le of noble lord of Kuhleborn,
or free lord of Kuhleborn; for I am as free as the birds in the forest,
and, it may be, a trifle more so. For example, I now have something to
tell that young lady there." And before they were aware of his purpose,
he was on the other side of the priest, close to Undine, and stretching
himself high into the air, in order to whisper something in her ear. But
she shrank from him in terror, and exclaimed:

"I have nothing more to do with you."

"Ho, ho," cried the stranger with a laugh, "you have made a grand
marriage indeed, since you no longer know your own relations! Have you
no recollection, then, of your uncle Kuhleborn, who so faithfully bore
you on his back to this region?"

"However that may be," replied Undine, "I entreat you never to appear in
my presence again. I am now afraid of you; and will not my husband fear
and forsake me, if he sees me associate with such strange company and
kindred?"

"You must not forget, my little niece," said Kuhleborn, "that I am with
you here as a guide; otherwise those madcap spirits of the earth, the
gnomes that haunt this forest, would play you some of their mischievous
pranks. Let me therefore still accompany you in peace. Even the old
priest there had a better recollection of me than you have; for he just
now assured me that I seemed to be very familiar to him, and that I must
have been with him in the ferry-boat, out of which he tumbled into
the waves. He certainly did see me there; for I was no other than the
water-spout that tore him out of it, and kept him from sinking, while I
safely wafted him ashore to your wedding."

Undine and the knight turned their eyes upon Father Heilmann; but he
appeared to be moving forward, just as if he were dreaming or walking
in his sleep, and no longer to be conscious of a word that was spoken.
Undine then said to Kuhleborn: "I already see yonder the end of the
forest. We have no further need of your assistance, and nothing now
gives us alarm but yourself. I therefore beseech you, by our mutual love
and good-will, to vanish, and allow us to proceed in peace."

Kuhleborn seemed to become angry at this: he darted a frightful look at
Undine, and grinned fiercely upon her. She shrieked aloud, and called
her husband to protect her. The knight sprang round the horse as quick
as lightning, and, brandishing his sword, struck at Kuhleborn's head.
But instead of severing it from his body, the sword merely flashed