HEMMING. His wedding tomorrow his people prepare; Yet for his betrothed he seems little to care; 'Tis little he knows that she is so near, And less that she holds another one dear!-- He wanders around in the forest astray, And Ingeborg gave me the golden ring!

His mother I'll seek without further delay; The saints only know what the morrow will bring!

[Goes out to the left.]

SCENE IX

[OLAF LILJEKRANS enters again from the right.]

OLAF. [As he tears to pieces some flowers he has gathered off the stage.] "Of all the flowers on the hill over yonder Must you the fairest one find; And bit by bit you must tear it asunder, And scatter it far to the wind,-- Then--only then will you happiness find!"

These mysterious words give my spirit no rest.

The fairest of flowers? And what is the test?

Where will it be found? Is its beauty revealed In the fragrance or deep in the blossom concealed?

Or hid in some magic power that I never Can possibly find if I search forever?

So may there be virtue in many a spear Whose steel is rusty and out of gear; So too may a harp that no longer sings But hangs forgotten in the halls of mirth, Hide in its forsaken and dusty strings The strangest magic on earth.

SCENE X

[OLAF LILJEKRANS. ALFHILD from the back of the stage.

She is fantastically dressed and adorned with flowers and garlands of leaves; she looks about anxiously until she discovers OLAF and runs joyfully to meet him.]

ALFHILD. O, stay, stay! Do not go away from me!

OLAF. [As if suddenly awakened to life.] Alfhild! my young and beautiful bride!

ALFHILD. Olaf! my handsome knight! I grew tired of waiting; I had to come here to meet you!

OLAF. But tell me, why are you always afraid to come here?

ALFHILD. I have so often told you that I never went beyond this valley until you visited me. My father has said that evil powers hold sway out there; only here among the mountains could I fare safely and without harm! O, let whatever power will hold sway; you are here, and that is enough for me! Come, let me look into your eyes! Truly, I have you again!

OLAF. Have me! Alas, Alfhild! You artful, you beautiful woman, indeed you have me again! My soul you have charmed so deeply, so deeply. Lead me whither and as far as you will, into the mountain, under the hill, to the gra.s.sy meadow, where song and refrain echo sweetly in the evening, on the bottom of the river, down under the rapids, where there are harps for powerful plaintive lays; wherever your home is, there I am ready to wander!

ALFHILD. Why speak you thus? You must surely know better than what you are saying.--Spirits and elves hold sway in mountain and hillock, and on the bottom of the river lives the nixie,--so father has said. Think you that I am an elf or--

OLAF. You are the fairest in the world; be you what you please, so long as you are mine!

ALFHILD. Were I an elfen maid, then truly, say I, it would fare with you ill!

OLAF. Me!

ALFHILD. Yes, you! When you rode on your lonely path, I should go out to meet you and give you the drink of forgetfulness from the golden horn. I should mix therein my magic and charm so that you would forget both heaven and earth, forget where you were born and reared, what name you answered to, and where your kinsmen fared,--one thing alone should you remember, one thing alone should fill your mind and soul.

OLAF. Forsooth, then are you the elfen maid! For from the first hour you have practiced your magic on me.

ALFHILD. Have I?

OLAF. Through the meadow I rode, below where the river runs,--it was night and the songs and the plaintive lays echoed strangely around me....

OLAF. Bewildered I grew and lost my path; I wandered far, far in among the mountains; I discovered the beautiful valley, where no foot has trod, where no eye has feasted ere mine....

OLAF. A heavy slumber fell upon me in there; the elf maidens played in the meantime, and they drew me into their play....

OLAF. But when I awoke, there was affliction in my soul; homeward I rode, but down there I could no more be content; it seemed as if I had left behind me the richest and best in life, as if a wonderful treasure were held in store for me, if only I sought and found it....

OLAF. Up to the valley I had to go before I could find peace....

OLAF. You came to meet me, fair and glowing as in this hour; I seized your hand, I looked you in the eye--heaven and earth, the beauty of all creation, was in your eye!....

OLAF. Then I forgot both kinsmen and friends!....

OLAF. I came there the next night, I embraced you, I pressed you to my bosom,--the glory of heaven was in your embrace....

OLAF. --Then I forgot my Christian name and my forefathers'

home....

OLAF. And I came the third night; I had to come; I kissed your red lips; my eyes burned their way into your soul.--More than the glory of creation was therein! I forgot more than G.o.d and home, more than heaven and earth. I forgot myself.

[Prostrates himself before her.]

OLAF. Alfhild! Alfhild!

ALFHILD. If it be a drink of forgetfulness which you speak of, then have I also charmed myself with it. I have fared as the minstrel who learned the nixie's songs in order to charm his sweetheart;--he charmed and charmed so long that at length the magic wove itself round his own soul too, and he could never win himself free therefrom.

[Stops and continues standing thoughtfully.]

OLAF. [As he rises.] What are you brooding over?

ALFHILD. High in the mountain there is a rocky ledge so steep that not even the eagle can fasten his claws thereon; there stands a lonely birch,--ill does it thrive, it is poor in leaves; but downward it bends its branches to the valley which lies far away; it is as though it longed for its sisters in the fresh and luxuriant grove, as though it yearned to be transplanted in the warm sunny life down below....

ALFHILD. Like the birch in the mountain was also my life; I longed to get away; I longed for you through the long, long years, even before I knew you existed. The valley became too cramped for me, but I did not know that beyond the mountains there was another valley like this one in here. The knights and the ladies that visited me every evening were not enough for me, and they told me nothing of the life beyond!

OLAF. Knights and ladies? You told me you never met any one there.

ALFHILD. No one like you! But every evening my father sang songs to me, and when the night came and my eyes were closed, they came to visit me, all those that live in my father's songs. Merry knights and beautiful ladies there were among them; they came with falcons on their hands, riding on stately steeds. They danced in the field, and laughter and merriment reechoed wherever they fared; the elves listened silently from behind each flower and the birds from the trees where they had fallen asleep. But with the coming of dawn they again disappeared; lonely I wandered; I decked myself with flowers and with green leaves, for I knew the next night they would come again.

Alas, that life was after all not sufficient for me; a mighty longing rilled my bosom; it would never have been stilled if you had not come!

OLAF. You speak of your father; at no time did I see him in there!

ALFHILD. But seldom he comes now; he has never been there since the night we first met.