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Read Ebook: Opera Stories from Wagner by Akin Florence
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Ebook has 832 lines and 15042 words, and 17 pages
He stood still. Then he straightened up as tall as his crooked, misshapen little back would let him. He opened his eyes wide.
"Oh! Sisters! See how Alberich is staring at our gold!" whispered one of the Rhine-daughters. "Perhaps this is the foe of which our father warned us. How careless we have been!"
"Nonsense," answered one. "Who would fear this little black fellow? He will do us no harm. Let him gaze upon the gold. Come, let us sing!"
The maidens joined hands and circled about the gold, singing:--
"Hail to thee! Hail to thee! Treasure most bright! Rhine-gold! Rhine-gold! Beautiful sight!
"Hail to thee! Hail to thee! Out of the night! Rhine-gold! Rhine-gold! Wakened so bright!"
THE THEFT
Still Alberich stood and stared at the gold.
"What is it?" he gasped. "What is it?"
The Rhine-daughters shouted back to him:--
"Heigh-ho! and heigh-ho! Dear little imp of woe, Laugh with us, laugh with us! Heigh-ho and heigh-ho!"
But Alberich did not laugh with them.
He would not take his eyes off the gold.
"That," said the maidens, "is our Rhine-gold."
"A very pretty plaything it is," said Alberich.
"Yes," replied the careless sisters, "it is magic gold. Who moulds this gold into a ring shall have all power upon the earth, save love."
Alberich muttered to himself: "What do I care for love if I have all the gold I want?"
Then he sprang upon the slippery rock and snatched the gold. With one wild leap he plunged into the depths below.
Down, down he went to his deep, dark kingdom, clutching fast the precious gold and muttering:--
"Now all the earth is mine. It is mine, all mine. Now I shall rule the world."
Poor foolish Alberich! He did not know that the best things in this world are the things which gold cannot buy.
The power of love is greater than the power of gold.
The maidens shrieked and screamed: "Our gold! Our gold! Our precious gold!"
Too late! Far, far below, they heard a laugh, the rough, rude laugh of Alberich, the dwarf.
THE SAD RHINE-DAUGHTERS
After that, when the Rhine-daughters came to the rock where the gold had been, they could not sing their happy song.
Their faces were very sad now, and they said: "Oh, why did Alberich steal our beautiful gold? It cannot make him happy, for no one can ever be truly happy who does not know love."
They often sat upon the rocks in the dusk of the evening and cried as if their hearts would break because they had lost their gold.
"The black waves surge in sorrow through the depths, And all the Rhine is wailing in its woe."
A CASTLE ON THE RHINE
On a mountain-side, above the banks of the Rhine, lived a family of splendid giants.
The greatest of the giants was Wotan. He was the king.
They had always lived out of doors, because the king had never been able to find a giant who was large enough to build such a grand castle as he wanted for his family.
But one day there came to the mountainside the largest giant Wotan had ever seen.
His name was Fafner.
He was many times larger than Wotan.
Wotan told Fafner how much he wanted a wonderful castle.
Fafner said: "I will build such a castle for you if you will give me your sister, Freya."
Fafner wanted to take the beautiful Freya to his own country.
Wotan did not stop to think what an awful thing it would be to lose Freya.
His thoughts were of nothing but the wonderful castle.
"Build it, Fafner," said Wotan.
That night Wotan and his family lay down upon their mountain to sleep.
Wotan dreamed of a wonderful stone castle with glittering towers.
He dreamed he saw the castle gleaming in the morning sun.
THE MORNING
It was morning in the beautiful country where the Rhine River flows.
The giants upon the hillside were just awakening from their night's sleep.
During the night Fafner had built the wonderful castle.
Wotan's wife was the first to see it.
"Awake, Wotan! Awake!" she cried.
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