HKB
"Oh! you worthless fellow, get you hence or I will kill you!"
Mimi was badly frightened, and hid himself behind the fireplace not knowing what might happen next. But after a while Siegfried's anger began to cool; then Mimi emerged from his hiding-place, and Siegfried saw that he held something in each hand. When the dwarf came close enough, the lad saw that he carried two halves of a splendid sword.
This Mimi declared was none other than the sword Wotan had carried on the day upon which Otto was killed. "And," he continued, "if I can but weld it together, you will have the finest sword that ever a hero wielded." Siegfried could scarcely wait until Mimi finished the work, so anxious was he to try the weapon.
At length it was ready, and he seized it, crying: "Now for the test! Now for the test!" Then he raised the mighty blade high above his head, and brought it down with all his strength upon the anvil. The whole house shook and trembled, and the anvil was split in two, but the weapon--the mighty sword that Wotan himself had flourished--was unhurt.
And now Mimi was thoroughly frightened, for he thought that Siegfried must be Thor himself. But he hid his fear, and cried:
"Avenge me, Siegfried! Slay this dragon, and one-half of the Rhine gold shall be yours."
"Lead the way," the lad replied, "and I will make short work of him."
So Mimi started for the heath, and Siegfried followed him joyfully.
When they drew near the place, Mimi pointed out a wide, blackened trail leading through the grass. This, he said, had been made by Fafner, for it was the path the dragon took each day when he went to the spring to drink. The dwarf told the boy that Fafner spouted flames to the right and left as he went along, and threshed the grass with his monstrous tail at every step.
Then he advised Siegfried to dig a deep pit, hide himself in it, and as the dragon crawled over it, to pierce him to the heart from underneath. Siegfried thought the plan a good one, and proceeded at once to dig.
He did not hear Mimi chuckling to himself, behind his back. For Mimi was bent upon destroying him, and knew that as soon as he had killed the monster, its blood would fill the pit, and drown him. Therefore the dwarf rejoiced. He withdrew to a safe distance, and hid himself, to await the coming of the dragon, which he greatly feared.
IV
THE DEATH OF THE DRAGON
AS SIEGFRIED was digging, he became aware of a tall one-eyed stranger, clad in a long gray cloak, who was standing near by, watching him intently. The stranger inquired what Siegfried was doing, and upon being told, earnestly advised the youth to dig several pits, each opening out of the other, so that he might escape the flow of blood which would otherwise drown him.
Siegfried was very grateful for the advice, and began to act upon it at once. Then Wotan (for the one-eyed stranger was none other than the god) disappeared from view. When he was through digging, Siegfried heaped brush and weeds above the first pit, so that it might not be noticed, and getting down into it, awaited the coming of the dragon.
He had not long to wait. Of a sudden, a great noise, like the tramping of a thousand horses, fell upon his ear. Then came a roaring as of the sea, and he saw the huge monster come slowly along, thrashing the earth with its great tail, and spouting flames to the left and the right.
On and on it came, until he could feel its breath hot above his face. He firmly grasped his sword, and gave one swift upward thrust, quickly withdrawing it, and then he nimbly leaped into the next pit, followed by a rush of blood, and then through the next, and so on, till he reached safe ground.