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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Irish Fairy Tales, by Edmond Leamy
+
+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: Irish Fairy Tales
+
+Author: Edmond Leamy
+
+Illustrator: S. Fazoin
+
+Release Date: July 4, 2009 [EBook #29311]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IRISH FAIRY TALES ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Edwards, Dan Horwood and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Internet Archive)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+IRISH FAIRY TALES
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: IRISH
+FAIRY TALES
+
+BY
+EDMUND.
+LEAMY.
+
+Pictured by.
+S.W. Fazain.
+
+M.A. GILL & SON. LTD
+PUBLISHERS
+DUBLIN. 1906]
+
+
+
+
+M. H. Gill & Son, Ltd.,
+Dublin.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+                                                        PAGE
+  PREFACE,                                               vii
+  NOTE,                                                   xi
+  Princess Finola and the Dwarf,                           1
+  The House in the Lake,                                  19
+  The Little White Cat,                                   41
+  The Golden Spears,                                      63
+  The Fairy Tree of Dooros,                               82
+  The Enchanted Cave,                                    101
+  The Huntsman's Son,                                    124
+  Notes,                                                 145
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+The author of the tales contained in this volume was one of the
+brightest and most poetic spirits who have appeared in Ireland in the
+last half century. It is needless to say that he was also one of the
+most patriotic Irishmen of his generation--patriotic in the highest
+and widest sense of that term, loving with an ardent love his country,
+its people, its historic traditions, its hills and plains, its lakes
+and streams, its raths and mounds. Like all men of his type, he lived
+largely in the past, and his fancy revelled much in fairy scenes of
+childhood and youth.
+
+The distractions of political life, into which he entered with
+characteristic enthusiasm, prevented Edmund Leamy from cultivating his
+favourite field of literature with that assiduity and sustained
+application necessary for the purpose of bringing out the really
+great intellectual powers with which he was endowed; otherwise, he
+would certainly have left to Ireland a large body of literature which
+would have been the delight of old and young. But in this volume he
+has given at least an indication of what he was capable of doing
+towards that end. No one can read these pages without feeling the
+charm of a fine and delicate fancy, a rare power of poetic expression,
+and a genuinely Irish instinct; without feeling also an intense regret
+that the mind and heart from which they proceeded were stilled in
+death long before the powers of his genius could have been exhausted.
+
+To myself, as one of the most intimate friends of Edmund Leamy, it is
+a melancholy pleasure to have the privilege of writing these few words
+of introduction to a volume which, for the purpose of preserving his
+memory amongst his countrymen, needs no introduction at all. The
+claims of a long friendship, the knowledge of as stainless a life as
+has ever been lived, and admiration for moral and intellectual
+endowments of the rarest character, render it easy to praise. But I do
+not think that I indulge in undue expectation in predicting that the
+new audience to which this volume will come will rise from its perusal
+with something of the feelings of love, admiration, and regret which
+those who knew Edmund Leamy personally will ever cherish in their
+hearts.
+
+                                                J. E. REDMOND.
+
+  DUBLIN, _June 2nd, 1906_.
+
+
+
+
+NOTE.
+
+
+When the friends of the late Edmund Leamy were considering ways of
+honouring his memory they agreed that one way should be to republish
+this little book of Irish fairy tales. They knew that nothing would
+have been more grateful to himself, and that, in a manner, it would be
+an act of justice to his remarkable gifts. It would introduce a
+characteristic specimen of Leamy's work to a race of readers who have
+appeared since it was written and who ought to be in a mood more
+appreciative of such literature than the mood which prevailed in that
+day. For the book has long been out of print. These "Irish Fairy
+Tales" were written, and printed on Irish paper, and published through
+an Irish publisher--Leamy would not bring out a book in any other
+way--before the Celtic renaissance had arrived. This is one of the
+facts which make them interesting. Perhaps, as some would tell us,
+seventeen years ago was a benighted time; at any rate we must admit it
+was rather dark from an Irish literary, or even "Irish Ireland,"
+point of view. It was before the Gaelic movement, and before we had
+such things as "intellectuals" and the "economic man," or even the
+Irish Literary Theatre. Leamy's gentle and loyal soul could have taken
+no influence from the asperity of some of the intervening ferment,
+"Parliamentarian" though he was. Had the impulse to write this volume
+come to him in this later period he would only have drawn from the
+time the nourishment which the atmosphere of sympathy always brings to
+the artist. But the impulse came to him before this period, in an
+atmosphere which held little that could nourish the sentiment so
+abundant among us to-day. O'Curry's and Dr. Joyce's books were almost
+the only sources of Gaelic inspiration open to a writer who was not a
+professed student. Douglas Hyde, though always at work, had not yet
+brought the fruits of his researches to light; Miss Eleanor Hull had
+not collected into a handy volume the materials of "The Cuchullin
+Saga"; Kuno Meyer we did not know; Standish O'Grady, though he had
+published his "Heroic Period," had not yet begun popularising the
+bardic tales in such volumes as "Finn and his Companions." No one was
+reading anything about Ireland but political matter. I think one may
+fairly claim some respect from this later day for a writer who
+seventeen years ago, of his own motion, with scarce a word of
+encouragement save from his wife and a friend or two--perhaps only one
+friend--turned to our Gaelic past and strove to give to Irish children
+something which would implant in them a love for the beauty and
+dignity of their country's traditions.
+
+The modest author would never have claimed for these little tales the
+interest which I think they deserve. He wrote them for children, for
+he loved children, and one can detect the presence of the child
+listener at nearly every line. He was not thinking of a literary
+audience; the child at his knee was enough. This is why we hear
+(occasionally) a certain _naive_ accent which will not, perhaps,
+please the contemporary critic; but (as there are many who again find
+pleasure in early Victorian furniture) it may please others; I confess
+it pleases me. And the absence of literary self-consciousness is
+itself pleasant; indeed, much of the charm of these stories is the
+charm of their unpremeditated art. But, though he did not write for
+the critics, Leamy was in spite of himself a man of letters. He was so
+genuinely an artist that he could not do the thing ill. Any one of
+these stories will prove his capacity: the first, for instance, about
+that princess on the "bare, brown, lonely moor" who was "as sweet and
+as fresh as an opening rosebud, and her voice was as musical as the
+whisper of a stream in the woods in the hot days of summer." There is
+not a flaw in it. It is so filled with simple beauty and tenderness,
+and there is so much of the genuine word-magic in its language, that
+one is carried away as by the spell of natural oratory. It has, too,
+that intimate sympathy with nature which is another racial note in
+these stories. The enchanted moor, with its silence, where no sound is
+heard--the wind which shouted beyond the mountains, "when it sped
+across the moor it lost its voice, and passed as silently as the
+dead"--is affected by the fortune of the tale equally with its human
+and its elfin personages. When the knight arrives at last, "wherever
+his horse's hoofs struck the ground, grass and flowers sprang up, and
+great trees with leafy branches rose on every side.... As they rode on
+beneath the leafy trees from every tree the birds sang out, for the
+spell of silence over the lonely moor was broken for ever." This
+unpretentious story, a child's story, is as engaging as a gem. And so,
+I think, are most of the others. One more example to illustrate the
+quality of Leamy's style--say, the description of the contest of the
+bards before the High King at the Feis of Tara in the story called
+"The Huntsman's Son." The King gives the signal, the chief bard of
+Erin ascends the mound in front of the royal enclosure, and is greeted
+with a roar of cheers; but at the first note of his harp there is
+silence like that of night.
+
+    "As he moved his fingers softly over the strings every heart
+    was hushed, filled with a sense of balmy rest. The lark,
+    soaring and singing above his head, paused mute and motionless
+    in the still air, and no sound was heard over the spacious
+    plain save the dreamy music. Then the bard struck another key,
+    and a gentle sorrow possessed the hearts of his hearers, and
+    unbidden tears gathered to their eyes. Then, with bolder hand,
+    he swept his fingers across his lyre, and all hearts were
+    moved to joy and pleasant laughter, and eyes that had been
+    dimmed by tears sparkled as brightly as running waters dancing
+    in the sun. When the last notes had died away a cheer arose,
+    loud as the voice of the storm in the glen when the live
+    thunder is revelling on the mountain tops."
+
+As soon as the bard descends the mound the Skald from the northern
+lands takes his place, amid shouts of welcome.
+
+    "He touched his harp, and in the perfect silence was heard the
+    strains of the mermaid's song, and through it the pleasant
+    ripple of summer waters on the pebbly beach. Then the theme
+    was changed, and on the air was borne the measured sweep of
+    countless oars and the swish of waters around the prows of
+    contending galleys, and the breezy voices of the sailors and
+    the sea-bird's cry. Then his theme was changed to the mirth
+    and laughter of the banquet hall, the clang of meeting
+    drinking-horns and songs of battle. When the last strain
+    ended, from the mighty host a great shout went up loud as the
+    roar of winter billows breaking in the hollows of the shore."
+
+Then comes the hero of the tale, Fergus, the huntsman's son.
+
+    "He touched his harp with gentle fingers, and a sound, low and
+    soft as a faint summer breeze passing through forest trees,
+    stole out, and then was heard the rustle of birds through the
+    branches, and the dreamy murmur of waters lost in deepest
+    woods, and all the fairy echoes whispering when the leaves are
+    motionless in the noonday heat; then followed notes, cool and
+    soft as the drip of summer showers on the parched grass, and
+    then the song of the blackbird sounding as clearly as it
+    sounds in long silent spaces of the evening, and then in one
+    sweet jocund burst the multitudinous voices that hail the
+    breaking of the morn. And the lark, singing and soaring above
+    the minstrel, sank mute and motionless upon his shoulder, and
+    from all the leafy woods the birds came thronging out and
+    formed a fluttering canopy above his head.
+
+    "When the bard ceased playing no shout arose from the mighty
+    multitude, for the strains of his harp, long after its chords
+    were stilled, held their hearts spell-bound."
+
+This passage reveals the poetry of the author's style, and it shows
+how charged it is with qualities that are peculiar to the Celtic
+temperament: a style in which expressions like "the song of the
+blackbird sounding as clearly as it sounds in long silent spaces of
+the evening," or "she answered his salute by a wave of her little
+hand, that was as white as a wild rose in the hedges in June," spring
+up naturally, like daisies in the grass, at every turn. I have said
+enough, too, to indicate the type of Celtic temperament to which
+Leamy's belonged. His habitual mood was the exquisitely sensitive, the
+tender, playful, reverent mood. He was, in this, the antithesis of the
+"cloudy and lightning" Standish O'Grady, whose temperament, equally
+Gaelic, is that of the fighting bard, delighting in battle, fierce,
+fuliginous, aristocratic, pagan, with the roll of Homeric hexameters
+in his martial style. If O'Grady recalls the Oisin who contended with
+Patrick and longed to be slaying with the Fianna, even though they
+were in hell, Leamy, _anima naturaliter Christiana_, reminds one
+rather of the Irish monk in a distant land moved to write lyrics in
+his missal by the song of the bird that makes him think of Erin, or
+Marban, the hermit, rejoicing to his brother, the king, in his
+"sheiling in the wood," his
+
+    "Tree of apples like a hostel vast, ...
+    The music of the bright red-breasted men, ...
+    Swarms of bees and chafers, the little musicians of the world,
+    A gentle chorus."
+
+It may not be amiss, in concluding this note, to add a word about
+the author other than as he appears in this book. These stories
+exhibit only one aspect of his gifts. They happen to be one of the
+things he wrote down. Most of the coinage of his mind, and I think
+the best of it, came forth in a form which does not permit of its
+being recalled, the form of the spoken and unrecorded word. He was by
+nature an improvisor. In the inclusive sense of the term, the sense
+which includes poetry, story-telling, description as well as pleading
+and exhortation, he was a born orator; and he was at his best when
+in the glow of pure improvisation. It thus happened that it was
+often a group of friends around a fireside, or a casual audience, who
+were the witnesses of the most brilliant play of his genius. He had
+a most observant and seeing eye. A walk in the street was fraught
+with surprise, and he would come back delighted with his adventures.
+Every little common incident--three little boys with their backs
+to a wall looking up at a church tower: he would catch snatches of
+their talk, speculations about deep things and strange; he would
+note that an old Irish apple-woman in a grimy English town left her
+basket, with all her stock-in-trade, outside in the street while
+she went into a church to commune with her heavenly friends; the
+conversation between a sapient publican, a friendly constable and
+a group of dubious _bona fide_ travellers--such things were materials
+for his insight or his fancy or his delightful humour. Often when he
+returned in the evening full of his day's observations one wished
+there had been a shorthand-writer present to take down what fell
+from his lips. And just as it fell it would have been literature. He
+was urged to write these things. But Leamy had not readily the will
+or the power to compel his spirit when the favoured moment had
+passed. He was mostly passive, like an AEolian harp, under the
+visitation. Ill-health, too, extreme and distressing, burdened
+him. He bore his trials cheerfully, and strove manfully to write,
+especially in his later days when the power and the will seemed to
+come to him just as illness tightened its hold. But he was sustained
+by the most precious of blessings--a wife with a brave and bright
+soul, who appreciated him, and had a heart as romantic as his own.
+Their love, indeed, was an idyll, untouched by a shadow, through
+illness and pain and hardship, to the hour of his death.
+
+One ventures to wish that this little book may make his kindly Irish
+spirit friends among a wider circle, and especially amongst the
+children.
+
+                                                      T. P. G.
+
+
+
+
+FAIRY TALES.
+
+
+
+
+PRINCESS FINOLA AND THE DWARF.
+
+
+A long, long time ago there lived in a little hut in the midst of a
+bare, brown, lonely moor an old woman and a young girl. The old woman
+was withered, sour-tempered, and dumb. The young girl was as sweet and
+as fresh as an opening rosebud, and her voice was as musical as the
+whisper of a stream in the woods in the hot days of summer. The little
+hut, made of branches woven closely together, was shaped like a
+beehive. In the centre of the hut a fire burned night and day from
+year's end to year's end, though it was never touched or tended by
+human hand. In the cold days and nights of winter it gave out light
+and heat that made the hut cosy and warm, but in the summer nights and
+days it gave out light only. With their heads to the wall of the hut
+and their feet towards the fire were two sleeping-couches--one of
+plain woodwork, in which slept the old woman; the other was Finola's.
+It was of bog-oak, polished as a looking-glass, and on it were carved
+flowers and birds of all kinds, that gleamed and shone in the light
+of the fire. This couch was fit for a princess, and a princess Finola
+was, though she did not know it herself.
+
+Outside the hut the bare, brown, lonely moor stretched for miles on
+every side, but towards the east it was bounded by a range of
+mountains that looked to Finola blue in the daytime, but which put on
+a hundred changing colours as the sun went down. Nowhere was a house
+to be seen, nor a tree, nor a flower, nor sign of any living thing.
+From morning till night, nor hum of bee, nor song of bird, nor voice
+of man, nor any sound fell on Finola's ear. When the storm was in the
+air the great waves thundered on the shore beyond the mountains, and
+the wind shouted in the glens; but when it sped across the moor it
+lost its voice, and passed as silently as the dead. At first the
+silence frightened Finola, but she got used to it after a time, and
+often broke it by talking to herself and singing.
+
+The only other person beside the old woman Finola ever saw was a dumb
+dwarf who, mounted on a broken-down horse, came once a month to the
+hut, bringing with him a sack of corn for the old woman and Finola.
+Although he couldn't speak to her, Finola was always glad to see the
+dwarf and his old horse, and she used to give them cake made with
+her own white hands. As for the dwarf he would have died for the
+little princess, he was so much in love with her, and often and often
+his heart was heavy and sad as he thought of her pining away in the
+lonely moor.
+
+It chanced that he came one day, and she did not, as usual, come out
+to greet him. He made signs to the old woman, but she took up a stick
+and struck him, and beat his horse and drove him away; but as he was
+leaving he caught a glimpse of Finola at the door of the hut, and saw
+that she was crying. This sight made him so very miserable that he
+could think of nothing else but her sad face that he had always seen
+so bright, and he allowed the old horse to go on without minding where
+he was going. Suddenly he heard a voice saying: "It is time for you to
+come."
+
+The dwarf looked, and right before him, at the foot of a green hill,
+was a little man not half as big as himself, dressed in a green jacket
+with brass buttons, and a red cap and tassel.
+
+"It is time for you to come," he said the second time; "but you are
+welcome, anyhow. Get off your horse and come in with me, that I may
+touch your lips with the wand of speech, that we may have a talk
+together."
+
+The dwarf got off his horse and followed the little man through a hole
+in the side of a green hill. The hole was so small that he had to go
+on his hands and knees to pass through it, and when he was able to
+stand he was only the same height as the little fairyman. After
+walking three or four steps they were in a splendid room, as bright as
+day. Diamonds sparkled in the roof as stars sparkle in the sky when
+the night is without a cloud. The roof rested on golden pillars, and
+between the pillars were silver lamps, but their light was dimmed by
+that of the diamonds. In the middle of the room was a table, on which
+were two golden plates and two silver knives and forks, and a brass
+bell as big as a hazelnut, and beside the table were two little chairs
+covered with blue silk and satin.
+
+[Illustration: "The dwarf followed the little man through a hole in the
+side of a green hill"--p. 3.]
+
+"Take a chair," said the fairy, "and I will ring for the wand of
+speech."
+
+The dwarf sat down, and the fairyman rang the little brass bell, and
+in came a little weeny dwarf no bigger than your hand.
+
+"Bring me the wand of speech," said the fairy, and the weeny dwarf
+bowed three times and walked out backwards, and in a minute he
+returned, carrying a little black wand with a red berry at the top of
+it, and, giving it to the fairy, he bowed three times and walked out
+backwards as he had done before.
+
+The little man waved the rod three times over the dwarf, and struck
+him once on the right shoulder and once on the left shoulder, and
+then touched his lips with the red berry, and said: "Speak!"
+
+The dwarf spoke, and he was so rejoiced at hearing the sound of his
+own voice that he danced about the room.
+
+"Who are you at all, at all?" said he to the fairy.
+
+"Who is yourself?" said the fairy. "But come, before we have any talk
+let us have something to eat, for I am sure you are hungry."
+
+Then they sat down to table, and the fairy rang the little brass bell
+twice, and the weeny dwarf brought in two boiled snails in their
+shells, and when they had eaten the snails he brought in a dormouse,
+and when they had eaten the dormouse he brought in two wrens, and when
+they had eaten the wrens he brought in two nuts full of wine, and they
+became very merry, and the fairyman sang "Cooleen dhas," and the dwarf
+sang "The little blackbird of the glen."
+
+"Did you ever hear the 'Foggy Dew?'" said the fairy.
+
+"No," said the dwarf.
+
+"Well, then, I'll give it to you; but we must have some more wine."
+
+And the wine was brought, and he sang the "Foggy Dew," and the dwarf
+said it was the sweetest song he had ever heard, and that the
+fairyman's voice would coax the birds off the bushes.
+
+"You asked me who I am?" said the fairy.
+
+"I did," said the dwarf.
+
+"And I asked you who is yourself?"
+
+"You did," said the dwarf.
+
+"And who are you, then?"
+
+"Well, to tell the truth, I don't know," said the dwarf, and he
+blushed like a rose.
+
+"Well, tell me what you know about yourself."
+
+"I remember nothing at all," said the dwarf, "before the day I found
+myself going along with a crowd of all sorts of people to the great
+fair of the Liffey. We had to pass by the king's palace on our way,
+and as we were passing the king sent for a band of jugglers to come
+and show their tricks before him. I followed the jugglers to look on,
+and when the play was over the king called me to him, and asked me who
+I was and where I came from. I was dumb then, and couldn't answer; but
+even if I could speak I could not tell him what he wanted to know, for
+I remember nothing of myself before that day. Then the king asked the
+jugglers, but they knew nothing about me, and no one knew anything,
+and then the king said he would take me into his service; and the only
+work I have to do is to go once a month with a bag of corn to the hut
+in the lonely moor."
+
+"And there you fell in love with the little princess," said the fairy,
+winking at the dwarf.
+
+The poor dwarf blushed twice as much as he had done before.
+
+"You need not blush," said the fairy; "it is a good man's case. And
+now tell me, truly, do you love the princess, and what would you give
+to free her from the spell of enchantment that is over her?"
+
+"I would give my life," said the dwarf.
+
+"Well, then, listen to me," said the fairy. "The Princess Finola was
+banished to the lonely moor by the king, your master. He killed her
+father, who was the rightful king, and would have killed Finola, only
+he was told by an old sorceress that if he killed her he would die
+himself on the same day, and she advised him to banish her to the
+lonely moor, and she said she would fling a spell of enchantment over
+it, and that until the spell was broken Finola could not leave the
+moor. And the sorceress also promised that she would send an old woman
+to watch over the princess by night and by day, so that no harm should
+come to her; but she told the king that he himself should select a
+messenger to take food to the hut, and that he should look out for
+some one who had never seen or heard of the princess, and whom he
+could trust never to tell anyone anything about her; and that is the
+reason he selected you."
+
+"Since you know so much," said the dwarf, "can you tell me who I am,
+and where I came from?"
+
+"You will know that time enough," said the fairy. "I have given you
+back your speech. It will depend solely on yourself whether you will
+get back your memory of who and what you were before the day you
+entered the king's service. But are you really willing to try and
+break the spell of enchantment and free the princess?"
+
+"I am," said the dwarf.
+
+"Whatever it will cost you?"
+
+"Yes, if it cost me my life," said the dwarf; "but tell me, how can
+the spell be broken?"
+
+"Oh, it is easy enough to break the spell if you have the weapons,"
+said the fairy.
+
+"And what are they, and where are they?" said the dwarf.
+
+"The spear of the shining haft and the dark blue blade and the silver
+shield," said the fairy. "They are on the farther bank of the Mystic
+Lake in the Island of the Western Seas. They are there for the man who
+is bold enough to seek them. If you are the man who will bring them
+back to the lonely moor you will only have to strike the shield three
+times with the haft, and three times with the blade of the spear, and
+the silence of the moor will be broken for ever, the spell of
+enchantment will be removed, and the princess will be free."
+
+"I will set out at once," said the dwarf, jumping from his chair.
+
+"And whatever it cost you," said the fairy, "will you pay the price?"
+
+"I will," said the dwarf.
+
+"Well, then, mount your horse, give him his head, and he will take you
+to the shore opposite the Island of the Mystic Lake. You must cross to
+the island on his back, and make your way through the water-steeds
+that swim around the island night and day to guard it; but woe betide
+you if you attempt to cross without paying the price, for if you do
+the angry water-steeds will rend you and your horse to pieces. And
+when you come to the Mystic Lake you must wait until the waters are as
+red as wine, and then swim your horse across it, and on the farther
+side you will find the spear and shield; but woe betide you if you
+attempt to cross the lake before you pay the price, for if you do, the
+black Cormorants of the Western Seas will pick the flesh from your
+bones."
+
+"What is the price?" said the dwarf.
+
+"You will know that time enough," said the fairy; "but now go, and
+good luck go with you."
+
+The dwarf thanked the fairy, and said good-bye! He then threw the
+reins on his horse's neck, and started up the hill, that seemed to
+grow bigger and bigger as he ascended, and the dwarf soon found that
+what he took for a hill was a great mountain. After travelling all the
+day, toiling up by steep crags and heathery passes, he reached the top
+as the sun was setting in the ocean, and he saw far below him out in
+the waters the island of the Mystic Lake.
+
+He began his descent to the shore, but long before he reached it the
+sun had set, and darkness, unpierced by a single star, dropped upon
+the sea. The old horse, worn out by his long and painful journey, sank
+beneath him, and the dwarf was so tired that he rolled off his back
+and fell asleep by his side.
+
+He awoke at the breaking of the morning, and saw that he was almost at
+the water's edge. He looked out to sea, and saw the island, but
+nowhere could he see the water-steeds, and he began to fear he must
+have taken a wrong course in the night, and that the island before him
+was not the one he was in search of. But even while he was so thinking
+he heard fierce and angry snortings, and, coming swiftly from the
+island to the shore, he saw the swimming and prancing steeds.
+Sometimes their heads and manes only were visible, and sometimes,
+rearing, they rose half out of the water, and, striking it with their
+hoofs, churned it into foam, and tossed the white spray to the skies.
+As they approached nearer and nearer their snortings became more
+terrible, and their nostrils shot forth clouds of vapour. The dwarf
+trembled at the sight and sound, and his old horse, quivering in every
+limb, moaned piteously, as if in pain. On came the steeds, until they
+almost touched the shore, then rearing, they seemed about to spring on
+to it. The frightened dwarf turned his head to fly, and as he did so
+he heard the twang of a golden harp, and right before him who should
+he see but the little man of the hills, holding a harp in one hand and
+striking the strings with the other.
+
+"Are you ready to pay the price?" said he, nodding gaily to the
+dwarf.
+
+As he asked the question, the listening water-steeds snorted more
+furiously than ever.
+
+"Are you ready to pay the price?" said the little man a second time.
+
+A shower of spray, tossed on shore by the angry steeds, drenched the
+dwarf to the skin, and sent a cold shiver to his bones, and he was so
+terrified that he could not answer.
+
+"For the third and last time, are you ready to pay the price?" asked
+the fairy, as he flung the harp behind him and turned to depart.
+
+When the dwarf saw him going he thought of the little princess in the
+lonely moor, and his courage came back, and he answered bravely:
+
+"Yes, I am ready."
+
+The water-steeds, hearing his answer, and snorting with rage, struck
+the shore with their pounding hoofs.
+
+"Back to your waves!" cried the little harper; and as he ran his
+fingers across his lyre, the frightened steeds drew back into the
+waters.
+
+"What is the price?" asked the dwarf.
+
+"Your right eye," said the fairy; and before the dwarf could say a
+word, the fairy scooped out the eye with his finger, and put it into
+his pocket.
+
+The dwarf suffered most terrible agony; but he resolved to bear it for
+the sake of the little princess. Then the fairy sat down on a rock at
+the edge of the sea, and, after striking a few notes, he began to play
+the "Strains of Slumber."
+
+The sound crept along the waters, and the steeds, so ferocious a
+moment before, became perfectly still. They had no longer any motion
+of their own, and they floated on the top of the tide like foam before
+a breeze.
+
+"Now," said the fairy, as he led the dwarf's horse to the edge of the
+tide.
+
+The dwarf urged the horse into the water, and once out of his depth,
+the old horse struck out boldly for the island. The sleeping
+water-steeds drifted helplessly against him, and in a short time he
+reached the island safely, and he neighed joyously as his hoofs
+touched solid ground.
+
+The dwarf rode on and on, until he came to a bridle-path, and
+following this, it led him up through winding lanes, bordered with
+golden furze that filled the air with fragrance, and brought him to
+the summit of the green hills that girdled and looked down on the
+Mystic Lake. Here the horse stopped of his own accord, and the dwarf's
+heart beat quickly as his eye rested on the lake, that, clipped round
+by the ring of hills, seemed in the breezeless and sunlit air--
+
+                    "As still as death,
+                    And as bright as life can be."
+
+After gazing at it for a long time, he dismounted, and lay at his ease
+in the pleasant grass. Hour after hour passed, but no change came over
+the face of the waters, and when the night fell sleep closed the
+eyelids of the dwarf.
+
+The song of the lark awoke him in the early morning, and, starting up,
+he looked at the lake, but its waters were as bright as they had been
+the day before.
+
+Towards midday he beheld what he thought was a black cloud sailing
+across the sky from east to west. It seemed to grow larger as it came
+nearer and nearer, and when it was high above the lake he saw it was a
+huge bird, the shadow of whose outstretched wings darkened the waters
+of the lake; and the dwarf knew it was one of the Cormorants of the
+Western Seas. As it descended slowly, he saw that it held in one of
+its claws a branch of a tree larger than a full-grown oak, and laden
+with clusters of ripe red berries. It alighted at some distance from
+the dwarf, and, after resting for a time, it began to eat the berries
+and to throw the stones into the lake, and wherever a stone fell a
+bright red stain appeared in the water. As he looked more closely at
+the bird the dwarf saw that it had all the signs of old age, and he
+could not help wondering how it was able to carry such a heavy tree.
+
+Later in the day, two other birds, as large as the first, but younger,
+came up from the west and settled down beside him. They also ate the
+berries, and throwing the stones into the lake it was soon as red as
+wine.
+
+When they had eaten all the berries, the young birds began to pick the
+decayed feathers off the old bird and to smooth his plumage. As soon
+as they had completed their task, he rose slowly from the hill and
+sailed out over the lake, and dropping down on the waters, dived
+beneath them. In a moment he came to the surface, and shot up into the
+air with a joyous cry, and flew off to the west in all the vigour of
+renewed youth, followed by the other birds.
+
+When they had gone so far that they were like specks in the sky, the
+dwarf mounted his horse and descended towards the lake.
+
+He was almost at the margin, and in another minute would have plunged
+in, when he heard a fierce screaming in the air, and before he had
+time to look up, the three birds were hovering over the lake.
+
+The dwarf drew back frightened.
+
+The birds wheeled over his head, and then, swooping down, they flew
+close to the water, covering it with their wings, and uttering harsh
+cries.
+
+Then, rising to a great height, they folded their wings and dropped
+headlong, like three rocks, on the lake, crashing its surface, and
+scattering a wine-red shower upon the hills.[1]
+
+Then the dwarf remembered what the fairy told him, that if he
+attempted to swim the lake, without paying the price, the three
+Cormorants of the Western Seas would pick the flesh off his bones. He
+knew not what to do, and was about to turn away, when he heard once
+more the twang of the golden harp, and the little fairy of the hills
+stood before him.
+
+"Faint heart never won fair lady," said the little harper. "Are you
+ready to pay the price? The spear and shield are on the opposite
+bank, and the Princess Finola is crying this moment in the lonely
+moor."
+
+At the mention of Finola's name the dwarf's heart grew strong.
+
+"Yes," he said; "I am ready--win or die. What is the price?"
+
+"Your left eye," said the fairy. And as soon as said he scooped out
+the eye, and put it in his pocket.
+
+The poor blind dwarf almost fainted with pain.
+
+"It's your last trial," said the fairy, "and now do what I tell you.
+Twist your horse's mane round your right hand, and I will lead him to
+the water. Plunge in, and fear not. I gave you back your speech. When
+you reach the opposite bank you will get back your memory, and you
+will know who and what you are."
+
+Then the fairy led the horse to the margin of the lake.
+
+"In with you now, and good luck go with you," said the fairy.
+
+The dwarf urged the horse. He plunged into the lake, and went down and
+down until his feet struck the bottom. Then he began to ascend, and as
+he came near the surface of the water the dwarf thought he saw a
+glimmering light, and when he rose above the water he saw the bright
+sun shining and the green hills before him, and he shouted with joy
+at finding his sight restored.
+
+But he saw more. Instead of the old horse he had ridden into the lake
+he was bestride a noble steed, and as the steed swam to the bank the
+dwarf felt a change coming over himself, and an unknown vigour in his
+limbs.
+
+When the steed touched the shore he galloped up the hillside, and on
+the top of the hill was a silver shield, bright as the sun, resting
+against a spear standing upright in the ground.
+
+The dwarf jumped off, and, running towards the shield, he saw himself
+as in a looking-glass.
+
+He was no longer a dwarf, but a gallant knight. At that moment his
+memory came back to him, and he knew he was Conal, one of the Knights
+of the Red Branch, and he remembered now that the spell of dumbness
+and deformity had been cast upon him by the Witch of the Palace of the
+Quicken Trees.
+
+Slinging his shield upon his left arm, he plucked the spear from the
+ground and leaped on to his horse. With a light heart he swam back
+over the lake, and nowhere could he see the black Cormorants of the
+Western Seas, but three white swans floating abreast followed him to
+the bank. When he reached the bank he galloped down to the sea, and
+crossed to the shore.
+
+Then he flung the reins upon his horse's neck, and swifter than the
+wind the gallant horse swept on and on, and it was not long until he
+was bounding over the enchanted moor. Wherever his hoofs struck the
+ground, grass and flowers sprang up, and great trees with leafy
+branches rose on every side.
+
+At last the knight reached the little hut. Three times he struck the
+shield with the haft and three times with the blade of his spear. At
+the last blow the hut disappeared, and standing before him was the
+little princess.
+
+The knight took her in his arms and kissed her; then he lifted her on
+to the horse, and, leaping up before her, he turned towards the north,
+to the palace of the Red Branch Knights, and as they rode on beneath
+the leafy trees from every tree the birds sang out, for the spell of
+silence over the lonely moor was broken for ever.
+
+
+
+
+THE HOUSE IN THE LAKE.[2]
+
+
+A long, long time ago there lived in a little hut, in the midst of one
+of the inland lakes of Erin, an old fisherman and his son. The hut was
+built on stakes driven into the bed of the lake, and was so high above
+the waters that even when they were stirred into waves by the wind
+coming down from the mountains they did not reach the threshold of the
+door. Around, outside the hut, on a level with the floor, was a little
+wicker-work platform, and under the platform, close to the steps
+leading up to it from the water, the fisherman's curragh, made of
+willows, covered with skins, was moored, and it was only by means of
+the curragh that he and his son, Enda, could leave their lake
+dwelling.
+
+On many a summer evening Enda lay stretched on the platform, watching
+the sunset fading from the mountain-tops, and the twilight creeping
+over the waters of the lake, and it chanced that once when he was so
+engaged he heard a rustle in a clump of sedge that grew close to one
+side of the hut. He turned to where the sound came from, and what
+should he see but an otter swimming towards him, with a little trout
+in his mouth. When the otter came up to where Enda was lying, he
+lifted his head and half his body from the water, and flung the trout
+on the platform, almost at Enda's feet, and then disappeared.
+
+Enda took the little panting trout in his hand; but as he did so he
+heard, quite close to him, in the lake, a sound like that of water
+plashing upon water, and he saw the widening circles caused by a trout
+which had just risen to a fly; and he said to the little trout he held
+in his hand:
+
+"I won't keep you, poor thing! Perhaps that was a little comrade come
+to look for you, and so I'll send you back to him."
+
+And saying this, he dropped the little trout into the lake.
+
+Well, when the next evening came, again Enda was lying stretched
+outside the hut, and once more he heard the rustle in the sedge, and
+once more the otter came and flung the little trout almost into his
+hands.
+
+Enda, more surprised than ever, did not know what to do. He saw that
+it was the same little trout the otter had brought him the night
+before, and he said:
+
+"Well, I gave you a chance last night. I'll give you another, if only
+to see what will come of it."
+
+And he dropped the trout into the lake; but no sooner had it touched
+the waters than it was changed into a beautiful, milk-white swan. And
+Enda could hardly believe his eyes, as he saw it sailing across the
+lake, until it was lost in the sedges growing by the shore.
+
+All that night he lay awake, thinking of what he had seen, and as soon
+as the morning stood on the hill-tops, and cast its shafts of golden
+light across the lake, Enda rose and got into his curragh.
+
+He rowed all round the shores, beating the sedges with his oar, in
+pursuit of the swan; but all in vain; he could not catch a glimpse of
+her white plumage anywhere. Day after day he rowed about the lake in
+search of her, and every evening he lay outside the hut watching the
+waters. At long last, one night, when the full moon, rising above the
+mountains, flooded the whole lake with light, he saw the swan coming
+swiftly towards him, shining brighter than the moonbeams. The swan
+came on until it was almost within a boat's length of the hut; and
+what should Enda hear but the swan speaking to him in his own
+language:
+
+"Get into your curragh, Enda, and follow me," said she, and, saying
+this, she turned round and sailed away.
+
+Enda jumped into the curragh, and soon the water, dripping from his
+oar, was flashing like diamonds in the moonlight. And he rowed after
+the swan, who glided on before him, until she came to where the
+shadows of the mountains lay deepest on the lake. Then the swan
+rested, and when Enda came up to her:
+
+"Enda," said she, "I have brought you where none may hear what I wish
+to say to you. I am Mave, the daughter of the king of Erin. By the
+magic arts of my cruel stepmother I was changed into a trout, and cast
+into this lake a year and a day before the evening when you restored
+me to the waters the second time. If you had not done so the first
+night the otter brought me to you I should have been changed into a
+hooting owl; if you had not done so the second night, I should have
+been changed into a croaking raven. But, thanks to you, Enda, I am now
+a snow-white swan, and for one hour on the first night of every full
+moon the power of speech is and will be given to me as long as I
+remain a swan. And a swan I must always remain, unless you are willing
+to break the spell of enchantment that is over me; and you alone can
+break it."
+
+"I'll do anything I can for you. O princess!" said Enda. "But how can
+I break the spell?"
+
+"You can do so," said the swan, "only by pouring upon my plumage the
+perfumed water that fills the golden bowl that is in the inmost room
+of the palace of the fairy queen, beneath the lake."
+
+"And how can I get that?" said Enda.
+
+"Well," said the swan, "you must dive beneath the lake, and walk along
+its bed, until you come to where the lake dragon guards the entrance
+of the fairy queen's dominions."
+
+"I can dive like a fish," said Enda; "but how can I walk beneath the
+waters?"
+
+"You can do it easily enough," said the swan, "if you get the
+water-dress of Brian, one of the three sons of Turenn, and his helmet
+of transparent crystal, by the aid of which he was able to walk under
+the green salt sea."[3]
+
+"And where shall I find them?"
+
+"They are in the water-palace of Angus of the Boyne," said the swan;
+"but you should set out at once, for if the spell be not broken before
+the moon is full again, it cannot be broken for a year and a day."
+
+"I'll set out in the first ray of the morning," said Enda.
+
+"May luck and joy go with you," said the swan. "And now the hours of
+silence are coming upon me, and I have only time to warn you that
+dangers you little dream of will lie before you in your quest for the
+golden cup."
+
+"I am willing to face all dangers for your sake, O princess," said
+Enda.
+
+"Blessings be upon you, Enda," said the swan, and she sailed away from
+the shadow out into the light across the lake to the sedgy banks. And
+Enda saw her no more.
+
+He rowed his curragh home, and he lay on his bed without taking off
+his clothes. And as the first faint glimmer of the morning came
+slanting down the mountains, he stepped into his curragh and pulled
+across the lake, and took the road towards the water-palace of Angus
+of the Boyne.
+
+When he reached the banks of the glancing river a little woman,
+dressed in red, was standing there before him.
+
+"You are welcome, Enda," said she. "And glad am I to see the day that
+brings you here to help the winsome Princess Mave. And now wait a
+second, and the water-dress and crystal helmet will be ready for
+you."
+
+And, having said this, the little woman plucked a handful of wild
+grasses, and she breathed upon them three times and then flung them on
+the river, and a dozen fairy nymphs came springing up through the
+water, bearing the water-dress and crystal helmet and a shining spear.
+And they laid them down upon the bank at Enda's feet, and then
+disappeared.
+
+"Now, Enda," said the fairy woman, "take these; by the aid of the
+dress and the helmet you can walk beneath the waters. You will need
+the spear to enable you to meet the dangers that lie before you. But
+with that spear, if you only have courage, you can overcome everything
+and everyone that may attempt to bar your way."
+
+Having said this, she bid good-bye to Enda, and stepping off the bank,
+she floated out upon the river as lightly as a red poppy leaf. And
+when she came to the middle of the stream she disappeared beneath the
+waters.
+
+Enda took the helmet, dress, and spear, and it was not long until he
+came to the sedgy banks where his little boat was waiting for him. As
+he stepped into the curragh the moon was rising above the mountains.
+He rowed on until he came to the hut, and having moored the boat to
+the door, he put on the water-dress and the crystal helmet, and taking
+the spear in his hand, he leaped over the side of the curragh, and
+sank down and down until he touched the bottom. Then he walked along
+without minding where he was going, and the only light he had was the
+shimmering moonlight, which descended as faintly through the waters as
+if it came through muffled glass. He had not gone very far when he
+heard a horrible hissing, and straight before him he saw what he
+thought were two flaming coals. After a few more steps he found
+himself face to face with the dragon of the lake, the guardian of the
+palace of the fairy queen. Before he had time to raise his spear, the
+dragon had wound its coils around him, and he heard its horrible
+teeth crunching against the side of his crystal helmet, and he felt
+the pressure of its coils around his side, and the breath almost left
+his body; but the dragon, unable to pierce the helmet, unwound his
+coils, and soon Enda's hands were free, and before the dragon could
+attempt to seize him again, he drove his spear through one of its
+fiery eyes, and, writhing with pain, the hissing dragon darted through
+a cave behind him. Enda, gaining courage from the dragon's flight,
+marched on until he came to a door of dull brass set in the rocks. He
+tried to push it in before him, but he might as well have tried to
+push away the rocks. While he was wondering what he should do, he
+heard again the fierce hissing of the dragon, and saw the red glare of
+his fiery eye dimly in the water.
+
+Lifting his spear and hastily turning round to meet the furious
+monster, Enda accidently touched the door with the point of the spear,
+and the door flew open. Enda passed through, and the door closed
+behind him with a grating sound, and he marched along through a rocky
+pass which led to a sandy plain.
+
+As he stepped from the pass into the plain the sands began to move, as
+if they were alive. In a second a thousand hideous serpents, almost
+the colour of the sand, rose hissing up, and with their forked
+tongues made a horrible, poisonous hedge in front of him. For a second
+he stood dismayed, but then, levelling his spear, he rushed against
+the hedge of serpents, and they, shooting poison at him, sank beneath
+the sand. But the poison did not harm him, because of his water-dress
+and crystal helmet.
+
+When he had passed over the sandy plain, he had to climb a great
+steep, jagged rock. When he got to the top of the rock he saw spread
+out before him a stony waste without a tuft or blade of grass. At some
+distance in front of him he noticed a large dark object, which he took
+to be a rock, but on looking at it more closely he saw that it was a
+huge, misshapen, swollen mass, apparently alive. And it was growing
+bigger and bigger every moment. Enda stood amazed at the sight, and
+before he knew where he was the loathsome creature rose from the
+ground, and sprang upon him before he could use his spear, and,
+catching him in its horrid grasp, flung him back over the rocks on to
+the sandy plain. Enda was almost stunned, but the hissing of the
+serpents rising from the sand around him brought him to himself, and,
+jumping to his feet, once more he drove them down beneath the surface.
+He then approached the jagged rock, on the top of which he saw the
+filthy monster glaring at him with bloodshot eyes. Enda poised his
+spear and hurled it against his enemy. It entered between the
+monster's eyes, and from the wound the blood flowed down like a black
+torrent and dyed the plain, and the shrunken carcase slipped down the
+front of the rocks and disappeared beneath the sand. Enda once more
+ascended the rock, and without meeting or seeing anything he passed
+over the stony waste, and at last he came to a leafy wood. He had not
+gone far in the wood until he heard the sound of fairy music, and
+walking on he came upon a mossy glade, and there he found the fairies
+dancing around their queen. They were so small, and were all so
+brightly dressed, that they looked like a mass of waving flowers; but
+when he was seen by them they vanished like a glorious dream, and no
+one remained before him but the fairy queen. The queen blushed at
+finding herself alone, but on stamping her little foot three times
+upon the ground, the frightened fairies all crept back again.
+
+"You are welcome, Enda," said the queen. "My little subjects have been
+alarmed by your strange dress and crystal helmet. I pray you take them
+off; you do not need them here."
+
+Enda did as he was bidden, and he laid down his water-dress and helmet
+on the grass, and the little fairies, seeing him in his proper shape,
+got over their fright, and, unrestrained by the presence of the
+queen, they ran tumbling over one another to try and get a good look
+at the crystal helmet.
+
+"I know what you have come for, Enda," said the queen. "The golden cup
+you shall have to-morrow; but to-night you must share our feast, so
+follow me to the palace."
+
+Having said this, the queen beckoned her pages to her, and, attended
+by them and followed by Enda, she went on through the wood. When they
+had left it behind them Enda saw on a green hill before him the
+snow-white palace of the fairy queen.
+
+As the queen approached the steps that led up to the open door, a band
+of tiny fairies, dressed in rose-coloured silk, came out, carrying
+baskets of flowers, which they flung down on the steps to make a
+fragrant carpet for her. They were followed by a band of harpers
+dressed in yellow silken robes, who ranged themselves on each side of
+the steps and played their sweetest music as the queen ascended.
+
+When the queen, followed by Enda, entered the palace, they passed
+through a crystal hall that led to a banquet-room. The room was
+lighted by a single star, large as a battle-shield. It was fixed
+against the wall above a diamond throne.
+
+The queen seated herself upon the throne, and the pages, advancing
+towards her, and bending low, as they approached the steps, handed
+her a golden wand.
+
+The queen waved the wand three times, and a table laden with all kinds
+of delicacies appeared upon the floor. Then she beckoned Enda to her,
+and when he stood beside her the fairy table was no higher than his
+knee.
+
+"I am afraid I must make you smaller, Enda," said the queen, "or you
+will never be able to seat yourself at my fairy table."
+
+And having said this, she touched Enda with the golden wand, and at
+once he became as small as her tallest page. Then she struck the steps
+of her throne, and all the nobles of her court, headed by her bards,
+took their places at the festive board.
+
+The feast went on right merrily, and when the tiny jewelled
+drinking-cups were placed upon the table, the queen ordered the
+harpers to play.
+
+And the little harpers struck the chords, and as Enda listened to the
+music it seemed to him as if he was being slowly lifted from his seat,
+and when the music ended the fairies vanished, the shining star went
+out, and Enda was in perfect darkness.
+
+The air blew keenly in his face, and he knew not where he was. At last
+he saw a faint grey light, and soon this light grew broader and
+brighter, and as the shadows fled before it, he could hardly believe
+his eyes when he found himself in his curragh on the lake, and the
+moonlight streaming down from the mountain-tops.
+
+For a moment he thought he must have been dreaming; but there in the
+boat before him were the crystal helmet, and the water-dress, and the
+gleaming spear, and the golden bowl of perfumed water that was to
+remove the spell of enchantment from the white swan of the lake, and
+sailing towards him from the sedgy bank came the snow-white swan; and
+when she touched the boat, Enda put out his hands and lifted her in,
+and then over her plumage he poured the perfumed water from the golden
+bowl, and the Princess Mave in all her maiden beauty stood before
+him.
+
+"Take your oar, Enda," she said, "and row to the southern bank."
+
+Enda seized his oar, and the curragh sped across the waters swifter
+than a swallow in its flight. When the boat touched the shore Enda
+jumped out, and lifted the princess on to the bank.
+
+"Send your boat adrift, Enda," she said; "but first take out your
+shining spear; the water-dress and the crystal helmet will take care
+of themselves."
+
+Enda took out the spear, and then pushed the boat from the bank. It
+sped on towards the hut in the middle of the lake; but before it had
+reached halfway six nymphs sprang up from the water and seizing the
+helmet and dress, sank with them beneath the tide, and the boat went
+on until it pushed its prow against the steps of the little hut, where
+it remained.
+
+Then Enda and the princess turned towards the south, and it was not
+long until they came to a deep forest, that was folding up its shadows
+and spreading out its mossy glades before the glancing footsteps of
+the morning. They had not gone far through the forest when they heard
+the music of hounds and the cries of huntsmen, and crashing towards
+them through the low branches they saw a fierce wild boar. Enda,
+gently pushing the princess behind him, levelled his spear, and when
+the boar came close to him he drove it into his throat. The brute fell
+dead at his feet, and the dogs rushing up began to tear it to pieces.
+The princess fainted at the sight, and while Enda was endeavouring to
+restore her, the king of Erin, followed by his huntsmen, appeared, and
+when the king saw the princess he started in amazement, as he
+recognised the features of his daughter Mave.
+
+At that moment the princess came to herself, and her father, lifting
+her tenderly in his arms, kissed her again and again.
+
+"I have mourned you as dead, my darling," said he, "and now you are
+restored to me more lovely than ever. I would gladly have given up my
+throne for this. But say who is the champion who has brought you
+hither, and who has slain the wild boar we have hunted so many years
+in vain?"
+
+The princess blushed like a rose as she said:
+
+"His name is Enda, father; it is he has brought me back to you."
+
+Then the king embraced Enda and said:
+
+"Forgive me, Enda, for asking any questions about you before you have
+shared the hospitality of my court. My palace lies beyond the forest,
+and we shall reach it soon."
+
+Then the king ordered his huntsman to sound the bugle-horn, and all
+his nobles galloped up in answer to it, and when they saw the Princess
+Mave they were so dazzled by her beauty that they scarcely gave a
+thought to the death of the wild boar.
+
+"It is my daughter, Mave, come back to me," said the king.
+
+And all the nobles lowered their lances, and bowed in homage to the
+lady.
+
+"And there stands the champion who has brought her home," said the
+king, pointing to Enda.
+
+The nobles looked at Enda, and bowed courteously, but in their hearts
+they were jealous of the champion, for they saw he was already a
+favourite of the king's.
+
+Then the pages came up, leading milk-white steeds with golden bridles,
+and the king, ordering Enda to mount one of them, lifted Mave on to
+his own, and mounted behind her. The pages, carrying the boar's head
+on a hollow shield, preceded by the huntsmen sounding their horns, set
+out towards the palace, and the royal party followed them.
+
+As the procession approached the palace crowds came rushing out to see
+the trophies of the chase, and through the snow-white door the queen,
+Mave's cruel stepmother, attended by her maids-of-honour and the royal
+bards, came forth to greet the king. But when she saw seated before
+him the Princess Mave, who she thought was at the bottom of the lake
+under a spell of enchantment, she uttered a loud cry, and fell
+senseless to the ground.
+
+The king jumped from his horse, and rushing to the queen, lifted her
+up and carried her in his arms to her apartments, for he had no
+suspicion of the wickedness of which she had been guilty.
+
+And the court leeches were summoned to attend her, but she died that
+very night, and it was not until a green mound, worthy of a queen of
+Erin, had been raised over her grave that the Princess Mave told her
+father of the wickedness of her stepmother. And when she told him the
+whole story of how Enda had broken the spell of enchantment, and of
+the dangers which he had faced for her sake, the king summoned an
+assembly of all his nobles, and seated on his throne, wearing his
+golden helmet, the bards upon his right hand and the Druids upon his
+left, and the nobles in ranks before him with gleaming helmets and
+flashing spears, he told them the story of the princess, and of the
+service which Enda had rendered to her.
+
+"And now," said the king, "if the princess is willing to take her
+deliverer for her husband, I am willing that she shall be his bride;
+and if you, my subjects, Bards and Druids and Nobles and Chiefs of
+Erin, have anything to say against this union, speak. But first,
+Mave," said the king, as he drew the blushing princess to him, "speak,
+darling, as becomes the daughter of a king--speak in the presence of
+the nobles of Erin, and say if it is your wish to become Enda's
+bride."
+
+The princess flung her white arms around her father's neck, as she
+murmured:
+
+"Father, it was Enda brought me back to you, and before all the
+princes and nobles of Erin I am willing to be his bride."
+
+And she buried her head upon the king's breast, and as he stroked her
+silken hair falling to her feet, the bards struck their golden harps,
+but the sound of the joyous music could hardly drown the murmurs of
+the jealous nobles.
+
+When the music ceased the king beckoned Enda to him, and was about to
+place his hand in Mave's when a Druid, whose white beard almost
+touched the ground, and who had been a favourite of the dead
+stepmother, and hated Mave for her sake, stepped forward and said:
+
+"O King of Erin, never yet has the daughter of a king been freely
+given in marriage to any save a battle champion; and that stripling
+there has never struck his spear against a warrior's shield."
+
+A murmur of approbation rose from the jealous princes, and Congal, the
+bravest of them all, stepped out from the ranks, and said:
+
+"The Druid speaks the truth, O king! That stripling has never faced a
+battle champion yet, and, speaking for all the nobles of your land, I
+challenge him to fight any one of us; and as he is young and unused to
+arms, we are willing that the youngest and least experienced amongst
+us should be set against him."
+
+When Congal had spoken, the nobles, in approval of his words, struck
+their shields with their swords, and the brazen sound ascended to the
+skies.
+
+The face of the princess, blushing a moment before like a rose, became
+as white as a lily; but the colour returned to her cheeks when she
+heard Enda's voice ringing loud and clear.
+
+"It is true, O king!" said he, "that I have never used my spear in
+battle yet. The Prince Congal has challenged me to meet the youngest
+and least experienced of the chiefs of Erin. I have risked my life
+already for your daughter's sake. I would face death a thousand times
+for the chance of winning her for my bride; but I would scorn to claim
+her hand if I dared not meet the boldest battle champion of the nobles
+of Erin, and here before you, O king, and bards, Druids, and nobles,
+and chiefs of Erin, and here, in the presence of the Lady Mave, I
+challenge the boldest of them all."
+
+The king's eyes flashed with joy as he listened to the brave words of
+Enda.
+
+"It is well," said the king; "the contest shall take place to-morrow
+on the lawn outside our palace gates; but before our assembly
+dissolves I call on you, nobles and chiefs of Erin, to name your
+boldest champion."
+
+Loud cries of "Congal! Congal!" answered the king's speech.
+
+"Are you willing, Congal?" asked the king.
+
+"Willing, O king!" answered Congal.
+
+"It is well," said the king. "We shall all meet again to-night in our
+banquet-hall."
+
+And the king, with the Princess Mave on his arm, attended by his bards
+and Druids, entered the palace, and the chiefs and nobles went their
+several ways.
+
+At the feast that night the princess sat beside the king, and Enda
+beside the princess, and the bards and Druids, nobles and chiefs, took
+their places in due order. And the bards sang songs of love and
+battle, and never merrier hours were spent than those which passed
+away that night in the banquet-hall of Erin's king.
+
+When the feast was over Enda retired to his apartment to spend the
+night dreaming of the Princess Mave, and Congal went to his quarters;
+but not to sleep or dream, for the Druid who had provoked the contest
+came to him bringing his golden wand, and all night long the Druid was
+weaving spells to charm the shield and spear and helmet of Congal, to
+make them invulnerable in the battle of the morrow.
+
+But while Enda lay dreaming of the Princess Mave, the little fairy
+woman who gave him the water-dress, and crystal helmet, and shining
+spear on the banks of the Boyne, slid into his room, and she placed
+beside his couch a silver helmet and a silver shield. And she rubbed
+the helmet, and the shield, and the blue blade and haft of his spear
+with the juice of the red rowan berries, and she let a drop fall upon
+his face and hands, and then she slid out as silently as she came.
+
+When the morning broke, Enda sprang from his couch, and he could
+hardly believe his eyes when he saw the silver shield and helmet. At
+the sight of them he longed for the hour of battle, and he watched
+with eager gaze the sun climbing the sky; and, after hours of
+suspense, he heard the trumpet's sound and the clangour of the hollow
+shields, struck by the hard-pointed spears.
+
+Putting on the helmet, and fastening the shield upon his left arm, and
+taking the spear in his right hand, he stepped out bravely to the
+fight. The edge of the lawn before the palace gates was ringed by the
+princes, nobles, and chiefs of Erin. And the palace walls were
+thronged by all the beauties of the Court and all the noble ladies of
+the land. And on his throne, surrounded by his Druids, his brehons,
+and his bards, was the king of Erin, and at his feet sat the lovely
+Lady Mave.
+
+As Enda stepped out upon the lawn, he saw Congal advancing from the
+ranks of the nobles, and the two champions approached each other until
+they met right in front of the throne.
+
+Then both turned towards the throne, and bowed to the king and the
+Princess Mave; and then facing each other again, they retired a space,
+and when their spears were poised, ready for battle, the king gave the
+signal, which was answered by the clang of stricken shields, and
+Congal and Enda launched their gleaming spears. They flashed like
+lightning in the sunlit air, and in a second Congal's had broken
+against Enda's shield; but Enda's, piercing Congal's helmet, hurled
+him senseless on the plain.
+
+The nobles and chiefs could hardly realize that in that single second
+their boldest champion was overthrown; but when they saw him stretched
+motionless on the grassy sward, from out their ranks six warriors
+advanced to where the chieftain lay, and sadly they bore him away upon
+their battle-shields, and Enda remained victor upon the field.
+
+And then the king's voice rang out clear as the sound of a trumpet in
+the still morning:
+
+"Bards and brehons, princes and nobles, and chiefs of Erin, Enda has
+proved himself a battle champion, and who amongst you now will dare
+gainsay his right to claim my daughter for his bride?"
+
+And no answer came.
+
+But when he summoned Enda to his throne, and placed the lady's hand in
+his, a cheer arose from the great assembly, that proved that jealousy
+was extinguished in all hearts, and that all believed that Enda was
+worthy of the winsome bride; and never since that day, although a
+thousand years have passed, was there in all the world a brighter and
+gayer wedding than the wedding of Enda and the Princess Mave.
+
+
+
+
+THE LITTLE WHITE CAT
+
+
+A long, long time ago, in a valley far away, the giant Trencoss lived
+in a great castle, surrounded by trees that were always green. The
+castle had a hundred doors, and every door was guarded by a huge,
+shaggy hound, with tongue of fire and claws of iron, who tore to
+pieces anyone who went to the castle without the giant's leave.
+Trencoss had made war on the King of the Torrents, and, having killed
+the king, and slain his people, and burned his palace, he carried off
+his only daughter, the Princess Eileen, to the castle in the valley.
+Here he provided her with beautiful rooms, and appointed a hundred
+dwarfs, dressed in blue and yellow satin, to wait upon her, and
+harpers to play sweet music for her, and he gave her diamonds without
+number, brighter than the sun; but he would not allow her to go
+outside the castle, and told her if she went one step beyond its
+doors, the hounds, with tongues of fire and claws of iron, would tear
+her to pieces. A week after her arrival, war broke out between the
+giant and the king of the islands, and before he set out for battle,
+the giant sent for the princess, and informed her that on his return
+he would make her his wife. When the princess heard this she began to
+cry, for she would rather die than marry the giant who had slain her
+father.
+
+"Crying will only spoil your bright eyes, my little princess," said
+Trencoss, "and you will have to marry me whether you like it or no."
+
+He then bade her go back to her room, and he ordered the dwarfs to
+give her everything she asked for while he was away, and the harpers
+to play the sweetest music for her. When the princess gained her room
+she cried as if her heart would break. The long day passed slowly, and
+the night came, but brought no sleep to Eileen, and in the grey light
+of the morning she rose and opened the window, and looked about in
+every direction to see if there were any chance of escape. But the
+window was ever so high above the ground, and below were the hungry
+and ever watchful hounds. With a heavy heart she was about to close
+the window when she thought she saw the branches of the tree that was
+nearest to it moving. She looked again, and she saw a little white cat
+creeping along one of the branches.
+
+"Mew!" cried the cat.
+
+"Poor little pussy," said the princess. "Come to me, pussy."
+
+"Stand back from the window," said the cat, "and I will."
+
+[Illustration: "'Poor little pussy,' said the Princess"--p. 42.]
+
+The princess stepped back, and the little white cat jumped into the
+room. The princess took the little cat on her lap and stroked him with
+her hand, and the cat raised up its back and began to purr.
+
+"Where do you come from, and what is your name?" asked the princess.
+
+"No matter where I come from or what's my name," said the cat, "I am a
+friend of yours, and I come to help you?"
+
+"I never wanted help worse," said the princess.
+
+"I know that," said the cat; "and now listen to me. When the giant
+comes back from battle and asks you to marry him, say to him you will
+marry him."
+
+"But I will never marry him," said the princess.
+
+"Do what I tell you," said the cat. "When he asks you to marry him,
+say to him you will if his dwarfs will wind for you three balls from
+the fairy dew that lies on the bushes on a misty morning as big as
+these," said the cat, putting his right forefoot into his ear and
+taking out three balls--one yellow, one red, and one blue.
+
+"They are very small," said the princess. "They are not much bigger
+than peas, and the dwarfs will not be long at their work."
+
+"Won't they," said the cat. "It will take them a month and a day to
+make one, so that it will take three months and three days before the
+balls are wound; but the giant, like you, will think they can be made
+in a few days, and so he will readily promise to do what you ask. He
+will soon find out his mistake, but he will keep his word, and will
+not press you to marry him until the balls are wound."
+
+"When will the giant come back?" asked Eileen.
+
+"He will return to-morrow afternoon," said the cat.
+
+"Will you stay with me until then?" said the princess. "I am very
+lonely."
+
+"I cannot stay," said the cat. "I have to go away to my palace on the
+island on which no man ever placed his foot, and where no man but one
+shall ever come."
+
+"And where is that island?" asked the princess, "and who is the man?"
+
+"The island is in the far-off seas where vessel never sailed; the man
+you will see before many days are over; and if all goes well, he will
+one day slay the giant Trencoss, and free you from his power."
+
+"Ah!" sighed the princess, "that can never be, for no weapon can wound
+the hundred hounds that guard the castle, and no sword can kill the
+giant Trencoss."
+
+"There is a sword that will kill him," said the cat; "but I must go
+now. Remember what you are to say to the giant when he comes home,
+and every morning watch the tree on which you saw me, and if you see
+in the branches anyone you like better than yourself," said the cat,
+winking at the princess, "throw him these three balls and leave the
+rest to me; but take care not to speak a single word to him, for if
+you do all will be lost."
+
+"Shall I ever see you again?" asked the princess.
+
+"Time will tell," answered the cat, and, without saying so much as
+good-bye, he jumped through the window on to the tree, and in a second
+was out of sight.
+
+The morrow afternoon came, and the giant Trencoss returned from
+battle. Eileen knew of his coming by the furious barking of the
+hounds, and her heart sank, for she knew that in a few moments she
+would be summoned to his presence. Indeed, he had hardly entered the
+castle when he sent for her, and told her to get ready for the
+wedding. The princess tried to look cheerful, as she answered:
+
+"I will be ready as soon as you wish; but you must first promise me
+something."
+
+"Ask anything you like, little princess," said Trencoss.
+
+"Well, then," said Eileen, "before I marry you, you must make your
+dwarfs wind three balls as big as these from the fairy dew that lies
+on the bushes on a misty morning in summer."
+
+"Is that all?" said Trencoss, laughing. "I shall give the dwarfs
+orders at once, and by this time to-morrow the balls will be wound,
+and our wedding can take place in the evening."
+
+"And will you leave me to myself until then?"
+
+"I will," said Trencoss.
+
+"On your honour as a giant?" said Eileen.
+
+"On my honour as a giant," replied Trencoss.
+
+The princess returned to her rooms, and the giant summoned all his
+dwarfs, and he ordered them to go forth in the dawning of the morn and
+to gather all the fairy dew lying on the bushes, and to wind three
+balls--one yellow, one red, and one blue. The next morning, and the
+next, and the next, the dwarfs went out into the fields and searched
+all the hedgerows, but they could gather only as much fairy dew as
+would make a thread as long as a wee girl's eyelash; and so they had
+to go out morning after morning, and the giant fumed and threatened,
+but all to no purpose. He was very angry with the princess, and he was
+vexed with himself that she was so much cleverer than he was, and,
+moreover, he saw now that the wedding could not take place as soon as
+he expected.
+
+When the little white cat went away from the castle he ran as fast as
+he could up hill and down dale, and never stopped until he came to the
+Prince of the Silver River. The prince was alone, and very sad and
+sorrowful he was, for he was thinking of the Princess Eileen, and
+wondering where she could be.
+
+"Mew," said the cat, as he sprang softly into the room; but the prince
+did not heed him. "Mew," again said the cat; but again the prince did
+not heed him. "Mew," said the cat the third time, and he jumped up on
+the prince's knee.
+
+"Where do you come from, and what do you want?" asked the prince.
+
+"I come from where you would like to be," said the cat.
+
+"And where is that?" said the prince.
+
+"Oh, where is that, indeed! as if I didn't know what you are thinking
+of, and of whom you are thinking," said the cat; "and it would be far
+better for you to try and save her."
+
+"I would give my life a thousand times over for her," said the
+prince.
+
+"For whom?" said the cat, with a wink. "I named no name, your
+highness," said he.
+
+"You know very well who she is," said the prince, "if you knew what I
+was thinking of; but do you know where she is?"
+
+"She is in danger," said the cat. "She is in the castle of the giant
+Trencoss, in the valley beyond the mountains."
+
+"I will set out there at once," said the prince "and I will challenge
+the giant to battle, and will slay him."
+
+"Easier said than done," said the cat. "There is no sword made by the
+hands of man can kill him, and even if you could kill him, his hundred
+hounds, with tongues of fire and claws of iron, would tear you to
+pieces."
+
+"Then, what am I to do?" asked the prince.
+
+"Be said by me," said the cat. "Go to the wood that surrounds the
+giant's castle, and climb the high tree that's nearest to the window
+that looks towards the sunset, and shake the branches, and you will
+see what you will see. Then hold out your hat with the silver plumes,
+and three balls--one yellow, one red, and one blue--will be thrown
+into it. And then come back here as fast as you can; but speak no
+word, for if you utter a single word the hounds will hear you, and you
+shall be torn to pieces."
+
+Well, the prince set off at once, and after two days' journey he came
+to the wood around the castle, and he climbed the tree that was
+nearest to the window that looked towards the sunset, and he shook the
+branches. As soon as he did so, the window opened and he saw the
+Princess Eileen, looking lovelier than ever. He was going to call out
+her name, but she placed her fingers on her lips, and he remembered
+what the cat had told him, that he was to speak no word. In silence he
+held out the hat with the silver plumes, and the princess threw into
+it the three balls, one after another, and, blowing him a kiss, she
+shut the window. And well it was she did so, for at that very moment
+she heard the voice of the giant, who was coming back from hunting.
+
+The prince waited until the giant had entered the castle before he
+descended the tree. He set off as fast as he could. He went up hill
+and down dale, and never stopped until he arrived at his own palace,
+and there waiting for him was the little white cat.
+
+"Have you brought the three balls?" said he.
+
+"I have," said the prince.
+
+"Then follow me," said the cat.
+
+On they went until they left the palace far behind and came to the
+edge of the sea.
+
+"Now," said the cat, "unravel a thread of the red ball, hold the
+thread in your right hand, drop the ball into the water, and you shall
+see what you shall see."
+
+The prince did as he was told, and the ball floated out to sea,
+unravelling as it went, and it went on until it was out of sight.
+
+"Pull now," said the cat.
+
+The prince pulled, and, as he did, he saw far away something on the
+sea shining like silver. It came nearer and nearer, and he saw it was
+a little silver boat. At last it touched the strand.
+
+"Now," said the cat, "step into this boat and it will bear you to the
+palace on the island on which no man has ever placed his foot--the
+island in the unknown seas that were never sailed by vessels made of
+human hands. In that palace there is a sword with a diamond hilt, and
+by that sword alone the giant Trencoss can be killed. There also are a
+hundred cakes, and it is only on eating these the hundred hounds can
+die. But mind what I say to you: if you eat or drink until you reach
+the palace of the little cat in the island in the unknown seas, you
+will forget the Princess Eileen."
+
+"I will forget myself first," said the prince, as he stepped into the
+silver boat, which floated away so quickly that it was soon out of
+sight of land.
+
+The day passed and the night fell, and the stars shone down upon the
+waters, but the boat never stopped. On she went for two whole days and
+nights, and on the third morning the prince saw an island in the
+distance, and very glad he was; for he thought it was his journey's
+end, and he was almost fainting with thirst and hunger. But the day
+passed and the island was still before him.
+
+At long last, on the following day, he saw by the first light of the
+morning that he was quite close to it, and that trees laden with
+fruit of every kind were bending down over the water. The boat sailed
+round and round the island, going closer and closer every round,
+until, at last, the drooping branches almost touched it. The sight of
+the fruit within his reach made the prince hungrier and thirstier than
+he was before, and forgetting his promise to the little cat--not to
+eat anything until he entered the palace in the unknown seas--he
+caught one of the branches, and, in a moment, was in the tree eating
+the delicious fruit. While he was doing so the boat floated out to sea
+and soon was lost to sight; but the prince, having eaten, forgot all
+about it, and, worse still, forgot all about the princess in the
+giant's castle. When he had eaten enough he descended the tree, and,
+turning his back on the sea, set out straight before him. He had not
+gone far when he heard the sound of music, and soon after he saw a
+number of maidens playing on silver harps coming towards him. When
+they saw him they ceased playing, and cried out:
+
+"Welcome! welcome! Prince of the Silver River, welcome to the island
+of fruits and flowers. Our king and queen saw you coming over the sea,
+and they sent us to bring you to the palace."
+
+The prince went with them, and at the palace gates the king and queen
+and their daughter Kathleen received him, and gave him welcome. He
+hardly saw the king and queen, for his eyes were fixed on the princess
+Kathleen, who looked more beautiful than a flower. He thought he had
+never seen anyone so lovely, for, of course, he had forgotten all
+about poor Eileen pining away in her castle prison in the lonely
+valley. When the king and queen had given welcome to the prince a
+great feast was spread, and all the lords and ladies of the court sat
+down to it, and the prince sat between the queen and the princess
+Kathleen, and long before the feast was finished he was over head and
+ears in love with her. When the feast was ended the queen ordered the
+ballroom to be made ready, and when night fell the dancing began, and
+was kept up until the morning star, and the prince danced all night
+with the princess, falling deeper and deeper in love with her every
+minute. Between dancing by night and feasting by day weeks went by.
+All the time poor Eileen in the giant's castle was counting the hours,
+and all this time the dwarfs were winding the balls, and a ball and a
+half were already wound. At last the prince asked the king and queen
+for their daughter in marriage, and they were delighted to be able to
+say yes, and the day was fixed for the wedding. But on the evening
+before the day on which it was to take place the prince was in his
+room, getting ready for a dance, when he felt something rubbing
+against his leg, and, looking down, who should he see but the little
+white cat. At the sight of him the prince remembered everything, and
+sad and sorry he was when he thought of Eileen watching and waiting
+and counting the days until he returned to save her. But he was very
+fond of the princess Kathleen, and so he did not know what to do.
+
+"You can't do anything to-night," said the cat, for he knew what the
+prince was thinking of, "but when morning comes go down to the sea,
+and look not to the right or the left, and let no living thing touch
+you, for if you do you shall never leave the island. Drop the second
+ball into the water, as you did the first, and when the boat comes
+step in at once. Then you may look behind you, and you shall see what
+you shall see, and you'll know which you love best, the Princess
+Eileen or the Princess Kathleen, and you can either go or stay."
+
+The prince didn't sleep a wink that night, and at the first glimpse of
+the morning he stole from the palace. When he reached the sea he threw
+out the ball, and when it had floated out of sight, he saw the little
+boat sparkling on the horizon like a newly-risen star. The prince had
+scarcely passed through the palace doors when he was missed, and the
+king and queen and the princess, and all the lords and ladies of the
+court, went in search of him, taking the quickest way to the sea.
+While the maidens with the silver harps played sweetest music, the
+princess, whose voice was sweeter than any music, called on the prince
+by his name, and so moved his heart that he was about to look behind,
+when he remembered how the cat had told him he should not do so until
+he was in the boat. Just as it touched the shore the princess put out
+her hand and almost caught the prince's arm, but he stepped into the
+boat in time to save himself, and it sped away like a receding wave. A
+loud scream caused the prince to look round suddenly, and when he did
+he saw no sign of king or queen, or princess, or lords or ladies, but
+only big green serpents, with red eyes and tongues, that hissed out
+fire and poison as they writhed in a hundred horrible coils.
+
+The prince, having escaped from the enchanted island, sailed away for
+three days and three nights, and every night he hoped the coming
+morning would show him the island he was in search of. He was faint
+with hunger and beginning to despair, when on the fourth morning he
+saw in the distance an island that, in the first rays of the sun,
+gleamed like fire. On coming closer to it he saw that it was clad with
+trees, so covered with bright red berries that hardly a leaf was to be
+seen. Soon the boat was almost within a stone's cast of the island,
+and it began to sail round and round until it was well under the
+bending branches. The scent of the berries was so sweet that it
+sharpened the prince's hunger, and he longed to pluck them; but,
+remembering what had happened to him on the enchanted island, he was
+afraid to touch them. But the boat kept on sailing round and round,
+and at last a great wind rose from the sea and shook the branches, and
+the bright, sweet berries fell into the boat until it was filled with
+them, and they fell upon the prince's hands, and he took up some to
+look at them, and as he looked the desire to eat them grew stronger,
+and he said to himself it would be no harm to taste one; but when he
+tasted it the flavour was so delicious he swallowed it, and, of
+course, at once he forgot all about Eileen, and the boat drifted away
+from him and left him standing in the water.
+
+He climbed on to the island, and having eaten enough of the berries,
+he set out to see what might be before him, and it was not long until
+he heard a great noise, and a huge iron ball knocked down one of the
+trees in front of him, and before he knew where he was a hundred
+giants came running after it. When they saw the prince they turned
+towards him, and one of them caught him up in his hand and held him up
+that all might see him. The prince was nearly squeezed to death, and
+seeing this the giant put him on the ground again.
+
+"Who are you, my little man?" asked the giant.
+
+"I am a prince," replied the prince.
+
+"Oh, you are a prince, are you?" said the giant. "And what are you
+good for?" said he.
+
+The prince did not know, for nobody had asked him that question
+before.
+
+"I know what he's good for," said an old giantess, with one eye in her
+forehead and one in her chin. "I know what he's good for. He's good to
+eat."
+
+When the giants heard this they laughed so loud that the prince was
+frightened almost to death.
+
+"Why," said one, "he wouldn't make a mouthful."
+
+"Oh, leave him to me," said the giantess, "and I'll fatten him up; and
+when he is cooked and dressed he will be a nice dainty dish for the
+king."
+
+The giants, on this, gave the prince into the hands of the old
+giantess. She took him home with her to the kitchen, and fed him on
+sugar and spice and all things nice, so that he should be a sweet
+morsel for the king of the giants when he returned to the island. The
+poor prince would not eat anything at first, but the giantess held him
+over the fire until his feet were scorched, and then he said to
+himself it was better to eat than to be burnt alive.
+
+Well, day after day passed, and the prince grew sadder and sadder,
+thinking that he would soon be cooked and dressed for the king; but
+sad as the prince was, he was not half as sad as the Princess Eileen
+in the giant's castle, watching and waiting for the prince to return
+and save her.
+
+And the dwarfs had wound two balls, and were winding a third.
+
+At last the prince heard from the old giantess that the king of the
+giants was to return on the following day, and she said to him:
+
+"As this is the last night you have to live, tell me if you wish for
+anything, for if you do your wish will be granted."
+
+"I don't wish for anything," said the prince, whose heart was dead
+within him.
+
+"Well, I'll come back again," said the giantess, and she went away.
+
+The prince sat down in a corner, thinking and thinking, until he heard
+close to his ear a sound like "purr, purr!" He looked around, and
+there before him was the little white cat.
+
+"I ought not to come to you," said the cat; "but, indeed, it is not
+for your sake I come. I come for the sake of the Princess Eileen. Of
+course, you forgot all about her, and, of course, she is always
+thinking of you. It's always the way--
+
+                     "Favoured lovers may forget,
+                     Slighted lovers never yet."
+
+The prince blushed with shame when he heard the name of the
+princess.
+
+"'Tis you that ought to blush," said the cat; "but listen to me now,
+and remember, if you don't obey my directions this time you'll never
+see me again, and you'll never set your eyes on the Princess Eileen.
+When the old giantess comes back tell her you wish, when the morning
+comes, to go down to the sea to look at it for the last time. When you
+reach the sea you will know what to do. But I must go now, as I hear
+the giantess coming." And the cat jumped out of the window and
+disappeared.
+
+"Well," said the giantess, when she came in, "is there anything you
+wish?"
+
+"Is it true I must die to-morrow?" asked the prince.
+
+"It is."
+
+"Then," said he, "I should like to go down to the sea to look at it
+for the last time."
+
+"You may do that," said the giantess, "if you get up early."
+
+"I'll be up with the lark in the light of the morning," said the
+prince.
+
+"Very well," said the giantess, and, saying "good night," she went
+away.
+
+The prince thought the night would never pass, but at last it faded
+away before the grey light of the dawn, and he sped down to the sea.
+He threw out the third ball, and before long he saw the little boat
+coming towards him swifter than the wind. He threw himself into it the
+moment it touched the shore. Swifter than the wind it bore him out to
+sea, and before he had time to look behind him the island of the
+giantess was like a faint red speck in the distance. The day passed
+and the night fell, and the stars looked down, and the boat sailed on,
+and just as the sun rose above the sea it pushed its silver prow on
+the golden strand of an island greener than the leaves in summer. The
+prince jumped out, and went on and on until he entered a pleasant
+valley, at the head of which he saw a palace white as snow.
+
+As he approached the central door it opened for him. On entering the
+hall he passed into several rooms without meeting with anyone; but,
+when he reached the principal apartment, he found himself in a
+circular room, in which were a thousand pillars, and every pillar was
+of marble, and on every pillar save one, which stood in the centre of
+the room, was a little white cat with black eyes. Ranged round the
+wall, from one door-jamb to the other, were three rows of precious
+jewels. The first was a row of brooches of gold and silver, with their
+pins fixed in the wall and their heads outwards; the second a row of
+torques of gold and silver; and the third a row of great swords, with
+hilts of gold and silver. And on many tables was food of all kinds,
+and drinking horns filled with foaming ale.[4]
+
+While the prince was looking about him the cats kept on jumping from
+pillar to pillar; but seeing that none of them jumped on to the pillar
+in the centre of the room, he began to wonder why this was so, when,
+all of a sudden, and before he could guess how it came about, there
+right before him on the centre pillar was the little white cat.
+
+"Don't you know me?" said he.
+
+"I do," said the prince.
+
+"Ah, but you don't know who I am. This is the palace of the Little
+White Cat, and I am the King of the Cats. But you must be hungry, and
+the feast is spread."
+
+Well, when the feast was ended, the king of the cats called for the
+sword that would kill the giant Trencoss, and the hundred cakes for
+the hundred watch-dogs.
+
+The cats brought the sword and the cakes and laid them before the
+king.
+
+"Now," said the king, "take these; you have no time to lose. To-morrow
+the dwarfs will wind the last ball, and to-morrow the giant will claim
+the princess for his bride. So you should go at once; but before you
+go take this from me to your little girl."
+
+And the king gave him a brooch lovelier than any on the palace
+walls.
+
+The king and the prince, followed by the cats, went down to the
+strand, and when the prince stepped into the boat all the cats "mewed"
+three times for good luck, and the prince waved his hat three times,
+and the little boat sped over the waters all through the night as
+brightly and as swiftly as a shooting star. In the first flush of the
+morning it touched the strand. The prince jumped out and went on and
+on, up hill and down dale, until he came to the giant's castle. When
+the hounds saw him they barked furiously, and bounded towards him to
+tear him to pieces. The prince flung the cakes to them, and as each
+hound swallowed his cake he fell dead. The prince then struck his
+shield three times with the sword which he had brought from the palace
+of the little white cat.
+
+When the giant heard the sound he cried out: "Who comes to challenge
+me on my wedding-day?"
+
+The dwarfs went out to see, and, returning, told him it was a prince
+who challenged him to battle.
+
+The giant, foaming with rage, seized his heaviest iron club, and
+rushed out to the fight. The fight lasted the whole day, and when the
+sun went down the giant said:
+
+"We have had enough of fighting for the day. We can begin at sunrise
+to-morrow."
+
+"Not so," said the prince. "Now or never; win or die."
+
+"Then take this," cried the giant, as he aimed a blow with all his
+force at the prince's head; but the prince, darting forward like a
+flash of lightning, drove his sword into the giant's heart, and, with
+a groan, he fell over the bodies of the poisoned hounds.
+
+When the dwarfs saw the giant dead they began to cry and tear their
+hair. But the prince told them they had nothing to fear, and he bade
+them go and tell the princess Eileen he wished to speak with her. But
+the princess had watched the battle from her window, and when she saw
+the giant fall she rushed out to greet the prince, and that very night
+he and she and all the dwarfs and harpers set out for the Palace of
+the Silver River, which they reached the next morning, and from that
+day to this there never has been a gayer wedding than the wedding of
+the Prince of the Silver River and the Princess Eileen; and though she
+had diamonds and pearls to spare, the only jewel she wore on her
+wedding-day was the brooch which the prince had brought her from the
+Palace of the Little White Cat in the far-off seas.
+
+
+
+
+THE GOLDEN SPEARS.
+
+
+Once upon a time there lived in a little house under a hill a little
+old woman and her two children, whose names were Connla and Nora.
+Right in front of the door of the little house lay a pleasant meadow,
+and beyond the meadow rose up to the skies a mountain whose top was
+sharp-pointed like a spear. For more than half-way up it was clad with
+heather, and when the heather was in bloom it looked like a purple
+robe falling from the shoulders of the mountain down to its feet.
+Above the heather it was bare and grey, but when the sun was sinking
+in the sea, its last rays rested on the bare mountain top and made it
+gleam like a spear of gold, and so the children always called it the
+"Golden Spear."
+
+In summer days they gambolled in the meadow, plucking the sweet wild
+grasses--and often and often they clambered up the mountain side, knee
+deep in the heather, searching for frechans and wild honey, and
+sometimes they found a bird's nest--but they only peeped into it, they
+never touched the eggs or allowed their breath to fall upon them, for
+next to their little mother they loved the mountain, and next to the
+mountain they loved the wild birds who made the spring and summer
+weather musical with their songs.
+
+Sometimes the soft white mist would steal through the glen, and
+creeping up the mountain would cover it with a veil so dense that the
+children could not see it, and then they would say to each other: "Our
+mountain is gone away from us." But when the mist would lift and float
+off into the skies, the children would clap their hands, and say: "Oh,
+there's our mountain back again."
+
+In the long nights of winter they babbled of the spring and summertime
+to come, when the birds would once more sing for them, and never a day
+passed that they didn't fling crumbs outside their door, and on the
+borders of the wood that stretched away towards the glen.
+
+When the spring days came they awoke with the first light of the
+morning, and they knew the very minute when the lark would begin to
+sing, and when the thrush and the blackbird would pour out their
+liquid notes, and when the robin would make the soft, green, tender
+leaves tremulous at his song.
+
+It chanced one day that when they were resting in the noontide heat,
+under the perfumed shade of a hawthorn in bloom, they saw on the edge
+of the meadow, spread out before them, a speckled thrush cowering in
+the grass.
+
+"Oh, Connla! Connla! Look at the thrush--and, look, look up in the
+sky, there is a hawk!" cried Nora.
+
+Connla looked up, and he saw the hawk with quivering wings, and he
+knew that in a second it would pounce down on the frightened thrush.
+He jumped to his feet, fixed a stone in his sling, and before the
+whirr of the stone shooting through the air was silent, the stricken
+hawk tumbled headlong in the grass.
+
+The thrush, shaking its wings, rose joyously in the air, and perching
+upon an elm-tree in sight of the children, he sang a song so sweet
+that they left the hawthorn shade and walked along together until they
+stood under the branches of the elm; and they listened and listened to
+the thrush's song, and at last Nora said:
+
+"Oh, Connla! did you ever hear a song so sweet as this?"
+
+"No," said Connla, "and I do believe sweeter music was never heard
+before."
+
+"Ah," said the thrush, "that's because you never heard the nine little
+pipers playing. And now, Connla and Nora, you saved my life to-day."
+
+"It was Nora saved it," said Connla, "for she pointed you out to me,
+and also pointed out the hawk which was about to pounce on you."
+
+"It was Connla saved you," said Nora, "for he slew the hawk with his
+sling."
+
+"I owe my life to both of you," said the thrush. "You like my song,
+and you say you have never heard anything so sweet; but wait till you
+hear the nine little pipers playing."
+
+"And when shall we hear them?" said the children.
+
+"Well," said the thrush, "sit outside your door to-morrow evening, and
+wait and watch until the shadows have crept up the heather, and then,
+when the mountain top is gleaming like a golden spear, look at the
+line where the shadow on the heather meets the sunshine, and you shall
+see what you shall see."
+
+And having said this, the thrush sang another song sweeter than the
+first, and then saying "good-bye," he flew away into the woods.
+
+The children went home, and all night long they were dreaming of the
+thrush and the nine little pipers; and when the birds sang in the
+morning, they got up and went out into the meadow to watch the
+mountain.
+
+The sun was shining in a cloudless sky, and no shadows lay on the
+mountain, and all day long they watched and waited, and at last, when
+the birds were singing their farewell song to the evening star, the
+children saw the shadows marching from the glen, trooping up the
+mountain side and dimming the purple of the heather.
+
+And when the mountain top gleamed like a golden spear, they fixed
+their eyes on the line between the shadow and the sunshine.
+
+"Now," said Connla, "the time has come."
+
+"Oh, look! look!" said Nora, and as she spoke, just above the line of
+shadow a door opened out, and through its portals came a little piper
+dressed in green and gold. He stepped down, followed by another and
+another, until they were nine in all, and then the door slung back
+again. Down through the heather marched the pipers in single file, and
+all the time they played a music so sweet that the birds, who had gone
+to sleep in their nests, came out upon the branches to listen to them
+and then they crossed the meadow, and they went on and on until they
+disappeared in the leafy woods.
+
+While they were passing the children were spell-bound, and couldn't
+speak, but when the music had died away in the woods, they said:
+
+"The thrush is right, that is the sweetest music that was ever heard
+in all the world."
+
+And when the children went to bed that night the fairy music came to
+them in their dreams. But when the morning broke, and they looked out
+upon their mountain and could see no trace of the door above the
+heather, they asked each other whether they had really seen the little
+pipers, or only dreamt of them.
+
+That day they went out into the woods, and they sat beside a stream
+that pattered along beneath the trees, and through the leaves tossing
+in the breeze the sun flashed down upon the streamlet, and shadow and
+sunshine danced upon it. As the children watched the water sparkling
+where the sunlight fell, Nora said:
+
+"Oh, Connla, did you ever see anything so bright and clear and
+glancing as that?"
+
+"No," said Connla, "I never did."
+
+"That's because you never saw the crystal hall of the fairy of the
+mountains," said a voice above the heads of the children.
+
+And when they looked up, who should they see perched on a branch but
+the thrush.
+
+"And where is the crystal hall of the fairy?" said Connla.
+
+"Oh, it is where it always was, and where it always will be," said the
+thrush. "And you can see it if you like."
+
+"We would like to see it," said the children.
+
+"Well, then," said the thrush, "if you would, all you have to do is to
+follow the nine little pipers when they come down through the heather,
+and cross the meadow to-morrow evening."
+
+And the thrush having said this, flew away.
+
+Connla and Nora went home, and that night they fell asleep talking of
+the thrush and the fairy and the crystal hall.
+
+All the next day they counted the minutes, until they saw the shadows
+thronging from the glen and scaling the mountain side. And, at last,
+they saw the door springing open, and the nine little pipers marching
+down.
+
+They waited until the pipers had crossed the meadow and were about to
+enter the wood. And then they followed them, the pipers marching on
+before them and playing all the time. It was not long until they had
+passed through the wood, and then, what should the children see rising
+up before them but another mountain, smaller than their own, but, like
+their own, clad more than half-way up with purple heather, and whose
+top was bare and sharp-pointed, and gleaming like a golden spear.
+
+Up through the heather climbed the pipers, up through the heather the
+children clambered after them, and the moment the pipers passed the
+heather a door opened and they marched in, the children following, and
+the door closed behind them.
+
+Connla and Nora were so dazzled by the light that hit their eyes, when
+they had crossed the threshold, that they had to shade them with
+their hands; but, after a moment or two, they became able to bear the
+splendour, and when they looked around they saw that they were in a
+noble hall, whose crystal roof was supported by two rows of crystal
+pillars rising from a crystal floor; and the walls were of crystal,
+and along the walls were crystal couches, with coverings and cushions
+of sapphire silk with silver tassels.
+
+Over the crystal floor the little pipers marched; over the crystal
+floor the children followed, and when a door at the end of the hall
+was opened to let the pipers pass, a crowd of colours came rushing in,
+and floor, and ceiling, and stately pillars, and glancing couches, and
+shining walls, were stained with a thousand dazzling hues.
+
+Out through the door the pipers marched; out through the door the
+children followed, and when they crossed the threshold they were
+treading on clouds of amber, of purple, and of gold.
+
+"Oh, Connla," said Nora, "we have walked into the sunset!"
+
+And around and about them everywhere were soft, fleecy clouds, and
+over their heads was the glowing sky, and the stars were shining
+through it, as a lady's eyes shine through a veil of gossamer. And the
+sky and stars seemed so near that Connla thought he could almost touch
+them with his hand.
+
+When they had gone some distance, the pipers disappeared, and when
+Connla and Nora came up to the spot where they had seen the last of
+them, they found themselves at the head of a ladder, all the steps of
+which were formed of purple and amber clouds that descended to what
+appeared to be a vast and shining plain, streaked with purple and
+gold. In the spaces between the streaks of gold and purple they saw
+soft, milk-white stars. And the children thought that the great plain,
+so far below them, also belonged to cloudland.
+
+They could not see the little pipers, but up the steps was borne by
+the cool, sweet air the fairy music; and lured on by it step by step
+they travelled down the fleecy stairway. When they were little more
+than half way down there came mingled with the music a sound almost as
+sweet--the sound of waters toying in the still air with pebbles on a
+shelving beach, and with the sound came the odorous brine of the
+ocean. And then the children knew that what they thought was a plain
+in the realms of cloudland was the sleeping sea unstirred by wind or
+tide, dreaming of the purple clouds and stars of the sunset sky above
+it.
+
+When Connla and Nora reached the strand they saw the nine little
+pipers marching out towards the sea, and they wondered where they were
+going to. And they could hardly believe their eyes when they saw them
+stepping out upon the level ocean as if they were walking upon the
+land; and away the nine little pipers marched, treading the golden
+line cast upon the waters by the setting sun. And as the music became
+fainter and fainter as the pipers passed into the glowing distance,
+the children began to wonder what was to become of themselves. Just at
+that very moment they saw coming towards them from the sinking sun a
+little white horse, with flowing mane and tail and golden hoofs. On
+the horse's back was a little man dressed in shining green silk. When
+the horse galloped on to the strand the little man doffed his hat, and
+said to the children:
+
+"Would you like to follow the nine little pipers?" The children said,
+"yes."
+
+"Well, then," said the little man, "come up here behind me; you, Nora,
+first, and Connla after."
+
+Connla helped up Nora, and then climbed on to the little steed
+himself; and as soon as they were properly seated the little man said
+"swish," and away went the steed, galloping over the sea without
+wetting hair or hoof. But fast as he galloped the nine little pipers
+were always ahead of him, although they seemed to be going only at a
+walking pace. When at last he came up rather close to the hindmost of
+them the nine little pipers disappeared, but the children heard the
+music playing beneath the waters. The white steed pulled up suddenly,
+and wouldn't move a step further.
+
+"Now," said the little man to the children, "clasp me tight, Nora, and
+do you, Connla, cling on to Nora, and both of you shut your eyes."
+
+The children did as they were bidden, and the little man cried:
+
+"Swish! swash!"
+
+And the steed went down and down until at last his feet struck the
+bottom.
+
+"Now open your eyes," said the little man.
+
+And when the children did so they saw beneath the horse's feet a
+golden strand, and above their heads the sea like a transparent cloud
+between them and the sky. And once more they heard the fairy music,
+and marching on the strand before them were the nine little pipers.
+
+"You must get off now," said the little man, "I can go no farther with
+you."
+
+The children scrambled down, and the little man cried "swish," and
+himself and the steed shot up through the sea, and they saw him no
+more. Then they set out after the nine little pipers, and it wasn't
+long until they saw rising up from the golden strand and pushing their
+heads up into the sea above, a mass of dark grey rocks. And as they
+were gazing at them they saw the rocks opening, and the nine little
+pipers disappearing through them.
+
+The children hurried on, and when they came up close to the rocks they
+saw sitting on a flat and polished stone a mermaid combing her golden
+hair, and singing a strange sweet song that brought the tears to their
+eyes, and by the mermaid's side was a little sleek brown otter.
+
+When the mermaid saw them she flung her golden tresses back over her
+snow-white shoulders, and she beckoned the children to her. Her large
+eyes were full of sadness; but there was a look so tender upon her
+face that the children moved towards her without any fear.
+
+"Come to me, little one," she said to Nora, "come and kiss me," and in
+a second her arms were around the child. The mermaid kissed her again
+and again, as the tears rushed to her eyes, she said:
+
+"Oh, Nora, avourneen, your breath is as sweet as the wild rose that
+blooms in the green fields of Erin, and happy are you, my children,
+who have come so lately from the pleasant land. Oh, Connla! Connla! I
+get the scent of the dew of the Irish grasses and of the purple
+heather from your feet. And you both can soon return to Erin of the
+Streams, but I shall not see it till three hundred years have passed
+away, for I am Liban the Mermaid, daughter of a line of kings. But I
+may not keep you here. The Fairy Queen is waiting for you in her
+snow-white palace and her fragrant bowers. And now kiss me once more,
+Nora, and kiss me, Connla. May luck and joy go with you, and all
+gentleness be upon you both."[5]
+
+Then the children said good-bye to the mermaid, and the rocks opened
+for them and they passed through, and soon they found themselves in a
+meadow starred with flowers, and through the meadow sped a sunlit
+stream. They followed the stream until it led them into a garden of
+roses, and beyond the garden, standing on a gentle hill, was a palace
+white as snow. Before the palace was a crowd of fairy maidens pelting
+each other with rose-leaves. But when they saw the children they gave
+over their play, and came trooping towards them.
+
+"Our queen is waiting for you," they said; and then they led the
+children to the palace door. The children entered, and after passing
+through a long corridor they found themselves in a crystal hall so
+like the one they had seen in the mountain of the golden spear that
+they thought it was the same. But on all the crystal couches fairies,
+dressed in silken robes of many colours, were sitting, and at the end
+of the hall, on a crystal throne, was seated the fairy queen, looking
+lovelier than the evening star. The queen descended from her throne to
+meet the children, and taking them by the hands, she led them up the
+shining steps. Then, sitting down, she made them sit beside her,
+Connla on her right hand and Nora on her left.
+
+Then she ordered the nine little pipers to come before her, and she
+said to them:
+
+"So far you have done your duty faithfully, and now play one more
+sweet air and your task is done."
+
+And the little pipers played, and from the couches at the first sound
+of the music all the fairies rose, and forming partners, they danced
+over the crystal floor as lightly as the young leaves dancing in the
+wind.
+
+Listening to the fairy music, and watching the wavy motion of the
+dancing fairies, the children fell asleep. When they awoke next
+morning and rose from their silken beds they were no longer children.
+Nora was a graceful and stately maiden, and Connla a handsome and
+gallant youth. They looked at each other for a moment in surprise, and
+then Connla said:
+
+"Oh, Nora, how tall and beautiful you are!"
+
+"Oh, not so tall and handsome as you are, Connla," said Nora, as she
+flung her white arms round his neck and kissed her brother's lips.
+
+Then they drew back to get a better look of each other, and who should
+step between them but the fairy queen.
+
+"Oh, Nora, Nora," said she, "I am not as high as your knee, and as for
+you, Connla, you look as straight and as tall as one of the round
+towers of Erin."
+
+"And how did we grow so tall in one night?" said Connla.
+
+"In one night!" said the fairy queen. "One night, indeed! Why, you
+have been fast asleep, the two of you, for the last seven years!"
+
+"And where was the little mother all that time?" said Connla and Nora
+together.
+
+"Oh, the little mother was all right. She knew where you were; but she
+is expecting you to-day, and so you must go off to see her, although I
+would like to keep you--if I had my way--all to myself here in the
+fairyland under the sea. And you will see her to-day; but before you
+go here is a necklace for you, Nora; it is formed out of the drops of
+the ocean spray, sparkling in the sunshine. They were caught by my
+fairy nymph, for you, as they skimmed the sunlit billows under the
+shape of sea-birds, and no queen or princess in the world can match
+their lustre with the diamonds won with toil from the caves of earth.
+As for you, Connla, see here's a helmet of shining gold fit for a king
+of Erin--and a king of Erin you will be yet; and here's a spear that
+will pierce any shield, and here's a shield that no spear can pierce
+and no sword can cleave as long as you fasten your warrior cloak with
+this brooch of gold."
+
+And as she spoke she flung round Connla's shoulders a flowing mantle
+of yellow silk, and pinned it at his neck with a red gold brooch.
+
+"And now, my children, you must go away from me. You, Nora, will be a
+warrior's bride in Erin of the Streams. And you, Connla, will be king
+yet over the loveliest province in all the land of Erin; but you will
+have to fight for your crown, and days of battle are before you. They
+will not come for a long time after you have left the fairyland under
+the sea, and until they come lay aside your helmet, shield, and spear,
+and warrior's cloak and golden brooch. But when the time comes when
+you will be called to battle, enter not upon it without the golden
+brooch I give you fastened in your cloak, for if you do harm will come
+to you. Now, kiss me, children; your little mother is waiting for you
+at the foot of the golden spear, but do not forget to say good-bye to
+Liban the Mermaid, exiled from the land she loves, and pining in
+sadness beneath the sea."
+
+Connla and Nora kissed the fairy queen, and Connla, wearing his golden
+helmet and silken cloak, and carrying his shield and spear, led Nora
+with him. They passed from the palace through the garden of roses,
+through the flowery meadow, through the dark grey rocks, until they
+reached the golden strand; and there, sitting and singing the strange,
+sweet song, was Liban the Mermaid.
+
+"And so you are going up to Erin," she said, "up through the covering
+waters. Kiss me, children, once again; and when you are in Erin of the
+Streams, sometimes think of the exile from Erin beneath the sea."
+
+And the children kissed the mermaid, and with sad hearts, bidding her
+good-bye, they walked along the golden strand. When they had gone what
+seemed to them a long way, they began to feel weary; and just then
+they saw coming towards them a little man in a red jacket leading a
+coal-black steed.
+
+When they met the little man, he said: "Connla, put Nora up on this
+steed; then jump up before her."
+
+Connla did as he was told, and when both of them were mounted--
+
+"Now, Connla," said the little man, "catch the bridle in your hands,
+and you, Nora, clasp Connla round the waist, and close your eyes."
+
+They did as they were bidden, and then the little man said, "Swash,
+swish!" and the steed shot up from the strand like a lark from the
+grass, and pierced the covering sea, and went bounding on over the
+level waters; and when his hoofs struck the hard ground, Connla and
+Nora opened their eyes, and they saw that they were galloping towards
+a shady wood.
+
+On went the steed, and soon he was galloping beneath the branches that
+almost touched Connla's head. And on they went until they had passed
+through the wood, and then they saw rising up before them the "Golden
+Spear."
+
+"Oh, Connla," said Nora, "we are at home at last."
+
+"Yes," said Connla, "but where is the little house under the hill?"
+
+And no little house was there; but in its stead was standing a
+lime-white mansion.
+
+"What can this mean?" said Nora.
+
+But before Connla could reply, the steed had galloped up to the door
+of the mansion, and, in the twinkling of an eye, Connla and Nora were
+standing on the ground outside the door, and the steed had vanished.
+
+Before they could recover from their surprise the little mother came
+rushing out to them, and flung her arms around their necks, and kissed
+them both again and again.
+
+"Oh, children! children! You are welcome home to me; for though I knew
+it was all for the best, my heart was lonely without you."
+
+And Connla and Nora caught up the little mother in their arms, and
+they carried her into the hall and set her down on the floor.
+
+"Oh, Nora!" said the little mother, "you are a head over me; and as
+for you, Connla, you look almost as tall as one of the round towers of
+Erin."
+
+"That's what the fairy queen said, mother," said Nora.
+
+"Blessings on the fairy queen," said the little mother. "Turn round,
+Connla, till I look at you."
+
+Connla turned round, and the little mother said:
+
+"Oh, Connla, with your golden helmet and your spear, and your glancing
+shield, and your silken cloak, you look like a king. But take them
+off, my boy, beautiful as they are. Your little mother would like to
+see you, her own brave boy, without any fairy finery."
+
+And Connla laid aside his spear and shield, and took off his golden
+helmet and his silken cloak. Then he caught the little mother and
+kissed her, and lifted her up until she was as high as his head. And
+said he:
+
+"Don't you know, little mother, I'd rather have you than all the
+world."
+
+And that night, when they were sitting down by the fire together, you
+may be sure that in the whole world no people were half as happy as
+Nora, Connla, and the little mother.
+
+
+
+
+THE FAIRY TREE OF DOOROS.[6]
+
+
+Once upon a time the fairies of the west, going home from a
+hurling-match with the fairies of the lakes, rested in Dooros Wood for
+three days and three nights. They spent the days feasting and the
+nights dancing in the light of the moon, and they danced so hard that
+they wore the shoes off their feet, and for a whole week after the
+leprechauns, the fairies' shoemakers, were working night and day
+making new ones, and the rip, rap, tap, tap of their little hammers
+were heard in all the hedgerows.
+
+The food on which the fairies feasted were little red berries, and
+were so like those that grow on the rowan tree that if you only looked
+at them you might mistake one for the other; but the fairy berries
+grow only in fairyland, and are sweeter than any fruit that grows here
+in this world, and if an old man, bent and grey, ate one of them, he
+became young and active and strong again; and if an old woman,
+withered and wrinkled, ate one of them, she became young and bright
+and fair; and if a little maiden who was not handsome ate of them, she
+became lovelier than the flower of beauty.
+
+The fairies guarded the berries as carefully as a miser guards his
+gold, and whenever they were about to leave fairyland they had to
+promise in the presence of the king and queen that they would not give
+a single berry to mortal man, nor allow one to fall upon the earth;
+for if a single berry fell upon the earth a slender tree of many
+branches, bearing clusters of berries, would at once spring up, and
+mortal men might eat of them.
+
+But it chanced that this time they were in Dooros Wood they kept up
+the feasting and dancing so long, and were so full of joy because of
+their victory over the lake fairies, that one little, weeny fairy, not
+much bigger than my finger, lost his head, and dropped a berry in the
+wood.
+
+When the feast was ended the fairies went back to fairyland, and were
+at home for more than a week before they knew of the little fellow's
+fault, and this is how they came to know of it.
+
+A great wedding was about to come off, and the queen of the fairies
+sent six of her pages to Dooros Wood to catch fifty butterflies with
+golden spots on their purple wings, and fifty white without speck or
+spot, and fifty golden, yellow as the cowslip, to make a dress for
+herself, and a hundred white, without speck or spot, to make dresses
+for the bride and bridesmaids.
+
+When the pages came near the wood they heard the most wonderful music,
+and the sky above them became quite dark, as if a cloud had shut out
+the sun. They looked up, and saw that the cloud was formed of bees,
+who in a great swarm were flying towards the wood and humming as they
+flew. Seeing this they were sore afraid until they saw the bees
+settling on a single tree, and on looking closely at the tree they saw
+it was covered with fairy berries.
+
+The bees took no notice of the fairies, and so they were no longer
+afraid, and they hunted the butterflies until they had captured the
+full number of various colours. Then they returned to fairyland, and
+they told the queen about the bees and the berries, and the queen told
+the king.
+
+The king was very angry, and he sent his heralds to the four corners
+of fairyland to summon all his subjects to his presence that he might
+find out without delay who was the culprit.
+
+They all came except the little weeny fellow who dropped the berry,
+and of course every one said that it was fear that kept him away, and
+that he must be guilty.
+
+The heralds were at once sent in search of him, and after a while they
+found him hiding in a cluster of ferns, and brought him before the
+king.
+
+The poor little fellow was so frightened that at first he could
+scarcely speak a word, but after a time he told how he never missed
+the berry until he had returned to fairyland, and that he was afraid
+to say anything to anyone about it.
+
+The king, who would hear of no excuse, sentenced the little culprit to
+be banished into the land of giants beyond the mountains, to stay
+there for ever and a day unless he could find a giant willing to go to
+Dooros Wood and guard the fairy tree. When the king had pronounced
+sentence everyone was very sorry, because the little fellow was a
+favourite with them all. No fairy harper upon his harp, or piper upon
+his pipe, or fiddler upon his fiddle, could play half so sweetly as he
+could play upon an ivy leaf; and when they remembered all the pleasant
+moonlit nights on which they had danced to his music, and thought that
+they should never hear or dance to it any more, their little hearts
+were filled with sorrow. The queen was as sad as any of her subjects,
+but the king's word should be obeyed.
+
+When the time came for the little fellow to set out into exile the
+queen sent her head page to him with a handful of berries. These the
+queen said he was to offer to the giants, and say at the same time
+that the giant who was willing to guard the tree could feast on
+berries just as sweet from morn till night.
+
+As the little fellow went on his way nearly all the fairies followed
+him to the borders of the land, and when they saw him go up the
+mountain towards the land of the giants, they all took off their
+little red caps and waved them until he was out of sight.
+
+On he went walking all day and night, and when the sun rose on the
+morrow he was on the top of the mountain, and he could see the land of
+the giants in the valley stretched far below him. Before beginning his
+descent he turned round for a last glimpse of fairyland; but he could
+see nothing, for a thick, dark cloud shut it out from view. He was
+very sad, and tired, and footsore, and as he struggled down the rough
+mountain side, he could not help thinking of the soft, green woods and
+mossy pathways of the pleasant land he had left behind him.
+
+When he awoke the ground was trembling, and a noise that sounded like
+thunder fell on his ears. He looked up and saw coming towards him a
+terrible giant, with one eye that burned like a live coal in the
+middle of his forehead, his mouth stretched from ear to ear, his teeth
+were long and crooked, the skin of his face was as black as night, and
+his arms and chest were all covered with black, shaggy hair; round his
+body was an iron band, and hanging from this by a chain was a great
+club with iron spikes. With one blow of this club he could break a
+rock into splinters, and fire could not burn him, and water could not
+drown him, and weapons could not wound him, and there was no way to
+kill him but by giving him three blows of his own club. And he was so
+bad-tempered that the other giants called him Sharvan the Surly. When
+the giant spied the red cap of the little fairy he gave the shout that
+sounded like thunder. The poor fairy was shaking from head to foot.
+
+"What brought you here?" said the giant.
+
+"Please, Mr. Giant," said the fairy, "the king of the fairies banished
+me here, and here I must stay for ever and a day, unless you come and
+guard the fairy tree in Dooros Wood."
+
+"Unless what?" roared the giant, and he gave the fairy a touch of his
+foot that sent the little fellow rolling down head over heels.
+
+The poor fairy lay as if he were dead, and then the giant, feeling
+sorry for what he had done, took him up gently between his finger and
+thumb.
+
+[Illustration: "Sharvan took him up gently between his finger and
+thumb"--p. 87.]
+
+"Don't be frightened, little man," said he, "and now, tell me all
+about the tree."
+
+"It is the tree of the fairy berry that grows in the Wood of Dooros,"
+said the fairy, "and I have some of the berries with me."
+
+"Oh, you have, have you?" said the giant. "Let me see them."
+
+The fairy took three berries from the pocket of his little green coat,
+and gave them to the giant.
+
+The giant looked at them for a second. He then swallowed the three
+together, and when he had done so, he felt so happy that he began to
+shout and dance for joy.
+
+"More, you little thief!" said he. "More, you little----what's your
+name?" said the giant.
+
+"Pinkeen, please, Mr. Giant," said the fairy, as he gave up all the
+berries.
+
+The giant shouted louder than before, and his shouts were heard by all
+the other giants, who came running towards him.
+
+When Sharvan saw them coming, he caught up Pinkeen, and put him in his
+pocket, that they shouldn't see him.
+
+"What were you shouting for?" said the giants.
+
+"Because," said Sharvan, "that rock there fell down on my big toe."
+
+"You did not shout like a man that was hurt," said they.
+
+"What is it to you what way I shouted?" said he.
+
+"You might give a civil answer to a civil question," said they; "but
+sure you were always Sharvan the Surly;" and they went away.
+
+When the giants were out of sight, Sharvan took Pinkeen out of his
+wallet.
+
+"Some more berries, you little thief--I mean little Pinkeen," said
+he.
+
+"I have not any more," said Pinkeen; "but if you will guard the tree
+in Dooros Wood you can feast on them from morn till night."
+
+"I'll guard every tree in the wood, if I may do that," said the
+giant.
+
+"You'll have to guard only one," said Pinkeen.
+
+"How am I to get to it?" said Sharvan.
+
+"You must first come with me towards fairyland," said the fairy.
+
+"Very well," said Sharvan; "let us go." And he took up the fairy and
+put him into his wallet, and before very long they were on the top of
+the mountain. Then the giant looked around towards the giant's land;
+but a black cloud shut it out from view, while the sun was shining on
+the valley that lay before him, and he could see away in the distance
+the green woods and shining waters of fairyland.
+
+It was not long until he reached its borders, but when he tried to
+cross them his feet stuck to the ground and he could not move a step.
+Sharvan gave three loud shouts that were heard all over fairyland, and
+made the trees in the woods tremble, as if the wind of a storm was
+sweeping over them.
+
+"Oh, please, Mr. Giant, let me out," said Pinkeen. Sharvan took out
+the little fellow, who, as soon as he saw he was on the borders of
+fairyland ran as fast as his legs could carry him, and before he had
+gone very far he met all the little fairies who, hearing the shouts
+of the giant, came trooping out from the ferns to see what was the
+matter. Pinkeen told them it was the giant who was to guard the tree,
+shouting because he was stuck fast on the borders, and they need have
+no fear of him. The fairies were so delighted to have Pinkeen back
+again, that they took him up on their shoulders and carried him to the
+king's palace, and all the harpers and pipers and fiddlers marched
+before him playing the most jocund music that was ever heard. The king
+and queen were on the lawn in front of the palace when the gay
+procession came up and halted before them. The queen's eyes glistened
+with pleasure when she saw the little favourite, and the king was also
+glad at heart, but he looked very grave as he said:
+
+"Why have you returned, sirrah?"
+
+Then Pinkeen told his majesty that he had brought with him a giant who
+was willing to guard the fairy tree.
+
+"And who is he and where is he?" asked the king.
+
+"The other giants called him Sharvan the Surly," said Pinkeen, "and he
+is stuck fast outside the borders of fairyland."
+
+"It is well," said the king, "you are pardoned."
+
+When the fairies heard this they tossed their little red caps in the
+air, and cheered so loudly that a bee who was clinging to a rose-bud
+fell senseless to the ground.
+
+Then the king ordered one of his pages to take a handful of berries,
+and to go to Sharvan and show him the way to Dooros Wood. The page,
+taking the berries with him, went off to Sharvan, whose roaring nearly
+frightened the poor little fellow to death. But as soon as the giant
+tasted the berries he got into good humour, and he asked the page if
+he could remove the spell of enchantment from him.
+
+"I can," said the page, "and I will if you promise me that you will
+not try to cross the borders of fairyland."
+
+"I promise that, with all my heart," said the giant. "But hurry on, my
+little man, for there are pins and needles in my legs."
+
+The page plucked a cowslip, and picking out the five little crimson
+spots in the cup of it, he flung one to the north, and one to the
+south, and one to the east, and one to the west, and one up into the
+sky, and the spell was broken, and the giant's limbs were free. Then
+Sharvan and the fairy page set off for Dooros Wood, and it was not
+long until they came within view of the fairy tree. When Sharvan saw
+the berries glistening in the sun, he gave a shout so loud and strong
+that the wind of it blew the little fairy back to fairyland. But he
+had to return to the wood to tell the giant that he was to stay all
+day at the foot of the tree ready to do battle with anyone who might
+come to steal the berries, and that during the night he was to sleep
+amongst the branches.
+
+"All right," said the giant, who could scarcely speak, as his mouth
+was full of berries.
+
+Well, the fame of the fairy-tree spread far and wide, and every day
+some adventurer came to try if he could carry away some of the
+berries; but the giant, true to his word, was always on the watch, and
+not a single day passed on which he did not fight and slay a daring
+champion, and the giant never received a wound, for fire could not
+burn him, nor water drown him, nor weapon wound him.
+
+Now, at this time, when Sharvan was keeping watch and ward over the
+tree, a cruel king was reigning over the lands that looked towards the
+rising sun. He had slain the rightful king by foul means, and his
+subjects, loving their murdered sovereign, hated the usurper; but much
+as they hated him they feared him more, for he was brave and
+masterful, and he was armed with a helmet and shield which no weapon
+made by mortal hands could pierce, and he carried always with him two
+javelins that never missed their mark, and were so fatal that they
+were called "the shafts of death." The murdered king had two
+children--a boy, whose name was Niall, and a girl, who was called
+Rosaleen--that is, little Rose; but no rose that ever bloomed was half
+as sweet or fresh or fair as she. Cruel as the tyrant king was, he was
+afraid of the people to kill the children. He sent the boy adrift on
+the sea in an open boat, hoping the waves would swallow it; and he got
+an old witch to cast the spell of deformity over Rosaleen, and under
+the spell her beauty faded, until at last she became so ugly and
+wasted that scarcely anyone would speak to her. And, shunned by
+everyone, she spent her days in the out-houses with the cattle, and
+every night she cried herself to sleep.
+
+One day, when she was very lonely, a little robin came to pick the
+crumbs that had fallen about her feet. He appeared so tame that she
+offered him the bread from her hand, and when he took it she cried
+with joy at finding that there was one living thing that did not shun
+her. After this the robin came every day, and he sang so sweetly for
+her that she almost forgot her loneliness and misery. But once while
+the robin was with her the tyrant king's daughter, who was very
+beautiful, passed with her maids of honour, and, seeing Rosaleen, the
+princess said:
+
+"Oh, there is that horrid ugly thing."
+
+The maids laughed and giggled, and said they had never seen such a
+fright.
+
+Poor Rosaleen felt as if her heart would break, and when the princess
+and her maids were out of sight she almost cried her eyes out. When
+the robin saw her crying he perched on her shoulder and rubbed his
+little head against her neck and chirruped softly in her ear, and
+Rosaleen was comforted, for she felt she had at least one friend in
+the world, although it was only a little robin. But the robin could do
+more for her than she could dream of. He heard the remark made by the
+princess, and he saw Rosaleen's tears, and he knew now why she was
+shunned by everybody, and why she was so unhappy. And that very
+evening he flew off to Dooros Wood, and called on a cousin of his and
+told him all about Rosaleen.
+
+"And you want some of the fairy berries, I suppose," said his cousin,
+Robin of the Wood.
+
+"I do," said Rosaleen's little friend.
+
+"Ah," said Robin of the Wood, "times have changed since you were here
+last. The tree is guarded now all the day long by a surly giant. He
+sleeps in the branches during the night, and he breathes upon them and
+around them every morning, and his breath is poison to bird and bee.
+There is only one chance open, and if you try that it may cost you
+your life."
+
+"Then tell me what it is, for I would give a hundred lives for
+Rosaleen," said her own little robin.
+
+"Well," said Robin of the Wood, "every day a champion comes to battle
+with the giant, and the giant, before he begins the fight, puts a
+branch of berries in the iron belt that's around his waist, so that
+when he feels tired or thirsty he can refresh himself, and there is
+just a bare chance, while he is fighting, of picking one of the
+berries from the branch; but if his breath fall on you it is certain
+death."
+
+"I will take the chance," said Rosaleen's robin.
+
+"Very well," said the other. And the two birds flew through the wood
+until they came within sight of the fairy tree. The giant was lying
+stretched at the foot of it, eating the berries; but it was not long
+until a warrior came, who challenged him to battle. The giant jumped
+up, and plucking a branch from the tree stuck it in his belt, and
+swinging his iron club above his head strode towards the warrior, and
+the fight began. The robin perched on a tree behind the giant, and
+watched and waited for his chance; but it was a long time coming, for
+the berries were in front of the giant's belt. At last the giant, with
+one great blow, struck the warrior down, but as he did so he stumbled
+and fell upon him, and before he had time to recover himself the
+little robin darted towards him like a flash and picked off one of the
+berries, and then, as fast as wings could carry him, he flew towards
+home, and on his way he passed over a troop of warriors on snow-white
+steeds. All the horsemen except one wore silver helmets and shining
+mantles of green silk, fastened by brooches of red gold, but the
+chief, who rode at the head of the troop, wore a golden helmet, and
+his mantle was of yellow silk, and he looked by far the noblest of
+them all. When the robin had left the horsemen far behind him he spied
+Rosaleen sitting outside the palace gates bemoaning her fate. The
+robin perched upon her shoulder, and almost before she knew he was
+there he put the berry between her lips, and the taste was so
+delicious that Rosaleen ate it at once, and that very moment the
+witch's withering spell passed away from her, and she became as lovely
+as the flower of beauty. Just then the warriors on the snow-white
+steeds came up, and the chief with the mantle of yellow silk and the
+golden helmet leaped from his horse, and bending his knee before her,
+said:
+
+"Fairest of all fair maidens, you are surely the daughter of the king
+of these realms, even though you are without the palace gates,
+unattended, and wear not royal robes. I am the Prince of the Sunny
+Valleys."
+
+"Daughter of a king I am," said Rosaleen, "but not of the king who
+rules these realms."
+
+And saying this she fled, leaving the prince wondering who she could
+be. The prince then ordered his trumpeters to give notice of his
+presence outside the palace, and in a few moments the king and all his
+nobles came out to greet the prince and his warriors, and give them
+welcome. That night a great feast was spread in the banquet-hall, and
+the Prince of the Sunny Valleys sat by the king, and beside the prince
+sat the king's beautiful daughter, and then in due order sat the
+nobles of the court and the warriors who had come with the prince, and
+on the wall behind each noble and warrior his shield and helmet were
+suspended, flashing radiance through the room. During the feast the
+prince spoke most graciously to the lovely lady at his side, but all
+the time he was thinking of the unknown beauty he had met outside the
+palace gates, and his heart longed for another glimpse of her. When
+the feast was ended, and the jewelled drinking-cups had gone merrily
+around the table, the bards sang, to the accompaniment of harps, the
+"Courtship of the Lady Eimer," and as they pictured her radiant beauty
+outshining that of all her maidens, the prince thought that fair as
+Lady Eimer was there was one still fairer.
+
+When the feast was ended the king asked the prince what brought him
+into his realms.
+
+"I come," said the prince, "to look for a bride, for it was foretold
+to me in my own country that here only I should find the lady who is
+destined to share my throne, and fame reported that in your kingdom
+are to be found the loveliest maidens in all the world, and I can well
+believe that," added the prince, "after what I have seen to-day."
+
+When the king's daughter heard this she hung down her head and blushed
+like a rose, for, of course, she thought the prince was alluding only
+to herself, as she did not know that he had seen Rosaleen, and she had
+not heard of the restoration of her beauty.
+
+Before another word could be spoken a great noise and the clang of
+arms were heard outside the palace. The king and his guests started
+from their seats and drew their swords, and the bards raised the song
+of battle; but their voices were stilled and their harps silenced when
+they saw at the threshold of the banquet hall a battle champion, in
+whose face they recognised the features of their murdered king.
+
+"'Tis Niall come back to claim his father's throne," said the chief
+bard. "Long live Niall!"
+
+"Long live Niall!" answered all the others.
+
+The king, white with rage and amazement, turned to the chiefs and
+nobles of his court, and cried out:
+
+"Is there none loyal enough to drive that intruder from the banquet
+hall?"
+
+But no one stirred, and no answer was given. Then the king rushed
+forward alone, but before he could reach the spot where Niall was
+standing he was seized by a dozen chiefs and at once disarmed.
+
+During this scene the king's daughter had fled frightened; but
+Rosaleen, attracted by the noise, and hearing her brother's name and
+the cheers which greeted it, had entered the banquet hall unperceived
+by anyone. But when her presence was discovered every eye was dazzled
+with her beauty. Niall looked at her for a second, wondering if the
+radiant maiden before him could be the little sister he had been
+separated from for so many years. In another second she was clasped in
+his arms.
+
+Then the feast was spread again, and Niall told the story of his
+adventures; and when the Prince of the Sunny Valley asked for the hand
+of Rosaleen, Niall told his lovely sister to speak for herself. With
+downcast eyes and smiling lips she said, "yes," and that very day was
+the gayest and brightest wedding that ever took place, and Rosaleen
+became the prince's bride.
+
+In her happiness she did not forget the little robin, who was her
+friend in sorrow. She took him home with her to Sunny Valleys, and
+every day she fed him with her own hands, and every day he sang for
+her the sweetest songs that were ever heard in lady's bower.
+
+
+
+
+THE ENCHANTED CAVE.
+
+
+A long, long time ago, Prince Cuglas,[7] master of the hounds to the
+high King of Erin, set out from Tara to the chase. As he was leaving
+the palace the light mists were drifting away from the hill-tops, and
+the rays of the morning sun were falling aslant on the _grinan_ or
+sunny bower of the Princess Ailinn. Glancing towards it the prince
+doffed his plumed and jewelled hunting-cap, and the princess answered
+his salute by a wave of her little hand, that was as white as a wild
+rose in the hedges in June, and leaning from her bower, she watched
+the huntsman until his tossing plumes were hidden by the green waving
+branches of the woods.
+
+The Princess Ailinn was over head and ears in love with Cuglas, and
+Cuglas was over head and ears in love with the Princess Ailinn, and he
+believed that never was summer morning half as bright, or as sweet, or
+as fair as she. The glimpse which he had just caught of her filled his
+heart with delight, and almost put all thought of hunting out of his
+head, when suddenly the tuneful cries of the hounds, answered by a
+hundred echoes from the groves, broke upon his ear.
+
+The dogs had started a dappled deer that bounded away through the
+forest. The prince, spurring his gallant steed, pushed on in eager
+pursuit.
+
+On through the forest sped the deer, through soft, green, secret ways
+and flowery dells, then out from the forest, up heathery hills, and
+over long stretches of moorland, and across brown rushing streams,
+sometimes in view of the hounds, sometimes lost to sight, but always
+ahead of them.
+
+All day long the chase continued, and at last, when the sun was
+sinking, the dogs were close upon the panting deer, and the prince
+believed he was about to secure his game, when the deer suddenly
+disappeared through the mouth of a cave which opened before him. The
+dogs followed at his heels, and the prince endeavoured to rein in his
+steed, but the impetuous animal bore him on, and soon was clattering
+over the stony floor of the cave in perfect darkness. Cuglas could
+hear ahead of him the cries of the hounds growing fainter and fainter,
+as they increased the distance between them and him. Then the cries
+ceased altogether, and the only sound the prince heard was the noise
+of his horse's hoofs sounding in the hollow cave. Once more he
+endeavoured to check his career, but the reins broke in his hands, and
+in that instant the prince felt the horse had taken a plunge into a
+gulf, and was sinking down and down, as a stone cast from the summit
+of a cliff sinks down to the sea. At last the horse struck the
+ground again, and the prince was almost thrown out of his saddle, but
+he succeeded in regaining his seat. Then on through the darkness
+galloped the steed, and when he came into the light the prince's eyes
+were for some time unable to bear it. But when he got used to the
+brightness he saw he was galloping over a grassy plain, and in the
+distance he perceived the hounds rushing towards a wood faintly
+visible through a luminous summer haze. The prince galloped on, and as
+he approached the wood he saw coming towards him a comely champion,
+wearing a shining brown cloak, fastened by a bright bronze spear-like
+brooch, and bearing a white hazel wand in one hand, and a single-edged
+sword with a hilt made from the tooth of a sea-horse in the other;[8]
+and the prince knew by the dress of the champion, and by his wand and
+sword, that he was a royal herald. As the herald came close to him the
+prince's steed stopped of his own accord.
+
+[Illustration: "The Prince endeavoured to rein in his steed, but the
+impetuous animal bore him on"--p. 102]
+
+"You are welcome, Cuglas," said the herald, "and I have been sent by
+the Princess Crede to greet you and to lead you to her court, where
+you have been so long expected."
+
+"I know not how this may be," said Cuglas.
+
+"How it has come about I shall tell you as we go along," said the
+herald. "The Princess Crede is the Queen of the Floating Island. And
+it chanced, once upon a day, when she was visiting her fairy kinsmen,
+who dwell in one of the pleasant hills that lie near Tara, she saw you
+with the high king and princes and nobles of Erin following the chase.
+And seeing you her heart went out to you, and wishing to bring you to
+her court, she sent one of her nymphs, in the form of a deer, to lure
+you on through the cave, which is the entrance to this land."
+
+"I am deeply honoured by the preference shown me by the princess,"
+said Cuglas, "but I may not tarry in her court; for above in Erin
+there is the Lady Ailinn, the loveliest of all the ladies who grace
+the royal palace, and before the princess and chiefs of Erin she has
+promised to be my bride."
+
+"Of that I know not," said the herald; "but a true champion, like you,
+cannot, I know, refuse to come with me to the court of the Princess
+Crede."
+
+As the herald had said these words the prince and he were on the verge
+of the wood, and they entered upon a mossy pathway that broadened out
+as they advanced until it was as wide as one of the great roads of
+Erin. Before they had gone very far the prince heard the tinkling of
+silver bells in the distance, and almost as soon as he heard them he
+saw coming up towards him a troop of warriors on coal black steeds.
+All the warriors wore helmets of shining silver, and cloaks of blue
+silk. And on the horses' breasts were crescents of silver, on which
+were hung tiny silver bells, shaking out music with the motion of the
+horses. As the prince approached the champions they lowered their
+spears, and dividing in two lines the prince and the herald passed
+between the ranks, and the champions, forming again, followed on
+behind the prince.
+
+At last they passed through the wood, and they found themselves on a
+green plain, speckled with flowers, and they had not gone far when the
+prince saw coming towards him a hundred champions on snow-white
+steeds, and around the breasts of the steeds were crescents of gold,
+from which were hanging little golden bells.[9] The warriors all wore
+golden helmets, and the shafts of their shining spears were of gold,
+and golden sandals on their feet, and yellow silken mantles fell down
+over their shoulders. And when the prince came near them they lowered
+their lances, and then they turned their horses' heads around and
+marched before him. And it was not long until above the pleasant
+jingle of the bells the prince heard the measured strains of music,
+and he saw coming towards him a band of harpers, dressed in green and
+gold, and when the harpers had saluted the prince they marched in
+front of the cavalcade, playing all the time, and it was not long
+until they came to a stream that ran like a blue riband around the
+foot of a green hill, on the top of which was a sparkling palace; the
+stream was crossed by a golden bridge, so narrow that the horsemen had
+to go two-by-two. The herald asked the prince to halt and to allow all
+the champions to go before him; and the cavalcade ascended the hill,
+the sunlight brightly glancing on helmet and on lance, and when it
+reached the palace the horsemen filed around the walls.
+
+When at length the prince and herald crossed the bridge and began to
+climb the hill, the prince thought he felt the ground moving under
+them, and on looking back he could see no sign of the golden bridge,
+and the blue stream had already become as wide as a great river, and
+was becoming wider every second.
+
+"You are on the floating island now," said the herald, "and before you
+is the palace of the Princess Crede."
+
+At that moment the queen came out through the palace door, and the
+prince was so dazzled by her beauty, that only for the golden bracelet
+he wore upon his right arm, under the sleeve of his silken tunic, he
+might almost have forgotten the Princess Ailinn. This bracelet was
+made by the dwarfs who dwell in the heart of the Scandinavian
+Mountains, and was sent with other costly presents by the King of
+Scandinavia to the King of Erin, and he gave it to the princess, and
+it was the virtue of this bracelet, that whoever was wearing it could
+not forget the person who gave it to him, and it could never be
+loosened from the arm by any art or magic spell; but if the wearer,
+even for a single moment, liked anyone better than the person who gave
+it to him, that very moment the bracelet fell off from the arm and
+could never again be fastened on. And when the princess promised her
+hand in marriage to the Prince Cuglas, she closed the bracelet on his
+arm.
+
+The fairy queen knew nothing about the bracelet, and she hoped that
+before the prince was long in the floating island he would forget all
+about the princess.
+
+"You are welcome, Cuglas," said the queen, as she held out her hand,
+and Cuglas, having thanked her for her welcome, they entered the
+palace together.
+
+"You must be weary after your long journey," said the queen. "My page
+will lead you to your apartments, where a bath of the cool blue waters
+of the lake has been made ready for you, and when you have taken your
+bath the pages will lead you to the banquet hall, where the feast is
+spread."
+
+At the feast the prince was seated beside the queen, and she talked to
+him of all the pleasures that were in store for him in fairyland,
+where pain, and sickness, and sorrow, and old age, are unknown, and
+where every rosy hour that flies is brighter than the one that has
+fled before it. And when the feast was ended the queen opened the
+dance with the prince, and it was not until the moon was high above
+the floating island that the prince retired to rest.
+
+He was so tired after his journey and the dancing that he fell into a
+sound sleep. When he awoke the next morning the sun was shining
+brightly, and he heard outside the palace the jingle of bells and the
+music of baying hounds, and his heart was stirred by memories of the
+many pleasant days on which he had led the chase over the plains and
+through the green woods of Tara.
+
+He looked out through the window, and he saw all the fairy champions
+mounted on their steeds ready for the chase, and at their head the
+fairy queen. And at that moment the pages came to say the queen wished
+to know if he would join them, and the prince went out and found his
+steed ready saddled and bridled, and they spent the day hunting in the
+forest that stretched away for miles behind the palace, and the night
+in feasting and dancing.
+
+When the prince awoke the following morning he was summoned by the
+pages to the presence of the queen. The prince found the queen on the
+lawn outside the palace surrounded by her court.
+
+"We shall go on the lake to-day, Cuglas," said the queen, and taking
+his arm she led him along the water's edge, all the courtiers
+following.
+
+When she was close to the water she waved her wand, and in a second a
+thousand boats, shining like glass, shot up from beneath the lake and
+set their bows against the bank. The queen and Cuglas stepped into
+one, and when they were seated two fairy harpers took their places in
+the prow. All the other boats were soon thronged by fairies, and then
+the queen waved her wand again, and an awning of purple silk rose over
+the boat, and silken awning of various colours over the others, and
+the royal boat moved off from the bank followed by all the rest, and
+in every boat sat a harper with a golden harp, and when the queen
+waved her wand for the third time, the harpers struck the trembling
+chords, and to the sound of the delightful music the boats glided over
+the sunlit lake. And on they went until they approached the mouth of a
+gentle river sliding down between banks clad with trees. Up the river,
+close to the bank and under the drooping trees, they sailed, and when
+they came to a bend in the river, from which the lake could be no
+longer seen, they pushed their prows in against the bank, and the
+queen and Cuglas, and all the party, left the boats and went on under
+the trees until they came to a mossy glade.
+
+Then the queen waved her wand, and silken couches were spread under
+the trees, and she and Cuglas sat on one apart from the others, and
+the courtiers took their places in proper order.
+
+And the queen waved her wand again, and wind shook the trees above
+them, and the most luscious fruit that was ever tasted fell down into
+their hands; and when the feast was over there was dancing in the
+glades to the music of the harps, and when they were tired dancing
+they set out for the boats, and the moon was rising above the trees as
+they sailed away over the lake, and it was not long until they reached
+the bank below the fairy palace.
+
+Well, between hunting in the forest, and sailing over the lake, and
+dancing in the greenwood glade and in the banquet hall, the days
+passed, but all the time the prince was thinking of the Princess
+Ailinn, and one moonlit night, when he was lying awake on his couch
+thinking of her, a shadow was suddenly cast on the floor.
+
+The prince looked towards the window, and what should he see sitting
+on the sill outside but a little woman tapping the pane with a golden
+bodkin.
+
+The prince jumped from his couch and opened the window, and the little
+woman floated on the moonbeams into the room and sat down on the
+floor.
+
+"You are thinking of the Princess Ailinn," said the little woman.
+
+"I never think of anyone else," said the prince.
+
+"I know that," said the little woman, "and it's because of your love
+for each other, and because her mother was a friend to me in the
+days gone by, that I have come here to try and help you; but there is
+not much time for talking, the night advances. At the bank below a
+boat awaits you. Step into it and it will lead you to the mainland,
+and when you reach it you will find before you a path that will
+take you to the green fields of Erin and the plains of Tara. I know
+you will have to face danger. I know not what kind of danger; but
+whatever it may be do not draw your sword before you tread upon the
+mainland, for if you do you shall never reach it, and the boat
+will come back again to the floating island; and now go and may luck
+go with you;" and saying this the little woman climbed up the
+moonbeams and disappeared.
+
+The prince left the palace and descended to the lake, and there before
+him he saw a glistening boat; he stepped into it, and the boat went on
+and on beneath the moon, and at last he saw the mainland, and he could
+trace a winding pathway going away from the shore. The sight filled
+his heart with joy, but suddenly the milk-white moonshine died away,
+and looking up to the sky he saw the moon turning fiery red, and the
+waters of the lake, shining like silver a moment before, took a
+blood-red hue, and a wind arose that stirred the waters, and they
+leaped up against the little boat, tossing it from side to side. While
+Cuglas was wondering at the change, he heard a strange, unearthly
+noise ahead of him, and a bristling monster, lifting its claws above
+the water, in a moment was beside the boat and stuck one of his claws
+in the left arm of the prince, and pierced the flesh to the bone.
+Maddened by the pain the prince drew his sword and chopped off the
+monster's claw. The monster disappeared beneath the lake, and, as it
+did so, the colour of the water changed, and the silver moonlight
+shone down from the sky again, but the boat no longer went on towards
+the mainland, but sped back towards the floating island, while forth
+from the island came a fleet of fairy boats to meet it, led by the
+shallop of the fairy queen. The queen greeted the prince as if she
+knew not of his attempted flight, and to the music of the harps the
+fleet returned to the palace.
+
+The next day passed and the night came, and again the prince was lying
+on the couch, thinking of the Princess Ailinn, and again he saw the
+shadow on the floor and heard the tapping against the window.
+
+And when he opened it the little woman slid into the room.
+
+"You failed last night," she said, "but I come to give you another
+chance. To-morrow the queen must set out on a visit to her fairy
+kinsmen, who dwell in the green hill near the plain of Tara; she
+cannot take you with her, for if your feet once touched the green
+grass that grows in the fruitful fields of Erin, she could never bring
+you back again. And so, when you find she has left the palace, go at
+once into the banquet hall and look behind the throne, and you will
+see a small door let down into the ground. Pull this up and descend
+the steps which you will see. Where they lead to I cannot tell. What
+dangers may be before you I do not know; but this I know, if you
+accept anything, no matter what it is, from anyone you may meet on
+your way, you shall not set foot on the soil of Erin."
+
+And having said this the little woman, rising from the floor, floated
+out through the window.
+
+The prince returned to his couch, and the next morning, as soon as he
+heard the queen had left the palace, he hastened to the banquet hall.
+He discovered the door and descended the steps, and he found himself
+in a gloomy and lonesome valley. Jagged mountains, black as night,
+rose on either side, and huge rocks seemed ready to topple down upon
+him at every step. Through broken clouds a watery moon shed a faint,
+fitful light, that came and went as the clouds, driven by a moaning
+wind, passed over the valley.
+
+Cuglas, nothing daunted, pushed on boldly until a bank of cloud shut
+out completely the struggling moon, and closing over the valley
+covered it like a pall, leaving him in perfect darkness. At the same
+moment the moaning wind died away, and with it died away all sound.
+The darkness and the death-like silence sent an icy chill to the heart
+of Cuglas. He held his hand close to his eyes, but he saw it not. He
+shouted that he might hear the sound of his own voice, but he heard it
+not. He stamped his foot on the rocky ground, but no sound was
+returned to him. He rattled his sword in its brazen scabbard, but it
+gave no answer back to him. His heart grew colder and colder, when
+suddenly the cloud above him was rent in a dozen places, and lightning
+flashed through the valley, and the thunder rolled over the echoing
+mountains. In the lurid glare of the lightning Cuglas saw a hundred
+ghostly forms sweeping towards him, uttering as they came nearer and
+nearer shrieks so terrible that the silence of death could more easily
+be borne. Cuglas turned to escape, but they hemmed him round, and
+pressed their clammy hands upon his face.
+
+With a yell of horror he drew his sword and slashed about him, and
+that very moment the forms vanished, the thunder ceased, the dark
+cloud passed, and the sun shone out as bright as on a summer day, and
+then Cuglas knew the forms he had seen were those of the wild people
+of the glen.[10]
+
+With renewed courage he pursued his way through the valley, and after
+three or four windings it took him out upon a sandy desert. He had no
+sooner set foot upon the desert than he heard behind him a crashing
+sound louder than thunder. He looked around, and he saw that the walls
+of mountain through which he had just passed had fallen into the
+valley, and filled it up so that he could no longer tell where it had
+been.
+
+The sun was beating fiercely on the desert, and the sands were almost
+as hot as burning cinders; and as Cuglas advanced over them his body
+became dried up, and his tongue clove to the roof of his mouth, and
+when his thirst was at its height a fountain of sparkling water sprang
+up in the burning plain a few paces in front of him; but when he came
+up quite close to it and stretched out his parched hands to cool them
+in the limped waters, the fountain vanished as suddenly as it
+appeared. With great pain, and almost choking with heat and thirst, he
+struggled on, and again the fountain sprang up in front of him and
+moved before him, almost within his reach. At last he came to the end
+of the desert, and he saw a green hill up which a pathway climbed; but
+as he came to the foot of the hill, there, sitting right in his way,
+was a beautiful fairy holding out towards him a crystal cup, over the
+rim of which flowed water as clear as crystal. Unable to resist the
+temptation, the prince seized the cold, bright goblet, and drank the
+water. When he did so his thirst vanished, but the fairy, and the
+green hill, and the burning desert disappeared, and he was standing in
+the forest behind the palace of the fairy queen.
+
+That evening the queen returned, and at the feast she talked as gaily
+to the prince as if she knew not of his attempt to leave the Floating
+Island, and the prince spoke as gaily as he could to her, although in
+his heart there was sadness when he remembered that if he had only
+dashed away the crystal cup, he would be at that moment in the royal
+banquet hall of Tara, sitting beside the Princess Ailinn.
+
+And he thought the feast would never end; but it was over at last, and
+the prince returned to his apartments. And that night, as he lay on
+his couch, he kept his eyes fixed upon the window; but hours passed,
+and there was no sign of anyone. At long last, and when he had given
+up all hope of seeing her, he heard a tapping at the window, and he
+got up and opened it, and the little woman came in.
+
+"You failed again to-day," said she--"failed just at the very moment
+when you were about to step on the green hills of Erin. I can give you
+only one chance more. It will be your last. The queen will go hunting
+in the morning. Join the hunt, and when you are separated from the
+rest of the party in the wood throw your reins upon your horse's neck
+and he will lead you to the edge of the lake. Then cast this golden
+bodkin into the lake in the direction of the mainland, and a golden
+bridge will be thrown across, over which you can pass safely to the
+fields of Erin; but take care and do not draw your sword, for if you
+do your steed will bear you back again to the Floating Island, and
+here you must remain for ever." Then handing the bodkin to the prince,
+and saying good-bye, the little woman disappeared.
+
+The next morning the queen and the prince and all the court went out
+to hunt, and a fleet white deer started out before them, and the royal
+party pressed after him in pursuit. The prince's steed outstripped the
+others, and when he was alone the prince flung the reins upon his
+horse's neck, and before long he came to the edge of the lake.
+
+Then the prince cast the bodkin on to the water, and a golden bridge
+was thrown across to the mainland, and the horse galloped on to it,
+and when the prince was more than half-way he saw riding towards him a
+champion wearing a silver helmet, and carrying on his left arm a
+silver shield, and holding in his right hand a gleaming sword. As he
+came nearer he struck his shield with his sword and challenged the
+prince to battle. The prince's sword almost leaped out of its scabbard
+at the martial sound, and, like a true knight of Tara, he dashed
+against his foe, and swinging his sword above his head, with one blow
+he clove the silver helmet, and the strange warrior reeled from his
+horse and fell upon the golden bridge. The prince, content with this
+achievement, spurred his horse to pass the fallen champion, but the
+horse refused to stir, and the bridge broke in two almost at his feet,
+and the part of it between him and the mainland disappeared beneath
+the lake, carrying with it the horse and the body of the champion, and
+before the prince could recover from his surprise, his steed wheeled
+round and was galloping back, and when he reached the land he rushed
+through the forest, and the prince was not able to pull him up until
+he came to the palace door.
+
+All that night the prince lay awake on his couch with his eyes fixed
+upon the window, but no shadow fell upon the floor, and there was no
+tapping at the pane, and with a heavy heart he joined the hunting
+party in the morning. And day followed day, and his heart was sadder
+and sadder, and found no pleasure in the joys and delights of
+fairyland. And when all in the palace were at rest he used to roam
+through the forest, always thinking of the Princess Ailinn, and hoping
+against hope that the little woman would come again to him, but at
+last he began to despair of ever seeing her. It chanced one night he
+rambled so far that he found himself on the verge of the lake, at the
+very spot from which the golden bridge had been thrown across the
+waters, and as he gazed wistfully upon them a boat shot up and came
+swiftly to the bank, and who should he see sitting in the stern but
+the little woman.
+
+"Ah, Cuglas, Cuglas," she said, "I gave you three chances, and you
+failed in all of them."
+
+"I should have borne the pain inflicted by the monster's claw," said
+Cuglas. "I should have borne the thirst on the sandy desert, and
+dashed the crystal cup untasted from the fairy's hand; but I could
+never have faced the nobles and chiefs of Erin if I had refused to
+meet the challenge of the battle champion on the golden bridge."
+
+"And you would have been no true knight of Erin, and you would not
+have been worthy of the wee girl who loves you, the bonny Princess
+Ailinn, if you had refused to meet it," said the little woman; "but
+for all that you can never return to the fair hills of Erin. But cheer
+up, Cuglas, there are mossy ways and forest paths and nestling bowers
+in fairyland. Lonely they are, I know, in your eyes now," said the
+little woman; "but maybe," she added, with a laugh as musical as the
+ripple on a streamlet when summer is in the air, "maybe you won't
+always think them so lonely."
+
+"You think I'll forget Ailinn for the fairy queen," said Cuglas, with
+a sigh.
+
+"I don't think anything of the kind," said she.
+
+"Then what do you mean?" said the prince.
+
+"Oh, I mean what I mean," said the little woman. "But I can't stop
+here all night talking to you: and, indeed, it is in your bed you
+ought to be yourself. So now good night; and I have no more to say,
+except that perhaps, if you happen to be here this night week at this
+very hour, when the moon will be on the waters, you will see----. But
+no matter what you will see," said she; "I must be off."
+
+And before the prince could say another word the boat sped away from
+the bank, and he was alone. He went back to the palace, and he fell
+asleep that night only to dream of the Princess Ailinn.
+
+As for the princess, she was pining away in the palace of Tara, the
+colour had fled from her cheeks, and her eyes, which had been once so
+bright they would have lighted darkness like a star, lost nearly all
+their lustre, and the king's leeches could do nothing for her, and at
+last they gave up all hope, and the king and queen of Erin and the
+ladies of the court watched her couch by night and by day sadly
+waiting for her last hour.
+
+At length one day, when the sun was shining brightly over Tara's
+plain, and its light, softened by the intervening curtains, was
+falling in the sick chamber, the royal watchers noticed a sweet change
+coming over the face of the princess; the bloom of love and youth were
+flushing on her cheeks, and from her eyes shone out the old, soft,
+tender light, and they began to hope she was about to be restored to
+them, when suddenly the room was in darkness as if the night had swept
+across the sky, and blotted out the sun. Then they heard the sound of
+fairy music, and over the couch where the princess lay they beheld a
+gleam of golden light, but only for a moment; and again there was
+perfect darkness, and the fairy music ceased. Then, as suddenly as it
+came the darkness vanished, the softened sunlight once more filled the
+chamber, and rested upon the couch; but the couch was empty, and the
+royal watchers, looking at each other, said in whispers: "The fairies
+have carried away the Princess Ailinn to fairyland."
+
+Well, that very day the prince roamed by himself through the forest,
+counting the hours until the day would fade in the sky and the moon
+come climbing up, and at last, when it was shining full above the
+waters, he went down to the verge of the lake, and he looked out over
+the gleaming surface watching for the vision promised by the little
+woman. But he could see nothing, and was about to turn away when he
+heard the faint sound of fairy music. He listened and listened, and
+the sound came nearer and clearer, and away in the distance, like
+drops of glistening water breaking the level of the lake, he saw a
+fleet of fairy boats, and he thought it was the fairy queen sailing in
+the moonlight. And it was the fairy queen, and soon he was able to
+recognise the royal shallop leading the others, and as it came close
+to the bank he saw the little woman sitting in the prow between the
+little harpers, and at the stern was the fairy queen, and by her side
+the lady of his heart, the Princess Ailinn. In a second the boat was
+against the bank, and the princess in his arms. And he kissed her
+again and again.
+
+"And have you never a kiss for me," said the little woman, tapping his
+hand with the little gold bodkin.
+
+"A kiss and a dozen," said Cuglas, as he caught the little fairy up in
+his arms.
+
+"Oh, fie, Cuglas," said the queen.
+
+"Oh, the princess isn't one bit jealous," said the little woman. "Are
+you, Ailinn?"
+
+"Indeed I am not," said Ailinn.
+
+"And you should not be," said the fairy queen, "for never lady yet had
+truer knight than Cuglas. I loved him, and I love him dearly. I lured
+him here hoping that in the delights of fairyland he might forget you.
+It was all in vain. I know now that there is one thing no fairy power
+above or below the stars, or beneath the waters, can ever subdue, and
+that is love. And here together forever shall you and Cuglas dwell,
+where old age shall never come upon you, and where pain or sorrow or
+sickness are unknown."
+
+And Cuglas never returned to the fair hills of Erin, and ages passed
+away since the morning he followed the hounds into the fatal cave, but
+his story was remembered by the firesides, and sometimes, even yet,
+the herdboy watching his cattle in the fields hears the tuneful cry of
+hounds, and follows it till it leads him to a darksome cave, and as
+fearfully he listens to the sound becoming fainter and fainter he
+hears the clatter of hoofs over the stony floor, and to this day the
+cave bears the name of the prince who entered it never to return.
+[Footnote: _Uaimh Belaigh Conglais_, the cave of the road of
+Cuglas--now Baltinglass--in the county Wicklow.]
+
+
+
+
+THE HUNTSMAN'S SON.
+
+
+A long, long time ago there lived in a little hut on the borders of a
+great forest a huntsman and his wife and son. From his earliest years
+the boy, whose name was Fergus, used to hunt with his father in the
+forest, and he grew up strong and active, sure and swift-footed as a
+deer, and as free and fearless as the wind. He was tall and handsome;
+as supple as a mountain ash, his lips were as red as its berries; his
+eyes were as blue as the skies in spring; and his hair fell down over
+his shoulders like a shower of gold. His heart was as light as a
+bird's, and no bird was fonder of green woods and waving branches. He
+had lived since his birth in the hut in the forest, and had never
+wished to leave it, until one winter night a wandering minstrel sought
+shelter there, and paid for his night's lodging with songs of love and
+battle. Ever since that night Fergus pined for another life. He no
+longer found joy in the music of the hounds or in the cries of the
+huntsmen in forest glades. He yearned for the chance of battle, and
+the clang of shields, and the fierce shouts of fighting warriors, and
+he spent all his spare hours practising on the harp and learning the
+use of arms, for in those days the bravest warriors were also bards.
+In this way the spring and summer and autumn passed; and when the
+winter came again it chanced that on a stormy night, when thunder was
+rattling through the forest, smiting the huge oaks and hurling them
+crashing to the earth, Fergus lay awake thinking of his present lot,
+and wondering what the future might have in store for him. The
+lightning was playing around the hut, and every now and then a flash
+brightened up the interior.
+
+After a peal, louder than any which had preceded it, Fergus heard
+three loud knocks at the door. He called out to his parents that some
+one was knocking.
+
+"If that is so," said his father, "open at once; this is no night to
+keep a poor wanderer outside our door."
+
+Fergus did as he was bidden, and as he opened the door a flash of
+lightning showed him, standing at the threshold, a little wizened old
+man with a small harp under his arm.
+
+"Come in, and welcome," said Fergus, and the little man stepped into
+the room.
+
+"It is a wild night, neighbours," said he.
+
+"It is, indeed, a wild night," said the huntsman and his wife, who had
+got up and dressed themselves; "and sorry we are we have no better
+shelter or better fare to offer you, but we give you the best we
+have."
+
+"A king cannot do more than his best," said the little man.
+
+The huntsman's wife lit the fire, and soon the pine logs flashed up
+into a blaze, and made the hut bright and warm. She then brought forth
+a peggin of milk and a cake of barley-bread.
+
+"You must be hungry, sir," she said.
+
+"Hungry I am," said he; "but I wouldn't ask for better fare than this
+if I were in the king's palace."
+
+"Thank you kindly, sir," said she, "and I hope you will eat enough,
+and that it will do you good."
+
+"And while you are eating your supper," said the huntsman, "I'll make
+you a bed of fresh rushes."
+
+"Don't put yourself to that trouble," said the little man. "When I
+have done my supper I'll lie down here by the fire, if it is pleasing
+to you, and I'll sleep like a top until morning. And now go back to
+your beds and leave me to myself, and maybe some time when you won't
+be expecting it I'll do a good turn for your kindness to the poor
+wayfarer."
+
+"Oh, it's no kindness at all," said the huntsman's wife. "It would be
+a queer thing if an Irish cabin would not give shelter and welcome in
+a wild night like this. So good night, now, and we hope you will
+sleep well."
+
+"Good night," said the little man, "and may you and yours never sup
+sorrow until your dying day."
+
+The huntsman and his wife and Fergus then went back to their beds, and
+the little man, having finished his supper, curled himself up by the
+fire, and was soon fast asleep.
+
+About an hour after a loud clap of thunder awakened Fergus, and before
+it had died away he heard three knocks at the door. He aroused his
+parents and told them.
+
+"Get up at once," said his mother, "this is no night to keep a
+stranger outside our door."
+
+Fergus rose and opened the door, and a flash of lightning showed him a
+little old woman, with a shuttle in her hand, standing outside.
+
+"Come in, and welcome," said he, and the little old woman stepped into
+the room.
+
+"Blessings be on them who give welcome to a wanderer on a wild night
+like this," said the old woman.
+
+"And who wouldn't give welcome on a night like this?" said the
+huntsman's wife, coming forward with a peggin of milk and a barley
+cake in her hand, "and sorry we are we have not better fare to offer
+you."
+
+"Enough is as good as a feast," said the little woman, "and now go
+back to your beds and leave me to myself."
+
+"Not till I shake down a bed of rushes for you," said the huntsman's
+wife.
+
+"Don't mind the rushes," said the little woman; "go back to your beds.
+I'll sleep here by the fire."
+
+The huntsman's wife went to bed, and the little old woman, having
+eaten her supper, lay down by the fire, and was soon fast asleep.
+
+About an hour later another clap of thunder startled Fergus. Again he
+heard three knocks at the door. He roused his parents, but he did not
+wait for orders from them. He opened the door, and a flash of
+lightning showed him outside the threshold a low-sized, shaggy,
+wild-looking horse. And Fergus knew it was the Pooka, the wild horse
+of the mountains. Bold as Fergus was, his heart beat quickly as he saw
+fire issuing from the Pooka's nostrils. But, banishing fear, he cried
+out:
+
+"Come in, and welcome."
+
+"Welcome you are," said the huntsman, "and sorry we are that we have
+not better shelter or fare to offer you."
+
+"I couldn't wish a better welcome," said the Pooka, as he came over
+near the fire and sat down on his haunches.
+
+"Maybe you would like a little bit of this, Master Pooka," said the
+huntsman's wife, as she offered him a barley cake.
+
+"I never tasted anything sweeter in my life," said the Pooka,
+crunching it between his teeth, "and now if you can give me a sup of
+milk, I'll want for nothing."
+
+The huntsman's wife brought him a peggin of milk. When he had drunk
+it, "Now," says the Pooka, "go back to your beds, and I'll curl myself
+up by the fire and sleep like a top till morning."
+
+And soon everybody in the hut was fast asleep.
+
+When the morning came the storm had gone, and the sun was shining
+through the windows of the hut. At the song of the lark Fergus got up,
+and no one in the world was ever more surprised than he when he saw no
+sign of the little old man, or the little old woman, or the wild horse
+of the mountains. His parents were also surprised, and they all
+thought that they must have been dreaming until they saw the empty
+peggins around the fire and some pieces of broken bread; and they did
+not know what to think of it all.
+
+From that day forward the desire grew stronger in the heart of Fergus
+for a change of life; and one day he told his parents that he was
+resolved to seek his fortune. He said he wished to be a soldier, and
+that he would set out for the king's palace, and try to join the ranks
+of the Feni.
+
+About a week afterwards he took leave of his parents, and having
+received their blessing he struck out for the road that led to the
+palace of the High King of Erin. He arrived there just at the time
+when the great captain of the Fenian host was recruiting his
+battalions, which had been thinned in recent battle.
+
+The manly figure of Fergus, his gallant bearing, and handsome face,
+all told in his favour. But before he could be received into the
+Fenian ranks he had to prove that he could play the harp like a bard,
+that he could contend with staff and shield against nine Fenian
+warriors, that he could run with plaited hair through the tangled
+forest without loosening a single hair, and that in his course he
+could jump over trees as high as his head, and stoop under trees as
+low as his knee, and that he could run so lightly that the rotten
+twigs should not break under his feet. Fergus proved equal to all the
+tests, thanks to the wandering minstrel who taught him the use of the
+harp, to his own brave heart, and to his forest training. He was
+enrolled in the second battalion of the Feni, and before long he was
+its bravest and ablest champion.
+
+At that very time it happened that the niece of the High King of Erin
+was staying with the king and queen in their palace at Tara. The
+princess was the loveliest lady in all the land. She was as proud as
+she was beautiful. The princes and chieftains of Erin in vain sought
+her hand in marriage. From Alba and Spain, and the far-off isles of
+Greece, kings came to woo her. From the northern lands came vikings in
+stately galleys with brazen prows, whose oarsmen tore the white foam
+from the emerald seas as they swept towards the Irish coasts. But the
+lady had vowed she would wed with no one except a battle champion who
+could excel in music the chief bard of the High King of Erin; who
+could outstrip on his steed in the great race of Tara the white steed
+of the plains; and who could give her as a wedding robe a garment of
+all the colours of the rainbow, so finely spun that when folded up it
+would fit in the palm of her small white hand. To fulfil these three
+conditions was impossible for all her suitors, and it seemed as if the
+loveliest lady of the land should go unmarried to her grave.
+
+It chanced that once, on a day when the Fenian battalions were engaged
+in a hurling-match, Fergus beheld the lady watching the match from her
+sunny bower. He no sooner saw her than he fell over head and ears in
+love with her, and he thought of her by night, and he thought of her
+by day, and believing that his love was hopeless, he often wished he
+had never left his forest-home.
+
+The great fair of Tara[11] was coming on, and all the Feni were busy
+from morning till night practising feats of arms and games, in order
+to take part in the contests to be held during the fair. And Fergus,
+knowing that the princess would be present, determined to do his best
+to win the prizes which were to be contended for before the ladies'
+eyes.
+
+The fair began on the 1st of August, but for a whole week before the
+five great roads of Erin were thronged with people of all sorts.
+Princes and warriors on their steeds, battle champions in their
+chariots, harpers in hundreds, smiths with gleaming spears and shields
+and harness for battle steeds and chariots; troops of men and boys
+leading racehorses; jewellers with gold drinking-horns, and
+brooches, and pins, and ear-rings, and costly gems of all kinds, and
+chess-boards of silver and gold, and golden and silver chessmen in
+bags of woven brass; dyers with their many-coloured fabrics; bands
+of jugglers; drovers goading on herds of cattle; shepherds driving
+their sheep; huntsmen with spoils of the chase; dwellers in the lakes
+or by the fish-abounding rivers with salmon and speckled trout; and
+countless numbers of peasants on horseback and on foot, all wending
+their way to the great meeting-place by the mound, which a thousand
+years before had been raised over the grave of the great queen. For
+there the fair was to be held.
+
+On the opening day the High King, attended by the four kings of Erin,
+set out from the palace, and with them went the queen and the ladies
+of the court in sparkling chariots. The princess rode in the chariot
+with the high queen, under an awning made of the wings of birds, to
+protect them from the rays of the sun. Following the queen were the
+court ladies in other chariots, under awnings of purple or of yellow
+silk. Then came the brehons, the great judges of the land, and the
+chief bards of the high court of Tara, and the Druids, crowned with
+oak leaves, and carrying wands of divination in their hands.
+
+When the royal party reached the ground it took its place in
+enclosures right up against the monumental mound. The High King sat
+with the four kings of Erin, all wearing their golden helmets, for
+they wore their diadems in battle only. In an enclosure next the
+king's sat the queen and the princess and all the ladies of the court.
+At either side of the royal pavilions were others for the dames and
+ladies and nobles and chiefs of different degrees, forming part of a
+circle on the plain, and the stands and benches for the people were so
+arranged as to complete the circle, and in the round green space
+within it, so that all might hear and see, the contests were to take
+place.
+
+At a signal from the king, who was greeted with a thunderous
+cheer, the heralds rode round the circle, and having struck their
+sounding shields three times with their swords, they made a solemn
+proclamation of peace. Then was sung by all the assembled bards,
+to the accompaniment of their harps, the chant in honour of the
+mighty dead. When this was ended, again the heralds struck their
+shields, and the contests began. The first contest was the contest
+of spear-throwing between the champions of the seven battalions of
+the Feni. When the seven champions took their places in front of the
+royal enclosure, everyone, even the proud princess, was struck by
+the manly beauty and noble bearing of Fergus.
+
+The champions poised their spears, and at a stroke from the heralds
+upon their shields the seven spears sped flashing through the air.
+They all struck the ground, shafts up, and it was seen that two were
+standing side by side in advance of the rest, one belonged to Fergus,
+the other to the great chief, Oscar. The contest for the prize then
+lay between Oscar and Fergus, and when they stood in front of the
+king, holding their spears aloft, every heart was throbbing with
+excitement. Once more the heralds struck their shields, and, swifter
+than the lightning's flash, forth went the spears, and when Fergus's
+spear was seen shivering in the ground a full length ahead of the
+great chief Oscar's, the air was shaken by a wild cheer that was
+heard far beyond the plains of Tara. And as Fergus approached the high
+king to receive the prize the cheers were renewed. But Fergus thought
+more of the winsome glance of the princess than he did of the prize or
+the sounding cheers. And Princess Maureen was almost sorry for her
+vow, for her heart was touched by the beauty of the Fenian champion.
+
+Other contests followed, and the day passed, and the night fell, and
+while the Fenian warriors were revelling in their camps the heart of
+Fergus, victor as he was, was sad and low. He escaped from his
+companions, and stole away to his native forest, for--
+
+                 "When the heart is sick and sorest,
+                 There is balsam in the forest--
+                 There is balsam in the forest
+                                     For its pain."
+
+And as he lay under the spreading branches, watching the stars
+glancing through the leaves, and listening to the slumb'rous murmur of
+the waters, a strange peace came over him.
+
+But in the camp which he had left, and in the vast multitude on the
+plains of Tara, there was stir and revelry, and babbling speculation
+as to the contest of to-morrow--the contest which was to decide
+whether the chief bard of Erin was to hold his own against all
+comers, or yield the palm. For rumour said that a great Skald had come
+from the northern lands to compete with the Irish bard.
+
+At last, over the Fenian camp, and over the great plain and the
+multitude that thronged it, sleep fell, clothing them with a silence
+as deep as that which dwelt in the forest, where, dreaming of the
+princess, Fergus lay. He awoke at the first notes of the birds, but
+though he felt he ought to go back to his companions and be witness of
+the contest which might determine whether the princess was to be
+another's bride, his great love and his utter despair of winning her
+so oppressed him that he lay as motionless as a broken reed. He
+scarcely heard the music of the birds, and paid no heed to the murmur
+of the brook rushing by his feet. The crackling of branches near him
+barely disturbed him, but when a shadow fell across his eyes he looked
+up gloomily, and saw, or thought he saw, someone standing before him.
+He started up, and who should he see but the little wizened old man
+who found shelter in his father's hut on the stormy night.
+
+[Illustration: "He started up, and who should he see but a little wizened
+old man"--p. 136.]
+
+"This is a nice place for a battle champion to be. This is a nice
+place for _you_ to be on the day which is to decide who will be the
+successful suitor of the princess."
+
+"What is it to me," said Fergus, "who is to win her since I cannot."
+
+"I told you," said the little man, "the night you opened the door for
+me, that the time might come when I might be able to do a good turn
+for you and yours. The time has come. Take this harp, and my luck go
+with you, and in the contest of the bards to-day you'll reap the
+reward of the kindness you did when you opened your door to the poor
+old wayfarer in the midnight storm."
+
+The little man handed his harp to Fergus and disappeared as swiftly as
+the wind that passes through the leaves.
+
+Fergus, concealing the harp under his silken cloak, reached the camp
+before his comrades had aroused themselves from sleep.
+
+At length the hour arrived when the great contest was to take place.
+
+The king gave the signal, and as the chief bard of Erin was seen
+ascending the mound in front of the royal enclosures he was greeted
+with a roar of cheers, but at the first note of his harp silence like
+that of night fell on the mighty gathering.
+
+As he moved his fingers softly over the strings every heart was
+hushed, filled with a sense of balmy rest. The lark soaring and
+singing above his head paused mute and motionless in the still air,
+and no sound was heard over the spacious plain save the dreamy music.
+Then the bard struck another key, and a gentle sorrow possessed the
+hearts of his hearers, and unbidden tears gathered to their eyes.
+Then, with bolder hand, he swept his fingers across his lyre, and all
+hearts were moved to joy and pleasant laughter, and eyes that had been
+dimmed by tears sparkled as brightly as running waters dancing in the
+sun. When the last notes had died away a cheer arose, loud as the
+voice of the storm in the glen when the live thunder is revelling on
+the mountain tops. As soon as the bard had descended the mound the
+Skald from the northern lands took his place, greeted by cries of
+welcome from a hundred thousand throats. He touched his harp, and in
+the perfect silence was heard the strains of the mermaid's song, and
+through it the pleasant ripple of summer waters on the pebbly beach.
+Then the theme was changed, and on the air was borne the measured
+sweep of countless oars and the swish of waters around the prows of
+contending galleys, and the breezy voices of the sailors and the
+sea-bird's cry. Then his theme was changed to the mirth and laughter
+of the banquet-hall, the clang of meeting drinking-horns, and songs of
+battle. When the last strain ended, from the mighty host a great shout
+went up, loud as the roar of winter billows breaking in the hollows of
+the shore; and men knew not whom to declare the victor, the chief
+bard of Erin or the Skald of the northern lands.
+
+In the height of the debate the cry arose that another competitor had
+ascended the mound, and there standing in view of all was Fergus, the
+huntsman's son. All eyes were fastened upon him, but no one looked so
+eagerly as the princess.
+
+He touched his harp with gentle fingers, and a sound low and soft as a
+faint summer breeze passing through forest trees stole out, and then
+was heard the rustle of birds through the branches, and the dreamy
+murmur of waters lost in deepest woods, and all the fairy echoes
+whispering when the leaves are motionless in the noonday heat; then
+followed notes cool and soft as the drip of summer showers on the
+parched grass, and then the song of the blackbird, sounding as clearly
+as it sounds in long silent spaces of the evening, and then in one
+sweet jocund burst the multitudinous voices that hail the breaking of
+the morn. And the lark, singing and soaring above the minstrel, sank
+mute and motionless upon his shoulder, and from all the leafy woods
+the birds came thronging out and formed a fluttering canopy above his
+head.
+
+When the bard ceased playing no shout arose from the mighty multitude,
+for the strains of his harp, long after its chords were stilled, held
+their hearts spell-bound.
+
+And when he had passed away from the mound of contest all knew there
+was no need to declare the victor.[12] And all were glad the comely
+Fenian champion had maintained the supremacy of the bards of Erin. But
+there was one heart sad, the heart of the princess; and now she wished
+more than ever that she had never made her hateful vow.
+
+Other contests went on, but Fergus took no interest in them; and once
+more he stole away to the forest glade. His heart was sorrowful, for
+he thought of the great race of the morning, and he knew that he could
+not hope to compete with the rider of the white steed of the plains.
+And as he lay beneath the spreading branches during the whole night
+long his thoughts were not of the victory he had won, but of the
+princess, who was as far away from him as ever. He passed the night
+without sleep, and when the morning came he rose and walked aimlessly
+through the woods.
+
+A deer starting from a thicket reminded him of the happy days of his
+boyhood, and once more the wish came back to him that he had never
+left his forest home. As his eyes followed the deer wistfully,
+suddenly he started in amazement. The deer vanished from view, and in
+his stead was the wild horse of the mountains.
+
+"I told you I'd do you a good turn," said the Pooka, "for the
+kindness you and yours did me on that wild winter's night. The day is
+passing. You have no time to lose. The white steed of the plains is
+coming to the starting-post. Jump on my back, and remember, 'Faint
+heart never won fair lady.'"
+
+In half a second Fergus was bestride the Pooka, whose coat of shaggy
+hair became at once as glossy as silk, and just at the very moment
+when the king was about to declare there was no steed to compete with
+the white steed of the plains, the Pooka with Fergus upon his back,
+galloped up in front of the royal enclosure. When the people saw the
+champion a thunderous shout rose up that startled the birds in the
+skies, and sent them flying to the groves.
+
+And in the ladies' enclosure was a rustle of many-coloured scarves
+waving in the air. At the striking of the shields the contending
+steeds rushed from the post with the swiftness of a swallow's flight.
+But before the white steed of the plains had gone half-way round,
+Fergus and the wild horse of the mountains had passed the winning
+post, greeted by such cheers as had never before been heard on the
+plains of Tara.
+
+Fergus heard the cheers, but scarcely heeded them, for his heart went
+out through his eyes that were fastened on the princess, and a wild
+hope stirred him that his glance was not ungrateful to the loveliest
+lady of the land.
+
+And the princess was sad and sorry for her vow, for she believed that
+it was beyond the power of Fergus to bring her a robe of all the
+colours of the rainbow, so subtly woven as to fit in the palm of her
+soft, white hand.
+
+That night also Fergus went to the forest, not too sad, because there
+was a vague hope in his heart that had never been there before. He lay
+down under the branches, with his feet towards the rustling waters,
+and the smiles of the princess gilded his slumbers, as the rays of the
+rising sun gild the glades of the forest; and when the morning came he
+was scarcely surprised when before him appeared the little old woman
+with the shuttle he had welcomed on the winter's night.
+
+"You think you have won her already," said the little woman. "And so
+you have, too; her heart is all your own, and I'm half inclined to
+think that my trouble will be thrown away, for if you had never a
+wedding robe to give her, she'd rather have you this minute than all
+the kings of Erin, or than all the other princes and kings and
+chieftains in the whole world. But you and your father and mother were
+kind to me on a wild winter's night, and I'd never see your mother's
+son without a wedding robe fit for the greatest princess that ever
+set nations to battle for her beauty. So go and pluck me a handful of
+wild forest flowers, and I'll weave out of them a wedding robe with
+all the colours of the rainbow, and one that will be as sweet and as
+fragrant as the ripe, red lips of the princess herself."
+
+Fergus, with joyous heart, culled the flowers, and brought them to the
+little old woman.
+
+In the twinkling of an eye she wove with her little shuttle a wedding
+robe, with all the colours of the rainbow, as light as the fairy dew,
+as soft as the hand of the princess, as fragrant as her little red
+mouth, and so small that it would pass through the eye of a needle.
+
+"Go now, Fergus," said she, "and may luck go with you; but, in the
+days of your greatness and of the glory which will come to you when
+you are wedded to the princess, be as kind, and have as open a heart
+and as open a door for the poor as you had when you were only a poor
+huntsman's son."
+
+Fergus took the robe and went towards Tara. It was the last day of the
+fair, and all the contests were over, and the bards were about to
+chant the farewell strains to the memory of the great queen. But
+before the chief bard could ascend the mound, Fergus, attended by a
+troop of Fenian warriors on their steeds, galloped into the enclosure,
+and rode up in front of the queen's pavilion. Holding up the glancing
+and many-coloured robe, he said:
+
+"O Queen and King of Erin! I claim the princess for my bride. You, O
+king, have decided that I have won the prize in the contest of the
+bards; that I have won the prize in the race against the white steed
+of the plains; it is for the princess to say if the robe which I give
+her will fit in the hollow of her small white hand."
+
+"Yes," said the king. "You are victor in the contests; let the
+princess declare if you have fulfilled the last condition."
+
+The princess took the robe from Fergus, closed her fingers over it, so
+that no vestige of it was seen.
+
+"Yes, O king!" said she, "he has fulfilled the last condition; but
+before ever he had fulfilled a single one of them, my heart went out
+to the comely champion of the Feni. I was willing then, I am ready
+now, to become the bride of the huntsman's son."
+
+
+
+
+NOTES.
+
+
+I.
+
+_The Birds of the Mystic Lake._
+
+The incident of the birds coming to the mystic lake is taken from "The
+Voyage of Maildun," a translation of which is given in Joyce's Old
+Celtic Romances. The operations of the birds were witnessed by Maildun
+and his companions, who, in the course of their wanderings, had
+arrived at the Isle of the Mystic Lake. One of Maildun's companions,
+Diuran, on seeing the wonder, said to the others: "Let us bathe in the
+lake, and we shall obtain a renewal of our youth like the birds."
+
+But they said: "Not so, for the bird has left the poison of his old
+age and decay in the water."
+
+_Diuran_, however, plunged in, and swam about for some time; after
+which he took a little of the water and mixed it in his mouth, and in
+the end he swallowed a small quantity. He then came out perfectly
+sound and whole, and remained so ever after as long as he lived. But
+none of the others ventured in.
+
+The return of the birds in the character of the cormorants of the
+western seas and guardians of the lake does not occur in the old tale.
+The oldest copy of the voyage is in the book of "The Dun Cow" (about
+the year 1100). O'Curry says the voyage was undertaken about the year
+700. It was made by Maildun in search of pirates who had slain his
+father. The story is full of fancy.
+
+
+II.
+
+_The House in the Lake._
+
+In the Irish annals lake dwellings, which were formerly common in
+Ireland, are called _crannogs_, from crann, a tree, either because of
+the timber framework of which the island was formed or of the wooden
+huts erected thereon.
+
+Some _crannogs_ appear to have been veritable islands, the only means
+of communication with the land being canoes. Remains of these have
+been frequently found near the dwelling, in some instances alongside
+the landing stage, as if sunk at their moorings.
+
+"Favourite sites for _crannogs_ were marshes, small loughs surrounded
+by woods and large sheets of water. As providing good fishing grounds
+the entrance to or exit of a stream from a lake was eagerly
+selected."--"Lake Dwellings of Ireland," Col. Wood Martin, M.R.I.A.
+
+
+III.
+
+_Brian's Water-dress._
+
+Brian, Ur, and Urcar, the three sons of Turenn, were Dedanaan chiefs.
+They slew Kian, the father of Luga of the Long Arms, who was grandson
+of Balor of the Evil Eye. Luga imposed an extraordinary eric fine on
+the sons of Turenn, part of which was "the cooking-spit of the women
+of Fincara." For a quarter of a year Brian and his brothers sailed
+hither and thither over the wide ocean, landing on many shores,
+seeking tidings of the Island of Fincara. At last they met a very old
+man, who told them that the island lay deep down in the waters, having
+been sunk beneath the waves by a spell in times long past.
+
+Then Brian put on his water-dress, with his helmet of transparent
+crystal on his head, telling his brothers to wait his return. He
+leaped over the side of the ship, and sank at once out of sight. He
+walked about for a fortnight down in the green salt sea, seeking for
+the Island of Fincara, and at last he found it.
+
+His brothers waited for him in the same spot the whole time, and when
+he came not they began to fear he would return no more. At last they
+were about to leave the place, when they saw the glitter of his
+crystal helmet deep down in the water, and immediately after he came
+to the surface with the cooking-spit in his hand.--"Old Celtic
+Romances" (Joyce), p. 87.
+
+
+IV.
+
+_The Palace of the Little Cat._
+
+The description of the rows of jewels ranged round the wall of the
+palace of the Little Cat is taken from "The Voyage of Maildun."--See
+Note I.
+
+
+V.
+
+_Liban the Mermaid._
+
+Liban was the daughter of Ecca, son of Mario, King of Munster. Ecca,
+having conquered the lordship of the half of Ulster, settled down with
+his people in the plain of the Grey Copse, which is now covered by the
+waters of Lough Necca, now Lough Neagh. A magic well had sprung up in
+the plain, and not being properly looked after by the woman in charge
+of it, its waters burst forth over the plain, drowning Ecca and nearly
+all his family. Liban, although swept away like the others, was not
+drowned. She lived for a whole year, with her lap-dog, in a chamber
+beneath the lake, and God protected her from the water. At the end of
+that time she was weary, and when she saw the speckled salmon swimming
+and playing all round her, she prayed to be changed into a salmon that
+she might swim with the others through the green, salt sea. Her prayer
+was granted; she took the shape of a salmon, except her face and
+breast, which did not change. And her lap-dog was changed into an
+otter, and attended her afterwards whithersoever she went as long as
+she lived in the sea.
+
+It is nearly eight hundred years ago since the story was transcribed
+from some old authority into the Book of the Dun Cow, the oldest
+manuscript of Gaelic literature we possess.--Joyce's "Old Celtic
+Romances," p. 97.
+
+
+VI.
+
+_The Fairy Tree of Dooros._
+
+The forest of Dooros was in the district of Hy Fiera of the Moy (now
+the barony of Tireragh, in Sligo).
+
+On a certain occasion the Dedanns, returning from a hurling match with
+the Feni, passed through the forest, carrying with them for food
+during the journey crimson nuts, and arbutus apples, and scarlet
+quicken-berries, which they had brought from the Land of Promise. One
+of the quicken-berries dropped on the earth, and the Dedanns passed on
+not heeding.
+
+From this berry a great quicken-tree sprang up, which had the virtues
+of the quicken-trees that grow in fairyland. Its berries had the taste
+of honey, and those who ate of them felt a cheerful glow, as if they
+had drunk of wine or old mead, and if a man were even a hundred years
+old he returned to the age of thirty as soon as he had eaten three of
+them.
+
+The Dedanns having heard of this tree, and not wishing that anyone
+should eat of the berries but themselves, sent a giant of their own
+people to guard it, namely, Sharvan the Surly, of Lochlann.--"The
+Pursuit of Diarmuid and Grania," "Old Celtic Romances," p. 313
+(Joyce).
+
+
+VII.
+
+_Prince Cuglas._
+
+In the list of the historic tales mentioned in the Book of Leinster,
+and which is given in O'Curry's appendix to his "Lectures on the MSS.
+Materials of Ancient Irish History," "The Cave of the Road of Cuglas"
+finds place. O'Curry has the following note:--
+
+"Cuglas was the son of Donn Desa, King of Leinster, and master of the
+hounds to the monarch Conaire Mor. Having one day followed the chase
+from Tara to this road, the chase suddenly disappeared in a cave, into
+which he followed, and was _never seen after_. Hence the cave was
+called _Uaimh Bealach Conglais_, or the cave of the road of Cuglas
+(now Baltinglass, in the County of Wicklow). It is about this cave,
+nevertheless, that so many of our pretended Irish antiquarians have
+written so much nonsense in connection with some imaginary pagan
+worship to which they gravely assure the world, on etymological
+authority, the spot was devoted. The authority for the legend of
+Cuglas is the _Dinnoean Chus_ on the place _Bealach Conglais_ (Book of
+Lecain). The full tale has not come down to us."
+
+
+VIII.
+
+_The Herald._
+
+"Here comes a single champion towards us, O _Cuchulain_," said _Laegh_
+(Cuchulain's charioteer). "What sort of a champion is he?" said
+_Cuchulain_. "A brown-haired, broad faced, beautiful youth; a splendid
+brown cloak on him; a bright bronze spear-like brooch fastening his
+cloak. A full and well-fitting shirt to his skin. Two firm shoes
+between his two feet and the ground. A hand-staff of white hazel in
+one hand of his; a single-edged sword with a sea-horse hilt in his
+other hand." "Good, my lad," said _Cuchulain_; "these are the tokens
+of a herald."--Description of the herald _MacRoath_ in the story of
+the Tain bo Chuailgne.--O'Curry's "Manners and Customs of the Ancient
+Irish," Vol. II., p. 301.
+
+
+IX.
+
+_Golden Bells._
+
+In O'Curry's "Lectures on the Manners and Customs of the Ancient
+Irish" are several dazzling descriptions of cavalcades taken from the
+old tales. Silver and golden bells are frequently mentioned as part of
+the horse furniture.
+
+
+X.
+
+_The Wild People of the Glen._
+
+"And then he put on his helmet of battle and of combat and of
+fighting, from every recess and from every angle of which issued the
+shout as it were of an hundred warriors; because it was alike that
+woman of the valley (_de bananaig_), and hobgoblins (_bacanaig_), _and
+wild people of the glen (geinti glindi)_, and demons of the air
+(_demna acoir_), shouted in front of it, and in rear of it, and over
+it, and around it, wherever he went, at the spurting of blood, and of
+heroes upon it."
+
+Description of Cuchulain's helmet in the story of The _Tain bo
+Chuailgne_.--"O'Curry's Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish,"
+Vol. II., p. 301.
+
+
+XI.
+
+_The Fair of Tara._
+
+"The great fairs anciently held in Ireland were not like their modern
+representatives, mere markets, but were assemblies of the people to
+celebrate funeral games, and other religious rites; during pagan times
+to hold parliaments, promulgate laws, listen to the recitation of
+tales and poems, engage in or witness contests in feats of arms,
+horse-racing, and other popular games. They were analogous in many
+ways to the Olympian and other celebrated games of ancient Greece.
+
+"These assemblies were regulated by a strict by-law, a breach of which
+was punishable by death. Women were especially protected, a certain
+place being set apart for their exclusive use, as a place was set
+apart at one side of the lists of mediaeval tournaments for the Queen
+of Beauty and the other ladies.
+
+"At the opening of the assembly there was always a solemn proclamation
+of peace, and the king who held the fair awarded prizes to the most
+successful poets, musicians, and professors and masters of every
+art."--See Dr. Sullivan's "Introduction to O'Curry's Lectures."
+
+
+XII.
+
+_The Contest of the Bards._
+
+"The three musical feats of the _Daghda_, a celebrated Dedanann chief
+and Druid, were the _Suantraighe_, which from its deep murmuring
+caused sleep. The _Goltraighe_, which from its meltive plaintiveness
+caused weeping, and the Goltraighe, which from its merriment caused
+laughter.
+
+"_Bose_, the great Norse harper, could give on his harp the
+Gyarslager, or stroke of the sea gods, which produced mermaids'
+music."--O'Curry's Lectures.
+
+
+
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+Transcriber's Notes:
+
+    Typographical problems have been changed and are listed below.
+    Author's archaic and variable spelling is preserved.
+    Author's punctuation style is preserved.
+    Passages in italics indicated by _underscores_.
+
+Transcriber's Changes:
+
+    his own motion, with scarce a word of encouragement[** Was
+    'encourage ment' over line break]
+
+    myself before that day. Then the king[** Was 'King'] asked
+
+    the door. Around, outside[** Was 'ouside'] the hut, on a level
+    with
+
+    name," said the cat,[** Changed '.' to ','] "I am a friend of
+    yours,
+
+    Princess Kathleen, and you can either go or stay."[** Added
+    closing double-quote]
+
+    beneath the waters.[** Changed ',' to '.'] The white steed pulled
+    up
+
+    "Don't be frightened, little man," said he,[** Added comma] "and
+
+    darkness. Cuglas[** Was 'Cuglass'] could hear ahead of him the
+
+    "You are welcome, Cuglas[** Was 'Cuglass']," said the queen, as
+
+    could run so lightly that the rotten twigs[** Was 'twigg'] should
+
+    world, on etymological[** Was 'entymological'] authority, the spot
+    was devoted.
+
+    the story of the Tain bo Chuailgne[** Was 'Chuaillgne'].--O'Curry's
+    "Manners
+
+    the Ancient Irish" are several dazzling descriptions of
+    cavalcades[** Was 'calvacades']
+
+    of it, and in rear of it,[** Added comma] and over it, and around
+    it, wherever he
+
+    and other popular games. They were analogous[** Was 'analagous']
+    in many ways
+
+    "These[** Added opening double-quote] assemblies were regulated by
+    a strict by-law, a breach
+
+    "At[** Added opening double-quote] the opening of the assembly
+    there was always a solemn
+
+    "_Bose_[** Added opening double-quote], the great Norse harper,
+    could give on his harp the
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Irish Fairy Tales, by Edmond Leamy
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