And Hildebrand the grey-haired helped him to gird it on.
That through all the shuddering3 palace the shivering echoes ran.
But at last he refrained him, and hardened his hero-heart again,
Then out spake Hagen of Troneg: “I see draw nigh to the hall
Dietrich the great war-captain. Surely on us will he fall
Ay, what though yonder champion, Dietrich the Lord of Bern,
Account him never so stalwart, a foeman never so stern,
If he think upon us to avenge him for that hath befallen him,
Even I am he shall withstand him.” Thus spake Hagen the grim.
That saying was heard of Dietrich and of Master Hildebrand,
Without, and for weariness leaning on the stairway-parapet.
Then afront of his feet did Dietrich his goodly buckler set.
“Wherefore hast thou, Lord Gunther, evil-entreated me so,
A homeless man? What evil have I ever done unto thee,
That grievous hurt that ye did us, sufficed it not unto you,
{p. 319}
But that therewithal ye must rob me of all my vassal-throng?
Ah me! unto me how bitter the death of Rüdiger is!
Such cruel wrong unto no man ever on earth was wrought!
Never shall end my mourning for these I have held so dear!”
“Not wholly are we so guilty,” Hagen made reply;
“For against us to this hallway all thy thanes drew nigh,
Full-harnessed all as for battle, an exceeding great array.
Not truly, I trow, the story hath been told unto thee this day.”
“Not truly?—was this not true then, that was told of Hildebrand,
That of you my men petitioned, my knights of Amelung-land,
To give them forth of the feast-hall the body of Rüdiger,
Answered the Lord of Rhineland: “They fain would bear away
The Hero of Bern made answer: “The finger of fate is here.
O brave knight, make the atonement: no further revenge will I seek.
Unto me do thou render thee captive, with Hagen thy vassal-thane;
And so to mine uttermost power will I defend you twain
From all despiteful usage that the Huns would do unto you.
Ye shall prove herein mine honour, ye shall find me faithful and true.”
“Forefend it, God in Heaven,” cried Hagen scornfully,
“That two such battle-champions should render them captive to thee,
{p. 320}
Who yet are strong to face thee with shield and helm and brand,
“Ill should ye do to deny me,” said Dietrich thereunto,
“King Gunther and thou Hagen; ye have done unto me, ye two,
Yea, to my heart and my spirit, such passing bitter despite,
That if now ye will make me atonement, it shall be but just and right.
I pledge unto you mine honour and the faith of my right hand,
That with you will I ride, your safeguard, back to your own home-land.
As befitteth kings and heroes will I lead you—else will I die;
And for your sakes all mine anguish in forgetfulness buried shall lie.”
“Require this thing no further!” his answer Hagen flung.
“Good sooth, ’twere a seemly story to be told of the mocker’s tongue
What, man?—none standeth beside thee save only Hildebrand!”
But Master Hildebrand answered: “Lord Hagen, God doth know—
The hour may come upon you, ay, and perchance full soon,
“So low as to such atonement would I stoop,” did Hagen cry,
“Ere I in such craven fashion forth of a hall would fly
As thou didst, O good Master, but a little while ago!
Then Master Hildebrand answered: “For that thing me dost thou mock?
Who was it that sat all deedless on his shield by the Wasken-rock,
When so many of his own kinsmen were killed by Walter of Spain?
Of a truth, upon thine own honour there lieth many a stain!”
“Peace!” cried the noble Dietrich, “such knights doth it misbeseem
With words to rail on each other, as when old shrews scold and scream
Hildebrand, I forbid it: speak thou here no more.
A homeless knight, with sorrow enow mine heart is sore!
{p. 321}
Answer me, Hero Hagen,” said Dietrich yet again;
“What spake ye knights together, ye battle-eager twain,
When a little agone in mine harness ye saw me hard at hand?
Thou saidst that alone in battle against me thou wouldst stand.”
“I will prove it by mighty handstrokes upon thy body here,
If so be that the Sword of the Niblungs unshivered fail not me.
I am wroth that thou darest require us to yield us captive to thee!”
Forthright42, when Dietrich heard it, the mind of Hagen the grim,
That battle-eager champion caught his shield unto him.
How swiftly adown that stairway to meet him Hagen sprang!
Full well in that hour knew Dietrich that his lion-hearted foe
Was passing grim of spirit: from many a deadly blow
He proved what a knight was Hagen, to his mortal foe how stern.
And but now and again smote Dietrich, with cunningest craft of war,
Till at last in a grapple of giants he wore down Hagen the strong,
Then bethought him Dietrich the noble: “Long travail hath sapped thy might:
Mighty of thews was Dietrich: his shield from his arm he slipped;
He sprang upon Hagen of Troneg, and with sinewy hands he gripped.
And Gunther the noble beheld it exceeding sorrowful-souled.
Then Dietrich bound Sir Hagen, and he led that battle-thrall
Unto where was the high-born Kriemhild; and the bravest knight of all
{p. 322}
That ever with sword were girded, to her hands he rendered up.
She had drunken the dregs of affliction; at last joy brimmed her cup.
How glad was the wife of Etzel! Low to the thane did she bow:
“Blessèd in soul and in body evermore be thou!
For all my sore tribulation52 now hast thou recompensed me.
Except death’s coming prevent me, I will ever be bounden to thee!”
O noble Daughter of Princes! It may come to pass one day
That his good deeds may requite thee for the wrongs thou hast had at his hands.
Visit it not upon him that in bonds in thy presence he stands.”
Then to a dungeon-chamber she bade lead Hagen away
Where no man’s eye beheld him, and there close-barred he lay.
Then Gunther the noble uplifted his voice, and aloud he cried:
Hasted to meet him Dietrich the Lord of Bern forthright;
Not for his coming he tarried, but adown the stairway sprang.
Clashed their meeting war-glaives with a passing-deadly clang.
How proved soever was Dietrich in prowess of olden fame,
Such madness of battle-fury now upon Gunther came,
Unto such fell hate of his foeman was he stung by grief and pain,
So stalwart were these, so thrilled them the battle-spirit’s power,
Ha, with right royal courage did he bear him, Gunther the King!
But at last by the might of Dietrich he too was overborne:
Men saw his blood fast flowing through the mail-rings shattered and shorn
By the all-resistless keenness of the blade that Dietrich bare.
{p. 323}
Then by the hand of Dietrich were the limbs of Gunther bound—
Yet he weened, if he left unshackled Gunther and Hagen the knight,
They would verily slay all Hunfolk on whomsoe’er they should light.
The Prince of Bern, Lord Dietrich, hath grasped him by the hand:
In bonds to the hall hath he haled him where waiting doth Kriemhild stand.
At sight of his affliction light grew the load on her heart;
And she cried: “O King Burgundian, welcome to me thou art!”
“For thy greeting,” he said, “might I thank thee, O noble sister mine,
And how little to me and to Hagen thy greeting bodeth of good.”
But the Prince of Bern, the Hero, spake: “O noble Queen,
Never such peerless heroes made captive hath any seen,
As thou, O Daughter of Princes, from mine hand now dost take.
Deal gently with these, the homeless, for my lovingkindness’ sake.”
She answered: “That will I gladly.” So turned with weeping eyes
Dietrich away from the heroes, famed lords of high emprize.
But thereafter was ghastly vengeance taken by Etzel’s wife:
By her from the chosen heroes ruthlessly reft was the life.
And these two friends were beholden of each other never more,
Until she bare unto Hagen the head of her brother slain.
Then went the Queen unto Hagen, and she looked on him, and she spake—
“If thou restore me the treasure that thy robber hand hath ta’en,
Peradventure thou mayest living see Burgundy-land again.”
Made answer the grim knight Hagen: “The word is wasted in air,
O noble Daughter of Princes. A certain oath I sware
Of the Princes Three, my masters, it is rendered up unto none.”
{p. 324}
“Of the oath will I make swift ending!” that high-born woman said.
To her brother she sent her servants, and she bade them smite him dead.
In sight of the Hero of Troneg. With grief beyond compare
And with indignation of spirit he saw the head of his lord.
Grimly he turned on Kriemhild, and spake his latest word:
“Thou hast indeed made ending according to thy will.
Even as I had foreseen it, so now doth fate fulfil.
Dead now is the noble Gunther, the King of Burgundy,
Young Giselher, Lord Gernot—yea, dead be the Princes Three.
Now, now of the Hoard none knoweth save God and I alone—
Never, thou Child of the Devil, unto thee shall its place be known!”
This hold I at least in possession, Siegfried’s battle-brand.
He bare it, mine own, my belovèd, when I saw him for that last time,
She flashed it out of the scabbard—her hand he could not stay—
On high in her hands she swung it, from his body his head did she smite;
And King Etzel saw, and he deemed it an evil and bitter sight.
“Woe’s me!” cried the King in anguish; “how is he stricken down,—
That ever in battle’s forefront fighting his buckler bore!
Were he never so much my foeman, mine heart is for him full sore!”
Then Master Hildebrand shouted: “This thing shall profit her not
Yea, though he brought me also into mortal peril and pain,
I will take in any wise vengeance for valiant Hagen slain!”
In wrathful indignation on Kriemhild Hildebrand leapt,
And the head of that Daughter of Princes from her shoulders his brand hath swept.
{p. 325}
With horror she saw him before her like the Spirit of Vengeance rise.
Hewn in twain in the midmost of all a dead Queen lay!
Dietrich and King Etzel into sudden weeping broke,
And a bitter voice of wailing went up from all the folk.
There was the might and the glory of heroes in death laid low;
And the people had for their portion lamentation74 and mourning and woe.
What things befell thereafter in the land no minstrel hath sung[13],
Whelmed in abysses of sorrow for the loved and the lost they were.
There are the mighty fallen—in silence let them lie.
I can bring not from years forgotten that nation’s after-fate.
The Lay is ended—the Story of the Niblungs’ Bitter Strait.
The End
The End
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1
wailing
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| v.哭叫，哀号( wail的现在分词 )；沱 | |
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2
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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3
shuddering
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| v.战栗( shudder的现在分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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4
wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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5
gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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6
sinewy
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| adj.多腱的，强壮有力的 | |
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7
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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8
avenge
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| v.为...复仇，为...报仇 | |
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9
warrior
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| n.勇士，武士，斗士 | |
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10
warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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11
mightier
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| adj. 强有力的，强大的，巨大的 adv. 很，极其 | |
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12
foe
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| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
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13
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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14
woe
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| n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌 | |
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15
bereaved
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| adj.刚刚丧失亲人的v.使失去（希望、生命等）( bereave的过去式和过去分词)；（尤指死亡）使丧失（亲人、朋友等）；使孤寂；抢走（财物） | |
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16
smote
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| v.猛打，重击，打击( smite的过去式 ) | |
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17
slew
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| v.（使）旋转；n.大量，许多 | |
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18
wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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19
plight
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| n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定 | |
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20
kinsmen
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| n.家属，亲属( kinsman的名词复数 ) | |
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21
travail
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| n.阵痛；努力 | |
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22
knight
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| n.骑士，武士；爵士 | |
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23
knights
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| 骑士； （中古时代的）武士( knight的名词复数 )； 骑士； 爵士； （国际象棋中）马 | |
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24
smitten
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| 猛打，重击，打击( smite的过去分词 ) | |
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25
anguish
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| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
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26
whatsoever
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| adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么 | |
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27
slain
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| 杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词) | |
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28
rend
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| vt.把…撕开，割裂；把…揪下来，强行夺取 | |
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29
nought
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| n.／adj.无，零 | |
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30
jeer
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| vi.嘲弄，揶揄；vt.奚落；n.嘲笑，讥评 | |
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31
nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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32
flout
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| v./n.嘲弄，愚弄，轻视 | |
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33
haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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34
knightly
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| adj. 骑士般的 adv. 骑士般地 | |
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35
requite
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| v.报酬，报答 | |
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36
wreak
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| v.发泄；报复 | |
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37
foes
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| 敌人，仇敌( foe的名词复数 ) | |
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38
valiant
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| adj.勇敢的，英勇的；n.勇士，勇敢的人 | |
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39
bestow
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| v.把…赠与，把…授予；花费 | |
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40
boon
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| n.恩赐，恩物，恩惠 | |
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41
gainsay
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| v.否认，反驳 | |
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42
forthright
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| adj.直率的，直截了当的 [同]frank | |
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43
armour
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| （=armor）n.盔甲；装甲部队 | |
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44
ward
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| n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开 | |
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45
stark
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| adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地 | |
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46
renown
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| n.声誉，名望 | |
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47
renowned
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| adj.著名的，有名望的，声誉鹊起的 | |
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48
gash
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| v.深切，划开；n.(深长的)切(伤)口；裂缝 | |
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49
smite
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| v.重击；彻底击败；n.打；尝试；一点儿 | |
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50
constrain
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| vt.限制，约束；克制，抑制 | |
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51
peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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52
tribulation
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| n.苦难，灾难 | |
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53
slay
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| v.杀死，宰杀，杀戮 | |
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54
vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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55
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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56
marvel
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| vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事 | |
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57
smiting
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| v.猛打，重击，打击( smite的现在分词 ) | |
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58
hewing
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| v.（用斧、刀等）砍、劈( hew的现在分词 )；砍成；劈出；开辟 | |
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59
warded
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| 有锁孔的，有钥匙榫槽的 | |
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60
dishonour
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| n./vt.拒付（支票、汇票、票据等）；vt.凌辱，使丢脸；n.不名誉，耻辱，不光彩 | |
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61
lurked
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| vi.潜伏，埋伏（lurk的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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62
hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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63
dungeons
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| n.地牢( dungeon的名词复数 ) | |
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64
wreaked
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| 诉诸（武力），施行（暴力），发（脾气）( wreak的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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65
hoarded
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| v.积蓄并储藏（某物）( hoard的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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66
hoard
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| n./v.窖藏，贮存，囤积 | |
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67
hewed
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| v.（用斧、刀等）砍、劈( hew的过去式和过去分词 )；砍成；劈出；开辟 | |
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68
requital
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| n.酬劳；报复 | |
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69
everlasting
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| adj.永恒的，持久的，无止境的 | |
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70
foul
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| adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规 | |
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71
jot
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| n.少量；vi.草草记下；vt.匆匆写下 | |
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72
shriek
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| v./n.尖叫，叫喊 | |
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73
prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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74
lamentation
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| n.悲叹，哀悼 | |
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75
dolorous
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| adj.悲伤的；忧愁的 | |
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76
begotten
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| v.为…之生父( beget的过去分词 )；产生，引起 | |
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77
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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78
maiden
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| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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79
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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