falling asleep a terror seemed to come upon him and scare his
rest away, for his slumbers were haunted with spectres. If he tried,
however, to rouse himself in good earnest he felt fanned as by the
wings of a swan, and he heard the soft murmuring of waters, until
soothed by the agreeable delusion, he sunk back again into a
half-conscious state. At length he must have fallen sound asleep, for
it seemed to him as if he were lifted up upon the fluttering wings of
the swans and borne by them far over land and sea, while they sang
to him their sweetest music. "The music of the swan! the music of
the swan!" he kept saying to himself; "does it not always portend
death?" But it had yet another meaning. All at once he felt as if he
were hovering over the Mediterranean Sea. A swan was singing
musically in his ear that this was the Mediterranean Sea. And while
he was looking down upon the waters below they became clear as
crystal, so that he could see through them to the bottom. He was
delighted at this, for he could see Undine sitting beneath the
crystal arch. It is true she was weeping bitterly, and looking much
sadder than in the happy days when they had lived together at the
castle of Ringstetten, especially at their commencement, and
afterward also, shortly before they had begun their unhappy Danube
excursion. The knight could not help thinking upon all this very
fully and deeply, but it did not seem as if Undine perceived him.

Meanwhile Kuhleborn had approached her, and was on the point of
reproving her for her weeping. But she drew herself up, and looked
at him with such a noble and commanding air that he almost shrunk
back with fear. "Although I live here beneath the waters," said she,
"I have yet brought down my soul with me; and therefore I may well
weep, although you can not divine what such tears are. They too are
blessed, for everything is blessed to him in whom a true soul
dwells."

He shook his head incredulously, and said, after some reflection:
"And yet, niece, you are subject to the laws of our element, and if
he marries again and is unfaithful to you, you are in duty bound to
take away his life."

"He is a widower to this very hour," replied Undine, "and his sad
heart still holds me dear."

"He is, however, at the same time betrothed," laughed Kuhleborn,
with scorn; "and let only a few days pass, and the priest will have
given the nuptial blessing, and then you will have to go upon earth
to accomplish th