Scene 2
(the same)

Hagen's Voice: (from far away) Hoiho!

(Siegfried answers his horn call)

Vassals: (offstage) Hoiho! Hoiho!

Siegfried: (answering) Hoiho! Hoiho! Hoiho!

Hagen: (appears at the top of the cliff with Gunther) Siegfried! We found you at last!

Siegfried: Come on down! It's nice down here!

(The vassals appear on the cliff behind Hagen and Gunther; they all start down the hill)

Hagen: Looks like a great place to sit and eat! (they pile up the animals they've caught) Set all that down, and get out the wine! (Everyone lies down to rest and eat) Siegfried scared away anything else we might've found! What do you have to show for all your work today, Siegfried?

Siegfried: (laughing) You're going to have to give me some of yours, it looks like! I'll go hungry if I can only eat what I've killed today!

Hagen: You don't have anything?

Siegfried: Well, I looked for something in the forest, but the only animals I've seen were there in the river! If I'd been thinking, I'd have caught those three water-birds who told me I'd be killed today! (he lies down)

(Gunther looks at Hagen sadly)

Hagen: That wouldn't be a good thing at all, if the animals ended up killing the hunter!

Siegfried: I'm thirsty!

Hagen: (fills a drinking-horn for Siegfried and gives it to him) So, Siegfried, does that mean you can understand the birds when they talk to you?

Siegfried: It's been a long time since I listened to them. (he drinks from his horn, then offers it to Gunther) Here, Gunther, have a drink with me!

Gunther: (upset and dejected) No, it doesn't look right. It only has your blood in it now.

Siegfried: (laughs) Well, I'll just mix it with yours! (pours his drink into Gunther's, which overflows) That's it - pour it on the ground! Let the Earth drink it, too!

Gunther: (sighs) You're way too happy, Siegfried.

Siegfried: (aside, to Hagen) What's his problem? Is Brünnhilde still acting weird?

Hagen: (to Seigfried) You understand the birds better than he does his wife!

Siegfried: I forgot all about birds, once I started listening to women!

Hagen: But you used to be able to understand them, right?

Siegfried: (suddenly turning to Gunther) Hey, Gunther, you look sad! Let me tell you some stories about when I was a little boy!

Gunther: (half-heartedly) That sounds great.

(Siegfried remains sitting up, while everyone else lies down)

Hagen: Go ahead! Tell us!

Siegfried: Well, there was once this ugly dwarf named Mime. He raised me, and did a pretty good job, but he had ulterior motives. He wanted me to grow up and kill a dragon for him, so that he could get its treasure. He taught me how to forge and smelt steel, but when it came time for him to make a sword for me, he couldn't do it. I could break anything he made. Eventually, I had to take the pieces of my father's sword, and put them together again myself. Nothung's the best sword a warrior could ever hope for, too! It'll cut anything! Mime was impressed, and took me to the forest with it to kill Fafner - which I did. But that's not the half of it - the dragon's blood got on my hand, and when I went to suck it off, some magic spell came over me, and I could understand what the birds were singing to me! One of them said, "The Nibelung's treasure belongs to Siegfried now. He'll find it in the cave. He should use the Tarnhelm for its wonderful magic, but if he finds the Ring as well, he'll be master of the whole world."

Hagen: You took the Ring and the Tarnhelm?

Vassals: Did the bird tell you anything else?

Siegfried: Once I got my treasure, it told me more about what I should do. It said, "Siegfried owns the Gold and the Ring now, but he should be careful of Mime! Mime wants all the treasure Siegfried just won, and he'll kill Siegfried for it if he has to. Siegfried shouldn't trust Mime at all!"

Hagen: Was he right?

Vassals: Did you get Mime back?

Siegfried: He brought me something to drink, but I knew it would kill me. He tried to lie his way through the whole thing, but I took care of him with my sword!

Hagen: (laughing) He couldn't make swords, but he could die from them!

Vassals: Did the bird say anything else?

Hagen: (fills another drinking-horn) Before you tell us, have another drink! This one's got some spice in it, to help you relax and remember everything!

Siegfried: (takes a long drink) I was kind of sad at first, once I'd killed him, but then I heard the bird sing again. It said, "Siegfried's finally killed that terrible dwarf! I know where there's a women who could be his wife. She's in a deep sleep, on a mountaintop, with a dreadful fire surrounding her. Whoever can break through the fire and rescue Brünnhilde will have her for his wife!"

Hagen: So, did you do it?

Siegfried: I went right away! (Gunther listens in amazement) I got to her rock, broke through the fire, and found the most beautiful woman you've ever seen, lying there asleep. She had armor on; I helped her out of it, kissed her, and she woke up. She was just as happy to see me as I was to see her!

Gunther: (jumps up, horrified) What's that?

(Two ravens fly up out of a bush, circle around Siegfried, then fly away over the Rhine)

Hagen: (to Siegfried) Could you tell what those ravens were saying? (Siegfried stands up and looks after them, thoughtfully) It sounded like "revenge" to me!

(Hagen stabs Siegfried in the back with his spear, as Gunther tries unsuccessfully to pull his arm back. Siegfried raises his shield instinctually in defense, but drops it and falls on top of it.)

Vassals: (trying to hold Hagen back) What are you doing, Hagen? What have you done?

Gunther: Hagen, why did you do that?

Hagen: (pointing to Siegfried) I repaid him for all his lies!

(Hagen calmly turns and walks away over the hill. Gunther bends down to Siegfried, while two of the other men help him into a half-sitting position.)

Siegfried: (completely dazed) Brünnhilde, my wife! Wake up! Open your eyes! Why were you so sound asleep? I broke the spell, and woke you up with a kiss. You laughed at me! I'll see your eyes forever. I'll feel your breath on me forever. It's wonderful…lonely…terrifying. Brünnhilde's taking me home!

(Siegfried dies. The vassals stand around him in silence. Eventually, they pick up his body and carry him off over the hill, with Gunther following them.)

ORCHESTRAL INTERLUDE
(Siegfried's Funeral Music)

(The moon breaks through the clouds and lights the whole stage while mists from the river hide the set. When the mists break, the stage is set for the next scene: The Gibichungs' Hall.)