IT happened one time, near to the day of Samhain, the men of Ulster came together for games and for feasting upon the plain of Muirthemne.
And they were all of them there but Conall Cearnach and Lugaid of the Red Stripes. "Let the feast be begun," they said. "It shall not be begun," said Cuchulain, "till Conall and Lugaid are here."
Sencha, the poet, said then: "Let us play chess while we are waiting, and let poems be sung for us, and let games be played." And they agreed to that.
While they were doing these things, a flock of birds came down on the lake before them, and in all Ireland there were not birds to be seen that were more beautiful.
A great longing came on the women that were there to have the birds that were on the lake, and they began to quarrel with one another as to who should have them.
King Conchubar's wife said: "I must have a bird of these birds on each of my two shoulders." "We must all have the same," said the other women. "If any one is to get them, it is I that must first get them," said Eithne Inguba, who loved Cuchulain. "What shall we do?" said the women. "It is I will tell you that," said Levarcham, "for I will go to Cuchulain from you to ask him to get them."
So she went to Cuchulain and said: "The women of
Ulster desire that you will get these birds for them." Cuchulain put his hand upon his sword as if to strike her, and he said: "Have the idle women of Ulster nothing better to do than to send me catching birds to-day?" "It is not for you," said Levarcham, "to be angry with the women of Ulster; for there are many of them are half blind to-day with looking at you, from the greatness of their love for you."
Then Cuchulain told Laeg to yoke his chariot for him, and he went in it to the lake, and he gave the birds a side stroke of his sword, so that their feet and their wings could not rise from the water.
They caught them all then, and divided them among the women, so that there was not a woman among them who did not get two birds, but Eithne Inguba only. Cuchulain came last to her. "It is vexed you seem to be," he said. "Is it because I have given the birds to the other women?" "You have good reason for that," she said, "for there is not a woman of them but would share her love and her friendship with you; while, as to me, no person shares my love but you alone."
"Do not be vexed then," said Cuchulain; "for whatever birds may come to the plain of Muirthemne, or to the Boinne, from this out, you shall have the two most beautiful among them."
It was not long after that, two other birds came on the lake, and they linked together with a chain of red gold, and they were singing soft music that went near to put sleep on the whole gathering.
Cuchulain went over towards the birds, but Laeg said to him not to go, and Eithne said: "If you would take our advice, you would not go near them, for there is enchantment behind these birds; let some other birds be got for me besides these."
"Do you think you can put me from what I have a mind to do?" said Cuchulain. And he said to Laeg:
Cuchulain went away then with vexation on him, and he lay down with his head against a rock, and sleep came on him. And he saw two women coming towards him, one of them having a green cloak about her, and the other a five-folded crimson cloak. The woman with the green cloak went up to him, and smiled at him, and she gave him a stroke of a rod. The other went up to him then, and smiled at him, and gave him a stroke in the same way; and they went on doing this for a long time, each of them striking him in turn till he was more dead than alive. And then they went away and left him there. All the men of Ulster saw that something had happened, and they asked if they would awaken him. "Do not," said Conall; "do not move him before night." After that Cuchulain stood up in his sleep, and the men of Ulster asked him who was It had used him like that, but he could not speak with them. But after a while he said: "Bring me and lay me on my bed, not to Dundealgan, but to the Speckled House at Emain." Let him be brought to Dundealgan, where Emer his wife is," said Laeg. "Not so," said Cuchulain, "but bring me to the Speckled House." So he was brought there, and he stopped to the end of a year in that place without speaking to any person. One day before the next feast of Samhain, at the end of the year, Conchubar and the men of Ulster were around him in the house; that is, Laegaire between him and the wall, and Conall Cearnach between him and the door, Lugaid of the Red Stripes beside his pillow, and Eithne Inguba at his feet. As they were sitting like this, one who had the appearance of a man came into the house to them, and sat down on the side of the bed where Cuchulain was lying. "What has brought you here?" said Conall. "I will tell you that," said he. "It is to speak with the man lying here on the bed l am come. And if the man lying here were in his health, he would be a protection to all the men of Ulster; but as he is, under great sickness and weakness, he is a better protection to them." And he stood up then, and it is what he said: "If Cuchulain, son of Sualtim, would take my friendship to-day, all he has seen in his sleep would be his, with no help from his army. "Liban, she who sits at the right hand of Labraid of the quick sword, has said that the coming of Cuchulain would bring great joy to the heart of Fand her sister. "O Cuchulain, it is not long your sickness would be on you if they would come, the two daughters of Aedh Abrat. Here to the south, to the plain of Muirthemne, I will send Liban to cure your sickness, Cuchulain." "Who are you yourself?" they said to him then. "I am Angus," he said, and with that he went out; and they did not know where he came from, or where he went. And then Cuchulain sat up and spoke to them. "It is time indeed," said the men of Ulster, "for you to tell us all that has happened you." "I saw," he said, "a vision about this time last year": and then he told them all he had seen, and of the women that had come and had struck him with their rods. "And what is to be done now, my master, Conchubar?" he said. "This must be done," said Conchubar: "you must go back till you come to the same rock." So then Cuchulain set out, and came to the same rock, and there he saw the same woman with the green cloak coming towards him. "That is well, Cuchulain," said she. "It is not well indeed; and tell me what did you want with me when you came last year?" said Cuchulain. "It was not to harm you, indeed, we came," said the woman, "but to ask your love; and I am come now to speak to you," she said, "from Fand, daughter of Aedh Abrat; for Manannan, Son of the Sea, has left her, and her love has fallen on you; and my own name is Liban, wife of Labraid of the quick sword. And I have a message for you from him," she said, "that he will give all you can wish for, if you will give him one day's help against Senach of the crooked body, and against Eochaid Juil, and against Eoghan of Inver, that is Eoghan of the River's Mouth." "My weakness is on me yet," said Cuchulain, "and I could not go out fighting against men to-day." "You will not be long so," said Liban; "you will be healed, and what is lost of your strength will be given back to you again; and you ought to do this much for Labraid," she said, "because he is the best of the heroes of the world." "In what place is he?" said Cuchulain. "He is in Magh Mell, the Happy Plain," she said. "I will not go," said Cuchulain, "until I see Emer, my wife. And you are to go for me, Laeg," he said, "to where she is, and tell her it was the women of the Sidhe came to me from the hills and struck me; and tell her I am getting better now, and bid her come and visit me." So Laeg went to Emer, and he told her what way Cuchulain was. And Emer said: "It is a bad servant you are, Laeg, you that are coming and going by the hills, and that cannot find a cure for your master; and it is a pity for the men of Ulster," she said, "that they do not find a certain cure for him. If it had been Conchubar that was in bonds, or Fergus that could not sleep, or Conall Cearnach that had wounds on him, it is Cuchulain that would give them relief." And it is what she said: "My grief! son of Riangabra, you who go early and late among the hills, you are not early but late in bringing a cure for the beautiful son of Dechtire. "It is a pity for the brave men of Ulster, with all the knowledgeable men and the learners among them, that they have not searched the whole face of the world for a cure for their friend Cuchulain. "If it was Fergus had lost his sleep, and that any enchantment could cure him, it is the son of Dechtire would not sleep at home till he had found a Druid to do it. "If it were Conall in the same way was suffering from wounds and from sores, it is the Hound would search the wide world till he would find one that would cure him. "If it was Laegaire of many gifts was wounded in battle, Cuchulain would have searched through all Ireland to cure the grandson of Iliach. "If it were on Celthair the revengeful sleep had fallen and long sickness, night and day would see the journeys of Setanta among the hills. "If it had been Furbaigh, chief of fighters, that lay wasting in his bed, he would have searched the ridge of the world until he had found what would save him. "The host of the hill of Truin has killed him; they have taken from him his great courage; the Hound of Muirthemne is no better than any other hound since the sleep of the hill of Bruagh came on him. "My grief! sickness has laid hold of me for the Hound of the smith of Conchubar; it will be sickness to my heart and my body, I to fail in bringing him a cure. "My grief! It hurts my heart, sickness to be on the rider of the plain, so that he could not come here, to the gathering at the plain of Muirthemne. "It is why he does not come from Emain, the appearance he had is gone from him; my voice is weak and dead because of the way he is. A month and a quarter and a year without sleep, that is the way I am, and without hearing, any one speak pleasant words, son of Riangabra, O son of Riangabra." After she had made this complaint, Emer went forward to Emain Macha to attend on Cuchulain, and she sat on the side of the bed where he was, and it is what she was saying: "Rise up, champion of Ulster, awake from your sleep, in health and happiness. Look at the well-shaped king of Macha; he will not allow your long sleep. Look at his shoulder, smooth like crystal; look at his drinking-horns and battle spoils; look at his chariots that sweep the valleys; look at the movements of his chess-men. "Think on his heroes in their strength; think on his high, fine women; think on his kings of brave doings; think on their high noble queens. "Think on the beginning of clear winter; think on its wonders in their turn; think in yourself of what it brings forth--its cold, its length, its want of beauty. This stupor, it is not good wholesome sleep; it is idleness and the fear of battle; long sleep is the same as drunkenness; weakness is only second to death. "Awake from the sleep of the Sidhe you have drunk; cast it off with all your great strength. You have had your fill of sweet flowery words; rise up, O hero of Ulster." Cuchulain rose up then, and he drew his hand across his face, and he put his stupor and his heaviness off him. Then Laeg said: "It is great idleness for a hero to give in to the sleep of a sick-bed because women from Magh Mell have appeared to you, who overcame you, who bound you, who put you within the power of idle women. Rise up out of death, you who are wounded by women of the Sidhe, for your strength has come, the strength of a hero among heroes; rise up till you go to the place of fighting men, till you do great deeds, where Labraid of the quick hand leads his men. Rise up that you may be great, and leave this idleness." Then Cuchulain went again to the rock, and he saw Liban coming towards him, and she asked him again to go with her to her country. "What place is Labraid in at this time?" said Cuchulain. "I will tell you that," said Liban, and it is what she said: "Labraid is at this time upon a clear lake, where companies of women come to. It is not tired you would be coming to his country, if you would but visit Labraid of the quick sword. "A happy house ordered by a kind woman; a hundred men in it that are masters of learning; the beauty of redness is on the cheek of Labraid. "He shakes a wolf's head before his thin red sword; he bruises the armour of rushing hosts; he breaks the shields of heroes. "His appearance in the fight is the delight of the eye; he does his brave deeds at all points; it is he is worth more than any other man. "The greatest of fighters, the one told of in stories, has reached the country of Eochaid Juil; his hair is like rings of gold upon him; his coming is like the smell of wine. "A man of many strange deeds, Labraid of the quick hand at sword; he does not strike till he is forced; he keeps his people in quietness. "There are bridles and collars of red gold on his horses, and this is not all his riches; the house he lives in is supported by pillars of silver and of crystal." "I will not go on a woman's asking," said Cuchulain. "Let Laeg come with me then," said Liban, "to see and to know everything." Let him go then, said Cuchulain. Then Laeg went along with the women, and they went past Magh Luada, the Racing Plain, and past the Bile Buada, the Tree of Victory, and past Oenach Emna, the gathering-place of Emain, and to Oenach Fidhga, the gathering-place of the woods; and it was there Aedh Abrat used to be with his daughters. And Liban caught Laeg by his shoulder: "You will not escape to-day, Laeg," she said, "unless you are protected by a woman." "That is not what we were much used to up to this," said Laeg, "to be under women's protection." "My grief for ever, Cuchulain not to be in your place now!" said Liban. "I would be glad indeed he to be here," said Laeg. They went away then towards the Island of Labraid, and when they came to the lake they saw a little copper ship upon the water before them. Then they went into the ship, and they came to the island, and there they went to the door of a house. And they saw a man coming towards them, and Liban said to him: "Where is Labraid of the quick sword?" And the man said: "Labraid is putting courage into the people, and he is gathering them for battle. There will be great slaughter made there, that will fill the plain of Fidgha." Then they went up to the house, and Laeg thought he had seen it before, and yet it was strange. And in it were beds, crimson, green, white and gold; and the great candle there was a bright precious stone. And at the western door, where the sun goes down, there was a stud of horses with grey speckled manes, and others of red-brown. And at the eastern door were three tall trees of pure crimson, with lasting flowers, and birds singing from them for the young men of the king's rath. And there was a tree at the door of the court that there was not the like of for beauty, a silver tree, and when the sun was shining on it, it was like gold. And there were three times twenty other trees there, and the top of every one meeting the other, and three hundred could be fed from every tree with fruit that is different, that is always ripe. And there was a fountain in the great court, and three times fifty striped cloaks, and a shining gold pin in the ear of every cloak. And there was a vat of merry mead for dividing among the household; it is a lasting custom that it is always full, ever and always. And in the house were three times fifty women, and they all bade welcome to Laeg, and it is what they all said to him: "There is a welcome before you, Laeg, for the sake of the woman with whom you come, and for the sake of him from whom you come, and for your own sake." "What will you do now, Laeg?" said Liban. "Will you go first and speak with Fand?" "I will, if I know the place she is in," said Laeg. "I will tell you that, for she is apart in a room by herself," said Liban. So they went to speak with her, and she bade Laeg welcome in the same way as the others. And the meaning of the name Fand is a tear that passes over the fire of the eye. It was for her purity she was called that, and for her beauty; for there was nothing in life with which she could be compared besides it. And when she had bade Laeg welcome, she said: "For what reason did Cuchulain not come?" "He had no mind to come on a woman's asking," said Laeg. "And besides that," he said, "he did not know if it was from yourself the message came." "It was from myself indeed," she said, "and let him not be long in coming, for it is on this day the battle is to be fought." While they were there together, they heard the sound of Labraid's chariot coming to the island. "It is troubled Labraid's mind is to-day," said Liban. "Let us go out before him." So they went out, and Liban bade him welcome, and it is what she said: "Welcome, Labraid of the quick hand at sword, yourself an army, a destroyer of heroes; welcome, welcome, Labraid." Labraid made no answer, and Liban spoke again: 'Welcome, Labraid of the quick hand at sword; his hand is open to all; his word is faithful; his justice is right; kind his sway; strong his right arm; gentle to his horses; welcome, welcome, Labraid!" Still Labraid did not answer, and she spoke again, and it is what she said: "Welcome, Labraid of the quick sword; lifter up of the weak; subduer of the strong; welcome, Labraid; welcome, Labraid!" Then Labraid said: "Leave your praises, woman, for it is not pride or happiness or high thoughts of myself I have in my mind to-day. A battle is near, and the striking of swords in right and left hands; the one heart of Eochaid Juil is equal to many. It is not a time for pride." "There is good news before you," said Liban then. "Laeg, the chariot-driver of Cuchulain, is here, and he has brought a message from him that he will go into the battle with you." Then Labraid bade him welcome as the women had done, and he said: "Go back home now, and tell Cuchulain to make no delay in coming, for it is to-day the battle is to be fought." So Laeg went away then to Emain Macha, and told his story to Cuchulain, and to all the rest, and it is what he said: "Labraid is a king of great armies. I saw his country, bright, free, where no lies are spoken, and no bad thing. I saw the masters of music within, giving delight to the daughters of Aedh. If I had not come away quickly, they would have taken my strength from me. "I saw all this at the hill of the Sidhe. The women there are beautiful, their gifts are beyond counting; as to Fand, the daughter of Aedh Abrat, no one could reach her beauty but the queens of the kings. "Eithne Inguba is a beautiful woman, but the woman l am speaking of now takes away the wits from whole armies. "It is a pity, Cuchulain, you did not go a while ago, and every one asking you to do it, that you might see the way it is in the great house I have seen. If all Ireland were mine, and I king over the happy hills, I would give it, and that would be no small thing, to live for ever in the place I have been in." "That is good," said Cuchulain. "It is good," said Laeg, "and it is right to go to reach it, and everything in that country is good." Then Cuchulain rose up, and he passed his hand over his face, and he spoke pleasantly with Laeg, and he felt that the things the young man was telling him were a strengthening to his mind. And Laeg said: "It is time to come, for the battle is being fought to-day." Cuchulain went along with him then to that country, and took his chariot with him till they reached the island. Labraid bade them welcome, and all the women; and Fand bade Cuchulain her own welcome. "What is to be done here now?" said Cuchulain. "This is what we have to do," said Labraid; "to go and take a turn round the army that is against us." They went forward then till they reached the gathering-place of the armies, and till they cast an eye over them, and it seemed as if there was no end to them. "Go you away for a while," said Cuchulain to Labraid. So Labraid went away then, and Cuchulain stayed before the armies. Then two black ravens croaked, and all the armies laughed. "It is likely," they said, "the ravens are telling of the coming of the angry man from Muirthemne." And they hunted them away. After that Eochaid Juil went to wash his hands at the spring, and Cuchulain saw his bare shoulder through the shirt, and he threw a spear at him, and it passed through him; and then he attacked the army alone, and killed a great many. Then he was attacked by Senach Siabartha the Unearthly, and they fought very hard and Cuchulain overcame him in the end. And Labraid came then, and broke the armies before him, and he called to Cuchulain to leave off from killing. But Laeg said: "I am in dread he will spend his rage on us, since he has not had enough of fighting. And let your people go," he said, "and let them make ready three vats of water to put out his heat. The first vat he will go into will boil over; the second vat, no person could bear its heat; but the heat of the third vat will be fit to bear." When the women saw Cuchulain coming back, it was then Fand sang before him: "Stately is the man that comes in his chariot; young he is, and without a beard; his course is splendid across the plain at evening, at Senach Fidhga, the gathering-place of the woods. "It is not the music of the Sidhe would keep him in a bed; it is the red colour of blood that is upon him; I stand looking at the horses of his chariot; their like is not known, they are as fast as the winds of spring. "It is Cuchulain that is coming, the young hero from Muirthemne; is a pity for the man against whom he is angered." Then Liban asked him what he had done in the fight. And Cuchulain said: "Fair, ruddy-faced men attacked me on every side from the back of horses, the people of Manannan, Son of the sea, called there by Eochaid of Inver; I gave them wound for wound. I threw my spear at Eochaid Juil; it was not with the uncertain cast of a man among mists I threw It. I heard his groan, and its sound was friendly to me; if those who have spoken have told the truth, it was that throw won the battle." It was to the son, now, of this Eochaid Juil of the Land of promise, that Aebgreine, the daughter of Naoise and Deirdre was given afterwards in marriage by Manannan. After that, Cuchulain stopped a month in that country with Fand, and at the end of the month he bade her farewell, and she said to him: "In whatever place you tell me to go and meet you, I will go there." And the place they settled to meet at was at Ibar Cinn Tracta, the yew at the head of Baile's strand. But when all this was told to Emer, there was great anger on her, and she had knives made ready to kill the woman with; and she came, and fifty young girls with her, to the place where they had settled to meet. Cuchulain and Laeg were playing chess there, and they did not see the women coming. It was Fand saw them first, and she said to Laeg: "Look, Laeg, at what I see." "What is that?" said Laeg. Then he looked, and it is what Fand said: "Look behind you, Laeg; there are women listening to you, wise, with sharp, green knives in their right hands, with gold at their well-shaped breasts; they move as brave men do, going through a battle of chariots. Well does Emer, daughter of Forgall, change colour in her anger." "No harm shall be done to you by her;" said Cuchulain; "and she shall not reach to you at all. Come into the sunny seat of the chariot, opposite myself, for I will defend you against all the many women of the four points of Ulster; for though Forgall's daughter may threaten," he said, "on the strength of her companions, to do some daring thing, it is surely not against me she will dare it." Then Cuchulain said to Emer: "It is little I mind you, woman, in spite of my affection for you, more than any other man minds a woman. The spear in your shaking hand does not wound me, nor your weak, thin knife, nor your vain, gathered anger; for it would a pity my strength to be put down by a woman's strength." I ask then," said Emer, "what was it led you, Cuchulain, to dishonour me before all the women of the province, and before all the women of Ireland, and before all honourable people in the same way? For it was under your shelter I came, and on the strength of your faithfulness; for although you threaten a great quarrel in your pride, it is certain, Cuchulain, you cannot put me away, even if you would try to do it." "I ask you, Emer," said Cuchulain, "why I may not have my turn in the company of this woman; for in the first place she is well-behaved, comely, well-mannered, worthy of a king, this woman from beyond the waves of the great sea; with form and countenance and high descent; with embroidery and handiness, with sense and quickness; for there is not anything under the skies her husband could ask, but she would do it, even if she had not given her promise. And O Emer," he said, "you will never find any brave, comely man so good as myself." "It is certain," said Emer, "that I will not refuse this woman if you follow her. But all the same, everything red is beautiful, everything new is fair, everything high is lovely, everything common is bitter, everything we are without is thought much of, everything we know is thought little of, till all knowledge is known. And O Cuchulain," she said, "I was at one time in esteem with you and I would be so again, if it were pleasing to you." And grief came upon her, and overcame her. "By my word, now," said Cuchulain, "you are pleasing to me, and will be pleasing as long as I live." "Let me be given up," said Fand. "It is better for me to be given up," said Emer. "Not so," said Fand, "it is I that will be given up in the end, and it is I that have been in danger of it all this time." And great grief and trouble of mind came to Fand, because she was ashamed to be given up, and to have to go back to her home there and then; and the great love she had given Cuchulain troubled her; and so she was lamenting, and she made this complaint: "It is I will go on the journey; I agree to it with great sorrow; though my father has so great a name, I would sooner stay with Cuchulain. It would be better for me to be here, to be under your rule without grief, than to go, though you may wonder at it, to the sunny house of Aedh Abrat. "O Emer, the man is yours, and well may you wear him, for you are worthy; what my arm cannot reach, that at least I may wish well to. "Many were the men asking for me, in the court and in country places; I never went to meet one of them, for it is myself was of right behaviour. "A pity it is to give love to a man, and he to take no heed to it. It is better to be turned away, if you are not loved as you love. "It was not right of you, Emer of the yellow hair, to take hold of Fand, to kill her in her misery." Now all this was told to Manannan, that Fand, daughter of Aedh Abrat was fighting alone against the women of Ulster, and that Cuchulain was putting her away. Manannan came then from the east in search of her, and he was near them, and no one of them saw him but only Fand. And then great fear and trouble of mind came on her at seeing Manannan, and it is what she said: "Look on the great son of the sea, from the plains of Eoghan of Inver; Manannan, lord of the fair hills of the world; there was a time when he was dear to me. "He may even to-day be constant; my mind is no friend to jealousy. There is a road love leads us in. "The time I and the friend of Lugh were in the sunny palace of Dun Inver, we thought, without a doubt, that we should never be parted from one another. "When Manannan the great married me, I was a wife worthy of him; he gave me a bracelet of heavy gold, as the price of my beauty. "I see, coming over the sea, no earthly person sees him, the crested horseman of the high-maned waves; he has no need of long ships. "As for me myself, because there is foolishness in the minds of women, the man I loved exceedingly has left me here astray. "Farewell to you, beautiful Cuchulain; I go away from you with a kind heart. Though I do not come back again, let me have your good will; all things are good in comparison with a parting. "It is time for me to go away; there is one to whom it is not grief, but for all that, it is a great disgrace to me, O Laeg, son of Riangabra. "It is with my own husband I will go, because he will do as I desire. Look now at my going, that it may not be said I went away secretly." Then Fand went over to Manannan, and Manannan bade her welcome, and he said: "Well, woman, is it after Cuchulain you will be going from this time, or is it with me you will go?" "By my word now," said she, "there is one of you I would sooner follow than the other; but it is along with you I will go and I will not wait on Cuchulain, because he has left me. And another thing," she said, "you have not a queen that is fitting for you, and that is what Cuchulain has." But when Cuchulain saw the woman going away from him with Manannan, he said to Laeg: "What is that?" "It is Fand," said Laeg, "that is going to Manannan, Son of the Sea, because she was not pleasing to you." It is then there was great anger on Cuchulain, and he went with great leaps to Luachair, the place of rushes; and he stopped for a long while without drink, without food, among the mountains, and where he slept every night, was on the road of Midluachan. And when Emer heard that, she went to visit Conchubar in Emain Macha, and she told him the way Cuchulain was. Then Conchubar sent the poets and the skilled men and the Druids of Ulster to visit him, that they might lay hold of him, and bring him to Emain Macha along with them. But when they came to him, he would have killed them, but the Druids did enchantment on him, until they had laid hold of him, and until his wits began to come back to him. Then he asked them for a drink, and the Druids gave him a drink of forgetfulness. From the moment he drank that drink, he did not remember Fand, and all the things he had done. And they gave a drink of forgetfulness to Emer as well, that she might forget her jealousy, for the state she was in was no better than his own. And after that, Manannan shook his cloak between Cuchulain and Fand, the way they should never meet one another again.
