West Irish folk-tales and romances/5
KING MANANAUN.
Narrator, P. M'Grale, Achill.
THERE was a king in Erin, whose name was King Mananaun. He was the king of druidism and enchantments and devilscraft. A daughter was born to him, whose name was Pampogue, and she had twelve women attending her, and twelve maids serving her. There was another king in Erin, whose name was King Keeluch, and to him was born a son, whose name was Kaytuch. He took the son to the old wise man, and asked him where he should put his son to learn druidism and devilscraft, so that neither man nor weapon should get victory over him. The old wise man told him to put him with King Mananaun; that he was the best man of druidism to be found. “And a year from this night” (said he) “there was a daughter born to him, and there are twelve women attending her, and twelve maids serving her, and his son would have the same.”
There was a third king, whose name was Londu, son of the King of Gur, and to him a son was born; and he also went to the wise old man to ask him where was the best place to put his son to learn druidism and devilscraft, and the wise old man told him to put him with King Mananaun.
The three were going to school together when Pampogue was sixteen years old, Kaytuch fifteen, and Londu fourteen. They were coming home from school, and they went into the smith's forge; and Kaytuch took a bar of iron and twisted it in his hand, and he threw it to Londu, and told him to straighten it. And he took a nail and asked the other prince what he would take to leave his hand on the anvil, and to leave the nail on his hand, and a blow of the great sledge-hammer to be struck on the nail; and (the other) said he would give it, if he would allow him a blow without defence in the first battle between them; and Kaytuch said he would allow it, and he drove the nail through the palm of Londu into the anvil. And she laughed, and went out and home to her father's house.
When the smith saw what was done in the forge he asked Londu what he would give him to loose him. He said that he was a poor gentleman, but that if he ever came into his heirship he would give him the price of his service. The smith took hammering with him, and hammered at the top of the nail, and he put something under the palm and raised it up. He went to the house of the king and said not a word; but the king knew all.
In the morning the king wrote to their fathers, and bade them come to dinner the next day; and the two kings came and consumed the feast, and asked was it gold or silver was wanting to him? if it was they would give it. And he said it was not, but that there was a dispute between their two sons, and he would like them to settle it. “And I know” (said he) “it is jealousy is the cause.” The fathers said that whatever he would do they were satisfied. “I will open the doors, and I will put the three inside. Let one man come out by one door, and the other man by the other door, and whichever of them she follows, let her be his.”
When the fathers were gone he put the three into the house and opened the doors, and she followed Kaytuch. When Londu went out he saw Kaytuch, and asked if he remembered that he had a blow without defence to get on him in their first battle. Kaytuch said, in his opinion this was no battle.
“No battle at all is there greater than a fight about a woman.”
Kaytuch dropped his hands, and Londu drew his sword, and cut the head off him. Londu asked her, “Will you take me now he is dead?” She refused, and said she would not marry him. She took Kaytuch and put him in a box, and herbs of the hill about him. She went then and fitted out a ship great and gallant, till she raised the great sails, speckled, spotted, as long, as high as the top of the mast; and she left not a rope without breaking, an oar without tearing, with the crawling, creeping creatures, the little beasts, the great beasts of the deep sea coming up on the handle and blade of the oar, till she let two thirds (of the sail) go, and one third held in, till the eels were whistling, the froth down, and the sand above; till she overtook the red wind of March that was before her, and the red wind of March that was after did not overtake her; and she was sailing nine months before she came to land.
She came near land and cast anchor, and she saw two men coming, and they carrying a dead man with them. In the morning the three were going, and in the evening two were coming, carrying the dead man again, and it was like that for three days. One of the men went out in a currach, and asked her who she was, or what she was seeking. “If it's a husband that's wanting to you, come and you will get one.”
She told him to be off, or she would sink himself and his old currach.[1] He went and told his brothers how she spoke, and the second of them went and she said the like to him. Said the third man “it is like this I have ever found you.” He went out himself and spoke to her, and said “God save you, young maiden! Is it harm for me to ask who you are, or how far you are going.”
“I will tell you. But will you tell me? Every evening there are two carrying a dead man, and three go away alive in the morning.”
“I will tell you that, young queen, and welcome. When my father and mother were living my father was a king, and when he died, there came Fawgawns and Blue-men on us, and banished us out of two islands; and we are on the top of the third island with them, and as many of them as we kill are alive to fight us again in the morning; and every day they kill one of us, and we bring him to life again with the healing water.”
“With me is a champion, the best that ever struck blow with sword; and I promise you his help for a day if you bring him to life.”
The man went in, and brought the healing water, and rubbed it to the wound; and Kaytuch arose alive again; and he rubbed his eyes with his hands and said “Great was the sleep that was on me”; and she laughed and told him everything from the time the young king cut his head off. “I took you on board ship, and we were sailing for nine months before we came here; and I promised your help for a day to this man if he would bring you to life; but you will not go for a month until you grow strong.”
So he and she spent the night together—a third in talking, a third in story-telling, and a third in soft rest and deep slumber, till the whiteness of the day came upon the morrow.
Then he arose and washed his hands and face and ate his breakfast, and went out on the island and came to the house, and asked where they gave battle. Said they to him: “If you were a good champion you would have searched the place, and you would know in what place they give battle.”
That made him angry, and he went away and followed the little path that led from the house. He did not go far when he saw the blackness of the hill with people coming towards him. He ran through them as runs a hawk through flocks of wild birds, or a hound through flocks of sheep, till he made a heap of their heads, a heap of their feet, and a heap of their arms and clothes. They would be a prize for him if he thought them any good.
He stretched himself among the dead to see who else was coming. He was not long stretched before he saw an old man and an old woman coming, and a pot and a feather with them; and they threw a dash on the men on this side and that, and they (were) rising alive like midges. He told them to make no more alive till he killed those they had brought to life. He killed every one of them, and the old man and the old woman; and the old woman put him under bond to tell the hag of the church that he had killed the Hag of Slaughter and Slaughter himself. He went with himself along the road till he met with a tall, toothless, rusty hag. He asked her if she was the hag of the church; she said it was she. “I give you notice that I have killed the Hag of Slaughter and Slaughter himself.” She gave him a hundred welcomes, and she told him she had been three years in hell to learn druidism and devilscraft; for it was foretold her that he would come against them that way.
“Go home, and I forgive you.” He said he would not go. Said she to him, “Use your sword.” He drew a blow of the sword at her and struck her, and there was a dint in the sword that spoiled it for striking, and he put it up in the sheath.
“I forgive you now, and go home.” He said he would not go. “Throw me into a hole of water.” He threw her; and she was three quarters of an hour in the hole, and he on top of her to keep her down. She got up as fresh as she was before he threw her down.
“I forgive you, Kaytuch.”
“I forgive not you.”
“Throw me down into a pot of brimstone.”
He threw her; and she was three quarters of an hour in it. She arose as fresh as she was at first. “I forgive you now.”
“I forgive not you. Defend yourself now.”
He drew his sword on her and struck her, but there was no good in the sword. She put her hands over and took hold of his skin, and put her nails into his blood, and took the full of her fist of his flesh with her. He was about to give up, when the bird spoke to him, to pull her head from its roots. He leaped high, and stood on her shoulders, and took hold of her head, and pulled it from its roots. She put druidism on him then. “Tell the Lamb of Luck that you have killed the Hag of Slaughter and Slaughter himself and the Hag of the Church.”
He went along the path, and he came to a great field, and in the field was nothing but a tree, and a big rock of stone, and the lamb. “Are you the Lamb of Luck?”
“I am.”
“I give you notice I have killed the Hag of Slaughter and Slaughter himself and the Hag of the Church.”
The lamb came running to him; and there came near him nothing but the wind, and he fell on the ground; and when he got up he went to the tree, and he and the lamb were running round the tree. He ran from the tree, and leaped round the rock. It was nine perches high and the same in breadth. The lamb leaped through the rock, and put his head into it; and when his head was fastened in the rock, Kaytuch came and cut the head off with his sword. The lamb put him under spells: “Tell the cat of Hoorebrikë[2] that you have killed the Hag of Slaughter and Slaughter himself and the Lamb of Luck.” He met the cat of Hoorebrikë at the edge of a glen, and he asked, “Are you the cat of Hoorebrikë?”
“I am.”
He struck a blow of his sword at the cat and split it, and when the sword went through the cat fastened together again. He drew a second blow at the cat, and split it from the snout to the tip of the tail, and the cat fastened again. When he was drawing the third blow, the cat leaped and put the tip-of her tail into his side, and there was a barb of poison at the tip of the tail, and it took the heart of Kaytuch out; and Kaytuch took hold of the cat, and thrust his fist into her mouth, and took her heart and entrails out in his hand, and the cat and Kaytuch fell dead.
And one of the three men said. “Let us rise out, and let us help that man.” Said another of them, “Oh! it was for a day; let it be for a day, and him do the work of the day himself; that they would go to help him on the next day.” They rose out and went with themselves after him, and as they were going they found the slaughter made, till they came and found himself and the cat killed. They took hold of the heart and insides that were in his fist, and put them into his belly again. They rubbed the healing water on him, and he was as well as he was ever before.
They went with themselves, and there came a gust of wind and stirred a wisp, and the cat ran and struck her foot on the wisp. They said it was the cat's heart they put into him in place of his own; and one of them went forward, and drew his sword, and cut his head off again. They took the cat's heart out, and put his own heart in again, and rubbed the healing water on him, and he was as well as he was at first.
When they came home they had a pleasant night—three-thirds of the night: one-third in talking, one-third in story-telling, and a third in soft rest and deep slumber. Then came the three brothers in their arms to Kaytuch, and (asked) him to be king in their fathers place, and they themselves would be his messengers. He said he would not ask their property from them, but it should remain with themselves. They asked him to divide the property between them. He gave the first island to the eldest, the second island to the second, and the island they were on to the youngest son. When Kaytuch parted from them, they gave him everything they had as a present. And Kaytuch and his wife, having taken farewell, went from the island for Erin.
When they came to Erin, the place where they made haven and harbour was beneath the house of Finn McCool. Finn sent one of his men and told him he would give him five pounds and a suit of clothes if he brought him word who the man was. Conan went and asked him, “Who are you? My master sent me to see, and said he would give me five pounds and a suit of clothes for bringing him word who you are.”
Kaytuch laid hold on him and bound him, and threw him under the molten torrent, in a place where every drop would go from the fat to the marrow, and from the marrow to the inmost marrow, and left him there. When Finn saw what he did, he sent Keeltje to him; and Keeltje saluted him, and spoke to him politely, and asked him to tell him, if it were his honour's pleasure, who he was, that he might tell Finn.
“Tell Finn I will be with him for dinner.” Then he released Conan, and told him never to bring a message again to a gentleman.
Then he went part of the way with his wife, till he put her near her fathers house, and he returned to Finn. Then they ate their dinner, and they went out hunting. Kaytuch said he was a stranger, and that he would take a glen to himself. And he took a glen to himself; and as he was killing, he threw the game on the road, until he said it was time for him to go home. He tied the birds together, and made a bundle of them, until Finn and his hosts came, and he told them to take up the burden, but they were not able to raise the burden. He put the tip of his boot under it, and threw it over his shoulder, and ran home; and Keeltje ran after him, and Kaytuch had his dinner eaten when Keeltje came, and they were together till morning. The second day they went hunting, and Kaytuch went this day to the glen they had the day before, and they had had but two birds of that glen, but he had the same burden. And the third day the like happened; and on the fourth day there came a great mist on them, and they knew not where they were going, and they went into a great castle, and there was food on the table, and they sat down and were eating; and there came the shadow of a woman and took away the broken food, and laid more food on the table until they had eaten enough. Then there was a bed for every two, and a bed for Kaytuch and a bed for Finn. Then the young girl herself showed another bed, and told the kings to go down to the young girl; but Kaytuch said he had a wife already, but that Finn had no wife, and for him to go down. Finn went to her, and spoke to her; and she said that if he would give her the amber bracelet belonging to the daughter of the Blauheen Bloyë, in the eastern world, he could come into the bed to her. So he went into the bed, and was with her till morning.
On the morning of the morrow Kaytuch and Finn went to dinner to the house of King Mananaun, and there was great welcome for them, and mighty rejoicing that Kaytuch was come back alive to them. They prepared a great dinner for them, and when it was ready they sat down to eat, and Finn took his knife and fork and laid them on the food, and said he would not eat a bit until Pampogue granted him a request.
“I will grant you any request, except to let my husband go to fight with the Blauheen Bloyë.”
“Unless you grant me that, I will not eat any food.”
“Sooner than you should be without eating, I will grant you even that.’
And when Kaytuch saw he was to go, he rose and threw his knife and fork from his hands, and he went with himself, and Finn followed him. And Pampogue followed Finn, and asked of him one favour, to bring her husband back to her, dead or alive; and if he were alive, to hoist the grey-green sails, and, if dead, the red.
Kaytuch and Finn and the Feni went to go the land of the eastern world, to the place where was the Blauheen Bloyë. And when they came to harbour they secured the ship, and Kaytuch went to the door of the Blauheen Bloyë, and knocked at the Cora Conra (? the knocker), and he was asked what he wanted. And he said, a house. And they said there was a house below, and in it were owas, and he was to go and take it. He went into that house, and the big owas began to laugh and the little owas began to cry; and he asked them the cause; and the big owas said they would have a bit off him, and the little owas said there would not be one bit for them to get. And every one of them got up and put a bolt on the door, and he put bolt and latch on the door; and he caught hold of one of the owas by the foot, and struck another with him, and he was killing till he killed the last man of them. And he rose out to see if Finn and his men were coming, and they were drawing near, twelve of the Feni, and the twelve could not throw out one man of the dead men. He took hold of them and threw them out.
Then he went to the criers of the kitchen, and knocked at the door, and was asked what he sought. He said he was seeking food. They told him to go into the field and kill an ox. He went and he saw a bull, and the bull ran at him, and he ran away, and came into the house, and the bull followed him in, and he ran and closed the two doors, and he had the bull inside. He killed him and skinned him, and went out to see if his people were coming, and they came into the house, but they were not able to carry a quarter of the bull. He put the four quarters into the skin and carried them home.
He went again to the criers of the kitchen, and he was asked, “What are you seeking now?”
“I am seeking turf to make a fire.”
“There is a stack outside, and take what you want.”
There was devilment in everything. He ran and took hold of the turf stack, and put his hands down and pulled out some of the turf, and ran as well as he could, and the turf was running after him to the door to smother him. Then he knocked for the keepers of the kitchen, and asked them for the making of a bed, and they told him to take what he wanted from the haggard; and he went and put his back to the haggard, and pulled out some of the straw, and the straw ran after him to the door to smother him, but he ran from the haggard. He went again to the criers of the kitchen, and they asked him what he was looking for. He said he was looking for water.
“There is a well outside, and take what you want of it.”
He went to the well and put his hands into the water, and took up some of it with him, and the water was running after him in the hope of drowning him, but he ran from it. Then again he knocked for the criers of the kitchen, and they asked him, “What are you looking for now?”
“Fire,” said he, “and a pot.”
“Go to the house of the owas, Oramach;[3] there is fire and a pot there, and take them with you.”
He went into the house of the owas, Oramach, and the owas gave a laugh, and said the boiler was not cooking the meat for want of fire, and he would boil it with his head. And the two caught hold of each other in the keen, close clutches of wrestling. If you were to go seeking for fun from the west of the world to the freshness of the world, it is to that pair you would betake yourself. They made hard of the soft, and soft of the hard, till Kaytuch gave him a squeeze down, and put him on his knees; and he put his head down on the fire, and kept it there till the flesh was cooked. He took the pot with him, and the flesh, and he himself and Finn had enough to eat; and he told the other people who were with him to prepare for themselves and eat. And he asked them to give him leave to sleep, and for them to keep watch. Then he slept. And what woke him but their snoring in their sleep? He rose out, and saw hundreds of people coming, and with them tarred wood and straw to set fire to the house. And Kaytuch killed them all, and went into the house and woke the others, and bade them keep better watch. He went to sleep, and slept not long till he woke again, and they asleep; and he rose out and saw (people) coming the second time as they came first; then he ran forward and killed them again, and he did that four times during the night. In the morning, when the day rose, he went to the criers of the kitchen, and knocked at the door, and they asked him what he was wanting. He said to them, “Three hundred men in front of me, three hundred behind me, three hundred on each side of me, and three hundred on each edge of my sword's edges.” And he had that on the spot. He ran through them as runs a hawk through flocks of birds, or a dog through flocks of sheep, till he made a heap of their heads, a heap of their feet, a heap of their arms and clothes. If they were a good prize they were no profit. And again he knocked for the criers of the kitchen, and he asked for six hundred men in front, six hundred behind, six hundred on each side, and six hundred on each edge of his sword's edges. And he had them on the spot, and he did to them as to the first. And then he asked for nine hundred, and treated them in the same way. And he knocked again, and Brailskë More said he would go himself to battle, and it was three hours before he killed the Brailskë. The Blauheen Bloyë arose, and said it was a pity he did not go himself to battle at first, before his men were all killed. And Kaytuch and he went to fight on the ground, and the battle began between them till Kaytuch killed him.
And he went into the house to the daughter, and she asked him where was he going, the man who killed her father and his hosts?
“Am I not a better man for you than all of them?”
“If I had known that it was to me you were drawing, I myself would have helped you.”
The two went into bed, and he took from her the amber bracelet, and was going. She asked him would he not stay with her, and he said he would not; and he went to Finn, and they prepared to go home.
When they went on board ship, he told Finn he was to be killed that day. He said he was two-and-twenty-years old that day. “The man that killed me at first is to kill me again to-day. He will come as a bird in the air, and will put the same form on himself as mine, and I will ask him to come up on board the vessel, and there will be a great battle between myself and Londu.”
Londu came on board the vessel. His apprenticeship was over that day, and he was cousin to the woman whom Kaytuch had treated so, and taken the amber bracelet from her. The two went to battle on board the ship. They began young like two little boys (and fought) until they were two old men. They fought from being two young pups until they were two old dogs; from being two young bulls until they were two old bulls; from being two young stallions till they were two old stallions. Then they began a battle in the shape of birds; and they were fighting as two hawks, and one of them killed the other. The one that was below struck the one that was above, and as the first one fell dead, he killed the other in falling on him; and it was Londu, son of the king of Gur, that fell first. And he was thrown out into the sea, and the other was brought home to the wife of Kaytuch, son of the king, Keelach. When they came to harbour they raised the grey-green[4] sails, and when they landed Kaytuch's wife was there before them; and they gave her the bird, and she said that was what she was to get in place of her husband. She wept bitterly, and she with the bird, and Finn and the Feni went home and gave her no heed. Then she saw two birds fighting in the air, and one of them killed the other. And birds came and put leaves of a tree on the bird that was killed; and it was a half-hour of the clock, and (the bird) arose alive again. And she put the leaves on her own bird, and then there was half an hour of the clock, and the bird arose alive to her again. And he asked her if she had got the amber bracelet from Finn; and she said she did not get it. Then she and he went to her father's house, and there was an invitation proclaimed for nine nights and nine days for eating and drinking in the house of King Mananaun, with exceeding joy that Kaytuch was come to them safe out of every battle. And the priest came and the pair were married. And Finn went to the woman who put the obligation on him to bring her the amber bracelet; and he asked her and said to her, “If I promised to bring it to you, I did not promise to bring it for you, and I will not give it to you.” So he gave it to the wife of Kaytuch when he heard he was alive again.
And when everything was finished I had nothing after them but shoes of paper and stockings of buttermilk; and I threw them to themselves, till I came home to you to the village of Kill-da-veac and Kill-da-woor, to the little turf bog, to the village where I was born, to the village at the beginning of week, till I fired the shot of a gun frilsjke, frælsjke, kipini, qropaanax; till I killed Londu, and the qaanăx, till I got the load of thirty horses of marrow I took out of the body of the king of the wrens.[5]
- ↑ Aarărăx: an old-fashioned currach, without pointed bow—a square box said to have been used in Achill within the memory of men now living.
- ↑ Explained by the narrator to mean a speckled black and white cat.
- ↑ Possibly identical with the Amhas (pron. owas), Ormanach of Campbell's “Connal Gulban.”
- ↑ This is not in accordance with the directions given. The red sails ought to have been up.
- ↑ These nonsense endings frequently contain untranslatable words. I give these in the phonetic spelling: but I should add that qaanăx means, probably, a kind of wild goose. Londu mean “blackbird” kipini, sticks, or dibbles used for planting.