nd the sentinels on the ramparts,
yawned, and would not believe they had been asleep; the porter picked
up his keys, and hastened to lock the long-forgotten gates; the horses
neighed in their stalls; the watchdogs barked at the sudden hubbub; the
birds, ashamed at having allowed the sun to find them napping, hastened
to seek their food in the meadows; the servants hurried here and there,
each intent upon his duty; the warriors in the banquet-hall clattered
their knives and plates, and began again their feast; and their chief
dropped his goblet, and rubbed his eyes, and wondered that sleep should
have overtaken him in the midst of such a meal.[EN#16]

And Siegfried, standing at an upper window, looked out over the
castle-walls; and he saw that the flames no longer raged in the moat,
but that it was filled with clear sparkling water from the fountain
which played in the garden. And the south wind blew gently from the sea,
bringing from afar the sweetest strains of music from Bragi's golden
harp; and the breezes whispered among the trees, and the flowers opened
their petals to the sun, and birds and insects made the air melodious
with their glad voices. Then Brunhild, radiant with smiles, stood by
the hero's side, and welcomed him kindly to Isenland and to her
green-towered castle of Isenstein.

Adventure VII. In Nibelungen Land.

Every one in the castle of Isenstein, from the princess to the
kitchen-maid, felt grateful to the young hero for what he had done. The
best rooms were fitted up for his use, and a score of serving men and
maidens were set apart to do his bidding, and ordered to be mindful of
his slightest wish. And all the earl-folk and brave men, and all the
fair ladies, and Brunhild, fairest of them all, besought him to make his
home there, nor ever think of going back to Rhineland. Siegfried yielded
to their persuasions, and for six months he tarried in the enchanted
land in one long round of merry-making and gay enjoyment. But his
thoughts were ever turned toward his father's home in the Lowlands
across the sea, and he longed to behold again his gentle mother
Sigelind. Then he grew tired of his life of idleness and ease, and he
wished that he might go out again into the busy world of manly action
and worthy deeds. And day by day this feeling grew stronger, and filled
him with unrest.

One morning, as he sat alone by the seashore, and watched the lazy tide
come creeping up the sands, two rave