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diff --git a/24493.txt b/24493.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3778901 --- /dev/null +++ b/24493.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3185 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Boy Who Knew What The Birds Said, by Padraic Colum + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Boy Who Knew What The Birds Said + +Author: Padraic Colum + +Illustrator: Dugald Stewart Walker + +Release Date: February 2, 2008 [EBook #24493] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOY WHO KNEW *** + + + + +Produced by David Edwards, Diane Monico, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net. (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive.) + + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration] + +The Boy Who Knew What The Birds Said + + + + +THE MACMILLAN COMPANY + +NEW YORK :: BOSTON :: CHICAGO :: DALLAS +ATLANTA :: SAN FRANCISCO + +MACMILLAN & CO., LIMITED + +LONDON :: BOMBAY :: CALCUTTA +MELBOURNE + +THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, LTD. + +TORONTO + +[Illustration: Round and round the Castle they went and the Giant with +his strength was wearing out Feet-in-the-Ashes.] + + + + +The Boy Who Knew +What The Birds Said + +By Padraic Colum + +_Illustrated by +Dugald Stewart Walker_ + +[Illustration] + +The Macmillan Company, Publishers +New York Mcmxx + + +[Illustration] + +COPYRIGHT, 1918 +BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY +Set up and electrotyped. Published October, 1918. + + +For The Boy In The Brocken + + + + +[Illustration] + +Contents + + + PAGE + +How he came to know what the birds said 13 + +The Stone of Victory. + And how Feet-in-the-Ashes, the Swineherd's Son, came to find it 21 + +The King of the Birds 51 + +Bloom-of-Youth and the Witch of the Elders 67 + +The Hen-wife's Son and the Princess Bright Brow 85 + +The Giant and the Birds 113 + +The Sea-Maiden who became a Sea-Swan 133 + +What the Peacock and the Crow Told Each Other 149 + +The Treasure of King Labraid Lorc 163 + +[Illustration] + + + + +[Illustration] + +List of Full Page Illustrations + + + _Frontispiece_ +Round and Round the Castle they went, and the Giant +with his strength was wearing out Feet-in-the-Ashes + PAGE +"No bird will ever out-soar this flight of mine," +said the Eagle 61 + +But just as the Witch was dragging her to the +stone a robin began to sing 79 + +The Red Champion said, "Good is the Champion that the +King of this Land has sent against me." 97 + +All flew from the mountain except one bird and +he was the greatest amongst them all 117 + +I put it to my lips, I drank it when he took a +step towards me 141 + +O most beauteous of all the birds, do you know of +any arms by which a hero can slay a dragon? 155 + +"Ernan is Lord, is Lord of the Fair Islands" 173 + + + + +[Illustration] + +The Boy Who Knew +What The Birds Said + + +[Illustration] + + + + +[Illustration] + +How He Came to Know What the Birds Said + + +[Illustration] + +There is one thing that all the Birds are afraid of, and that is the +thing that will happen when the Bird That Follows the Cuckoo flies +into the Cuckoo's mouth. + +And what will happen then, asks my kind foster-child. + +When the Bird that Follows the Cuckoo flies into the Cuckoo's mouth +the World will come to an end. + +All the Birds know that, but not all the People know it. + +Well, one day the Cuckoo was sitting on a bush and her Mouth was open. +The Bird That Follows the Cuckoo flew straight at it. And into it he +must have flown only for the Boy.... + +The Boy was in the tree and he flung his cap at the Cuckoo and he +covered the Cuckoo and the Cuckoo's open mouth. + +The Bird That Follows the Cuckoo flew into the Crow's mouth instead, +and the Crow gave that bird a squeeze, I can tell you. The Cuckoo +pushed off the Boy's cap with her wings and flew into the forest. + +All the Birds of the King's Garden were there at the time. There +were-- + + The Crow, the Woodpecker, + The Wren and the Eagle, + The Blackbird and Swallow, + The Jackdaw and Starling, + And the wonderful Peacock; + The Lapwing and Peewit, + The bold Yellowhammer, + The bad Willy-wagtail, + The Raven so awful, + And the Cock with his Hens; + Stone-checker, Hedge-sparrow, + And Lint-white and Lark, + The Tom-tit and Linnet, + And brisk little Sparrow, + The King-fisher too, + And my own little Goldfinch. + +All the Birds in the King's Garden were overjoyed that the Bird that +Follows the Cuckoo did not get into the Cuckoo's Mouth. + +"What shall we do for the Boy who prevented the World from coming to +an End?" asked the good-natured Corncrake. She was there too, but I +forgot to mention her. + +"Nothing," said the Willy-wagtail. "The Boy who would throw a cap +would throw a stone. Do nothing at all for him." + +"I'll sing for him," said the Goldfinch. + +"I'll teach him what the Birds say," said the Crow. + +"If he knew the Language of the Birds he would be like King Solomon," +said the Raven. + +"Let us make him like King Solomon," said the Goldfinch. + +"Yes, yes, yes," said all the Birds in the King's Garden. + +The Boy had not gone far when the Crow flew after him and lighted on +his shoulder. The Crow spoke to him in the Boy's own language. The Boy +was surprised. The Crow flew to a standing stone and went on speaking +plain words to him. + +"O," said the Boy, "I didn't know you could speak." + +"Why shouldn't I know how to speak," said the Crow, "haven't I, for a +hundred years and more, been watching men and listening to their +words? Why shouldn't I be able to speak?" + +"And you can speak well, ma'am," said the Boy, not forgetting his +manners. + +"You know one language, but I know many languages," said the Crow, +"for I know what People say, and I know what all the Birds say." + +The old Crow sat there looking so wise and so friendly that the Boy +began to talk to her at his ease. And after a while the Boy said, +"Ma'am, do you think I could ever learn what the Birds say?" + +"You would, if you had me to teach you," said the Crow. + +"And will you teach me, ma'am?" said the Boy. + +"I will," said the Crow. + +Then every day after that the Crow would sit upon the Standing Stone +and the Boy would stand beside it. When the Crow had eaten the boiled +potato that the Boy always brought she would tell him about the +languages of the different Birds. The two were teaching and learning +from day to day, and indeed you might say that the Boy went to school +to the Crow. He learnt the language of this Bird and that Bird, and +as he learnt their languages, many's and many's the good story he +heard them tell each other. + +[Illustration] + + +[Illustration: The Stone of Victory] + + + + +The Stone of Victory + +AND HOW FEET-IN-THE-ASHES, THE SWINEHERD'S SON, CAME TO FIND IT + + +[Illustration] + +"If we went there, if we went there, maybe we'd find it," said the +Cock-grouse to the Hen-grouse as they went together, clucking through +the heather. + +"And if we found it, if we found it, what good would the Stone of +Victory do us?" said the Hen-grouse to the Cock-grouse, answering him +back. + +"And what good did the Stone of Victory do to the youth who was called +Feet-in-the-Ashes, and who was only the Swineherd's Son?" said the +Cock-grouse to the Hen-grouse. + +"Tell me, tell me, and then I shall know," said the Hen-grouse to the +Cock-grouse, answering him back. They went together, clucking through +the heather and the Boy who knew what the Birds said followed them. + +He lay upon a rock and the Cock-grouse and the Hen-grouse discoursed +below him, the Cock-grouse always lifting his voice above the hen's. +The Boy heard what they said and he remembered every word of it. And, +by the tongue in my mouth, here is the story he heard:-- + + "Cluck-ee, Cluck-ee, cluck-ee, cloo, cloo, cloo." The King of + Ireland stood outside the gate of his Castle and his powerful + captains and his strong-armed guards were all around him. And + one of his captains went to the mound before him and he gave + a shout to the East and a shout to the West, and a shout to + the North and a shout to the South. When the King asked him + why he did it the Captain said "I want the four quarters of + the World to know that the King of Ireland stands here with + his powerful Captains and his strong armed guards that no one + dare come from the East or West, the North or the South and + lay the weight of a finger upon him." And when he said this + the other captains flashed their swords and the guards + clashed their shields and the King of Ireland said, "Well and + faithfully am I guarded indeed and luckier am I than any + other King on the earth for no one can come from the East or + the West, the North or the South and lay the weight of their + finger upon me." + + But no sooner did he say that than they saw a Giant coming + across the hill and towards the place where they were + standing. And when the Giant came to them he lifted up his + hand and he doubled his hand into a fist and he struck the + King of Ireland full in the mouth and he knocked out three of + his teeth. He picked the King's teeth up, put them in his + pouch, and without one word walked past them and went down to + the sea. + + "Who will avenge the insult put upon me?" said the King of + Ireland, "and which of my captains will go and win back for + me the three best teeth I had?" But not one of his captains + made a step after the Giant. + + "I know now," said the King, "How well you serve and how well + you guard me. Well, if none of you will help me and if none + of you will avenge me, I'll find those who will. And now I'll + make a proclamation and I'll solemnly declare that whoever + avenges the insult offered to me, and, in addition brings + back to me the three that were the best teeth in my head, + even though he be a servant or the son of a servant, I'll + give him my daughter in marriage and a quarter of my kingdom, + and, more than that," said he, "I'll make him full captain + over all my guards." + + The proclamation was sent all over the Castle and in the end + it came to the ears of the Swineherd's Son who was called + Feet-in-the-Ashes. And when he heard it he rubbed the ashes + out of his hair and he said to his grandmother--"If there is + anything in the world I want it is the King's daughter in + marriage and a quarter of the Kingdom. I'll want provision + for my journey," said he, "so, grandmother, bake a cake for + me." "I'll do better than that for you, honey, if you are + going to win back the King's teeth and marry the King's + daughter," said his grandmother. "I have a few things of my + own that no one knows anything about, and I'll give them to + you with your cake. Here," said she, "is my crutch. Follow + the Giant's tracks until you come to the sea, throw the + crutch into the sea and it will become a boat, step into the + boat and in it you can sail over to the Green Island that the + Giant rules. And here's this pot of balsam. No matter how + deep or deadly the sword-cut or the spear-thrust wound is, if + you rub this balsam over it, it will be cured. Here's your + cake too. Leave good-luck behind you and take good-luck with + you, and be off now on your journey." + +"And why was the youth called Feet-in-the-Ashes?" said the Hen-grouse +to the Cock-grouse. + + He was called Feet-in-the-Ashes because he had sat in the + chimney-corner from the time he could stand upon two legs. + And everybody who called him Feet-in-the-Ashes thought he was + too lazy to do anything else. Well, he left good-luck behind + him and he took good-luck with him and he started off on his + journey with the cake, the crutch and the cure. He followed + the Giant's tracks until they came down to the sea. Into the + sea he flung his grandmother's crutch. It became a boat with + masts and sails. He jumped into the boat, and the things that + had to be done in a boat were done by him-- + + He hoisted the sails--the red sail, the black sail and the + speckled sail, + He gave her prow to the sea and her stern to the land, + The blue sea was flashing, + The green sea was lashing, + But on they went with a breeze that he himself would have chosen, + And the little creatures of the sea sat up on their tails to + watch his going. + + and so he went until he came near the Green Island where + Shamble-shanks the Giant who had carried off the three teeth + of the King of Ireland had his Castle and his stronghold. + + He fastened his boat where a boat should be fastened and he + went through the Island until he came to a high grey Castle. + No one was about it and he went through it, gate, court and + hall. He found a chamber where a fire burned on the + hearth-stone. He went to the fire gladly. He looked around + the chamber and he saw three beds. "There's room to rest + myself here, at all events," said Feet-in-the-Ashes. + + Night came on and he left the fire and got into a bed. He + pulled one of the soft skins over him. Just as he was going + to turn on his side to sleep three youths came into the + chamber. Feet-in-the-Ashes sat up on the bed to look at them. + + When they saw him they began to moan and groan and when he + looked them over he saw they were all covered with + wounds--with spear-thrusts and with sword-cuts. The sight of + him in the bed, more than their wounds, made them moan and + groan, and when he asked them why this was so the first of + the three youths said:-- + + "We came here, the three of us, to fight the Giant + Shamble-shanks and to take from this Island the Stone of + Victory. We came to this Castle yesterday and we made three + beds in this chamber so that after the combat we might rest + ourselves and be healed so that we might be able to fight the + Giant again to-morrow or the day after, for we know that we + cannot win victory over him until many combats. Now we come + back from our first fight and we find you in one of the beds + we had made. We are not able to put you out of it. One of us + must stay out of bed and the one that stays out will die + to-night. Then we shall be only two against the Giant and he + will kill us when we come to combat again." And when the + first one had said all this the three youths began to moan + and groan again. + + Feet-in-the-Ashes got out of bed. "You can have your rest, + the three of you," said he. "And as for me I can sit by the + fire with my feet in the ashes as often as I did before." The + three youths got into the three beds and when they were in + them Feet-in-the-Ashes took the pot of balsam that his + grandmother had given him and rubbed some of it on each one + of them. In a while their pain and their weariness left them + and their wounds closed up. Then the three youths sat up in + their beds and they told Feet-in-the-Ashes their story. + +[Illustration] + +"Cluck-ee, cluck-ee, cluck-ee, cluck, cluck," said the Hen-grouse, +"and what was the story they told?" + +"Cluck, cluck," said the Cock-grouse, "wait until you hear, cluck, +cluck." + + Said the first of these youths, "On this island there is a + moor, and on that moor there is a stone, and that stone is + not known from other stones, but it is the Stone of Victory. + The Giant Shamble-shanks has not been able to find it + himself, but he fights with all who come here to find it. + To-day we went to the moor. As soon as we got there the Giant + came out of the Grey Castle and fought with us. We fought and + we fought, but he wounded us so sorely that we were like to + die of our wounds. We came back to rest here. Thanks to your + balsam we are cured of our wounds. We'll go to fight the + Giant to-morrow, and with the surprise he'll get at seeing us + before him so soon we may be able to overcome him." + + "And along with the surprise, there's another thing that will + help you," said Feet-in-the-Ashes, "and that is myself. I + have to fight the same Giant Shamble-shanks and I may as well + fight him in company as alone." + + "Your help will be welcome if you have not come here to win + the Stone of Victory." + + "Not for the Stone of Victory I have come, but to win back + the three teeth that were knocked out of the King of + Ireland's head and to avenge the insult that was offered to + him." + + "Then we'll be glad of your help, good comrade." The three + youths got out of their beds and they sat with + Feet-in-the-Ashes round the fire and the four spent a third + of the night in pleasant story-telling, and slumber nor + weariness did come near them at all. + +"Cluck, cluck, cluck," said the Hen-grouse. + +"Say no more," said the Cock-grouse, "for now I'm coming to what's +wonderful in my story--" + + The four youths were seated round the fire when a little man + came into the Chamber. He carried a harp in his hands. He + bowed low to each of the four of them. "I am MacDraoi, the + Giant's Harper," he said, "and I have come to play music for + you." "Not one tune do we want to hear from you," said + Feet-in-the-Ashes. "Whether you want it or not, one you will + hear," said the Harper, "and that tune is the Slumber Tune. I + shall play it for you now. And if the whole world was before + me when I play it, and if every one in it had the pains of + deep wounds, the playing on my harp would make each and every + one of them fall into a slumber." "That tune we must not + hear," said the first of the three youths, "for if we fall + into a slumber the Giant will see to it that we shall never + awaken." + + MacDraoi, the Giant's Harper put his harp to his chest and he + began to play. Slumber came on the eyelids of the four who + were at the fire. Three sprang up, but one stayed on his + bench dead-sound-fast asleep. One yawned and fell down on the + floor. One of the two that remained went towards the Harper, + but on his way he fell across a bed and he remained on it. + Then, out of the four, only one, Feet-in-the-Ashes, was left + awake. + + The Harper played on. Feet-in-the-Ashes put his fingers in + his mouth and commenced to gnaw them. He gnawed the first two + fingers down to their joints. But still his mouth kept open + in a yawn and still the slumber kept heavy on his eyelids. He + gnawed his third and his little finger. Then he put his right + hand in his mouth and he bit at his thumb and he bit so + sharply that his senses nearly all came back to him. With a + kick he knocked the harp out of the Harper's hands. He caught + MacDraoi then and turned him head below heels and left him + hanging by his feet from a beam across the chamber. Then he + went straight through the hall and out of the Castle. + + A wet breeze was blowing and whatever sleep was on his eye it + blew away. He walked on with the dark clouds of the night + going behind him and the bright light of the day growing + before him. "I'll turn back," said he, "when I hear a cock + crowing, and whatever I find beside me then I'll take with me + to remind myself of where I have been." + + He found himself on a moor and he walked on until he was far + on it. A cock crew. "Time to turn back," said + Feet-in-the-Ashes. He looked round to see what he might bring + with him and he saw on the ground a round stone. + +"A round stone?" said the Hen-grouse. + +"Yes," said the Cock-grouse, "a round black stone. He took it up, that +round black stone, and he went back to the Castle, hungry for his +breakfast." + + In the Castle Chamber the three youths were still slumbering, + one on the bench, one on the floor and one in a bed and + MacDraoi the Harper was still hanging by his feet from the + beam across the Chamber. "Lift me down from this, good lad," + said the Giant's Harper. + + "I will," said Feet-in-the-Ashes, "when my three companions + awaken." + + "They won't awaken," said MacDraoi the Harper. + + "Then you can hang there," said Feet-in-the-Ashes. + + "They won't awaken," said MacDraoi, "until I cause them to + awaken, and I shall cause them to awaken if you lift me down + from this." + + "Will you promise by your head," said Feet-in-the-Ashes. + + "By my head I promise," said the Giant's Harper. + + Then Feet-in-the-Ashes lifted the Harper down from the + rafters and set him upon his legs. MacDraoi took up the harp + and he pulled the strings back-ways. The notes he drew out + were so piercing that first one and then another and then a + third of the three youths wakened up. Then, when they were on + their feet MacDraoi, the Giant's Harper, slipped out of the + house and went away. What happened to the Harper after that + no one knows. + +"Cluck, cluck," said the Hen-grouse, "and what did they do after +that?" + +"The next thing they had to do," said the Cock-grouse, drawing himself +up, "was to fight. Yes, my lady, to fight." The Hen-grouse drooped her +head and said no more, and the Cock-grouse went on valiantly-- + + Swords they drew out--the three youths who were with + Feet-in-the-Ashes. They sharpened these swords. They marched + off towards the moor with the swords in their hands. + Feet-in-the-Ashes had no sword. All he had in his hand was a + holly-stick. + + When they came in sight of the Grey Castle they saw the Giant + come rushing out of the gate. He was clad all in iron and he + had a sword in one hand and a spear in the other. The four + youths spread themselves out so that they might be able to + close round the Giant. But for all his bigness the Giant was + quick enough. He struck one of them with his spear and + brought him down on his knees. He struck the other with his + sword and brought him down on his side. He struck the other + with his iron-covered hand and brought him down on his back. + And all that was left now was Feet-in-the-Ashes with his + holly-stick. + + What could a youth with a holly-stick in his hand do against + a Giant that had a spear and a sword in his hands and was + besides that all covered with iron? Feet-in-the-Ashes turned + and ran. He ran towards the Castle and went round it. And + when he was at the east side the Giant was at the North and + when he was at the south the Giant was at the East. Round and + round the Castle they went and the Giant with his strength + and his quickness was wearing out Feet-in-the-Ashes. + + Feet-in-the-Ashes wanted something to fling at him. He took + the stone out of his pocket--the round black stone. He held + it in his hand. He made three circles in the air with it. He + flung the stone. It struck the Giant on the breast and the + iron rang as the stone struck it. Down fell the Giant. + Feet-in-the-Ashes ran off to where his companions lay. Many + times he looked back but he did not see the Giant following + him. The three youths were lying in their wounds and in + their pain. Feet-in-the Ashes took out his pot of balsam and + rubbed them all over. Their wounds healed. First one stood up + and then the second stood up and then the third stood up and + the three were whole and well. "Where is the Giant?" each of + them asked. + + "Lying where he fell," said Feet-in-the-Ashes. + + "And who threw him down?" said the first of the youths. + + "I threw him down with a cast of a stone," said + Feet-in-the-Ashes. + + "Let us go and see," said the second of the youths. They went + towards the west side of the Grey Castle like men following a + bear who might turn on them. The Giant was lying still. "He + is dead," said one, "He is dead indeed," said another. "He is + dead forever," said a third. "He is dead by the cast of my + stone," said Feet-in-the-Ashes. + + They went up to where the Giant was and looked all over him. + "There is the stone that overthrew him," said one of the + youths, "that round black stone. Where did you get it?" + + "On the moor," said Feet-in-the-Ashes. + + "On the moor," said the others looking at him. + + "Yes," said Feet-in-the-Ashes, "Picked it up this morning on + the moor just as the cock crew." + + One of the three youths took the round black stone in his + hand. "I'll bring the stone with me," said he. "We'll go into + the Castle now and see what our finding there will be." + + They went into the Castle. The three youths told + Feet-in-the-Ashes they would help him to find what he had + come to seek--the three teeth out of the head of the King of + Ireland. They searched and they searched all over the Castle. + At last one of them opened an iron press and there on a shelf + was a silver cup and in the cup were three teeth. + Feet-in-the-Ashes knew they were what he had come for. He + left the cup beside him. + + They took provisions from the Giant's store, put them on the + table and began to eat. But first one and then another and + then the third of the three youths made an excuse and left + the table. Feet-in-the-Ashes went on with his breakfast. Then + he left the Castle to look for the three youths that had + been his companions. He did not find them. He went down to + the sea-shore. He saw his boat and the sails were raised on + it. In the boat were the three youths and they were making + ready to put out to sea. Feet-in-the-Ashes shouted to them. + Then one of the youths came to the side of the deck and spoke + back to him. + + "You found the Stone of Victory without knowing it," said he, + "and you let us take it in our hands. Now we cannot give it + back to you for our lives depend on our keeping it and + bringing it away. And," said he, "we fear to stay on the land + with you because you have such luck that you could take the + Stone from us. The boat we came in is gone. We take your boat + and we think that you have such luck that you will find + another way of getting off the island. Remember that what you + came for was not the Stone of Victory but the King's teeth, + and we helped to find them for you." + + They had hoisted the sails and now a wind came and the boat + that was from his grandmother's crutch was blown out of the + harbour and Feet-in-the-Ashes was left without any companion + on the Island. + +"Cluck, cluck, cluck," said the Hen-grouse, "he found the Stone of +Victory, but what good were his findings to him when he didn't know +what he had found and he let it be taken from him?" + +[Illustration] + +"But if he hadn't to find it he couldn't have slain the Giant and +taken the cup out of the iron cupboard--that much good the Stone of +Victory did him," said the Cock-grouse. + +"I'm sorry to think that that's all he got from the Stone of Victory," +said the Hen-grouse. + +"Well, that's all he got from it, and be quiet now till I tell you the +rest of the story," said the Cock-grouse. + + He went into the courtyard of the Grey Castle and he found + there a great eagle that was chained to a great rock. The + eagle came towards him as far as the chain would let him. + "Feed me," said the eagle. + + "Will you carry me to Ireland's ground if I feed you?" said + Feet-in-the-Ashes. + + "If you feed me every time I open my mouth, I will," said the + eagle. + + "That I'll try to do, good eagle," said Feet-in-the-Ashes. + + He went through courtyard and pen-fold but not a sheep nor a + pig nor a bullock could he find. It seemed as if he would not + be able to find meat for the eagle after all. He went down to + the sea-shore and he came upon a pool filled with thin bony + fish called skates. He took a basket of these and put it on + his back. He came back to the courtyard and he unlocked the + chain that held the eagle. + + "Feed me," said the eagle, and he opened his mouth. + + "Close your eyes and I'll fill you mouth," said + Feet-in-the-Ashes. + + The eagle closed his eyes. Feet-in-the-Ashes flung a score + of skates into his mouth. "Hard meat, hard meat," said the + eagle, but he gulped them down. Feet-in-the-Ashes, holding + the cup in his hands and carrying the basket of skates on his + back, put himself between the wings of the eagle. The eagle + flew up and over the Grey Castle and faced for the plain of + the sea. + + They travelled from the morning light until the full + noontide. The eagle opened his mouth again. Feet-in-the-Ashes + put nothing into it. The eagle finding nothing in his mouth + dropped down to the sea. + + "Close you eyes," said Feet-in-the-Ashes, "and I'll fill your + mouth." The eagle closed his eyes and Feet-in-the-Ashes put + another score of skates into his mouth. The eagle gulped them + all down. "Whenever I open my mouth you will have to feed + me," he said. Feet-in-the-Ashes did not like to hear this, + for a score more of skates were all that was left. + + The eagle rose up again and on and on he flew until the night + was coming over the water. He opened his mouth again. + Feet-in-the-Ashes put in five more skates. The eagle kept his + mouth open and said "Feed me." + + There was nothing to be done then but to put in the rest of + the skates. Feet-in-the-Ashes flung them all in, and the + eagle rose up and flew and they travelled while there was + darkness on the water, and when the sun rose again + Feet-in-the-Ashes saw they were flying over the land of + Ireland. The eagle opened his mouth. Feet-in-the-Ashes had + nothing to put into it. "Fly on, good eagle," said he, "and + leave me down at the King's Castle." "Feed me," said the + eagle. "I will give you what you never had before--a whole + bullock--when we come to the King's Castle." "Cows far off + have long horns," said the eagle mocking him. With that he + flung Feet-in-the-Ashes off his back. + + Sore would his fall have been if it had been on any other + place but a soft bog. On the softest of soft bogs he fell. He + made a hole in the ground, but no bone in his body was broken + and he still held the cup in his hands. He rose up covered + with the mud of the bog, and he started off for the King's + Castle. + +"Cluck, cluck," said the Hen-grouse, "and did he not go to see his +grandmother at all?" + +[Illustration] + +"If he did it's not in the story," said the Cock-grouse. "That very +day, as I would have you know, the King was standing outside the gate +of his Castle with his powerful captains and his strong-armed guards +around him. 'A year it is to-day,' said the King, 'since the Giant +came and struck me in the mouth, knocking out and taking away three of +my teeth, and since that day I have had neither health nor prosperity. +And you know,' said he, 'that my daughter and a quarter of my Kingdom +is to go to the one who will avenge the insult and bring back my +three teeth.' 'Such and such a thing prevented me from going,' said +one of his Captains, 'but now that so and so is done, I can go and +avenge the insult offered to you.' 'So and so kept me from going,' +said another of the Captains, 'but now that such and such a thing is +done I can go to-morrow and bring you back your three teeth.' 'I am +tired of hearing you all talk,' said the King, 'and it's my belief +that my teeth will be lost and my daughter unwedded till the day of +doom.'" + + It was then that Feet-in-the-Ashes appeared before them, + "Good health to you, King," said he. + + "Good health to you, good man," said the King, "and what, may + I ask, have you come here for?" + + He was covered with the feathers of the eagle and the mud of + the bog, and, as you may be sure, the King and the captains + and the guards looked sourly at him. + + "I have come first of all, King," said he, "to give you + advice." + + "And what is your advice?" asked the King. + + "My advice to you is that you send away all these you have + around you--your captains and your guards--and that you turn + them into dog-boys or horse-boys or anything else in which + they would give useful service, for as they are here, they + can neither serve nor guard you." + + "All that may be true," said the King, "but what right have + you to say it?" + + Feet-in-the-Ashes said nothing but he held the cup up to the + King and the King saw three teeth in it and he took them out + and placed them in his mouth and the teeth went into their + places and there firmly they stayed. + + Then Feet-in-the-Ashes told how he had gone to the Green + Island and how he had avenged the insult offered to the king + and how he had got what he had gone to search for. Then he + demanded the King's daughter in marriage and a quarter of the + Kingdom, and both were made over to him on the spot. As for + the powerful captains and the strong-armed guards, some of + them were made horse-boys and some were made dog-boys and + Feet-in-the-Ashes was made Captain over the new guards. When + he came to rule a quarter of the Kingdom he was given a horse + and made a duke and he was called by a better name than + Feet-in-the-Ashes. But what that name was I don't remember + now. + +"Cluck, cluck, cluck," said the Hen-grouse, "and did he go to visit +the grandmother at all?" + +"If he did," said the Cock-grouse, "that's another story, and if it +was ever told I don't remember it. Pray go to the right, my lady, for +I'm hungry for the sweet buds of the heather." + +[Illustration] + + +[Illustration: The King of the Birds] + + + + +The King of the Birds + + +[Illustration] + +The thirteen little wrens sat on the Apple-yard wall in the King's +Garden and their mother was there to teach them to fly. One called +them the little wrens, but really each one was as big as their mother. +She had a tail, however, that was most cunningly cocked and they had +no tails, and the consequence was that when they made their little +flights they always went sideways. Moreover, their beaks were still +yellow and wide and open and this is always a sign of the young bird. + +"All I ask of you," said the mother, "is that when you go into the +World you remember that you are the Children of the King of the +Birds." + +"Now why does our Mother call us the Children of the King of the +Birds?" said one little wren to the other. "I think we're really very +small. And I think our Mother is very small. And there's our Father +behind that ivy-leaf and he's very small too." + +[Illustration] + +"And wherever you go, be sure to conduct yourselves like the Children +of the King of the Birds," said the Mother. + +"It's because we were reared in such a fine nest," said another +little wren. "No other birds in the world had ever a finer nest than +we have had. That's the reason we're called the Children of the King +of the Birds." + +"Men call the Wren the King of the Birds," said the Father Wren, as he +flew up on a tree, "and surely men ought to know who is the King of +the Birds." + +"Why do men call the Wren the King of the Birds?" said the little +wrens. + +"I will tell you," said the Mother. "As we fly from the wall to the +tree, and from the tree back to the wall, I will tell you why men +honor the wren as the King of the Birds." + +She spent a whole day telling the little wrens the story and the Boy +Who Knew What the Birds Said was there, and he heard the whole of +it.-- + + * * * * * + +The King of the Hither-side of the Mountain conquered the two villages +of Half-a-Loaf and Windy-Gap, and the very day he conquered he ordered +the two Headmen to come before him. + +"You two Headmen are to see that your villages, Half-a-Loaf and +Windy-Gap, send me my rightful tribute," said the King to them. + +"There isn't much we can send...." said the Headman of Half-a-Loaf. + +"A string of salmon," said the Headman of Windy-Gap. + +"A basket of plover's eggs," said the Headman of Half-a-Loaf. + +"No," said the King, "the tribute that each of your villages must send +me is the King of the Birds." + +The two Headmen went back to their villages, and that very day each +told at the council what tribute the King had ordered them to send. +"The King of the Birds," said the people of Half-a-Loaf, "that's the +Eagle surely." "The King of the Birds," said the people of Windy-Gap. +"What Bird might that be? We'll have to give thought to this." + +The people of Windy-Gap thought about it and thought about it, but the +people of Half-a-Loaf declared there was no doubt at all about it--the +Eagle was the King of the Birds. And while the people of Windy-Gap +were thinking and pondering the people of Half-a-Loaf were sending +their young men off to catch an eagle. + +But an eagle is a hard fowl to catch, and the people of Half-a-Loaf +found they had to send all of their young men out and to send them out +every day. And the young men climbed high hills and stony ditches, and +they searched the east and they hunted the west; they went out at +sunrise and they came back at sunset, but never an eagle did they +bring with them. + +"It may be that the Eagle is the King of the Birds," said the people +of Windy-Gap, "but we had better consider it." + +They thought about it from sunrise to sunset; they thought about it +while they plowed their fields and sowed them, while they spun their +cloth and made their coats, while they mended their nets and mended +their shoes, while they thatched their roofs and planted their +apple-trees. + +And in Half-a-Loaf there was few left to plow the fields and sow them, +to spin cloth and to make coats, to mend nets and to mend shoes, to +thatch roofs and to plant apple-trees--there was few left to do these +things for all the young men were out on the mountain hunting for an +eagle. + +"The people of Windy-Gap will be ruined," said the people of +Half-a-Loaf, "they have done nothing yet to catch the Eagle. When the +King gets no tribute from them he'll come down and sell them and their +village. Call the young men back that have gone into the fields to +work and send them up the mountain again." + +At last the people of Half-a-Loaf caught their Eagle--a great golden +Eagle he was. They built for him a shed and they fed him on what lambs +they had that year. + +"We're safe anyway," said the people of Half-a-Loaf, "but the +unfortunate folk in Windy-Gap have lost their chance. They'll not have +time to catch an eagle now." + +The time was coming near when the two villages would have to send +their tribute to the King. + +"We have our Eagle," said the people of Half-a-Loaf, "But O, Bad +Fortune! we have hardly a crop growing. This will be a hard year for +us--we haven't lambs to grow into sheep even." + +"We have our crops," said the people of Windy-Gap, "but, Bad Cess to +it! What are we to do about paying our tribute to the King?" + +And still they couldn't decide whether it was the Eagle or the Cuckoo +or the Woodpecker that was King of the Birds. They were still +considering it when the King's Messenger came to bid them come with +their tribute to the King's Castle. + +What were the people of Windy-Gap to do? They searched round and about +but no bird at all could they find. And then as he was being marched +off the Headman put his hand under the thatch of his house and took +out a Wren that was sheltering there. He put the Wren under his hat +and went off with the King's Messenger. + +And there, before him on the way to the King's Castle was the Headman +of Half-a-Loaf. The riders of the village were with him and they bore +their golden Eagle most triumphantly. + +"Give to my Falconer the King of the Birds," said the King. + +The Headman of Half-a-Loaf presented the Eagle. + +"It is well," said the King, "and where have you," said he to the +Headman of Windy-Gap, "bestowed the King of the Birds?" + +The Headman put his hand under his hat and handed over the Wren to the +King's Falconer. + +"Tush," said the King, "Why do you call this the King of the Birds?" + +The Headman of Windy-Gap was going to say "Because his family is +great," but he said instead "Because he flies the highest, my lord." + +"If it be truth it's unknown to me," said the King, "but it shall be +tried out." + +Then said he to the Royal Falconer, "Let the Eagle and the Wren soar +together. And when the Eagle outsoars the Wren it shall be proved that +the Headman of Windy-Gap is a catiff, and his village and everyone in +it will be sold to the Saracens. But if it so happens that the Wren +outsoars the Eagle, the tribute sent from the village of Windy-Gap +must be accepted." + +The Eagle and the Wren rose from the same perch and soared up +together. Up and up the Eagle went. "So far my father went, but I +shall go farther," said the Eagle. Higher and higher he rose. "So far +my grandfather went but I shall go farther." Farther and farther he +soared. "So far went my great-grandfather, and no eagle again will fly +so high." His wings were stiff and tired. "No bird will ever out-soar +this flight of mine," said the Eagle. + +He went to close his wings so that he might rest them as he went down. +But as he did the Wren came from under his wings. + +Up went the Wren, down went the Eagle. Up and up went the Wren. He had +been resting while the Eagle had been flying, and now he was able to +soar past the point the Eagle had reached at his dead-best. + +The Eagle flew down and lighted on the Falconer's perch. "Has he flown +high, Falconer?" asked the King. "No bird has flown so high," said the +Falconer. "By the rime on his wings he has gone into the line of +frost." + +"The Eagle is King of the Birds and no one can deny it," said the +King. "The village of Windy-Gap has not sent me my tribute." + +"Mercy," said the Headman of Windy-Gap. + +"The village and all in it shall be sold to the Saracens," said the +King. + +Just then the Wren came down and lighted on the perch beside the +Eagle. "Where did the Wren fly to?" said the King. "By my glove," said +the Falconer "he soared past the line of frost, and went into the line +of snow, for what's on his feathers is a drop of snow." + +"The Wren is King of the Birds," said the Headman of Windy-Gap. + +"Yes, King of the Birds," said the King, "and, therefore, my lawful +tribute." + +[Illustration: "No bird will ever out-soar this flight of mine," said +the Eagle.] + +And so, for ever after the villages sent to the King, not an Eagle, +but a Wren as tribute. And in no village ever after were the lands +unplowed and the fields unsown, the cloth unspun and the coats not +made, the roofs unthatched and the apple-trees unplanted. And in every +village in the hollow and on the height the people shouted for the +Wren--"The Wren, the Wren, the King of all Birds." + +[Illustration] + + +[Illustration: Bloom-of-Youth and the Witch of the Elders] + + + + +Bloom-of-Youth and the Witch of the Elders + + +[Illustration] + +Bloom-of-youth was a young, young girl. But, young as she was, she +would have to be married, her step-mother said. Then married she was +while she was still little enough to walk through the doorway of her +step-mother's hut without stooping her head. + +Her husband was a hunter and he took her to live in a hut at the edge +of a wood. He was out hunting the whole of the day. Now what did +Bloom-of-Youth do while she had the house to herself? Little enough +indeed. She swept the floor and she washed the dishes and she laid +them back on their shelf. Then she went to the well for pails of +water. When she went out she stayed long, for first she would look +into the well at her own image and then she would make a wreath of +flowers and put it on her head and look at herself again. After that, +maybe, she would delay to pick berries and eat them. Then she would go +without hurrying along the path, singing to herself.-- + + 'Said when he saw + Me all in blue, + "Who is the maid + The sky must woo?" + + 'Said when he saw + Me all in green, + "Who is the maid + The grass calls queen?"' + +When she would have got back to the hut the fire on the hearth would +have gone out and she would have to light it again and then sweep the +floor clear of the ashes that had blown upon it. After that she would +have little time to do anything else except prepare a meal against +the time when her husband would be back from his hunting. + +One morning her husband left his coat down on the bench. "My coat is +torn; sew it for me," he said. Bloom-of-Youth said she would do that. +But she did no more to the coat than take it up and leave it down +again on the bench. + +The next day her husband said "My vest is torn too; have it and the +coat sewn for me." He left the vest beside the coat and went out to +his hunting. + +Bloom-of-Youth did nothing to the coat and nothing to the vest, and +every day for a week her husband went out without coat or vest upon +him. + +One day he put on his torn coat and his torn vest and went out to his +hunting. When he came home that evening he had a bundle of wool with +him. + +"Your step-mother," said he, "sends you this bundle of wool and she +bids you spin it that there may be cloth for new clothes for me." "I +will spin it," said Bloom-of-Youth. + +But the next day when her husband went away she did what she had +always done before. She went to the well and she looked for long at +her image; she put a wreath of flowers on her head and she looked at +her image again; she picked berries and ate them; she went along the +path without hurrying, singing to herself.-- + + 'Said when he saw + Me all in blue + "Who is the maid + The sky must woo?" + + 'Said when he saw + Me all in green + "Who is the maid + The grass calls queen?"' + +She had to light the fire again when she came in and sweep away the +ashes that had gathered on the floor and after she had done all that +it was time to prepare the meal for the evening. But before her +husband came home she took the spinning wheel out of the corner and +put it near the light of the doorway. + +"I see," said her husband, "that you are going to spin the wool for my +clothes." + +"I am when to-morrow comes," said Bloom-of-Youth. + +But the next day she did as she done every day and no wool was spun. +The day after she put wool on the wheel and gave it a few turns. In a +week from that evening she had one ball of thread spun. + +"Your step-mother bids me ask you how much of the wool have you spun?" +said her husband to her one evening. Bloom-of-Youth was so much afraid +that her husband would send her to her step-mother through the dark, +dark wood, that she said "I have spun many balls." + +"Your step-mother bade me count the balls you have spun," said her +husband. + +"I will go up to the loft and throw them down to you and then you will +throw them back to me and we will count them that way," said +Bloom-of-Youth. + +She went up to the loft and she flung down the ball she had spun. + +"One," said her husband, and he threw it back to her. + +She flung him the ball again. + +"Two," said her husband, and he flung it back to her. Then he said +"three," and then "four," and then "five," and so on until he had +counted twelve. "You have done well," said he, "and now before the +week is out take the twelve balls to your step-mother's house and she +will weave the thread into cloth for clothes for me." + +[Illustration] + +Bloom-of-Youth was greatly frightened. To her step-mother's house she +would have to go with a dozen balls of thread in a few days. The next +day she hurried back from the well and she sat at her wheel before the +door spinning and spinning. But, do her best, she could not get a good +thread spun in the long length of the day. + +And while she was spinning and spinning and getting her thread knotted +and broken a black and crooked woman came and stood before the door. +"You're spinning hard I see," said she to Bloom-of-Youth. + +Bloom-of-Youth gave her no answer but put her head against the wheel +and cried and cried. + +"And what would you say," said the black and crooked woman, "if I took +the bundle of wool from you now and brought it back to you to-morrow +spun into a dozen balls of thread?" + +"It is not what I would say; it is what I should give you," said +Bloom-of-Youth. + +"Give me!" said the black and crooked woman. "What could you give me?" +But as she said it she gave Bloom-of-Youth a baleful look from under +her leafy eyebrows. "No, no, you need give me nothing for spinning the +wool for you. All that I'll ask from you is that you tell me my name +within a week from this day." + +"It will be easy to find out her name within a week," said +Bloom-of-Youth to herself. She took the bundle of wool out of the +basket and gave it to her. The black and crooked woman put the wool +under her arm and then she lifted up her stick and shook it at +Bloom-of-Youth. + +"And if you don't find out my name within a week you will have to give +me your heart's blood--a drop of heart's blood for every ball of wool +I spin for you." The hag went away then. Bloom-of-Youth was greatly +frightened, but after a while she said to herself "I need not be +afraid, for in a week I'll surely find out the name of the black and +crooked woman who can't live far from this." + +The next day the hag came to the door and left twelve balls of wool on +the bench outside the house. "In a week, in a week," said she, "you'll +have my name or I'll have twelve drops of your heart's blood to make +the leaves of my Elder Tree fresh and fine." + +Bloom-of-Youth went with the twelve balls of wool to her step-mother's +house, and every person she met on the way she asked if he or she knew +the name of the black and crooked woman. But no one could tell her the +hag's real name. All they could tell was that she was the Witch of the +Elders and that she lived beside the Big Stones that were at the other +side of the wood. + +Bloom-of-Youth was afraid: her face lost its color and her eyes grew +wide and her heart would beat from one side of her body to the other. +And every day the Witch of the Elders would come to the door and say +"Have you my name yet, Bloom-of-Youth, have you my name yet? Two days +gone, five to come on; three days gone, four to come on; four days +gone, three to come on; five days gone, two to come on." Six days went +by and on the seventh she would have to go to the Big Stones at the +other side of the wood and let the Witch of the Elders take twelve +drops of her heart's blood. + +The night before the week's end her husband, when he sat down by the +fire said "I saw something and I heard something very strange when I +was at the other side of the wood this evening." "What was it you +saw?" said Bloom-of-Youth. "Lights were all round the Big Stones and +there was a noise of spinning inside the ring they make. That's what I +saw." "And what was it you heard?" said Bloom-of-Youth. "Someone +singing to the wheels," said her husband. "And this is what I heard +sung.-- + + Spin, wheel, spin; sing, wheel, sing; + Every stone in my yard, spin, spin, spin; + The thread is hers, the wool is mine; + Twelve drops from her heart will make my leaves shine! + How little she knows, the foolish thing, + That my name is Bolg and Curr and Carr, + That my name is Lurr and Lappie. + +"O sing that song again," said Bloom-of-Youth, "Sing that song again." + +Her husband sang it again, and Bloom-of-Youth went to bed, singing to +herself.-- + + My name is Bolg and Curr and Carr, + My name is Lurr and Lappie. + +The next day as soon as her husband had gone to his hunting +Bloom-of-Youth went through the wood and towards the Big Stones that +were at the other side of it. And as she went through the wood she +sang.-- + + Spin, wheel, spin; sing, wheel, sing; + Every branch on the tree, spin, spin, spin; + The wool is hers, the thread is fine; + For loss of my heart's blood I'll never dwine; + Her name is Bolg and Curr and Carr, + Her name is Lurr and Lappie. + +She went singing until she was through the wood and near the Big +Stones. She went within the circle. There, besides a flat stone that +was on the ground, she saw the black and crooked old woman. + +"You have come to me, Bloom-of-Youth," said she. "Do you see the +hollow that is in this stone? It is into this hollow that the drops of +your heart's blood will have to run." + +"The drops of my heart's blood may remain my own." + +"No, no, they won't remain your own any longer than when it is plain +you can't tell my name." + +"Is it Bolg?" said Bloom-of-Youth. + +"Bolg is one of my names," screamed the Witch of the Elders, "but one +of my names won't let you go free." + +"Is it Curr?" + +"Curr is another of my names, but two of my names won't let you go +free." + +"Is it Carr?" + +"Carr is another of my names, but three of my names will not let you +go free." + +"I know your other names too," said Bloom-of-Youth. + +"Say them, say them," screamed the Witch of the Elders. + +But when she tried to think of them Bloom-of-Youth found that the last +two names had gone out of her mind. Not for all the drops that were in +her heart could she remember them. + +"No, no, you can't say them," said the Witch of the Elders. "And now +bend your breast over the hollow in the stone. I'll let out twelve +drops of your heart's blood with my pointed rod. Bend your breast over +the hollow." + +[Illustration: But just as the Witch was dragging her to the stone a +robin began to sing.] + +But just as the Witch was dragging her to the stone a robin began to +sing on a branch outside the Stones. It was the same tune as +Bloom-of-Youth had sung her song to as she went through the wood. Now +all the words in her song came back to her.-- + + Spin, wheel, spin; sing, wheel, sing; + Every branch on the tree, spin, spin, spin; + The wool is hers, the thread is mine; + For loss of my heart's blood I'll never dwine! + Her name is Bolg and Curr and Carr, + Her name is Lurr and Lappie. + +She said the last two names and as she did the Witch of the Elders +screamed and ran behind the stones. Bloom-of-Youth saw no more of her. + +That evening her husband brought home the web of cloth that her +step-mother had woven. The next day Bloom-of-Youth began to make +clothes for him out of it. Never again did she make delays at the well +but she came straight home with her pails of water. The fire was +always clear upon the hearth and she had never to light it the second +time and then sweep away the ashes that had gathered on the floor. She +made good clothes for her husband out of the web of cloth her +step-mother had woven. And every evening she spun on her wheel and +there was never a time afterwards when she had not a dozen balls of +thread in the house. + + The wool is hers and the thread is mine; + For loss of my heart's blood I never will dwine, + And I throw my ball over to you. + +It was the Woodpecker that told this story to the Boy Who Knew What +the Birds Said. + +[Illustration] + + +[Illustration: The Hen-wife's Son and the Princess Bright Brow] + + + + +The Hen-wife's Son and the Princess Bright Brow + + +[Illustration] + +Everyone in and around the King's Castle despised Mell, the Hen-wife's +Son, said the Stonechecker, the bird that built within the stones of +the Tower. And it was not because there was anything mean about the +lad himself: it was because his mother, the Hen-wife, had the lowest +office about the King's Castle. + +This is what a Hen-wife did: She had to mind the fowl and keep count +of them, she had to gather the eggs and put them into a basket and +send them to the King's Steward every day. And for doing this she had +as wages the right to go to the back-door of the Steward's house and +get from the under-servants two meals a day for herself and Mell, her +son. + +And everybody, as I said, despised this son of hers--horse-boys and +dog-boys and the grooms around the Castle. But of course no one +despised Mell more than did the King's daughter, Princess Bright Brow. + +She used to go into a wood and whisper along the branch of a tree. And +one day the Hen-wife's son whom she despised so much made answer to +her. He was lying along the branch of the tree watching his mother's +goat that grazed on the grass below. Now this is what Princess Bright +Brow said to the tree and this is what she used to say to it every +day.-- + + Oak-tree, oak-tree, above the rest, + Which of the heroes loves me best? + +Mell was lying along the Branch as I have said, and he made answer +back to her.-- + + Princess, Princess, he's at your call, + And the Hen-wife's son loves you best of all! + +The King's daughter looked up and she saw the Hen-wife's son on the +branch, and she went into a great rage. She gave orders to the grooms +that the Hen-wife's son was to be whipped every time he looked at her. +Many's the time after that Mell got the lash. But he loved Bright Brow +so much that he could not forbear looking at her. + + +II + +Now, one very early morning Mell took his mother's goat out to graze +on the green. And as he went along he saw on the grass a beautiful +mantle. He took it up and he thought to himself "How well it would +look upon Princess Bright Brow!" And he thought again "if she would +take this beautiful green mantle from me maybe she would let me look +upon her when she is wearing it." + +He put the mantle across his shoulders and sat down and thought and +thought. And while he was thinking he felt the mantle being pulled +from behind. He turned round and he saw a woman standing there. She +had brighter colors in her dress and she wore more ornaments than any +one he had ever seen in the King's Castle. He knew by such signs that +she was a Fairy Woman out of the Green Rath. + +[Illustration] + +"Mell," said she, "Mell, the Hen-wife's son, give to me the mantle +that the King of the Fairy Riders let fall from his shoulders last +night." + +"If it is his, and if you have come to bring it to him, why you must +have it," said Mell, and he took the mantle off his shoulders and +handed it to her. + +"The King would wish that I should recompense you," said the Fairy +Woman. She took a jewel that was on the collar of the mantle and gave +it to Mell. "If you take this jewel in your hand," said she, "and wish +to be in this place or that place you will be there in an instant, and +anyone you take by the hand you can bring with you." And when Mell +took the jewel from her, the Fairy Woman, carrying the green mantle, +went into the green rath. + +Then Mell took his goat by the horns and turned towards his hut. And +there, outside the gate of the Castle he saw the King's daughter, +Princess Bright Brow. She was watching the falconer training the young +hawks and the grooms and the riders of the Castle were behind her. +When she saw Mell with his hands on the goat's horns she grew high in +rage and she turned to the grooms to give an order that he be beaten +with the whips they held. + +But Mell ran to her and he caught her hand and holding the jewel he +said "I wish that I was in the Island of the Shadow of the Stars and +that this young girl was with me." The hawk flew at him and the hound +sprang at him and the whips struck at him and while he was still +expecting the feel of teeth and claws and lash he was away and was in +another country altogether. There was neither hawk nor hound nor hut +nor castle nor groom nor falconer. Two beings only were there and they +were Mell the Hen-wife's son and the King's daughter, Princess Bright +Brow. + +"In what country are we?" said Princess Bright Brow. + +"Unless we are in the Island of the Shadow of the Stars I don't know +where we are," said Mell, the Hen-wife's Son. + +"You are the Hen-wife's son and you have brought me here by +enchantment," said Bright Brow. + +She wanted to go from him, but where was she to go to? All the country +was strange to her. And so, if she made two steps away from him she +soon made two steps back to him. And the end of this part of the story +is that Bright Brow became friendly to the Hen-wife's Son. + +He gathered fruits off trees and he snared birds and he took the fish +out of rivers and he found sheltered places to sleep in. And often the +Princess Bright Brow was good and kind to him. And Mell the Hen-wife's +son was now as happy as anyone in the world. "Since we are so friendly +to each other now," said Bright Brow to him one day, "will you not +tell me how you were able to come here and bring me with you?" + +"It was because of the jewel I wear at my breast," said Mell. And then +he told how he had found the green mantle on the ground and how the +Fairy Woman gave him the jewel and what power the jewel had. + +If Mell was content to be on the Island, Bright Brow was not. And so +one evening when he was asleep she lifted up the mantle and took the +jewel that was on his breast. Then holding it in her hand she said "I +wish I was back in my father's Castle." In an instant she was back +there. Now all her maids were around her and all of them were crying +"Where have you been, King's daughter, where have you been?" And +Bright Brow told them that the King of the Fairy Riders had taken her +away to show her all the great heroes of the world so that when the +time came for her to choose a husband she could make her choice of the +best amongst them. + +As for Mell, the Hen-wife's son: when he wakened up and found that +Bright Brow had gone and that the jewel was gone there was no one in +the world more sad and lonely than he was. He thought that she might +come back to him, but the moon came and the sun came and Bright Brow +came not. He longed to be a bird that he might fly after her to her +father's Castle. + +He stayed on the Island of the Shadow of the Stars for a long time +for, now that the jewel was gone from him, there was no way of getting +from the Island. Then a King who had built a high tower went to the +top of it one day and saw the Island of the Shadow of the Stars. He +sent out his long ships and his leathern-jerkined men to it. They +found Mell and they brought him to the King. Then Mell became one of +the King's men and he went into battle and he learnt the use of all +arms. + + +III + +The Hen-wife's son went through the Eastern and the Western Worlds and +he came back to where his mother's hut was. He rode round the walls of +the King's Castle. Everything that he thought was magnificent before +seemed small to him now. The trees that grew within the walls seemed +not much bigger than the bushes the old women put clothes to dry on. + +Sitting on his black horse he looked across the wall that he once +thought was so high and he saw the Hen-wife's hut. His mother came out +to feed the hens and to count them and to gather up the eggs and put +them in a basket. "She's alive and I'll see her again," said Mell. He +rode round the wall to the King's Garden to try to get sight of the +Princess Bright Brow. He saw no sight of her. He rode on and he came +to the gate at the other side and he saw outside the Cook-house the +horse-boys and dog-boys and grooms that he used to know. + +He saw them and he knew them, but they did not know him. He was +surprised to see that they had not learnt to straighten up their +shoulders nor to walk as if there was a fine thought in their heads. +They were all around the Cook-house, and a great noise of rattling was +coming from within it. + +"What noise is that in the Cook-house?" Mell asked a groom. + +"The Cook's son is going out to fight," said the groom, "and he is +striking the pot-lids with the ladles to let everyone in the +Cook-house know how fierce he is." + +"And who is the Cook's son going to fight?" asked Mell the Hen-wife's +son. + +"He is going to fight a great Champion that has come up from the sea +in a boat that moves itself. This Champion demands that the King pay +tribute to him. And the King has offered his daughter and half his +kingdom to the youth who will go down to the sea-shore and defeat this +Champion. And to-day the Cook's son is going out to make trial." + +And while the groom was saying all this the Cook's son came out of the +Cook-house. His big face was all gray. His knees were knocking each +other. The breastplate of iron he had on was slipping to one side and +the big sword he had put in his belt was trailing on the ground. + +"I would like to see what sort of a fight this Champion will make," +said Mell, the Hen-wife's son. He followed the Cook's son to the +sea-shore. But the Cook's son, when he had come to the shore, looked +round and found a little cave in the face of the rock and climbed into +it. + +Then a boat that moved of itself came in from the sea, and a Champion +all in red sprang out of it. And when he had touched the shingles he +struck his sword on his shield and he shouted "If the King of this +Land has a Champion equal to the fray let him forth against me. And +if the King of the Land has no such Champion, let him pay me tribute +from his Kingdom." + +Mell looked to the cave where the Cook's son had hidden himself and +all he saw there was a bush being pulled towards the opening to hide +it. + +Then Mell the Hen-wife's son drew his sword and went down the beach +towards the Red Champion. They fought for half the day. At the end of +that time the Red Champion said "Good is the champion that the King of +this Land has sent against me. I did not know he had such a good +champion." + +They fought all over the strand making the places that were stony, +wet, and the places that were wet, stony, and then, when the sun was +going down, the Red Champion was not able to do anything more than +guard himself from the strokes of Mell's sword while he drew towards +his boat. + +"You will have the honors of the fight to-day," said he to Mell. + +[Illustration: The Red Champion said, "Good is the Champion that the +King of this Land has sent against me."] + +"I shall have the honors and something else beside," said Mell. Then +he struck at the red plume that was on his enemy's cap. He cut it +off as the Red Champion sprang into the boat that moved of itself. As +the sun was sinking the Champion in the boat went over the sea. + +Now the Cook's son had been watching the whole fight from the cave. +When he saw the Red Champion going off in his boat he came running +down to the shore. The Hen wife's son was lying with his hands and his +face in the water trying to cool himself after the combat and the red +plume that he had struck off the Champion's cap was lying near him. +The Cook's son took up the plume. + +"Let me keep this as a remembrance of your fight, brave warrior," said +he to the Hen-wife's son. + +"You may keep it," said Mell. Then with the red plume in his hands the +Cook's son ran back towards the Castle. + + +IV + +Mell the Hen-wife's son put on his best garments and he went to the +Castle that evening and he was received by the King as a champion +from foreign parts. And the King invited him to supper for three +nights. + +Princess Bright Brow was at the supper and Mell watched and watched +her. He saw that she was pale and that she kept sighing. And of the +damsel who came to sit beside him at the table Mell asked "Why is the +King's daughter so sad and troubled-looking?" + +"She has reason for being sad and troubled," said the damsel who was +called Sea Swan, "for she thinks she may have to marry one whom she +thinks little of." + +"Why should that be?" said Mell. + +"Because her father has promised to give her and half his Kingdom to +the one who will defeat the Red Champion who has come from across the +sea and who demands that the King give him tribute from the land. And +the only one who has gone forth against the Champion is the Cook's +son--a gray-faced fellow that only a kitchen-maid would marry. And if +it happens that the Cook's son overcomes the Red Champion, well then +Princess Bright Brow will have to marry him." + +And later on Sea Swan said to Mell "The King's daughter is so troubled +that she would go away to the Island of the Shadow of the Stars if she +had the jewel that would bring her there. She had it once, but a Fairy +Woman came out of the green rath and made Bright Brow give it to her." + +When the feast was at its height the King stood up and bade the Cook's +son come near the High Chair and tell how he had fought with the Red +Champion that day. And the Cook's son came up holding the red plume in +his hand. He told a story of how he had fought with the Red Champion +all the day and how he had beaten him to his boat and how he had made +him take his boat out to sea, and how, as the Champion had sprung into +the boat, he had struck at him and had cut the red plume from his cap. +"And I shall go down the sea-shore to-morrow," said the Cook's son +very bravely, "and if the Red Champion dares come back I shall take +off his head instead of his plume." Then he left the red plume beside +the King's daughter and her father made Bright Brow hold up her +forehead for the Cook's son to kiss. And all in the supper-room +clapped their hands for the Cook's son. + +The next day Mell the Hen-wife's son stood outside the Cook-house and +he heard a tremendous rattling within. "That is the Cook's son +preparing to go out to battle," said one of the grooms. "He is +striking the ladles upon the pot-lids to show how fierce he is." Just +as that was being said the Cook's son walked out of the Cook-house. He +looked around him very haughtily. Then he walked away with his big +sword trailing behind him and his breast-plate all to one side. Mell +the Hen-wife's son followed him. + +When he came to the sea-shore he stood for a while looking out to sea +with his knees knocking together. Then he went where he had gone the +day before. He climbed into a cave in the face of the cliff and he +drew the bush to the entrance of it so that it was quite hidden. + +Mell the Hen-wife's son looked out to sea and he saw the boat that +moved of itself come towards the shore. The Red Champion was in it. He +sprang out on the strand, struck his sword on his shield and made +proclamation: Unless the King of the Land sent a champion who could +overthrow him he would make him pay tribute for his Kingdom. + +Then down to meet him came Mell the Hen-wife's son, his sword in his +hand. He and the Red Champion saluted each other and then they fought +together trampling over the beach, making the soft places hard and the +hard places soft with the dint of their trampling. "A good champion, +by my faith you are," said the Red Champion to Mell, when +three-quarters of the day had been spent in fighting. And after that +the Red Champion tried only to guard himself from the thrusts and the +strokes of Mell's sword. He drew away from Mell and towards his boat. +He put his two feet in it and pushed away. "You have the honors of the +day's fight, champion," said he. "I shall have something beside the +honors," said Mell and he struck at the Red Champion's belt. Down on +the shingles fell the silver-studded belt and the Red Champion pushed +off in his boat. + +When the Cook's son saw from his cave that the Red Champion had gone +he came down to the water's edge where Mell was lying with his face +and hands in the water to cool himself after the combat. The +silver-studded belt was lying beside Mell. The Cook's son took it up +without saying a word and he went off towards the Castle. + +That night Mell the Hen-wife's son sat by himself in the supper room +of the King's Castle. He watched and watched the face of the Princess +Bright Brow. She looked more pale and troubled than on the night +before. And after the harpers had played the King called upon the +Cook's son to come up to the High Chair and tell how he had battled +with the Red Champion. He came up with the silver-studded belt in his +hand and he told a story of how he had beaten the Red Champion back +into the sea. And when the story was told the King bade Bright Brow go +over to him and kiss the Cook's son on his heavy gray cheek. + + +V + +The next day when he stood before the Cook-house, Mell the Hen-wife's +son heard a greater rattling than before. The Cook's son struck the +pot-lids with the ladles more fiercely than before and he cried out in +a high voice "This is the last time that I shall ever stand amongst +the pots and the pans, the lids and the ladles, for I go to fight the +Red Champion for the last time, and after this I will sit beside the +King's Chair and the King's daughter, Princess Bright Brow, will sit +upon my knee." + +He marched down to the sea-shore, his long sword trailing behind him. +He walked through the street with his head high, but when he drew near +the sea-shore his gait became less grand. His knees began to knock +together. He looked out to the sea and when he saw the boat that moved +of itself coming towards the shore he clambered into the cave and he +drew the bushes round to cover up the entrance. + +The boat that moved of itself came to the strand. The Red Champion +sprang out on the shingles. He made his proclamation. Then up to him +came Mell the Hen-wife's son. "I will strive with you," said he, "as I +strove with you yesterday and the day before. And how shall we fight? +Shall it be with swords or by wrestling?" "By wrestling let it be +to-day," said the Red Champion. + +They laid hands on each other and began to wrestle. And in their bout +of wrestling they made holes in the ground and they made hillocks on +the ground, and when the day was about to close Mell overthrew the Red +Champion. He left him stark on the ground. Then he took the cord he +had round his waist and he bound the Red Champion--hands and feet, +waist and chest he bound him. + +The Cook's son came up to them then. "As you took the red plume and as +you took the silver-studded belt, take the Champion too," said Mell. +Then the Cook's son took the Red Champion, all bound as he was, and +putting him across his shoulders went staggering up the beach and +towards the King's Castle. + + +VI + +Mell the Hen-wife's son sat in the supper-room of the Castle again +that night. The King's daughter, Princess Bright Brow, was there and +she was as white as white rose-leaves and tears were falling down her +cheeks. And when the wine had been drunk out of the cups the King +stood up and called upon the Cook's son to come up to the High Chair +and tell all how he had overthrown and had bound the Red Champion who +would have put a tribute upon the Kingdom. The Cook's son came up to +the High Chair and he told them a story that was wonderful indeed. And +when the story was told the King said "Loose the Red Champion whom you +bound, and when he has knelt here and prayed to us for forgiveness the +King's daughter will take your hands and will marry you." "Look," said +the damsel Sea Swan to Mell the Hen Wife's son, "how the Princess +Bright Brow is pulling the hairs from her head in her grief." + +The Red Champion was brought in bound and the Cook's son began to try +to unbind him. But not one knot could he loosen. He tried and he tried +and he broke his nails trying. "This is strange indeed," said the +King, "for it used to be said that whoever bound one could loosen +one." + +He tried again and he tried again and not one cord could he loosen +from another. Then the King's daughter Princess Bright Brow looked up. +"How strange it would be," said she, "if it was not the Cook's son who +bound the Red Champion." + +Then up the Hall came Mell the Hen-wife's son. He stood over the Red +Champion and he pulled a cord here and he pulled a cord there and in a +minute he was unbound. All in the hall began to murmur "Surely the one +who unloosed him bound him," said many people. + +"He is the one who bound me," said the Red Champion, pointing out Mell +the Hen-wife's son, "and besides it was he who cut the red plume off +my cap and who took the silver-studded belt from me." + +"Speak up and deny what he says," said the King to the Cook's son. + +But when the Cook's son tried to speak he stuttered and stammered and +his knees began to knock together and his hands went shaking. And when +the company looked at him there was not one there who believed he had +fought the Red Champion. And when the Cook's son looked round and saw +there was not one there who believed in him he gathered the +supper-things of the table like an attendant and went out of the room. + +"And now," said the King to Mell, the Hen-wife's son, "since there is +no doubt but it was you who conquered the champion to you I give my +daughter's hand. Take her now for your wife and take half of my +kingdom with her." + +Then Bright Brow lifted her face to him and she put her hands in his +hands. + +"Mell," said she, "Mell the Hen-wife's son, I knew for long that you +would come to me like this. Forgive me and love me," said she, "and I +will love you from this night." + +And so Mell the Hen-wife's son and the King's daughter, Princess +Bright Brow, came together again. He married her and came to rule +over half her father's kingdom. They lived happy ever afterwards, of +course. And Mell brought his mother out of the hut beside the +poultry-coop and he took her to live in the Castle. And in the end his +mother married the Steward who had become a widower and she became the +most respected dame in and about the King's Castle. And as for the +Cook's son he is still in the Cook-house amongst the pots and the +pans, the lids and the ladles. + +[Illustration] + + +[Illustration: The Giant and the Birds] + + + + +The Giant and the Birds + + +[Illustration] + +The Cock scraped and the Hens scraped and when the Hens went away the +Cock scraped by himself. He called the Hens back, and they all scraped +deeper and deeper. Then something was shown; it was bright and round, +and the Cock and the three Hens scraped until the whole of it was to +be seen. It was a great ring of brass. + +"Tell us how you knew the bright thing was there, Hero-son of my +heart?" said the Little Slate-colored Hen that was the Cock's mother. + +"Do, do," said the Feather-legged Hen. + +"Tell us, Top of Wisdom," said the Blue Hen. + +"You all know," said the Cock, "that the earth rocks underneath the +place where I crow in the morning." + +"We know, O Unvanquishable," said the three Hens. + +"The earth never rocked here," said the Cock, "hence I knew that +something powerful was under the ground at this place. It was the ring +of brass. Now it will be found and brought into the house. And when I +stand here and crow in the morning the earth will rock as it does in +every other place in the world." + +"It will, it will," said the Feather-legged Hen. + +"It must, O Top of Valor," said the Blue Hen. + +"And you will tell us how the ring of brass came to be there, Hero-son +of my heart," said the Little Slate-colored Hen that was the Cock's +mother. + +"In the course of the evening I may do so," said the Cock +condescendingly. + +When they were beside the sunny wall, the Hens on the ground +scattering dust over their feathers and their lord standing on one leg +with his comb hanging over one eye the Cock said "No Cock of our +breed ever told this story before. They would not frighten the hens +with it. However, since you have persuaded me I will tell you the +tale. My grandfather told it to my father who told it to me. It is the +story of the Big Man who came to this place and who wore the ring of +brass that we uncovered to-day." + +He did not put it over his head as you might think from the size of +the ring. No. He wore it on his arm. Never was a bigger man seen by +anyone living. The whole countryside stood outside their houses to see +him come over the hills. When he came to where the stones are he +stooped down to take a drink and he drank the well dry. The people +came out of the house to meet him, and he spoke to them, and out of +what he said to them they drew his story. + +As I am to a Bantam, the Big Man was to the other men of the country. +And if they were surprised at his bigness, he was astonished at their +smallness. For he came from a time when all were as big as he. A +hundred and a hundred years before he had hunted with his companions, +and he was then called, not Big Man, but Little Fawn. + +And one day--a hundred and a hundred years ago it was--he had gone to +chase a deer. The deer fled into a cave. He followed with his hounds +and his sword, his trumpet and his missile-ball. He went astray and +fell asleep in the Cave. And when he wakened up, his hounds were heaps +of dust beside him. He went into the world, and he found that his +companions were dead for a hundred and a hundred years and that the +men of the earth had become smaller and smaller. In the Cave he left +his sword and his trumpet and his missile-ball. + + * * * * * + +The Cock put his two feet on the ground and shook his red comb from +over his left to over his right eye. Then said he, Everyone in the +house was friendly to Little Fawn except one person--Murrish the +Cook-woman. From the first day he came there were disputes between +them. "Big men have big appetites," said she to him the day he +came, "and so to-night I will give you two eggs for your supper." But +when she handed him the eggs Little Fawn said "It was not the eggs of +the hedge-sparrow we were wont to eat in my time." "Eggs of the +hedge-sparrow!" said Murrish, "I have handed you the biggest eggs laid +by the best hens in the country." "In my time there were bigger eggs +in the nest of the hedge-sparrow," said Little Fawn. + +[Illustration: All flew from the mountain except one bird and he was +the greatest amongst them all.] + +The next day she gave him a barley-cake for his breakfast. He ate it +and then sent the boy--Ardan was his name--to ask what else she was +going to give him. + +"Give him!" said Murrish the Cook-woman, "I have given him a whole +barley cake, and that is enough for two men's breakfasts." + +"Tell her," said Little Fawn, "that I often saw an ivy-leaf that was +as big as her barley cake." + +"Tell him," said Murrish the Cook-woman, "that I am not here to listen +to old men's romances." + +Now when he heard that his words were taken as old men's romances +Little Fawn was an angry man. He was hungry, for the food he got did +not stay his appetite, but what Murrish said in doubt of his word gave +him more hurt than his hunger did. For in his day and amongst his +companions a lie was never told and nothing a man said was ever +doubted. + +The next day he sent back the dish for more butter. + +"Tell him," said Murrish the Cook-woman, "that I put a whole pat of +butter on his dish--enough to do two men for two days." + +"Tell her," said Little Fawn, "that often I saw a rowan berry that was +bigger as her pat of butter." + +"The child just out of the cradle would not believe that story," said +Murrish the Cook-woman. + +She sent him a quarter of mutton for his dinner. Little Fawn told +Ardan to ask Murrish for more, as the dinner she gave him left him +hungry still. + +"Did he not get a whole quarter of mutton for his dinner?" said +Murrish. + +"A whole quarter of mutton, did she say?" said Little Fawn. "Often I +saw a quarter of a blackbird that was bigger than her quarter of +mutton." + +"A quarter of a blackbird bigger than my quarter of mutton! Tell him +that if he never lied before, he lies now," said Murrish. + +"Does she say that?" said Little Fawn. "Then I swear I shall never +rest in the house nor be easy in my mind until I bring her an ivy leaf +that is as big as her barley loaf, and a rowan berry that is as big as +her pat of butter, and if I bring these," said he, "it may not be +needful for me to get her the blackbird that is as big in one quarter +as the quarter of mutton that she gave me for my dinner." + +There and then he went from the house and Ardan the boy went with him. +They went east and they went west, they went towards the north and +towards the south, but no ivy leaf did they find that was as big as a +barley loaf, and no rowan berry did they see that was as big as a pat +of butter. Little Fawn was troubled and downcast. They came back to +the house, and Murrish the Cook-woman was pleased when she heard from +Ardan that they found no ivy leaf and saw no rowan berry that was as +big as her barley loaf or her pat of butter. "There is only one thing +I can do now," said Little Fawn, "and that is to bring her the +blackbird that is as big in one quarter as the quarter of mutton she +gave me for my dinner. And that," said he to Ardan, "will take time +and trouble and the meeting of danger to bring about." + + * * * * * + +"Time and trouble," said the Feather-legged Hen, "time and trouble!" + +"Why did he say time and trouble, O Top of Wisdom?" said the Blue Hen. + +"Hush now," said the Little Slate-colored Hen that was the Cock's +mother. "Hush now, and let the Hero-son of my heart tell what's best +in the story...." + + * * * * * + +"Little Fawn was an old man, white-haired and feeble when he came to +the house," said the Cock, and now he was nearly blind. His mind would +not be at rest, he told Ardan, until he brought to Murrish and showed +her a blackbird that was as big in one quarter as the quarter of +mutton she gave him for his dinner. "But before I can take that +blackbird," said he, "I must have a hound. There is a hound in the +yard, but I have tried her and found she is weak and fearful. She will +have puppies, and one of her puppies, maybe, will do." And he told +Ardan to tell him when the puppies came to the hound that was in the +yard. + +Then one day Ardan came and told him that there was a litter of +puppies with the hound. "That is well," said Little Fawn, "and in a +while we will try if one has the strength and courage enough to help +us to take the blackbird." + +He told Ardan what to do. He was to take the skin that had been +stripped off a dead horse and he was to nail this skin upon a door in +the yard. Then he was to do a curious thing. He was to take up each +puppy and fling it against the door. + +Ardan did all this and Little Fawn stood by and heard the puppies +yowling as they fell on the ground. They scampered away. Then he heard +nothing except Ardan's laugh. + +"Why are you laughing, my boy?" said Little Fawn. + +"I laugh to see what the last puppy is doing," said Ardan. + +"And what is he doing?" said Little Fawn. + +"He has not fallen to the ground like the others. He has caught hold +of the horseskin with his teeth and he is holding on to it." + +"That puppy will do," said Little Fawn. "He has strength and courage. +Take him and rear him away from the others, and when he comes to his +full strength you and I will take him to hunt the blackbird that is as +big in one quarter as the quarter of mutton Murrish the Cook-woman +gave me for my dinner. We must make our word good this time, good +lad." Ardan took away the puppy (Conbeg they called him) from the +others and reared him up. Little Fawn tested his strength and courage +in many ways. At length he was satisfied. One day he put a leash on +Conbeg and he told the boy to come with him. Little Fawn and Ardan and +Conbeg the young hound went away from the house. + +"'Tis the best part of the story," said the Little Slate-colored Hen +that was the Cock's mother. + + * * * * * + +"It is, it is," said the Feather-legged Hen. + +"And how well he tells it, the Top of Wisdom," said the Blue Hen. + +"I tell it as my father told me and as his father told him," said the +Cock changing legs. "The first place they went was into the Cave where +the Big Man had lain for a hundred and a hundred years. They found +there the heap of dust that was his two hounds, and they found too the +missile-ball of brass and the trumpet and the great sword. They left +the Cave and they turned south, and they went on and on till they came +to the mountain that is called Slieve-na-Mon. The boy and the man and +the hound rested themselves for a while on the level on the top of the +mountain. + +Then Little Fawn told Ardan to take the trumpet and put it to his +mouth. He blew on the trumpet. O louder than ever I crowed was the +noise he made on that trumpet. The trees that were growing on the +mountain top shook at the sound. + +"Blow again," said Little Fawn. + +And Ardan blew again and he blew louder. + +"Now look into the sky," said Little Fawn, "and tell me what you see +coming towards us." + +Ardan looked for a long time, and at last he saw what he thought was a +cloud coming towards the mountain-top. And then he saw that the cloud +was a flock of birds. They came to the mountain-top and lighted on the +ground--Peewits, Blackbirds, Starlings, Finches, Linnets--and each was +bigger than any bird he had ever seen. The birds were hardly afraid of +the hound, but Conbeg went amongst them and drove them away. + +And then another cloud was seen coming across the sky, and this cloud +came to be a flock of birds too, and they came to the mountain-top and +lighted on the ground--Linnets, Finches, Starlings, Blackbirds, +Peewits--and each bird was bigger than the birds in the first flock. +"Loose the hound on them," said Little Fawn. Ardan unslipped Conbeg +and the hound went amongst the birds. But they were not afraid and +they attacked the hound, and only his strength and courage was so +great they would have driven him off the mountain-top. + +They rose up and they flew away, and as they did another flock of +birds came towards the mountain-top. They lighted on the +ground--Peewits, Blackbirds, Starlings, Finches, Linnets--tremendous +birds. Ardan loosed Conbeg on them. Then with beaks open and claws +outstretched they flew at Ardan and Little Fawn. Little Fawn took his +great sword in hand and he attacked them with such strength that the +great birds flew off. + +All flew from the mountain except one bird. He was a Blackbird and the +greatest amongst them all. When Ardan told Little Fawn that this bird +was left alone on a rock the Big Man told him to unloose Conbeg. + +The hound dashed at the Blackbird but the blackbird flew at him and +attacked him with beak and claws. With a sweep of his wing he threw +Conbeg on the ground. Then he rose up in the air and flew towards +Ardan and Little Fawn. + +"You will escape him," said Ardan, "but me he will kill as he has +killed Conbeg." "Put the missile-ball into my hand and guide my aim," +said Little Fawn. Ardan put the missile-ball of brass into the Big +Man's hand and guided his aim. Little Fawn threw the missile-ball and +the Blackbird fell down on the ground. But the bird was not killed. + +"A frightening tale, a frightening tale," said the Blue Hen. + +"So it is, so it is," said the Feather-legged Hen. + +"But you have done well to tell the Hens the story, Hero-son of my +heart," said the Little Slate-colored Hen that was the Cock's mother. + + * * * * * + +"More has to be told," said the Cock, "and it is needful that it +should be told now. Murrish the Cook-woman was in the kitchen. In +dashed Conbeg the hound, his eyes blazing with the fierceness of the +chase. Murrish was so frightened that she ran to the door. And coming +to the door she saw Little Fawn with a net on his shoulder. He came +into the house and he put the net on the floor, and he showed Murrish +what was in the net--a tremendous bird--a Blackbird that was as big in +one quarter as the quarter of mutton she had on the table. And when +the net was laid down on the ground the Blackbird flew up and he +carried the middle of the roof away with him as he flew through it and +he tumbled beams and rafters down upon Murrish. My grandfather saw the +Blackbird flying towards the mountain that is called Slieve-na-Mon, +and my grandfather told my father who told me." "You spoke the truth +when you said that you saw a blackbird as big in one quarter as the +quarter of mutton I gave you for your dinner," said Murrish the +Cook-woman to Little Fawn. "And I believe you when you say you saw an +ivy leaf as big as my barley loaf and a rowan berry as big as my pat +of butter." "I would only show you," said Little Fawn "that the men I +lived amongst had truth on their lips as they had strength in their +hands and courage in their hearts." + +And from that day Little Fawn and Murrish the Cook-woman lived in +peace and good fellowship, and Ardan and Conbeg grew up together and +became famous, one and the other. They lived happy for long, but as +the books say-- + + The end of every ship is drowning, + The end of every kiln is burning, + The end of every feast is wasting, + The end of every laugh is sighing. + +And if they were here once, they are here no more. + +"And if they are not, we are," said the Slate-colored Hen that was the +Cock's mother. "We're here," said she, "and the earth, I promise you, +will shake under your feet to-morrow, no matter where you crow, +Hero-son of my heart." + +[Illustration] + + +[Illustration: The Sea-Maiden who became a Sea-Swan] + + + + +The Sea-Maiden who became a Sea-Swan + + +[Illustration] + +The Sea-Swan told the story to the pigeons of the rock, and the Boy +Who Knew What the Birds said heard every word of it. I was once a +Sea-Maiden, she said, and my name was Eevil, and I was known through +all the Kingdoms that are Under-Wave for my beautiful hair--my long, +beautiful, green hair. Something was in me that made me want to dance, +and I used to rise up through the water, and dance on the shore of the +island that is called Hathony. + +Mananaun, as you, creatures, know, is Lord of the Sea, and what he +commands in the Kingdoms-Under-Wave has to be. Now Mananaun made a +promise to a King of an Earth-Kingdom, and the promise was that he +would give this King whatever he asked for. The King died according to +the ways of men, and his son, whose name was Branduv, came to rule +him. + +Branduv called Mananaun out of the sea, and he asked that he renew the +promise he had made to his father. The Lord of the Sea did not want a +promise to lapse because of the death of a man, and he renewed it to +the man's son. Then Mananaun told him he would take him and show him +the Kingdoms of the Sea and whatever he saw that he desired there +would be given to him. He took him in his boat of glass "The Ocean +Sweeper" to visit the Kingdoms of the Sea. + +They came to Moy Mell, the Plain of Pleasure, and there Mananaun gave +Branduv a branch of everlasting blossoms; they came to another Kingdom +and there Mananaun gave him a sword that was the best wrought in the +world; they came to a third Kingdom and there Mananaun gave him a pair +of hounds that could run down the silver-antlered stag. But as yet +Branduv the King had asked no gift from Mananaun. + +They came to Mananaun's own Kingdom, Silver-Cloud Plain, and there +Branduv was left alone while Mananaun drank the Ale of the Ever-Living +Ones. The King saw from the shores of Silver-Cloud Plain "The Ocean +Sweeper," and he directed that the boat bring him to the island. And +the boat travelled as the one in it wished. + +Only one thing had ever made me fearful of dancing on the shore of the +Island of Hathony--that was the presence there of a pair of Ravens. +These Ravens had once been Sea-maidens, but they had desired men for +husbands, and they had gone to them. The men forsook them, and they +had become first Witches and afterwards Ravens. Ever since their +change they wished harm to the Maidens of the Sea. I had been +frightened of them, but now I had seen them flapping about so often +that I was no longer or I was only a little, afraid. + +I came up through the sea and I danced upon the shore of the island, +and the play of the waves was in my dance, and my long soft green +hair fell over my foam-white, foam soft body. I danced on, O my +listeners, and as no one had ever seen me looked upon, I thought no +one looked upon me now. + +But this King of the earthly Kingdom saw me. He saw me as I danced by +the waves, and I was the fairest thing he had ever looked upon. At +first he was all wonder and no robber's thoughts were in his mind. But +the Ravens came to him. One perched on one shoulder and one perched on +the other, and one said "If you carry Eevil off you will have the +fairest wife in all the world," and the other said "If you leave her +here you will never look on anything as fair again." + +The Ravens flapped before him to guide him to a place in the dark +rocks where he might hide and to which I might come. He followed where +they led. But I saw his shadow on a rock. I drew back and the sea took +me and drew me into its depths. "The sea has taken her," said Branduv +to the Ravens. + +"Mananaun is Lord of the Sea," said one of the Ravens. + +"And Mananaun has promised you a gift, and he cannot refuse what you +will ask," said the other Raven. + +Then the Ravens flapped away and Mananaun came to where the King was +standing. "You have asked me for a gift," said Mananaun, "think now of +what you desire before I take you back to your own island." Then said +Branduv, "What I ask is that you bestow upon me the Sea-maiden who was +dancing here, Eevil." + +[Illustration] + +Mananaun in anger lifted his spear. But then he remembered he was +bound by a promise to Branduv. He lowered the spear he had raised. "I +will give you any other gift you ask," said he, "even my own boat 'The +Ocean Sweeper.'" + +"I hold you to your promise," said Branduv, "and I declare to you +that I shall take no other gift unless it be the maiden who was here +dancing by the sea." + +"It must be then that I give her you," said Mananaun, and his face was +dark. + +[Illustration] + +Down he went to the Kingdom-Under-Wave and he came to the black +mansion where lived the Seven Spinning Women of the Sea. He spoke as +speaks a King who has a hard thing to do. "A law has to be broken," +said he. "What law, Lord?" said the Spinning Women. "The law that +saves our Maidens from taking part in the stormy lives of men." "We +would rather that anything else but this should happen, Lord," said +the Seven Spinning Women. "This thing must happen," said Mananaun, +"and the Maiden Eevil must go to Branduv the King." "She must be +prepared for this," said the Seven Spinning Women. + +They came to me and they told me that the man whose shadow I had seen +on the rock now claimed me for his wife and that Mananaun would not +gainsay him. When I heard this, O my listeners, the life nearly left +me. + +This comfort the Seven Spinning Women gave me: I was to stay on his +island so that I might become used to the earthly kingdom, but that I +was not to see Branduv until the green had left my hair and the brown +that the sun makes had come into my cheeks. So I came to Branduv's +island. I lived by the sea-shore and the women of the island attended +me. + +How different was this earthly land from the Kingdom-Under-Wave. With +us there was but the one mild season, the one mild light. Here there +was glaring day and terrible darkness, bitter winds and hot beams of +the sun. With us there were songs and tales, but the songs were about +love or about the beautiful things we had seen. Here the tales and +songs were about battles and forays and slaying with the sword. What +they told of their loves was terrible, so much violence and +unfaithfulness was in them. + +The soft green tints were going out of my hair and the sun was putting +brownness in my cheeks. Soon my hair would be wheaten-colored like the +hair of the women of the islands and my cheeks would be brown like +theirs. And then the day would come when I should have to be with the +man whom I looked upon as my enemy. + +I used to stay by the shore and speak with the birds that came in from +the sea, for I knew their language. Never again could I go back to the +Kingdom-Under-Wave. Green shade after green shade left my hair, brown +tint after brown tint came into my cheeks, and what could I do but +envy the birds that could make their flight from the islands of men. +And when the green had nearly gone altogether from my hair I +thought of a desperate thing I might do. + +[Illustration: I put it to my lips, I drank it when he took a step +towards me.] + +I sent a message to my sisters, and I sent it by many birds, so that +if they did not get it by one they might get it by another. And I +asked in my message that they send me a draft from the Well under the +Sea, and that they send it in the cup that the Seven Spinning Women +guarded. It would be terrible for any of my sisters to come to +Branduv's island with the draft and the cup, but I begged that they +would do it for me. + +The days went by and the green color was now only a shade in my hair, +and brownness was on my cheeks, and the women said "Before this old +moon is gone our King will come here to wed you." + +Then one day I found on the shore the cup that my sisters had brought +and the draft from the Secret Well was in it. I took the cup in my +hands and I brought it where I lived. "Come to us," said the women, +"so that we may undo your hair and tell the King when he may come to +wed you." They loosened my hair and then they said "there is no shade +of green here at all. Bid the King come as early as he likes +to-morrow." + +I lay that night with the cup beside me. When I rose I knew that day I +should drink from the cup my sisters had sent me--drink the draft that +would change me into what I wished to be--a bird of the sea. + +And while I sat with the cup beside me and my hair spread out, +Branduv, the King of the Island, came to the door of the house. It may +have been that I was becoming used to the sight of people of the +earthly kingdoms, for, as I looked upon him he did not seem terrible +to me. He looked noble, I thought, and eager to befriend me and love +me. But the cup was in my hands when he came to the door. I put it to +my lips when he entered the house. I drank it when he took a step +towards me. And thereupon I became what I had wished to be--a +Sea-Swan. + +O my listeners! Maybe it would have been well for me if I had wed that +King, and be now as the women of the islands. For now as I fly over +the sea the King's look comes before me, and I think that he was +eager to befriend me and eager to love me. So I am not content when I +am flying over the sea. And I am lonely when I am on these islands, +for I am now a Swan, and what has a Swan to do with the lives of men? + + * * * * * + +Such was the story that the Sea-Swan told the pigeons of the rock, and +the Boy who knew what the Birds said heard it all, and remembered +every word of it. + +[Illustration] + + +[Illustration: What the Peacock and the Crow Told Each Other] + + + + +What The Peacock and the Crow Told Each Other When the Crow Came to +Steal the Peacock's Feathers + + +[Illustration] + + Said the Lapwing "Crow, + I never have seen + Such a one as you, + Such a one as you + For stealing eggs." + + Said the Crow "Caw, caw, + I never have seen + Such a one myself, + And I am, I am sure + Longer in the world." + +Then the Crow flew away and the Lapwing went on complaining. + +The Crow flew away and he came to where the Peacock was walking in the +King's Garden. He asked the Peacock did he ever listen to stories. + +"No," said the Peacock as he mounted the steps of the terrace. "No. +Certainly not. I do not demean myself by listening to any of the +stories they tell down below there." He spread out his tail, and, that +he might view his own magnificence, he turned his blue, shining neck. + +Hoodie the grey-headed Crow with the bright sharp eyes hopped after +him. + +"Jewels! Kings! Magicians! Palaces! Dragons! What do geese, grouse and +farmyard fowl know of such things? And yet they presume to tell +stories! Tell stories that have nothing in them of Jewels, Kings, +Magicians, Palaces, or Dragons!" + +"Nothing at all about such things," said Hoodie the Crow, as he +plucked a feather out of the Peacock's tail. + +"Yet they will not listen to me," said Purpurpurati the Peacock. "They +affect even to scorn my voice! They pretend that it is less resonant +than the cock in the farmyard and less musical than the bird's that +sings at night." + +"They'd say anything," said Hoodie the Crow, keeping behind the +Peacock's tail. + +Purpurpurati the Peacock mounted higher on the terrace. "I shall walk +before the statue of the beautiful Queen yonder," he said, "and I +shall tell you a story. The reason that I shall tell you is that the +Queen always listens to me. But I would have her think that it is to +you that I am telling the story." + +"I'll listen to you," said Hoodie the Crow and he plucked another +feather out of the Peacock's tail. + +"When the Queen has been pleased with the sight of my tail, I shall +begin," said Purpurpurati, and he spread out his tail. Hoodie the Crow +plucked out three feathers. + +"How pleased she looks," said he. + +"Yes, she is always pleased by my appearance," the Peacock said, and +he turned round and walked the other way. + +"Did I ever tell you," said Hoodie, hiding the feathers behind a bush. +"Did I ever tell you how the Pigeon went to the Crow to learn the art +of nest-making?" + +"I do not know about such things," said Purpurpurati the Peacock. + +"I'll tell you and then you'll know," said Hoodie the Crow. + +[Illustration] + + The Crow is the Master-builder among the Birds and so it was + to the Crow that the Pigeon went to learn the art of + nest-making. "We begin with the sticks," said the Crow. "I + know," said the Pigeon. "First we take one stick and lay it + lengthwise." "I know," said the Pigeon. "Then we put a stick + across it," said the Crow. "I know," said the Pigeon. "And + then we put another stick lower down," said the Crow. "I + know," said the Pigeon. "Then we put another stick + lengthwise." "I know," said the Pigeon. "Musha," said the + Crow, "If you know so much, why do you come here at all? + Away with you! Fly home now and build the nest yourself." + The Pigeon flew home, but of course he was not able to build + his nest, for he knew nothing about the laying of sticks and + the bringing of straws, and he was too young and foolish to + learn when he got the chance. And that is why the Pigeon to + this day cannot build a nest. + +[Illustration] + +"Why do you tell such foolish stories?" said Purpurpurati the Peacock +when Hoodie had finished. + +"We have no other stories in our family," said Hoodie the Crow. "We +don't know about Jewels and Magicians and Palaces and Kings and +Dragons." + +"The Magician," said Purpurpurati the Peacock, "The Magician lived in +a Palace of red marble that was all surrounded by a forest of black, +black trees. I lived there too and I ate golden grains out of pails of +silver. That was long ago and it was in far India. + +"The Magician had precious stones of every kind and he would have me +walk beside him to the Cavern where he kept his precious stones, and +as he handled them over he would tell me of the virtues that each +stone possessed. And one day the Magician looking upon me said 'This +Peacock I will slay, for the beauty of his neck makes dull my +turquoises and the crest on his head is more shapely than my Persian +jewel-work.'" + +"Dear me, dear me!" said Hoodie the Crow. + +Hearing him say this, said the Peacock "I flew into the branches of a +dark, dark tree. And as I rested there the fair lady who walked about +the Garden--White-as-a-Pearl she was called and she was the Magician's +daughter--walked under the dark, dark trees, and I saw that she was +weeping. + +"I knew why she wept. She wept for the young man whom her father had +imprisoned in a tower. This young man was the son of a King, and the +Magician was his father's brother. And if the young man died the +Magician would become King in his brother's Kingdom. But the lady +White-as-a-Pearl did not want the young man to die. + +"A little snow-white dove flew down from the tower and spoke in words +to White-as-a-Pearl and asked her what word she had to send to the +young man. + +"'You must tell him terrible news, my little snow white dove,' said +White-as-a-Pearl. 'My father will have him go forth to fight with a +dragon. And this is a terrible dragon. Every young man who has gone +forth against him has been slain.' + +[Illustration: O most beauteous of all the birds, do you know of any +arms by which a hero can slay a dragon?] + +"The little snow white dove flew back to the tower and the Princess +White-as-a-Pearl stood under the dark, dark trees and wept again. And +when she saw me on my branch she said 'O most beauteous of all the +birds, do you know of any arms by which a hero can slay a terrible +dragon?' + +[Illustration] + +"Then I came down off my branch and I walked beside the Princess, and +as I walked beside her I told her the wonderful secrets I knew." + +"And what were the secrets," said Hoodie the Crow plucking a last +feather from the peacock's tail. "What were the secrets anyway?" + +"Can I tell them to a Crow?" said Purpurpurati the Peacock. "But I +will tell them. I told her the secrets I had learnt from the Magician +when he spoke of the virtues of his precious stones--a ruby in a man's +helmet would make a dragon's eyes go blind. A turquoise on his arm +would make a dragon's blood turn to water. A sapphire on his spear +would make a dragon's heart burst within him. + +"So the Princess White-as-a-Pearl went to her father's cavern and took +the precious stones I spoke of and gave them to the King's son. And he +went forth the next day and when he came to him the dragon's eyes were +blinded, and his blood turned to water and his heart burst within him. +And the King's son cut off his head and brought it into the Palace. +Then the Magician fled amongst the dark, dark trees and I was given +the red marble palace to live in." + +"I lived in Lapland," said Hoodie the Crow. "And who do you think I +knew there?" + +"No one of any dignity," said Purpurpurati the Peacock. + +"I knew your White-as-a-Pearl. She had become an old ugly +witch-woman." + +"Base crow!" said Purpurpurati and he walked up the steps and went +away. + +Then Hoodie the Crow dressed himself in the feathers he had stolen +from the Peacock and went away and walked across the field admiring +himself. But a Fox that had promised to bring a Peacock to his +Mother-in-law saw Hoodie the Crow and stole up beside him and caught +him in his mouth and carried him away. And that was the end of Hoodie +who was such a clever crow. "This Peacock is very tough," said the +Fox's Mother-in-law as she ate Hoodie. "What would your Ladyship +have?" said Rory the Fox. "Peacock is always tough." + +[Illustration] + + +[Illustration: The Treasure of King Labraid Lorc] + + + + +The Treasure of King Labraid Lorc + + +[Illustration] + +Kingfisher-all-Blue used to sit on the branch that went furthest +across the stream with his head bent down and looking as if he were +trying to think his head off. Only in the most lonesome places, far +from where the hens cackled and the geese gabbled and the cocks crew, +would the Boy Who Knew What the Birds Said find him. And when he did +find him Kingfisher-all-Blue would not open his beak to say one +word--no, not even when the Boy would say "Where did you get your +beautiful color?" and "Why is your beak so big, little +Kingfisher-all-Blue?" + +Now one day when he had left behind him the hens that cackled, the +geese that gabbled and the cocks that crew, and had left behind him +too the old raven that built in the lone tree he came where +Kingfisher-all-Blue sat upon the slenderest branch that went farthest +across the stream. And when Kingfisher-all-Blue saw him he lifted up +his head and he fixed his eye upon him and he cried out the one word +"Follow." Then he went flying down the stream as if he were not a bird +at all but a streak of blue fire. + +Kingfisher-all-Blue went flying along the stream and the Boy Who Knew +What the Birds Said was able to follow him. They went on until the +stream they followed came out on the sand of the sea-shore. Then +Kingfisher-all-Blue seated himself on a branch that was just above +where the grains of sand and the blades of grass mixed with each other +and he fixed his eye on a mound of sand and clay. And when the Boy Who +Knew What the Birds Said came beside him Kingfisher-all-Blue said the +one word "Find." + +Then the Boy Who Knew What the Birds Said began to take the sand and +clay from the mound. He worked all day at it and Kingfisher-all-Blue +sat on the branch above and watched him. And at evening, when all the +sand and clay had been taken away by him the Boy Who Knew What the +Birds Said came upon a stone that was as big and as round as the wheel +of a cart. + +And when he had brushed away the grains of sand that was on the round +stone he saw a writing. The writing was in OGHAM, but at that time +even boys could read OGHAM. And the Ogham writing said YOU HAVE LUCK +TO HAVE SEEN THIS SIDE OF THE STONE BUT YOU WILL HAVE MORE LUCK WHEN +YOU SEE THE OTHER SIDE. + +When he read that he looked up to where the bird sat, but +Kingfisher-all-Blue only said "I am done with you now," and then he +flew back along the stream like a streak of blue fire. + +The Boy Who Knew What the Birds Said stayed near the stone until the +dark was coming on. Then he thought he would go home and in the +morning he would speak to Pracaun the Crow and ask her about the stone +that Kingfisher-all-Blue had brought him to and what good luck there +was at the other side of it. + +Pracaun the Crow came to the standing stone in the morning and ate the +boiled potato that the Boy Who Knew What the Birds Said brought her, +and then the Boy spoke to her about the stone that Kingfisher-all-Blue +had brought him to, and he asked what good luck there was at the other +side of it. + +"Kingfisher-all-Blue has brought you to good luck that none of the +rest of us could have shown you," said Pracaun the Crow. "Under that +round stone is the treasure of King Labraid Lorc." + +"Who was King Labraid Lorc and what was his treasure?" said the Boy +Who Knew What the Birds Said. + +"I will tell you first about King Labraid Lorc," said Pracaun the +Crow. "He was King of this part of the country and of two lovely +Islands that are now sunken deep in the sea. Mananaun Mac Lir who is +Lord of the Sea was his friend and Labraid Lorc would have been a +happy King only for--well, I'll tell you in a while what troubles he +had. + +"No one knew where the King had come from. He was not born King of +this part of the country nor of the lovely Islands that are now deep +sunken under the sea. Mananaun who is Lord of the Sea had given him +the Islands, or rather he had given him the two keys that had brought +the Islands up from the bottom of the sea. Two silver keys they were, +O lad. And when they were brought together they struck each other and +rang like bells. And 'Labraid Lorc is King, King of the two Fair +Islands' is what they chimed out. As long as he held the keys the +Islands would remain above the water. But if he put the keys away the +Islands would sink back into the sea. + +"Once in every month the King had a man killed. This is how it was. He +would have a man to shave his beard and to trim his hair. This man +never came alive out of the King's Castle. As soon as the poor barber +left the King's chamber and passed down the hall soldiers would fall +upon him and kill him with their swords. Every time when the King's +beard was shaved and his hair was trimmed a man was killed--twelve men +in a year, a hundred and forty-four men in twelve years! + +"Now a warning came to a woman that her son would be called upon to be +the next barber to the King. She was a widow and the young man was her +only son. She was wild with grief when she thought that he would be +killed by the soldiers' swords as soon as he had shaved the King's +beard and trimmed the King's hair. + +"She went everywhere the King rode. She threw herself before him and +asked for the life of her son. And at last the King promised that no +harm would befall her son's life if he swore he would tell no person +what he saw when he shaved the King's beard and trimmed the King's +hair. After that he would be always the King's barber. + +"The widow's son came before the King and he swore he would tell no +person what he saw when he shaved his beard and trimmed his hair. Then +he went into the King's Chamber. And when he came out from it the +King's soldiers did not fall upon him and kill him with their swords. +The widow's son went home out of the Castle. + +"His mother cried over him with joy at seeing him back. The next day he +went to work at his trade and his mother watched him and was +contented in her mind. But the day after her son only worked by fits +and starts, and the day after that he did no work at all but sat over +the fire looking into the burning coals. + +"And after that the widow's son became sick and lay on his bed and no +one could tell what was the matter with him. He became more and more +ill and at last his mother thought that he had only escaped the +soldiers' swords to come home and die in his house. And when she +thought of that she said to herself that she would go see the Druid +who lived at the back of the hill and beg him to come to see her son +and strive to cure him. The Druid came and he looked into the eyes of +the young man and he said 'He has a secret upon his mind, and if he +does not tell it he will die.' + +"Then his mother told the Druid that he had sworn not to tell any +person what he saw when he shaved the King's beard and trimmed the +King's hair, and that what he saw was his secret. Said the Druid 'If +he wants to live he will have to speak out his secret. But it need not +be to any person. Let him go to the meeting of two roads, turn with +the sun and tell his secret to the first tree on his right hand. And +when he feels he has told his secret your son will get the better of +his sickness.' + +[Illustration] + +"When this was told to the young man he got up off his bed and he +walked to where two roads met. He turned as the sun turns and he +whispered into the branches of the first tree on his right hand. And +the secret that he whispered was 'King Labraid Lorc has the ears of a +horse.' Then he turned from the tree and he went home. He slept, and +in the morning when he woke he was well and he went to his work and he +was happy and cheerful. + +"But the tree that he whispered his secret to was a willow, and, as you +know, out of the branches of the willow the harp is made. As the +widow's son went away a Harper seeking wood to make a new harp came +that way. He saw the willow and he knew that its branches were just +right for the making of his harp. He cut them and he bent them and he +formed a harp from them. And when the harp was firmly fixed the Harper +came with it to the King's Castle. + +"The King gave a feast so that the first music that came from the harp +should be honored. He made the Harper sit near his own High Chair. +Then, when the feast was at its height he called upon the Harper to +stand up and strike the first music from the new harp. + +"'The first music from the new harp shall be praise of the King,' said +the Harper when he stood up. He drew his fingers across the strings +and all listened for the first music that would come. But the harp +that was made out of the willow branches that the widow's son had +whispered to murmured 'Labraid Lorc has the ears of a horse, Labraid +Lorc has the ears of a horse.' The King started up from his High +Chair. The Harper threw down the harp. Everyone was silent in the +hall. Then one voice was heard saying 'It is true. The King Labraid +Lorc has the ears of a horse.' + +"The King had the man who said it taken by his soldiers and flung from +the top of the Castle. No one else spoke. But the next day when he +rode abroad the King heard the people behind the hedges saying +'Labraid Lorc has the ears of a horse.' + +"After that, whenever he came near them, people went from him, and at +last no one was left in his Castle. And there was no one to take him +over to the fair Islands that Mananaun, Lord of the Sea, had given him +for a possession. And there was no one to bring over the fruits that +grew on the islands nor the cattle and sheep that pastured there. + +"Then the King went to Mananaun, Lord of the Sea, and he offered him +back the keys Mananaun had given him--the silver keys that struck each +other when they were brought together and rang like bells, chiming out +'Labraid Lorc is King, is King of the two Fair Islands.' But no gift +that Mananaun gives is ever taken back and the keys were still left +with Labraid Lorc. Yet he thought he would let the keys go out of his +possession so that the Fair Islands would sink back into the sea. But +that they might not stay at the bottom of the sea for ever he took the +keys and he put them in a pit at the sea-shore and he covered the pit +with a round stone, and knowing that it would be only a lucky person +who would come to that stone, he wrote in Ogham writing on it YOU HAVE +LUCK TO HAVE SEEN THIS SIDE OF THE STONE BUT YOU WILL HAVE MORE LUCK +WHEN YOU SEE THE OTHER SIDE. + +[Illustration: "Ernan is Lord, is Lord of the Fair Islands."] + +"As he left the silver keys there the Fair Islands began to sink in the +water. So slow were they in sinking that the cattle and sheep that +pastured on the islands were taken off in boats and the people who +lived in villages on the Islands came away with all they owned. But at +last the Islands sank altogether out of sight. And after they went +down into the sea King Labraid Lorc was seen no more. + +"And you, O Boy, are the lucky one that the King hid the silver keys +for. When you take them into your hands the Islands will begin to +rise above the water and when they are altogether risen and are called +the Fair Islands again you will be Lord of them. And +Kingfisher-all-Blue, the one we thought had no care but for himself, +brought you to this good fortune." + + * * * * * + +Day after day the Boy Who Knew What the Birds Said went down to the +sea-shore and worked to lift up the round stone that was over the pit +in which King Labraid Lorc had put his silver keys. And one day he was +able to raise up the stone. There lay the great keys, shining in their +silver brightness. He took them up, and when he brought them near each +other they struck together and they rang like bells. "Mananaun" was +the the name they chimed out. And they chimed again "Ernan is Lord, is +Lord of the Fair Islands." + +Looking out to sea, the boy Ernan saw waters rising up as though +whales were spouting fountains. And the next day, when he came to the +sea-shore, he saw that Islands had risen and that they were already +covered with green. + +No longer he listened to what the Birds said but he watched the +Islands every day and he saw trees and grass come upon them. And when +the people came and said "Who can be Lord of these Islands?" he held +up the silver keys and brought them together so that they struck each +other and rang like bells. "Ernan is Lord, Lord of the Fair Islands" +was what they chimed out. Each day the Islands grew fairer in the +sight of the people, and Ernan was called, not "The Boy Who Knew What +the Birds Said," but "Ernan, Lord of the Fair Islands." + +[Illustration] + + +[Illustration: THE END] + +Printed in the United States of America. + + * * * * * + +Transcriber's Notes + +Minor punctuation and capitalization changes have been made for text +consistency. Some illustrations have been moved to avoid breaking up +paragraphs. + +Page 125: Blue Ben has been changed to Blue Hen. + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Boy Who Knew What The Birds Said, by +Padraic Colum + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOY WHO KNEW *** + +***** This file should be named 24493.txt or 24493.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/4/9/24493/ + +Produced by David Edwards, Diane Monico, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net. 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