288.
Then outspake gallant Gernot, the prince of Burgundy:
“To him, who such good service so late hath done to thee,
Thou Gunther, dearest brother, shouldst haste to do the same
In sight of all thy warriors: I say it without shame.
289.
“If thou would’st bid Sir Siegfried unto my sister go,
That the fair maid may greet him, much good might come, I trow.
She, who ne’er greeted warrior, may by her greeting cheer;
And thus this goodly hero be bounden to us here.”
290.
Then some of the host’s kinsmen went where the knight did stand
And thus spake to the warrior who came from Netherland:
“The king his leave hath granted that you to court should go,
His sister there shall greet you: they would you honour show.”
291.
At this the knight’s mood changéd again from grave to gay;
And in his heart Love reignéd, and grief had fled away,—
For the fair Uté’s daughter at last his eyes would see!
Right soon she greeted Siegfried, with winning modesty.
292.
When the high-couraged warrior she saw before her there,
Her cheeks were lit with crimson: then spake the maiden fair:
“Be welcome here, Sir Siegfried, thou good and noble knight.”
And when he heard her greeting his heart grew wondrous light.
293.
He bent him low before her; she took him by the hand.
How lover-like the knight did by the fair maiden stand!
Each locked upon the other with many a tender glance,
This hero and his lady,— and yet they looked askance.
