否則你決計不會使我這樣傷心。他們也許就在此地?會不會是——”
她說到這里,向同席的貴人望了一轉(zhuǎn),她眼光停住在一個皇室貴婦身上,她坐在公爵夫婦旁邊。渦堤孩站起來走到門口,她兩眼充滿了極劇的感情。
“然則我可憐的生身父母究竟在哪里呢?”她問道,說著老漁人和他妻子從門前群眾里走了出來。他們的眼,好像急于問訊,一會兒望著渦堤孩,轉(zhuǎn)過去又看著遍體珠羅的培兒托達,兩老心里早已明白她就是他們遺失的愛女。“是她。”渦堤孩喜得氣都喘不過來,這一對老夫婦就餓虎奔羊似的趕上去抱住了培兒托達,眼淚鼻涕,上帝天父,斗個不休。
但是培兒托達又駭又怒,推開了他們向后倒退。她正在那里盼望發(fā)現(xiàn)出一對天潢貴胄的父母,來增加她的榮耀,她又生性高傲,哪里能承認這一雙老憊低微的賤民。她忽然心機一動,想不錯,一定是她的情敵安排的詭計,打算在黑爾勃郎和家人面前羞辱她的。她一臉怒容向著渦堤孩,她又恨恨地望著那一對手足無措的老百姓。她開口就罵渦堤孩擺布她,罵漁翁夫妻是錢買來索詐的。老太太自言自語地說道:“上帝呀,這原來是個惡女人,但是我心里覺得生她的是我。”漁翁捻緊了手,低頭禱告,希望她不是他們的女兒。渦堤孩一場喜歡,如今嚇得面如土色,睜大了眼看看這個,又看看那個,她再也料不到有這場結(jié)果。
“你有沒有靈性?你究竟有靈魂沒有,培兒托達喂!”她對她發(fā)怒的朋友說,好像疑心她在那里發(fā)魘,是失落了神智,想喚她醒來。但是培兒托達愈鬧愈兇,被拒的一對不幸父母爽性放聲大號,看客也都上來各執(zhí)一是,吵個不休,渦堤孩一看神氣不對,她就正顏嚴色吩咐有事到她丈夫房里去講,大家都住了口。她走到桌子的上首,就是培兒托達坐的地方,大家的目光都注著她,她侃侃地演說道——
“你們?nèi)绱藨崙嵉貙λ?,你們吵散了我暢快的筵席,唉!上帝,我再也想不到你會這樣蠢,這樣硬心腸,我一輩子都猜不透什么緣故。如今結(jié)果到如此田地,可并不是我的錯處。相信我,這是你的不是,雖然你自己不肯承認。我也沒有話對你說,但是有一件事我要聲明——我沒有說謊,我雖然沒有事實上的證據(jù),但是我所說的我都可以發(fā)誓保證。告訴我這件事的不是旁人,就是當初將她誘入水去,后來又將她放在草地上使公爵碰到的那個?!?/p>
“她是個妖女!”培兒托達頓然叫了出來,“她是個女巫,她同惡鬼來往!她自己承認的!”
“那個我不承認,”渦堤孩答道,她滿眼自信和純潔可敬的神情,“我不是女巫。你們只要看我就明白?!?/p>
培兒托達接口說:“然則她造謊恫嚇,她不能證明我是那些賤民的女兒。我公爵的父母,我求你們領(lǐng)了我出這群人出這城子,他們只是欺侮誣毀我!”
但是高尚的公爵依舊站著不動。爵夫人說道:“我們總要明白這回事。天父在上,此事若不是水落石出,我決不離此室?!?/p>
于是漁人的妻子走到她旁邊,深深福了一福。說道——
“我在你高貴敬天的夫人面前,披露我的心。我一定得告訴你,若然這惡姑娘是我的女兒,她的兩肩中間有一點紫羅蘭色的記認,還有她左足背上也有一點。只要她愿意跟我出這個廳堂去——”
培兒托達抗聲說道:“我不愿意在那個村婦面前解衣?!?/p>
“但是在我面前你是愿意的,”爵夫人很嚴厲地說道,“你跟我到那里房里去,這仁善的老太太也來。”
三個人出去了,堂上剩下的人鴉雀無聲地靜候分曉。過了一會兒,他們回了進來,培兒托達面無人色,爵夫人說道——
“不錯總是不錯,我所以聲明今天女主人所說的都已證實。培兒托達的確是漁人夫婦的女兒,大概你們旁觀人所要知道者也盡于此。”
爵爺和夫人領(lǐng)了他們養(yǎng)女走了出去,爵爺示意漁人和他妻子也跟了去。其余都私下議論。渦堤孩一肚子委屈,向黑爾勃郎懷里一倒放聲悲泣。
“她的兩肩中間有一點紫羅蘭色的記認,還有她左足背上也有一點?!?/p>