Then shall he throw the little scarf upon a bush, and there will be an
end to his love. And the silver ring he shall cast into the sea, and
there will be an end to his grief. On the shores of the Wener it is
Lord Malmstein who wakes before dawn from a dream that his beloved's
heart is breaking. "Up, up, my little page, saddle the grey; I must
know how it fares with my love." He mounts the horse and gallops into
the forests. Of a sudden two little maids stand in his path; one wears
a dress of blue, and hails him with the words: "God keep you, Lord
Malmstein; what bale awaits you!" The other is dight in red, and of
her Lord Malmstein asks, "Who is ill, and who is dead?" "No one is
ill, no one is dead, save only the betrothed of Malmstein." He makes
haste to reach the village; on the way he meets the bier of his
betrothed. Swiftly he leaps from the saddle; he pulls from off his
finger rings of fine gold, and throws them to the gravedigger--"Delve
a grave deep and wide, for therein we will walk together." His face
turns red and white, and he deals a mortal blow at his heart. This
Swedish Malmstein not only figures as the reappearing lover; he
is also one of that familiar pair whom death unites. In an ancient
Romansch ballad the story is simply an episode of peasant life. A
young Engadiner girl is forced by her father to marry a man of the
village of Surselva, but all the while her troth is plighted to a
youth from the village of Schams. On the road to Surselva the lover
joins the bride and bridegroom unknown to the latter. When they reach
the place the people declare that they have never seen so fair a
woman as the youthful bride. Her husband's father and mother greet
her saying, "Daughter, be thou welcome to our house!" But she answers,
"No, I have never been your daughter, nor do I hope ever to be; for
the time is near when I must die." Then her brothers and sisters greet
her saying, "O sister, be thou welcome to our house!" "No," she says,
"I have never been your sister, nor do I ever hope to be; for the time
comes when I must die. Only one kindness I ask of you, give me a room
where I may rest." They lead her to her chamber, they try to comfort
her with sweet words; but the more they would befriend her, the more
does the young bride turn her mind away from this world. Her lover is
by her side, and to him she says, "O my beloved, greet my father and
my mother; tell them that perhaps they have rejoiced their hearts, but
sure it is they have broken mine." She turns her face to the wall and
her soul returns to God. "O my beloved," cries the lover, "as thou
diest, and diest for me, for thee will I gladly die." He throws
himself upon the bed, and his soul follows hers. As the clock struck
two they carried her to the grave, as the clock struck three they came
for him; the marriage bells rang them to their rest; the chimes of
Schams answering back the chimes of Surselva. From the grave mound of
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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