THE STORY OF SIGURDWord文档下载推荐.docx

1、warrior, and would avenge him on the other King, his enemy. Andhe bade her keep the broken pieces of the sword, to make a new swordfor his son, and that blade should be called Gram.Then he died. And his wife called her maid to her and said,Let us change clothes, and you shall be called by my name, a

2、nd Iby yours, lest the enemy finds us.So this was done, and they hid in a wood, but there some strangersmet them and carried them off in a ship to Denmark. And whenthey were brought before the King, he thought the maid looked likea Queen, and the Queen like a maid. So he asked the Queen, Howdo you k

3、now in the dark of night whether the hours are wearing tothe morning?And she said:I know because, when I was younger, I used to have to riseand light the fires, and still I waken at the same time.A strange Queen to light the fires, thought the King.Then he asked the Queen, who was dressed like a mai

4、d, Howdo you know in the dark of night whether the hours are wearingnear the dawn?My father gave me a gold ring, said she, and always, ere thedawning, it grows cold on my finger.A rich house where the maids wore gold, said the King. Trulyyou are no maid, but a Kings daughter.So he treated her royall

5、y, and as time went on she had a soncalled Sigurd, a beautiful boy and very strong. He had a tutor tobe with him, and once the tutor bade him go to the King and askfor a horse.Choose a horse for yourself, said the King; and Sigurd went tothe wood, and there he met an old man with a white beard, ands

6、aid, Come! help me in horse-choosing.Then the old man said, Drive all the horses into the river, andchoose the one that swims across.So Sigurd drove them, and only one swam across. Sigurd chosehim: his name was Grani, and he came of Sleipnirs breed, and wasthe best horse in the world. For Sleipnir w

7、as the horse of Odin, theGod of the North, and was as swift as the wind.But a day or two later his tutor said to Sigurd, There is a greattreasure of gold hidden not far from here, and it would become youto win it.But Sigurd answered, I have heard stories of that treasure, andI know that the dragon F

8、afnir guards it, and he is so huge andwicked that no man dares to go near him.He is no bigger than other dragons, said the tutor, and if youwere as brave as your father you would not fear him.I am no coward, says Sigurd; why do you want me to fightwith this dragon?Then his tutor, whose name was Regi

9、n, told him that all thisgreat hoard of red gold had once belonged to his own father. Andhis father had three sons-the first was Fafnir, the Dragon; the nextwas Otter, who could put on the shape of an otter when he liked;and the next was himself, Regin, and he was a great smith andmaker of swords.No

10、w there was at that time a dwarf called Andvari, who lived ina pool beneath a waterfall, and there he had hidden a great hoard ofgold. And one day Otter had been fishing there, and had killed asalmon and eaten it, and was sleeping, like an otter, on a stone.Then someone came by, and threw a stone at

11、 the otter and killed it,and flayed off the skin, and took it to the house of Otters father.Then he knew his son was dead, and to punish the person who hadkilled him he said he must have the Otters skin filled with gold,and covered all over with red gold, or it should go worse with him.Then the pers

12、on who had killed Otter went down and caught theDwarf who owned all the treasure and took it from him.Only one ring was left, which the Dwarf wore, and even thatwas taken from him.Then the poor Dwarf was very angry, and he prayed that thegold might never bring any but bad luck to all the men who mig

13、htown it, for ever.Then the otter skin was filled with gold and covered with gold,all but one hair, and that was covered with the poor Dwarfs lastring.But it brought good luck to nobody. First Fafnir, the Dragon,killed his own father, and then he went and wallowed on thegold, and would let his broth

14、er have none, and no man dared gonear it.When Sigurd heard the story he said to Regin:Make me a good sword that I may kill this Dragon.So Regin made a sword, and Sigurd tried it with a blow on alump of iron, and the sword broke.Another sword he made, and Sigurd broke that too.Then Sigurd went to his

15、 mother, and asked for the broken piecesof his fathers blade, and gave them to Regin. And he hammeredand wrought them into a new sword, so sharp that fire seemed toburn along its edges.Sigurd tried this blade on the lump of iron, and it did not break,but split the iron in two. Then he threw a lock o

16、f wool into theriver, and when it floated down against the sword it was cut intotwo pieces. So Sigurd said that sword would do. But before hewent against the Dragon he led an army to fight the men who hadkilled his father, and he slew their King, and took all his wealth,and went home.When he had bee

17、n at home a few days, he rode out with Reginone morning to the heath where the Dragon used to lie. Then hesaw the track which the Dragon made when he went to a cliff todrink, and the track was as if a great river had rolled along andleft a deep valley.Then Sigurd went down into that deep place, and

18、dug many pitsin it, and in one of the pits he lay hidden with his sword drawn.There he waited, and presently the earth began to shake with theweight of the Dragon as he crawled to the water. And a cloud ofvenom flew before him as he snorted and roared, so that it wouldhave been death to stand before

19、 him.But Sigurd waited till half of him had crawled over the pit, andthen he thrust the sword Gram right into his very heart.Then the Dragon lashed with his tail till stones broke and treescrashed about him.Then he spoke, as he died, and said:Whoever thou art that hast slain me this gold shall be th

20、y ruin,and the ruin of all who own it.Sigurd said:I would touch none of it if by losing it I should never die. Butall men die, and no brave man lets death frighten him from hisdesire. Die thou, Fafnir, and then Fafnir died.And after that Sigurd was called Fafnirs Bane, and Dragonslayer.Then Sigurd r

21、ode back, and met Regin, and Regin asked him toroast Fafnirs heart and let him taste of it.So Sigurd put the heart of Fafnir on a stake, and roasted it. Butit chanced that he touched it with his finger, and it burned him. Thenhe put his finger in his mouth, and so tasted the heart of Fafnir.Then imm

22、ediately he understood the language of birds, and heheard the Woodpeckers say:There is Sigurd roasting Fafnirs heart for another, when heshould taste of it himself and learn all wisdom.The next bird said:There lies Regin, ready to betray Sigurd, who trusts him.The third bird said:Let him cut off Reg

23、ins head, and keep all the gold to himself.The fourth bird said:That let him do, and then ride over Hindfell, to the place whereBrynhild sleeps.When Sigurd heard all this, and how Regin was plotting tobetray him, he cut off Regins head with one blow of the swordGram.Then all he birds broke out singi

24、ng:We know a fair maid,A fair maiden sleeping;Sigurd, be not afraid,Sigurd, win thou the maidFortune is keeping.High over HindfellRed fire is flaming,There doth the maiden dwellShe that should love thee well,Meet for thy taming.There must she sleep till thouComest for her wakingRise up and ride, for

25、 nowSure she will swear the vowFearless of breaking.Then Sigurd remembered how the story went that somewhere,far away, there was a beautiful lady enchanted. She was under aspell, so that she must always sleep in a castle surrounded by flamingfire; there she must sleep for ever till there came a knig

26、ht whowould ride through the fire and waken her. There he determinedto go, but first he rode right down the horrible trail of Fafnir. AndFafnir had lived in a cave with iron doors, a cave dug deep downin the earth, and full of gold bracelets, and crowns, and rings; andthere, too, Sigurd found the He

27、lm of Dread, a golden helmet, andwhoever wears it is invisible. All these he piled on the back of thegood horse Grani, and then he rode south to Hindfell.Now it was night, and on the crest of the hill Sigurd saw a redfire blazing up into the sky, and within the flame a castle, and abanner on the topmost tower. Then he set the horse Grani at thefire, and he leaped through it lightly, as if it had been through theheather. So Sigurd went within the castle door, and there he sawsomeone sleeping, clad all in arm