weary, and rested, eating of the fruit. Maelduin and his men approached cautiously lest it might harm them. Then they drew nearer and began to gather berries off the branch, but the bird neither moved nor heeded them.
At noon two great eagles came flying from the southwest and lit down in front of the bird, and began to preen and cleanse its feathers. This they continued to
THE GREAT BIRD
do until even, when they began to eat of the berries off the branch. The next morn until midday they passed in tending the bird, preening and cleansing its feathers. At midday they ceased from their task and, perching on the branch, stripped the berries from it, broke them with their beaks against the stones, and cast them into the lake. And with the foam of the berries the water was dyed a deep red. Then went the bird and bathed in the lake until the close of the day, when it perched in another place on the same hill.
