not to be circumvented. He dug after him till the clay and stones made a new hill, and when they came to the solid rock he pinned him, and brought him up to the light of the sun. His face was as gray as ashes, and as shriveled as a russidan apple, and very unwilling he was to give up the cup. But he was forced to do so, and itwasn’t long till Oscar was by Finn’s side, and spilling a little, drop by drop, down his throat. Up he sprung five yards in the air, and shouted till the rocks rung. And it wasn’t long till himself, and Oscar, and Bran were in the middle of the enchanted men. Well, they were nearly ashamed of themselves pinned to their seats, but Oscar didn’t leave them long in grief. He spilled some of the cup down by every man’s thigh, and freed he was. But, be the laws, there wasn’t hardly a drop in the cup when he came to the ounkran of a make-game, foul-mouthed, bald Conan. He could only free a part of one thigh, and at last Oscar, getting impatient, took him body and sleeves, and pulled him off the stone. What a roar he let out of him! His breeches—if it’s breeches they wore in them old times—stuck to the seat, and a trifle of Conan’s skin along with it. “Whisht!” says Oscar, “we’ll get a sheepskin sewed on you, and you’ll be as comfortable as any May-boy after it.”
Well, when all were free, they gave three shouts that were heard as far as the Isle of Man. And for a week after they got home they done nothing but eating the vengeance of goats and deers, and drinking wine, and mead, and beer that the Danes learned them to make from heath. And gentle and simple might go in and out, and eat and drink, and no one was there to say, “Who asked you to visit us?”
T HE KING OF IRELAND’S SON
JOHN CUNNINGHAM
ROSCOMMON
DOUGLAS HYDE
1890
There was a king’s son in Ireland long ago, and he went out and took with him his gun and his dog. There was snow out. He killed a raven. The raven fell on the snow. He never saw anything whiter than the snow, or blacker than the raven’s skull, or redder than its share of blood, that was a-pouring out.
He put himself under geasa and obligations of the year, that he would not eat two meals at one table, or sleep two nights in one house, until he should find a woman whose hair was as black as the raven’s head, and her skin as white as the snow, and her two cheeks as red as the blood.
There was no woman in the world like that, but one woman only, and she was in the eastern world.
The day on the morrow he set out, and money was not plenty, but he took with him twenty pounds. It was not far he went until he met a funeral, and he said that it was as good for him to go three steps with the corpse.He had not the three steps walked until there came a man and left his writ down on the corpse for five pounds. There was a law in Ireland at that time that any man who had a debt upon another person that person’s people could not bury him, should he be dead, without paying his debts, or without the leave of the person to whom the dead man owed the debts. When the king of Ireland’s son saw the sons and daughters of the dead crying, and they without money to give the man, he said to himself: “It’s a great pity that these poor people have not the money,” and he put his hand in his pocket and paid the five pounds himself for the corpse. After that, he said he would go as far as the church to see it buried. Then there came another man, and left his writ on the body for five pounds more. “As I gave the first five pounds,” said the king of Erin’s son to himself, “it’s as good for me to give the other five, and to let the poor man go to the grave.” He paid the other five pounds. He had only ten pounds then.
Not far did he go until he met a short green man, and he asked him where was he going. He said that he was going looking for a woman in the eastern world. The short green man asked him did he want a boy, and he said he did, and asked what
Well, when all were free, they gave three shouts that were heard as far as the Isle of Man. And for a week after they got home they done nothing but eating the vengeance of goats and deers, and drinking wine, and mead, and beer that the Danes learned them to make from heath. And gentle and simple might go in and out, and eat and drink, and no one was there to say, “Who asked you to visit us?”
T HE KING OF IRELAND’S SON
JOHN CUNNINGHAM
ROSCOMMON
DOUGLAS HYDE
1890
There was a king’s son in Ireland long ago, and he went out and took with him his gun and his dog. There was snow out. He killed a raven. The raven fell on the snow. He never saw anything whiter than the snow, or blacker than the raven’s skull, or redder than its share of blood, that was a-pouring out.
He put himself under geasa and obligations of the year, that he would not eat two meals at one table, or sleep two nights in one house, until he should find a woman whose hair was as black as the raven’s head, and her skin as white as the snow, and her two cheeks as red as the blood.
There was no woman in the world like that, but one woman only, and she was in the eastern world.
The day on the morrow he set out, and money was not plenty, but he took with him twenty pounds. It was not far he went until he met a funeral, and he said that it was as good for him to go three steps with the corpse.He had not the three steps walked until there came a man and left his writ down on the corpse for five pounds. There was a law in Ireland at that time that any man who had a debt upon another person that person’s people could not bury him, should he be dead, without paying his debts, or without the leave of the person to whom the dead man owed the debts. When the king of Ireland’s son saw the sons and daughters of the dead crying, and they without money to give the man, he said to himself: “It’s a great pity that these poor people have not the money,” and he put his hand in his pocket and paid the five pounds himself for the corpse. After that, he said he would go as far as the church to see it buried. Then there came another man, and left his writ on the body for five pounds more. “As I gave the first five pounds,” said the king of Erin’s son to himself, “it’s as good for me to give the other five, and to let the poor man go to the grave.” He paid the other five pounds. He had only ten pounds then.
Not far did he go until he met a short green man, and he asked him where was he going. He said that he was going looking for a woman in the eastern world. The short green man asked him did he want a boy, and he said he did, and asked what
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