Opera Stories from Wagner
By Florence Akin
Hunding’s Wife
As Siegmund slept, the door of the inner room was gently opened and a beautiful woman stole softly in.
She was clad in snowy white.
Her head was crowned with a wealth of golden hair.
She had heard Siegmund as he entered the room, and, thinking her chieftain had returned from the hunt, she came to greet him.
Instead she saw a stranger on the hearth, and, drawing near, she saw that his face looked sad and troubled.
“Who are you?” she asked, but Siegmund did not stir.
Then she knelt beside him and looked into his face.
It was the strong, noble face of a hero.
“He sleeps,” she said. “How weak and weary he seems. Perhaps he has been wounded or is faint from hunger.”
Siegmund roused and asked for water.
The woman ran quickly, and, bringing a cup of cold water, held it to his parched lips.
Siegmund drank. Then, gazing into the woman’s kind face, he gasped: “Where am I?”
But, with a startled look, she stood in silence, listening to the heavy tread outside the door.
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