with hunger, and their eyes wild with wakefulness and fear; and all
around them were heaps of gold and precious stones,--more than a hundred
wagons could carry away. And neither of the two princes would leave
the shining hoard for food, nor close his eyes in sleep, lest the
other might seize and hide some part of the treasure. And thus they had
watched and hungered through many long days and sleepless nights, each
hoping that the other would die, and that the whole inheritance might be
his own.

When they saw Siegfried riding near, they called out to him, and said,
"Noble stranger, stop a moment! Come and help us divide this treasure."

"Who are you?" asked Siegfried; "and what treasure is it that lies
there?"

"We are the sons of Niblung, who until lately was king of this Mist
Land. Our names are Schilbung and the young Niblung," faintly answered
the princes.

"And what are you doing here with this gold and these glittering
stones?"

"This is the great Nibelungen Hoard, which our father not long ago
brought from the South-land. It is not clear just how he obtained
it.[EN#18] Some say that he got it unjustly from his brother, whose
vassals had digged it from the earth. Others say that he found it
lying on the Glittering Heath, where Fafnir the Dragon had guarded it
zealously for ages past, until he was slain by a hero who cared nought
for his gold. But, be this as it may, our father is now dead, and we
have brought the hoard out of the cavern where he had hidden it, in
order that we may share it between us equally. But we cannot agree, and
we pray you to help us divide it."

Then Siegfried dismounted from the horse Greyfell, and came near the two
princes.

"I will gladly do as you ask," said he; "but first I must know more
about your father,--who he was, and whether this is really the Hoard of
the Glittering Heath."

Then Niblung answered, as well as his feeble voice would allow, "Our
father was, from the earliest times, the ruler of this land, and the
lord of the fog and the mist. Many strongholds, and many noble halls,
had he in this land; and ten thousand brave warriors were ever ready to
do his bidding. The trolls, and the swarthy elves of the mountains, and
the giants of the cloudy peaks, were his vassals. But he did more than
rule over the Nibelungen Land. Twice every year he crossed the sea and
rambled through the Rhine valleys, or loitered in the moist Lowlands;
and now and then he brought rich troph