Poets and Dreamers Part 16

'Then the king went to Mannanan of the Hill, and he said: "Come and give me your help against these men, or they will kill the whole army of Ulster." And Mannanan said: "I will give you no help; for I told you all this would come on you if you brought the girl away the time she was a baby in this place." But the king pressed him, and said: "Put blindness on them, the way they will not be able to kill my people."

'So Mannanan agreed to do that, and he put blindness on the three brothers. And when they went out next time to fight against the army, they could not see who was before them; and it was at each other they were striking; and at last all of them fell by each other's hand.

'And when Deirdre saw they were dead, she took up a sword or a dagger that was lying on the ground, and she put it through her own body, and she fell dead along with them.

'And she was buried on one side of a dry stone wall, and her husband on the other side. And a briar grew up on his grave, and a briar on hers; and they met over the wall, and joined with one another.'

A young man, narrow-chested and consumptive-looking, but with fun in his eyes, said then: 'There were three Irishmen joined the English army, and they didn't like it. And they were brought to India; and when they were there, they agreed to make away. So they went into a forest, where they would not be found. And they made a little cabin for themselves there; and two of them used to go hunting every day, and the other would stop at home to make ready the dinner.

'One day when the pot was on the fire, a little old man came into the house. "b.u.m-b.u.m," he said; "give me something to eat out of the pot."

'So the soldier gave him a rabbit out of the pot. "Give me another," he said then. "I will not," said the soldier; "for there would not be enough for my friends' dinner when they come home from hunting." With that the little man took hold of the pot, and threw the scalding broth over the soldier, and made off, leaving nothing in the pot after him.

'And when the others came home, they found their comrade lying there on the ground, scalded, and he told them what had happened.

'The next day the second of them said he would watch the pot. And all happened the same as the first day; and they found him scalded and the pot empty when they came back.

'The third day the third of them said he would keep a watch, and that they might be sure they would get their dinner that evening.

'He put down the pot, and he put the tongs to redden in the fire; and when the pot was boiling, the little man came in. "b.u.m-b.u.m," he said; "give me a bit from the pot." So the soldier gave him a bit. "Give me more now," he said, when he had the rabbit eaten. "I will not; I will keep it for my comrades," said the soldier. With that the little man took a hold of the pot; but if he did, the soldier took up the tongs that he was after making red-hot in the fire; and the little man made off, and the pot in his arms, and the soldier after him with the tongs.

Then the little man dropped the pot; but the soldier took no notice, but followed after him till he went down a hole into the ground. Then he took a sapling, and tied his handkerchief on it, and stuck it where the hole was, and went back again to the cabin.

'When his comrades came back, he told them all that happened; and they all set out to where the hole was. And they looked down, and it was very deep; and they could see no end to it. So the third man said to the others: "One of you is a rope-maker, and the other is a cooper; and let you make a rope and a bucket now."

'So they made the rope and the bucket, and fastened one to the other; and the first man was let down. But after he went a good way, the rope came to an end, and there was no sign of a bottom; and he called to them to pull him up again. It happened the same with the second man; and he was pulled up again. Then the third said he would go, and that if the rope would not reach to the bottom, he would take a leap the rest of the way.

'So when the rope was all given out, he made a leap and came safe to the bottom. And it was in a hole he found himself; and he went through a great many rooms from that, till he came to where the little man was sitting by himself.

'And he gave him a welcome, and said: "You had good courage to get here.

And have you enough courage now," he said, "to go straight before you for three hundred miles, to set free the King of Spain's three daughters that are in the power of three giants?" "I will do that," said the soldier.

'So the little man gave him directions what to do. "But when you are going to fight the giants," he said, "take no weapon but the little rusty sword you'll find at the back of their own door."

'The soldier set out then; and after he had gone a hundred miles in a straight line, he came to the first castle, and there was a copper crown over it.' (At this, we all looked up at the whitewashed boards of the shed, as if we expected to see the copper crown.) 'And there was a young lady looking out of the window, and she saw him coming. "You'd best not come here," she said: "or the giant that owns the castle will make an end of you." "It's to make an end of himself, I am come," says he, "and to set you free." "And do you think the like of you could stand against him?" says she; "it's what he's gone out for now," says she, "is for seven bullocks to make his dinner of." "I'm ready for him whenever he comes," says the soldier.

'Presently the giant came back, bringing the seven bullocks on his back.

"It is to fight me you are come," says he. "Wait till I have my dinner eat, and I'll make a quick end of you."

'So he sat down and had his dinner off the seven bullocks, and then he got up to fight. "What weapons will you fight with?" he says, throwing down a brace of swords. "Is it one of these you will have?" "It is not,"

said the soldier; "but the little rusty sword that is behind the door."

'So he went in and got that; and the giant began to hit and to strike at him; and he began to tickle the giant's ankles and his calves. And at last the giant stooped down to scratch his ankle; and when he did, the soldier struck off his head.

'He let the princess out then, and bade her to go where the little man was waiting at the bottom of the hole, till he would come to her.'

'He went then to the second castle, that had a silver crown over the door; and then he went on to the third castle, that had a golden crown over the door; and the same thing happened as before, except that the second giant had fourteen bullocks and third giant twenty-one bullocks for his dinner.

'Then he brought the third princess back to the house, at the bottom of the hole, where the little man was sitting. And the little man gave him a whistle, and he blew it; and his comrades came and called down the hole that they were at the top, and he bade them to let the bucket down.

And when they did, he put the first of the three princesses in it. They drew her up then; and when they saw so nice a girl come up, they began to quarrel which of them would have her for his wife. "Oh, don't quarrel about me," says she; "for there is a girl much handsomer than myself below yet." So they let the bucket down again, and she made off.

'Then the second princess came up in the bucket, and they began to quarrel for her, and she said: "You may let me go, for I am nothing at all beside the girl that is below in the hole yet."

'So they let her go; and then the third princess that was the most beautiful came up, and they began to quarrel for her. "You need not be quarrelling for me," says she; "for it is your comrade that is at the bottom of the hole yet, I am going to marry."

'So when they heard that, they let the bucket down again. But when the soldier below was going to get into it, the little man said: "Don't get in," he said; "but put stones in it; for your comrades will cut the rope when it is half way up."

'So he filled it with stones, and sure enough, when it was half way up, his comrades cut the rope, and the bucket fell to the bottom.'

('Oh! oh! oh!' There were indignant murmurs among the old men at this.)

'The soldier did not know then what way he would make his escape. But the little old man took his whistle, and blew on it; and presently a great big eagle came down the hole.

'The little man bade the soldier get on its back till it would bring him across the world; and he put seven bullocks on its back along with him.

'They set out then; and the soldier was cutting a bit off the bullocks and putting it into the eagle's beak whenever he would say "Quawk." But they were only a third of the way when all was gone, and they had to turn back again.

'He took fourteen bullocks the next time, but they gave out. But the third time the little old man gave twenty-one bullocks.

'So this time the eagle brought him to Spain, and left him down there.

And at that time the King of Spain was making a great feast for the marriage of his eldest daughter that was the most beautiful. And when the soldier saw her, he knew she was the third of the princesses he had set free from the giant, and the other two were her two sisters.

'It was given out then that the princess would not marry anyone but the man that would bring her a golden crown, the same as the one that was hung over the castle where the giant had kept her. And all the goldsmiths were very busy, everyone employing them to make crowns. But they could not make the right one.

'Now the little man had given the soldier a ring before they parted, and had bade him rub it if he would want anything from him. So he rubbed it and a genii appeared before him. "Master, master, best master, what is your will?" "Bring me the golden crown from the third castle where I killed the giant," says the soldier.

'So the genii brought it; and Jack went to the king's court and put it down; and the princess said it was just the very same crown that was over the castle; and she knew it was the soldier had freed her, and she was willing to marry him.

'But the king was not pleased to see such a poor-looking husband coming for his daughter; and he said he would give her to no one but a man that would bring a coach for her.

'So the soldier went away, and he rubbed the ring, and the genii appeared; and it is what he bade him, to get him a coach that would be filled full up of mud. So the coach went up to the king's door, and the king himself came out to open it; and when he did, out came all the mud over him that he was near choked. And he filled it a second and a third time with pebbles and with stones, and the same thing happened.

'Then the soldier bade the genii to bring him a fine empty coach, and he got into it. And when he was in it, it is what he wished, to have the princess sitting beside him.

'And there she was on the minute, and they went away together. But the king gave his consent then, and a great deal of money and treasure.

'And they put down the teapot, and if they didn't live happy'--the end was lost in applause.

And when the applause had died away, an old, bright-eyed wrinkled man, said: 'There was a King of Leinster one time, and there was a lake beside his house. And every now and again twelve swans used to come to the lake; and they had been coming there for seven generations.

'And the king's son that was away came home. And one day he saw the swans coming to the lake; and he said: "I wonder I never heard any talk of these swans before, for they are the most beautiful I ever saw." And his people said: "They are coming here for seven generations, and no one ever took notice of them before."

'The next morning early the king's son went down and hid himself in the flags and the rushes by the lake. And after he had watched for a while, he saw the swans come flying to the edge of the lake. And then they took off their flying habits, and went bathing in the water; and they were not swans but beautiful young women; and there was one among them that was the most beautiful of all.

'After the king's son had watched for a while, he went to where they had left their flying habits; and he brought away the one that belonged to the most beautiful of the women. After a while they came to sh.o.r.e, and began to look for their flying habits, and when she could not find hers, she made great laments.