THE BIRTHDAY FEAST
It had been Undine's wish to give a great banquet in honour of
Bertalda's birthday. The knight had ordered that all should be done as
she desired.
The feast was now spread, and the guests, of whom there were a great
number, had already taken their seats.
At the upper end of the table sat Bertalda, surrounded with flowers
and jewels, gifts these which her foster-parents and friends had
showered upon her. By her side sat the knight and his fair young wife.
When at length the fruit was placed on the table, the doors of the
banqueting-room were flung open. (In Germany, where the knight lived,
it was usual to do this that the peasant folk might look in and see
how their masters fared.) Wine and cakes were offered to those who on
this evening came to show their pleasure in the joy of the knight and
his young wife.
Huldbrand and Bertalda, meanwhile, were watching Undine with eager
eyes. Had she not a secret to tell them, which, when they knew it,
would make them even happier than before?
But Undine only smiled upon them as she caught their eyes, and shook
her head slightly as though to say, 'No, it is still too soon, too
soon.'
At this moment the guests begged the young mistress of the feast to
sing. She seemed pleased with the request, and taking her lute in her
hands, she began to play softly, while her clear voice filled the
room.
It was a song of sunshine and green grass, of sweet flowers and
sparkling waters, and the guests, listening spellbound, forgot all
else save the singer and her song.
But hark! the song is changing. Who is the child of whom Undine sings?
A child who has been borne by the waves far from the home of her
birth. The little one is lying like a flower among the meadow grass
(the guests can see her as the singer sings) and reaches out her tiny
hands for help.
Ah! now they hear the tramp, tramp of a horse. A noble duke is riding
slowly along. He halts, for he sees the little maid. He stoops and
lifts her in his arms, and carries her off to his own castle, and
surrounds her with splendour and with wealth.
And now tears gather in the eyes of the guests. The song is drawing to
a close, and Undine is singing of an unknown shore, where in a little
cottage sit a father and mother, desolate and sad, for they have lost
their little child, and they know not where to find her.
Among all the guests were none who listened to the song more eagerly
than Bertalda's noble foster-parents.
'She has sung the story of Bertalda, the little child we found so long
ago,' they said each to the other. 'It was even thus we found her in
the meadow, among the flowers.'
And Bertalda herself cried out in haste, 'Undine, Undine, you know my
parents, bring them to me, bring them to me, I entreat you!'
Then Undine, with tears that were tears of joy in her eyes, looked at
Bertalda, and said softly, 'They are here, your parents are here, dear
maiden, and when you see them you will rejoice. Well do I know the
tender care they will give to you, for it was even they who were my
own foster-parents.'
At a sign from Undine the old fisherman and his wife now stepped
forward from the corner in which their foster-child had bidden them
wait. It was she, Undine, who had sent for them that they might claim
Bertalda, who was, as Kühleborn told her, their child.
The eyes of all the guests were fixed in astonishment on the humble
fisherman and his wife. Could these poor working folk be indeed the
parents of the maiden who stood before them, so cold, so full of
pride?
'Yes, here is your long-lost daughter,' said Undine softly, as the old
people stood bewildered before Bertalda. Then they, taking courage
from her words, threw their arms around their daughter. And as they
embraced her, tears streamed down their old worn faces, while they
thanked God for His goodness in giving them back their child.
But Bertalda tore herself from their arms. She, the child of a poor
old fisherman and his wife! She could not believe it. She did not wish
to believe it. In her pride she had hoped to be known as the daughter
of a beautiful princess, or even of a queen. Now in her anger she
believed that Undine had brought the fisherman and his wife to the
banquet only to crush her pride and to humble her before Huldbrand and
his guests.
The angry maiden took no pains to hide her rage. She reproached
Undine, Undine who had only wished to give her joy, nor had she any
words too bitter to fling at the fisherman and his wife.
And Undine, who had hoped to make her friend and her foster-parents
happy, listened sadly, now to Bertalda, now to the old fisherman and
his wife.
'Bertalda,' she cried, 'Bertalda, do not be angry. Have you not a
soul? Let it teach you not to grieve your parents more.'
But Bertalda only grew more angry, and the poor parents, as they heard
her scorn, more sad.
As for the guests, they were talking loudly, some being sorry for the
maiden, others for the fisherman and his wife.
Then Undine begged the knight to let her speak to their guests. And he
yielding to her wish, she walked to the upper end of the table, and
while all eyes were fixed upon her, she spoke.
'My secret, which I thought would cause Bertalda joy, has caused her
sorrow. Yet must I tell you that I have spoken the truth. For he who
told me was he who, when Bertalda was but a little babe, drew her into
the water, and thereafter laid her in the green meadow through which
the duke rode toward his castle.'
'Do not listen to her words!' shouted Bertalda in her rage. 'She is a
witch, a witch!'
'Nay, I am no witch. Look upon me that you may know,' answered Undine.
And as they gazed upon her pure face and into her clear blue eyes, the
guests knew that she spoke the truth. Undine was not a witch.
'If she is not a witch, she at least has not told the truth,' cried
Bertalda, scorn in her cold voice. 'She has no proof that I am the
child of these wretched old people.' Then, turning to her noble
foster-parents, she entreated them to take her away at once from the
city, where such shame had been brought upon her.
But the duke did not move, while the duchess said in a firm voice, 'We
shall not leave this room, nor shall you, proud maiden, until we know
the truth.'
Then the fisherman's wife drew near to the noble lady, and curtsying
low she said, 'Should this bad maiden be indeed my daughter, as I do
think she is, she will have between her shoulders a mark like a
violet, and this mark also you will find on the instep of her left
foot. Let the maiden come with me that--'
But Bertalda rudely interrupted the old woman's words.
'I will not go with the peasant!' she said.
'But you will come with me into another room,' said the duchess, and
Bertalda knew that she would have to go. 'And the old woman shall come
with us,' added the noble lady in a kind voice.
As the three went out of the banqueting-room, silence fell upon the
guests. Now they would soon know the truth.
Slowly the moments passed. At length the door opened and the duchess
returned with Bertalda and the old woman. Bertalda looked pale and
frightened.
'It is but just,' said the noble lady, looking round the room, 'it is
but just that you should know the truth. It is as our hostess has
said. Bertalda is indeed the daughter of the fisherman and his wife.'
The duke and duchess then left the room, followed by their
foster-child, the duke bidding Bertalda's true parents come with them
also.
In silence the other guests slipped away, to talk in their own homes
over all that they had heard and seen, and Undine, left alone with her
husband, wept bitterly.