then the father gave him a black-haired steed that could overtake the wind before him, and outstrip the wind behind.
Sean Ruadh mounted the steed and hurried away. He went on each day without rest, and slept in the woods at night.
One morning he put on some old clothes which he had in a pack on the saddle, and leaving his horse in the woods, went aside to an opening. He was not long there when a king rode up and stopped before him.
"Who are you, and where are you going?" asked the king.
"Oh!" said Sean Ruadh, "I am astray. I do not know where to go, nor what I am to do."
"If that is how you are, I 'll tell you what to do, come with me."
"Why should I go with you?" asked Sean Ruadh.
"Well, I have a great many cows, and I have no one to go with them, no one to mind them. I am in great trouble also. My daughter will die a terrible death very soon."
"How will she die?" asked Sean Ruadh.
"There is an urfeist,[1] a great serpent of the sea, a monster which must get a king's daughter to devour every seven years. Once in seven years
- ↑ Urfeist, "great serpent."
