Thus the father.  The son cried out with joyful demeanor,
“Ere it is evening the noblest of daughters shall hither be brought you,
Such as no man with sound sense in his breast can fail to be pleased with. 
Happy, I venture to hope, will be also the excellent maiden. 
Yes; she will ever be grateful for having had father and mother
Given once more in you, and such as a child most delights in. 
Now I will tarry no longer, but straightway harness the horses,
Drive forth our friends at once on the footsteps of my beloved,
Leaving them then to act for themselves, as their wisdom shall dictate,
Guide myself wholly, I promise, according to what they determine,
And, until I may call her my own, ne’er look on the maiden.” 
Thus he went forth:  the others meanwhile remained in discussion,
Rapid and earnest, considering deeply their great undertaking.

Hermann hasted straightway to the stable, where quietly standing
Found he the spirited stallions, the clean oats quickly devouring,
And the well-dried hay that was cut from the richest of meadows. 
On them without delay the shining bits he adjusted,
Hastily drew the straps through the buckles of beautiful plating,
Firmly fastened then the long broad reins, and the horses
Led without to the court-yard, whither the willing assistant
Had with ease, by the pole, already drawn forward the carriage. 
Next to the whipple-tree they with care by the neatly kept traces
Joined the impetuous strength of the freely travelling horses. 
Whip in hand took Hermann his seat and drove under the doorway. 
Soon as the friends straightway their commodious places had taken,
Quickly the carriage rolled off, and left the pavement behind it,
Left behind it the walls of the town and the fresh-whitened towers. 
Thus drove Hermann on till he came to the well-known causeway. 
Rapidly, loitering nowhere, but hastening up hill and down hill. 
But as he now before him perceived the spire of the village,
And no longer remote the garden-girt houses were lying,
Then in himself he thought that here he would rein up the horses.

Under the solemn shade of lofty linden-trees lying,
Which for centuries past upon this spot had been rooted,
Spread in front of the village a broad and grass-covered common,
Favorite place of resort for the peasants and neighboring townsfolk. 
Here, at the foot of the trees, sunk deep in the ground was a well-spring;
When you descended the steps, stone benches you found at the bottom,
Stationed about the spring, whose pure, living waters were bubbling
Ceaselessly forth, hemmed in by low walls for convenience of drawing. 
Hermann resolved that here he would halt, with his horses and carriage,
Under the shade of the trees.  He did so, and said to the others;
“Here alight, my friends, and go your ways to discover
Whether the maiden in truth be worthy the hand that