Read Online Early Irish Myths and Sagas by Jeffrey Gantz - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Jeffrey Gantz
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woven in rounds of bronze.
Mider set up the pieces, then, and he said to Echu ‘Let us play.’ ‘I will not play unless there is a stake,’ Echu replied. ‘What do you want to play for?’ asked Mider. ‘Allthe same to me,’ answered Echu. ‘If you win,’ said Mider. ‘I will give you fifty dark grey horses with dappled, blood-red heads, sharp-eared, broad-chested, wide-nostrilled, slender-footed, strong, keen, tall, swift, steady and yokable, and fifty enamelled bridles to go with them. You will have them at the third hour tomorrow.’ Echu made the same wager; they played, and Mider lost his stake. He departed, then, taking his fidchell set with him.
The following day, at dawn, Echu rose and went out on to the rampart of Temuir, and he saw his opponent coming towards him. He did not know where Mider had gone the previous day or whence he came from now, but he saw the fifty dark grey horses with their enamelled bridles. ‘Honourable this,’ he said. ‘What was promised is due,’ answered Mider, and he went on ‘Will we play fidchell?’ ‘Indeed,’ said Echu, ‘but there must be a stake.’ ‘I will give you fifty fiery boars,’ said Mider, ‘curly-haired, dappled, light grey underneath and dark grey above, with horses’ hooves on them, and a blackthorn vat that can hold them all. Besides that, fifty gold-hilted swords. Moreover, fifty white red-eared cows and fifty white red-eared calves, and a bronze spancel on each calf. Moreover, fifty grey red-headed wethers, three-headed, three-horned. Moreover, fifty ivory-hilted blades. Moreover, fifty bright-speckled cloaks. But each fifty on its own day.’
Thereafter Echu’s foster-father questioned him, asking how he had obtained such riches, and Echu answered ‘It happened thus.’ ‘Indeed. You must take care,’ replied his foster-father, ‘for it is a man of great power who has come to you. Set him difficult tasks, my son.’ When Mider came to him, then, Echu imposed these famous great labours: clearing Mide of stones, laying rushes over Tethbae, laying a causeway over Móin Lámrige, foresting Bréifne. ‘You ask too much of me,’ said Mider. ‘Indeed, I do not,’ repliedEchu. ‘I have a request, then,’ said Mider. ‘Let neither man nor woman under your rule walk outside before sunrise tomorrow.’ ‘You will have that,’ said Echu.
No person had ever walked out on the bog, but, after that, Echu commanded his steward to go out and see how the causeway was laid down. The steward went out into the bog, and it seemed that every man in the world was assembling there from sunrise to sunset. The men made a mound of their clothes, and that is where Mider sat. The trees of the forest, with their trunks and their roots, went into the foundation of the causeway, while Mider stood and encouraged the workers on every side. You would have thought that every man in the world was there making noise. After that, clay and gravel and stones were spread over the bog. Until that night, it had been customary for the men of Ériu to yoke oxen across the forehead, but that night it was seen that the people of the Síde placed the yoke across the shoulders. Echu thereafter did the same, and that is why he was called Echu Airem, for he was the first of the men of Ériu to place a yoke on the necks of oxen. 8 And these are the words that the host spoke as they were building the causeway: ‘Place it here, place it there, excellent oxen, in the hours after sundown, very onerous is the demand, no one knows whose the gain, whose the loss in building the causeway over Móin Lámrige.’ If the host had not been spied upon, there would have been no better road in the entire world; but, for that reason, the causeway was not made perfect.
Thereafter, the steward returned to Echu and described the great undertaking he had seen, and he said that in the entire world there was not the like of such power. As they were speaking, they saw Mider coming towards them, severely
Mider set up the pieces, then, and he said to Echu ‘Let us play.’ ‘I will not play unless there is a stake,’ Echu replied. ‘What do you want to play for?’ asked Mider. ‘Allthe same to me,’ answered Echu. ‘If you win,’ said Mider. ‘I will give you fifty dark grey horses with dappled, blood-red heads, sharp-eared, broad-chested, wide-nostrilled, slender-footed, strong, keen, tall, swift, steady and yokable, and fifty enamelled bridles to go with them. You will have them at the third hour tomorrow.’ Echu made the same wager; they played, and Mider lost his stake. He departed, then, taking his fidchell set with him.
The following day, at dawn, Echu rose and went out on to the rampart of Temuir, and he saw his opponent coming towards him. He did not know where Mider had gone the previous day or whence he came from now, but he saw the fifty dark grey horses with their enamelled bridles. ‘Honourable this,’ he said. ‘What was promised is due,’ answered Mider, and he went on ‘Will we play fidchell?’ ‘Indeed,’ said Echu, ‘but there must be a stake.’ ‘I will give you fifty fiery boars,’ said Mider, ‘curly-haired, dappled, light grey underneath and dark grey above, with horses’ hooves on them, and a blackthorn vat that can hold them all. Besides that, fifty gold-hilted swords. Moreover, fifty white red-eared cows and fifty white red-eared calves, and a bronze spancel on each calf. Moreover, fifty grey red-headed wethers, three-headed, three-horned. Moreover, fifty ivory-hilted blades. Moreover, fifty bright-speckled cloaks. But each fifty on its own day.’
Thereafter Echu’s foster-father questioned him, asking how he had obtained such riches, and Echu answered ‘It happened thus.’ ‘Indeed. You must take care,’ replied his foster-father, ‘for it is a man of great power who has come to you. Set him difficult tasks, my son.’ When Mider came to him, then, Echu imposed these famous great labours: clearing Mide of stones, laying rushes over Tethbae, laying a causeway over Móin Lámrige, foresting Bréifne. ‘You ask too much of me,’ said Mider. ‘Indeed, I do not,’ repliedEchu. ‘I have a request, then,’ said Mider. ‘Let neither man nor woman under your rule walk outside before sunrise tomorrow.’ ‘You will have that,’ said Echu.
No person had ever walked out on the bog, but, after that, Echu commanded his steward to go out and see how the causeway was laid down. The steward went out into the bog, and it seemed that every man in the world was assembling there from sunrise to sunset. The men made a mound of their clothes, and that is where Mider sat. The trees of the forest, with their trunks and their roots, went into the foundation of the causeway, while Mider stood and encouraged the workers on every side. You would have thought that every man in the world was there making noise. After that, clay and gravel and stones were spread over the bog. Until that night, it had been customary for the men of Ériu to yoke oxen across the forehead, but that night it was seen that the people of the Síde placed the yoke across the shoulders. Echu thereafter did the same, and that is why he was called Echu Airem, for he was the first of the men of Ériu to place a yoke on the necks of oxen. 8 And these are the words that the host spoke as they were building the causeway: ‘Place it here, place it there, excellent oxen, in the hours after sundown, very onerous is the demand, no one knows whose the gain, whose the loss in building the causeway over Móin Lámrige.’ If the host had not been spied upon, there would have been no better road in the entire world; but, for that reason, the causeway was not made perfect.
Thereafter, the steward returned to Echu and described the great undertaking he had seen, and he said that in the entire world there was not the like of such power. As they were speaking, they saw Mider coming towards them, severely
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