So they went on board again, and again the queen came and flung the clew after them. This time it was caught by another man, to whose hand it clung. But Diuran cut off the hand, and it fell with the clew into the sea. When the queen saw this she began to wail and shriek, so that all the land was one cry, wail, and shrieking.
Thus it was they escaped from her, and from the island.
And for a long time they tossed about on the waves until they came to an island whereon were planted trees, like willow or hazel, upon which grew marvelous fruit, like large berries. They stripped one small tree and cast lots who should first taste the fruit. The lot fell to Maelduin. He squeezed some of the berries into a vessel and drank the juice, and it cast him into a deep sleep from that hour till the same hour on the morrow. As he lay with the red foam on his lips, they knew not till he awoke whether it was slumber or whether it was death. Then he said: "Gather this fruit, for great is its excellence."
So they gathered all the fruit of the land, filling their vessels with its juice, and mingling it with water to moderate its strength, and then they rowed away.
Thereafter they landed on another large island. Part of it was overgrown with yew and oak wood; the rest was a plain, in the midst of which was a small lake, with
