'By this path I reached the end of the wood, and as the meadows and
the lake came into sight the white man vanished, and I found myself
standing near to your little cottage.'

As the knight had now finished the story of his adventure, the
fisherman began to talk to his guest of how he might return in safety
to the city and to the followers who there awaited him.

Huldbrand, listening to the old man, yet caught the soft ripple of
Undine's laughter.

'Why do you laugh, Undine?' asked the knight. 'Are you so pleased to
hear your foster-father talk of my return to the city?'

'I laugh for joy that you cannot leave us,' said the maiden. 'You have
but to look to see that you must stay.'

Huldbrand and the fisherman rose and saw that what the maiden had said
was indeed true. It would not be possible for the knight to leave the
little island until the stream had once more returned to its usual
course.

As they entered the cottage, Huldbrand whispered to the maiden,
'Undine, tell me that you are glad that I cannot yet return to the
crowded city.'

But the maiden's face was no longer glad, nor would she answer the
knight's question. She had remembered Bertalda.