THE ROOM OF CORMAC CONDLONGAS
"I saw there," says Ingcél, "a man of noble
countenance, large, with a clear and sparkling eye, an even set of
teeth, a face narrow below, broad above. Fair, flaxen, golden hair
upon him, and a proper fillet around it. A brooch of silver in his
mantle, and in his hand a gold-hilted sword. A shield with five
golden circles upon it: a five-barbed javelin in his hand. A visage
just, fair, ruddy he hath: he is also beardless. Modest-minded is
that man!"
"And after that, whom sawest thou there?"
THE ROOM OF CORMAC'S NINE COMRADES
"There I saw three men to the west of Cormac, and three to the
east of him, and three in front of the same man. Thou wouldst deem
that the nine of them had one mother and one father. They are of the
same age, equally goodly, equally beautiful, all alike. Thin rods of
gold in their mantles. Bent shields of bronze they bear. Ribbed
javelins above them. An ivory-hilted sword in the hand of each. An
unique feat they have, to wit, each of them takes his sword's point
between his two fingers, and they twirl the swords round their
fingers, and the swords afterwards extend themselves by themselves.
Liken thou that, O Fer rogain," says Ingcél.
"Easy," says Fer rogain, "for me to liken them. It is
Conchobar's son, Cormac Condlongas, the best hero behind a shield in
the land of Erin. Of modest mind is that boy! Evil is what he dreads
tonight. He is a champion of valour for feats of arms; he is an
hospitaller for householding. These are yon nine who surround him,
the three Dúngusses, and the three Doelgusses, and the three
Dangusses, the nine comrades of Cormac Condlongas, son of Conchobar.
They have never slain men on account of their misery, and they never
spared them on account of their prosperity. Good is the hero who is
among them, even Cormac Condlongas. I swear what my tribe swears,
nine times ten will fall by Cormac in his first onset, and nine times
ten will fall by his people, besides a man for each of their weapons,
and a man for each of themselves. And Cormac will share prowess with
any man before the Hostel, and he will boast of victory over a king
or crown-prince or noble of the reavers; and he himself will chance
to escape, though all his people be wounded."
"Woe to him who shall wreak this Destruction!" says Lomna
Drúth, "even because of that one man, Cormac Condlongas, son of
Conchobar." "I swear what my tribe swears," says Lomna
son of Donn Désa, "if I could fulfil my counsel, the
Destruction would not be attempted were it only because of that one
man, and because of the hero's beauty and goodness!"
"It is not feasible to prevent it," says Ingcél: "clouds
of weakness come to you. A keen ordeal which will endanger two cheeks
of a goat will be opposed by the oath of Fer rogain, who will run.
Thy voice, O Lomna," says Ingcél, "hath taken breaking
upon thee: thou art a worthless warrior, and I know thee. Clouds of
weakness come to you. . . .
Neither old men nor historians shall declare that I quitted the
Destruction, until I shall wreak it."
"Reproach not our honour, O Ingcél," say Gér and Gabur
and Fer rogain. "The Destruction shall be wrought unless the
earth break under it, until all of us are slain thereby."
"Truly, then, thou hast reason, O Ingcél," says Lomna
Drúth son of Donn Désa. "Not to thee is the loss caused by the
Destruction. Thou wilt carry off the head of the king of a foreign
country, with thy slaughter of another; and thou and thy brothers
will escape from the Destruction, even Ingcél and Ecell and the
Yearling of the Rapine."
"Harder, however, it is for me," says Lomna Drúth: "woe
is me before every one! woe is me after every one! 'Tis my head that
will be first tossed about there to-night after an hour among the
chariot-shafts, where devilish foes will meet. It will be flung into
the Hostel thrice, and thrice will it be flung forth. Woe to him that
comes! woe to him with whom one goes! woe to him to whom one goes!
Wretches are they that go! wretches are they to whom they go!"
"There is nothing that will come to me," says Ingcél, "in
place of my mother and my father and my seven brothers, and the king
of my district, whom ye destroyed with me. There is nothing that I
shall not endure henceforward."
"Though a . . . should go through them," say Gér and Gabur
and Fer rogain, "the Destruction will be wrought by thee
to-night."
"Woe to him who shall put them under the hands of foes!"
says Lomna. "And whom sawest thou afterwards?"
THE ROOM OF THE PICTS, THIS
"I saw another room there, with a huge trio in it: three brown,
big men: three round heads of hair on them, even, equally long at
nape and forehead. Three short black cowls about them reaching to
their elbows: long hoods were on the cowls. Three black, huge swords
they had, and three black shields they bore, with three dark
broadgreen javelins above them. Thick as the spit of a caldron was
the shaft of each. Liken thou that, O Fer rogain!"
"Hard it is for me to find their like. I know not in Erin that
trio, unless it be yon trio of Pictland, who went into exile from
their country, and are now in Conaire's household. These are their
names: Dublonges son of Trebuat, and Trebúat son of Húa-Lonsce, and
Curnach son of Húa Fáich. The three who are best in Pictland at
taking arms are that trio. Nine decads will fall at their hands in
their first encounter, and a man will fall for each of their weapons,
besides one for each of themselves. And they will share prowess with
every trio in the Hostel. They will boast a victory over a king or a
chief of the reavers; and they will afterwards escape though wounded.
Woe to him who shall wreak the Destruction, though it be only on
account of those three!"
Says Lomna Drúth: "I swear to God what my tribe swears, if my
counsel were taken, the Destruction would never be wrought."
"Ye cannot," says Ingcél: "clouds of weakness are
coming to you. A keen ordeal which will endanger, etc. And whom
sawest thou there afterwards?"
THE ROOM OF THE PIPERS
"There I beheld a room with nine men in it. Hair fair and yellow
was on them: they all are equally beautiful. Mantles speckled with
colour they wore, and above them were nine bagpipes, four-tuned,
ornamented. Enough light in the palace were the ornament on these
four-tuned pipes. Liken thou them, O Fer rogain."
"Easy for me to liken them," says Fer rogain. "Those
are the nine pipers that came to Conaire out of the Elfmound of
Bregia, because of noble tales about him. These are their names:
Bind, Robind, Riarbind, Sibè, Dibè, Deichrind, Umall, Cumal,
Ciallglind. They are the best pipers in the world. Nine enneads will
fall before them, and a man for each of their weapons, and a man for
each of themselves. And each of them will boast a victory over a king
or a chief of the reavers. And they will escape from the Destruction;
for a conflict with them will be a conflict with shadow. They will
slay, but they will not be slain, for they are out of an elfmound.
Woe to him who shall wreak the Destruction, though it be only because
of those nine!"
"Ye cannot," says Ingcél. "Clouds of weakness come to
you," etc. "And after that, whom sawest thou there?"
THE ROOM OF CONAIRE'S MAJORDOMO
"There I saw a room with one man in it. Rough cropt hair upon
him. Though a sack of crab-apples should be flung on his head, not
one of them would fall on the floor, but every apple would stick on
his hair. His fleecy mantle was over him in the house. Every quarrel
therein about seat or bed comes to his decision. Should a needle drop
in the house, its fall would be heard when he speaks. Above him is a
huge black tree, like a millshaft, with its paddles and its cap and
its spike. Liken thou him, O Fer rogain!"
"Easy for me is this. Tuidle of Ulaid is he, the steward of
Conaire's household. 'Tis needful to hearken to the decision of that
man, the man that rules seat and bed and food for each. 'Tis his
household staff that is above him. That man will fight with you. I
swear what my tribe swears, the dead at the Destruction slain by him
will be more numerous that the living. Thrice his number will fall by
him, and he himself will fall there. Woe to him who shall wreak the
Destruction!" etc.
"Ye cannot," says Ingcél. "Clouds of weakness come
upon you. What sawest thou there after that?"
THE ROOM OF MAC CECHT, CONAIRE'S BATTLE-SOLDIER
There I beheld another room with a trio in it, three half-furious
nobles: the biggest of them in the middle, very noisy . . .
rock-bodied, angry, smiting, dealing strong blows, who beats nine
hundred in battle-conflict. A wooden shield, dark, covered with iron,
he bears, with a hard . . . rim, a shield whereon would fit the
proper litter of four troops of ten weaklings on its . . . of . . .
leather. A . . . boss thereon, the depth of a caldron, fit to cook
four oxen, a hollow maw, a great boiling, with four swine in its
mid-maw great . . . At his two smooth sides are two five-thwarted
boats fit for three parties of ten in each of his two strong fleets.
A spear he hath, blue-red, hand-fitting, on its puissant shaft. It
stretches along the wall on the roof and rests on the ground. An iron
point upon it, dark-red, dripping. Four amply-measured feet between
the two points of its edge.
Thirty amply-measured feet in his deadly-striking sword from dark
point to iron hilt. It shews forth fiery sparks which illumine the
Mid-court House from roof to ground.
'Tis a strong countenance that I see. A swoon from horror almost
befell me while staring at those three. There is nothing stranger.
Two bare hills were there by the man with hair. Two loughs by a
mountain of the . . . of a blue-fronted wave: two hides by a tree.
Two boats near them full of thorns of a white thorn tree on a
circular board. And there seems to me somewhat like a slender stream
of water on which the sun is shining, and its trickle down from it,
and a hide arranged behind it, and a palace housepost shaped like a
great lance above it. A good weight of a plough-yoke is the shaft
that is therein. Liken thou that, O Fer rogain!
"Easy, meseems, to liken him! That is Mac cecht son of Snaide
Teichid; the battle-soldier of Conaire son of Eterscél. Good is the
hero Mac cecht! Supine he was in his room, in his sleep, when thou
beheldest him. The two bare hills which thou sawest by the man with
hair, these are his two knees by his head. The two loughs by the
mountain which thou sawest, these are his two eyes by his nose. The
two hides by a tree which thou sawest, these are his two ears by his
head. The two five-thwarted boats on a circular board, which thou
sawest, these are his two sandals on his shield. The slender stream
of water which thou sawest, whereon the sun shines, and its trickle
down from it, this is the flickering of his sword. The hide which
thou sawest arranged behind him, that is his sword's scabbard. The
palace house-post which thou sawest, that is his lance: and he
brandishes this spear till its two ends meet, and he hurls a wilful
cast of it when he pleases. Good is the hero, Mac cecht!"
"Six hundred will fall by him in his first encounter, and a man
for each of his weapons, besides a man for himself. And he will share
prowess with every one in the Hostel, and he will boast of triumph
over a king or chief of the reavers in front of the Hostel. He will
chance to escape though wounded. And when he shall chance to come
upon you out of the house, as numerous as hailstones, and grass on a
green, and stars of heaven will be your cloven heads and skulls, and
the clots of your brains, your bones and the heaps of your bowels,
crushed by him and scattered throughout the ridges."
Then with trembling and terror of Mac cecht they flee over three
ridges.
They took the pledges among them again, even Gér and Gabur and Fer
rogain.
"Woe to him that shall wreak the Destruction," says Lomna
Drúth; "your heads will depart from you."
"Ye cannot," says Ingcél: "clouds of weakness are
coming to you" etc.
"True indeed, O Ingcél," says Lomna Drúth son of Donn
Désa. "Not unto thee is the loss caused by the Destruction. Woe
is me for the Destruction, for the first head that will reach the
Hostel will be mine!"
"'Tis harder for me," says Ingcél: "'tis my
destruction that has been . . . there.
"Truly then," says Ingcél, "maybe I shall be the
corpse that is frailest there," etc.
"And afterwards whom sawest thou there?"
No comments:
Post a Comment