Count Rudolph, a bankrupt German baron, is seated at a table in one of the rooms of his castle. There is but little furniture, and that is of the shabbiest. His dress, originally of good material, is disordered and shabby. He look...

J. Stuart Blackton

The Water Sprite, a Legend of the Rhine

Count Rudolph, a bankrupt German baron, is seated at a table in one of the rooms of his castle. There is but little furniture, and that is of the shabbiest. His dress, originally of good material, is disordered and shabby. He looks utterly miserable, and, as if to drown his sorrow, from time to time takes heavy draughts of wine from a vessel before him. Hans, an old servant, enters, looking frightened and wearied, speaks to his master and is angrily ordered away. As the servant turns to go, several tradesmen enter and demand payment of their accounts. As the visitors become more excited and refuse to be pacified, Rudolph, in desperation, flourishes his sword and chases them away, then sinks in a chair, burying his face in his arms. We find him at night emerging from the woods, staggering as if drunk or in utter despair, and with a gesture of misery he throws himself on a rock beside the river Rhine. He points to the water as if intimating that he would drown himself. At that moment Lurline, the queen water sprite of the Rhine, clothed in diaphanous robes, rises out of the water before him and beckons him to follow. He stands surprised and motionless. She seizes him by the hand, and together they plunge into the river. They reach the cave of the water sprite, where Rudolph is given food and drink and bags of gold and jewels. After making an agreement to return in a year and a day, he returns to earth again. He proceeds to his castle and finds Hans surrounded by his creditors, who demand the master. He enters attired in magnificent clothes, carrying a bag of gold in his hands. He pays the tradesmen and kicks them out as the servant enters with more bags of diamonds and jewels. With his good fortune Rudolph forgets his benefactor and makes strenuous love to Gertrude, daughter of Baron Bernstein. His suit is successful and preparations are made for the wedding. The day arrives, the procession starts. Suddenly the lightning flashes, the wind moans, increasing in volume each minute. There is an unusually loud crash of thunder and a flash of lightning which illumines the whole scene, and in the weird light in the window stands Lurline. She holds aloft the paper which Rudolph signed and motions him to follow. He tears himself from Gertrude and with the water sprite runs to the river, into which they plunge, the waters closing over them.

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The Water Sprite, a Legend of the Rhine

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