KRIEMHILD.

  Indeed I’d never have denied it thee,
  But, since my husband’s honor is at stake,
  I will not yield one step.

  BRUNHILDA.

  He will command
  That thou shalt yield.

  KRIEMHILD.

  How dare’st thou scorn him so!

  BRUNHILDA.

   He made way for thy brother in my hall,
  As vassals for their lord, and he refused
  My proffered greeting!—­That did not seem strange
  While I still thought him—­as he called himself—­
  A serving-man, a messenger to me. 
  But now it all seems changed.

  KRIEMHILD.

  And how is that?

  BRUNHILDA.

  I’ve seen a wolf slip silently away
  Before a bear, and then I’ve seen the bear
  Flee from the mountain bull.  Though he’s not sworn,
  Yet is he still a vassal.

  KRIEMHILD.

  Say no more!

  BRUNHILDA.

  Wilt threaten me?  Do not forget thyself! 
  I have my senses—­see that thou keep thine: 
  There must have been some cause beneath all this.

  KRIEMHILD.

  There was!  And if thou shouldst suspect the cause,
  How thou wouldst shudder.

  BRUNHILDA.

   Shudder!

  KRIEMHILD.

  Yes, indeed! 
  But do not fear!  I love thee even now
  Too fondly.  Never can I hate thee so
  That I will tell the cause.  Had aught like that
  Befallen me, today I’d dig my grave
  With my own hands.  Brunhilda, never fear! 
  I will not make thee the most wretched soul
  That draws the breath of life upon the earth! 
  Then keep thy pride, for pity makes me dumb.

  BRUNHILDA.

  Thou boastest, Kriemhild!  I despise thee now!

  KRIEMHILD.

  My husband’s concubine despises me!

  BRUNHILDA.

  Put her in chains!  She rages!  Bind her then!

  KRIEMHILD (draws out the girdle).

  Know’st thou this girdle?

  BRUNHILDA.

  Well I do.  ’Tis mine. 
  And since I see it in a stranger’s hands
  It must be that ’twas stolen in the night.

  KRIEMHILD.

   ’Twas stolen!  ’Twas no thief that gave it me!

  BRUNHILDA.

  Who then?

  KRIEMHILD.

  The man who overpowered thee! 
  But not my brother!

  BRUNHILDA.

  Kriemhild!

  KRIEMHILD.

  Thy fierce strength
  Had surely strangled Gunther, then perchance
  Thou would’st have loved the dead as punishment. 
  My husband gave it me!

  BRUNHILDA.

  ’Tis false!

  KRIEMHILD.

  ’Tis true! 
  Now scorn him if thou canst!  Wilt now consent
  That I may pass before thee through the door?

  (To her women.)

  Now follow.  She shall see me prove my rights!