Our journey ends here;

      Here we halt.

      So here I shall learn what fear is?

      A far way thou hast led me;

      We have wandered lone together

      A whole night long in the woods.

      This is the last

      Of thee, Mime!

      Can I not master

      My lesson here,

      Alone I will push forward

      And never see thee again.

      Lad, believe me,

      If thou canst not

      Learn it here and now,

      No other place,

      No other time

      Ever will teach thee fear.

      Dost thou see

      That cavern yawning dark?

      Yonder dwells

      A dragon dread and grim,

      Horribly fierce,

      Enormous in size,

      With terrible jaws

      That threaten and gape;

      With skin and hair,

      All at a gulp,

      The brute could swallow thee whole.

      'Twere well to close up his gullet;

      His fangs I will therefore avoid.

      Poison pours

      From his venomous mouth;

      Were he to spue out

      Spittle on thee,

      Thy body and bones would decay.

      That the poison may not consume me,

      I will keep out of its reach.

      A serpent's tail

      Sweeping he swings;

      Were that about thee wound

      And folded close,

      Thy limbs would be broken like glass.

      That his swinging tail may not touch me,

      Warily then I must watch.

      But answer me this:

      Has the brute a heart?

      A pitiless, cruel heart.

      It lies, however,

      Where all hearts lie,

      Brute and human alike?

      Of course! There, boy,

      The dragon's lies too.

      At last thou beginnest to fear?

      Nothung into

      His heart I will thrust!

      Is that what is meant by fearing?

      Hey, old dotard!

      Canst thou teach me

      Nothing but this

      With all thy craft,

      Linger no longer by me:

      No fear is here to be learnt.

      Wait awhile yet!

      What I have told thee

      Seems to thee empty sound;

      When thou hast heard

      And seen him thyself,

      Thy senses will swoon, overwhelmed!

      When thine eyes grow dim,

      And when the ground rocks,

      When in thy breast

      Thy heart beats loud,

      Thou wilt remember who brought thee,

      And think of me and my love.

      Thy love is not wanted!

      Hast thou not heard?

      Out of my sight with thee;

      Let me alone!

      Begin again talking of love,

      And on the instant I go!

      The horrible winking,

      The nods and blinking—

      When shall I see

      The last of them,

      And rid be at length of the fool?

      Well, I will off,

      And rest there by the spring.

      Thou must stay here,

      And as the sun scales the sky

      Watch for the foe:

      From his cave

      He lumbers this way,

      Winds and twists

      Past this spot,

      To water at the fountain.

      Liest thou by the spring,

      Unchecked thither the brute shall go;

      He shall swallow thee

      Down with the water,

      Ere with my sword

      To the heart I stab him!

      So heed well what I say:

      Rest not beside the spring.

      Seek somewhere else

      A far-off spot,

      And nevermore return.

      Thou wilt not refuse

      Cooling refreshment

      When the fierce fight is over?

      Call on me too

      Shouldst thou need counsel,