Conall Yellowclaw
Conall Yellowclaw was a sturdy tenant
in Erin - he had three sons.
There was at that time a king over every fifth of Erin.
It fell out
for the children of the king that was near Conall, that
they
themselves and the children of Conall came to blows. The
children of
Conall got the upper hand, and they killed the king's big
son. The
king sent a message for Conall, and he said to him,"Oh,
Conall!
what made your sons go to spring on my sons till my big
son was
killed by your children? but I see that though I follow
you
revengefully, I shall not be much better for it, and I
will now set
a thing before you, and if you will do it, I will not follow
you
with revenge. If you and your sons will get me the brown
horse of
the king of Lochlann, you shall get the souls of your sons."
"Why," said Conall, "should
not I do the pleasure of the king,
though there should be no souls of my sons in dread at
all. Hard is
the matter you require of me, but I will lose my own life,
and the
life of my sons, or else I will do the pleasure of the
king."
After these words Conall left the king, and he went home -
when he
got home he was under much trouble and perplexity. When
he went to
lie down he told his wife the thing the king had set before
him. His
wife took much sorrow that he was obliged to part from
herself,
while she knew not if she should see him more.
"Oh, Conall," said she, "why
didst not thou let the king do his own
pleasure to thy sons, rather than be going now, while I
know not if
ever I shall see thee more?"
When he rose on the morrow, he set himself and his three
sons in
order, and they took their journey towards Lochlann, and
they made
no stop but tore through ocean till they reached it. When
they
reached Lochlann they did not know what they should do.
Said the old
man to his sons, "Stop ye, and we will seek out the
house of the
king's miller."
When they went into the house of the king's miller, the
man asked
them to stop there for the night. Conall told the miller
that his
own children and the children of his king had fallen out,
and that
his children had killed the king's son, and there was nothing
that
would please the king but that he should get the brown
horse of the
king of Lochlann.
"If you will do me a kindness,
and will put me in a way to get him,
for certain I will pay ye for it."
"The thing is silly that you are come to seek," said
the miller;
"for the king has laid his mind on him so greatly that
you will not
get him in any way unless you steal him; but if you can
make out a
way, I will keep it secret."
"This is what I am thinking," said Conall, "since
you are working
every day for the king, you and your gillies could put
myself and my
sons into five sacks of bran."
"The plan that has come into your head is not bad," said
the miller.
The miller spoke to his gillies, and he said to them to
do this, and
they put them in five sacks. The king's gillies came to
seek the
bran, and they took the five sacks with them, and they
emptied them
before the horses. The servants locked the door, and they
went away.
When they rose to lay hand on
the brown horse, said Conall, "You
shall not do that. It is hard to get out of this; let us
make for
ourselves five hiding holes, so that if they hear us we
may go and
hide." They made the holes, then they laid hands on
the horse. The
horse was pretty well unbroken, and he set to making a
terrible
noise through the stable. The king heard the noise. "It
must be my
brown horse," said he to his gillies; "find out
what is wrong with
him."
The servants went out, and when Conall and his sons saw
them coming
they went into the hiding holes. The servants looked amongst
the
horses, and they did not find anything wrong; and they
returned and
they told this to the king, and the king said to them that
if
nothing was wrong they should go to their places of rest.
When the
gillies had time to be gone, Conall and his sons laid their
hands
again on the horse. If the noise was great that he made
before, the
noise he made now was seven times greater. The king sent
a message
for his gillies again, and said for certain there was something
troubling the brown horse. "Go and look well about
him." The
servants went out, and they went to their hiding holes.
The servants
rummaged well, and did not find a thing. They returned
and they told
this.
"That is marvellous for me," said the king, "go
you to lie down
again, and if I notice it again I will go out myself."
When Conall and his sons perceived that the gillies were
gone, they
laid hands again on the horse, and one of them caught him,
and if
the noise that the horse made on the two former times was
great, he
made more this time.
"Be this from me," said the king; "it
must be that some one is
troubling my brown horse." He sounded the bell hastily,
and when his
waiting-man came to him, he said to him to let the stable
gillies
know that something was wrong with the horse. The gillies
came, and
the king went with them. When Conall and his sons perceived
the
company coming they went to the hiding holes.
The king was a wary man, and he saw where the horses were
making a
noise.
"Be wary," said the king, "there
are men within the stable, let us
get at them somehow."
The king followed the tracks of the men, and he found
them. Every
one knew Conall, for he was a valued tenant of the king
of Erin, and
when the king brought them up out of the holes he said, "Oh,
Conall,
is it you that are here?"
"I am, O king, without question,
and necessity made me come. I am
under thy pardon, and under thine honour, and under thy
grace." He
told how it happened to him, and that he had to get the
brown horse
for the king of Erin, or that his sons were to be put to
death. "I
knew that I should not get him by asking, and I was going
to steal
him."
"Yes, Conall, it is well enough, but come in," said
the king. He
desired his look-out men to set a watch on the sons of
Conall, and
to give them meat. And a double watch was set that night
on the sons
of Conall.
"Now, O Conall," said the king, "were
you ever in a harder place
than to be seeing your lot of sons hanged tomorrow? But
you set it
to my goodness and to my grace, and say that it was necessity
brought it on you, so I must not hang you. Tell me any
case in which
you were as hard as this, and if you tell that, you shall
get the
soul of your youngest son."
"I will tell a case as hard in which I was," said
Conall. "I was
once a young lad, and my father had much land, and he had
parks of
year-old cows, and one of them had just calved, and my
father told
me to bring her home. I found the cow, and took her with
us. There
fell a shower of snow. We went into the herd's bothy, and
we took
the cow and the calf in with us, and we were letting the
shower pass
from us. Who should come in but one cat and ten, and one
great one-
eyed fox-coloured cat as head bard over them. When they
came in, in
very deed I myself had no liking for their company. 'Strike
up with
you,' said the head bard, 'why should we be still? and
sing a cronan
to Conall Yellowclaw.' I was amazed that my name was known
to the
cats themselves. When they had sung the cronan, said the
head bard,
'Now, O Conall, pay the reward of the cronan that the cats
have sung
to thee.' 'Well then,' said I myself, 'I have no reward
whatsoever
for you, unless you should go down and take that calf.'
No sooner
said I the word than the two cats and ten went down to
attack the
calf, and in very deed, he did not last them long. 'Play
up with
you, why should you be silent? Make a cronan to Conall
Yellowclaw,'
said the head bard. Certainly I had no liking at all for
the cronan,
but up came the one cat and ten, and if they did not sing
me a
cronan then and there! 'Pay them now their reward,' said
the great
fox-coloured cat. 'I am tired myself of yourselves and
your
rewards,' said I. 'I have no reward for you unless you
take that cow
down there.' They betook themselves to the cow, and indeed
she did
not last them long.
"'Why will you be silent?
Go up and sing a cronan to Conall
Yellowclaw,' said the head bard. And surely, oh king, I
had no care
for them or for their cronan, for I began to see that they
were not
good comrades. When they had sung me the cronan they betook
themselves down where the head bard was. 'Pay now their
reward, said
the head bard; and for sure, oh king, I had no reward for
them; and
I said to them, 'I have no reward for you.' And surely,
oh king,
there was catterwauling between them. So I leapt out at
a turf
window that was at the back of the house. I took myself
off as hard
as I might into the wood. I was swift enough and strong
at that
time; and when I felt the rustling toirm of the cats after
me I
climbed into as high a tree as I saw in the place, and
one that was
close in the top; and I hid myself as well as I might.
The cats
began to search for me through the wood, and they could
not find me;
and when they were tired, each one said to the other that
they would
turn back. 'But,' said the one-eyed fox-coloured cat that
was
commander-in-chief over them, 'you saw him not with your
two eyes,
and though I have but one eye, there's the rascal up in
the tree.'
When he had said that, one of them went up in the tree,
and as he
was coming where I was, I drew a weapon that I had and
I killed him.
'Be this from me!' said the one-eyed one - 'I must not be
losing my
company thus; gather round the root of the tree and dig
about it,
and let down that villain to earth.' On this they gathered
about the
tree, and they dug about the root, and the first branching
root that
they cut, she gave a shiver to fall, and I myself gave
a shout, and
it was not to be wondered at.
"There was in the neighbourhood
of the wood a priest, and he had ten
men with him delving, and he said, 'There is a shout of
a man in
extremity and I must not be without replying to it.' And
the wisest
of the men said, 'Let it alone till we hear it again.'
The cats
began again digging wildly, and they broke the next root;
and I
myself gave the next shout, and in very deed it was not
a weak one.
'Certainly,' said the priest, 'it is a man in extremity - let
us
move.' They set themselves in order for moving. And the
cats arose
on the tree, and they broke the third root, and the tree
fell on her
elbow. Then I gave the third shout. The stalwart men hastened,
and
when they saw how the cats served the tree, they began
at them with
the spades; and they themselves and the cats began at each
other,
till the cats ran away. And surely, oh king, I did not
move till I
saw the last one of them off. And then I came home. And
there's the
hardest case in which I ever was; and it seems to me that
tearing by
the cats were harder than hanging to-morrow by the king
of
Lochlann."
"Och! Conall," said the king, "you
are full of words. You have freed
the soul of your son with your tale; and if you tell me
a harder
case than that you will get your second youngest son, and
then you
will have two sons."
"Well then," said Conall, "on
condition that thou dost that, I will
tell thee how I was once in a harder case than to be in
thy power in
prison to-night."
"Let's hear," said
the king.
"I was then," said Conall, "quite
a young lad, and I went out
hunting, and my father's land was beside the sea, and it
was rough
with rocks, caves, and rifts. When I was going on the top
of the
shore, I saw as if there were a smoke coming up between
two rocks,
and I began to look what might be the meaning of the smoke
coming up
there. When I was looking, what should I do but fall; and
the place
was so full of heather, that neither bone nor skin was
broken. I
knew not how I should get out of this. I was not looking
before me,
but I kept looking overhead the way I came - and thinking
that the
day would never come that I could get up there. It was
terrible for
me to be there till I should die. I heard a great clattering
coming,
and what was there but a great giant and two dozen of goats
with
him, and a buck at their head. And when the giant had tied
the
goats, he came up and he said to me, 'Hao O! Conall, it's
long since
my knife has been rusting in my pouch waiting for thy tender
flesh.'
'Och!' said I, 'it's not much you will be bettered by me,
though you
should tear me asunder; I will make but one meal for you.
But I see
that you are one-eyed. I am a good leech, and I will give
you the
sight of the other eye.' The giant went and he drew the
great
caldron on the site of the fire. I myself was telling him
how he
should heat the water, so that I should give its sight
to the other
eye. I got heather and I made a rubber of it, and I set
him upright
in the caldron. I began at the eye that was well, pretending
to him
that I would give its sight to the other one, till I left
them as
bad as each other; and surely it was easier to spoil the
one that
was well than to give sight to the other.
"When he saw that he could
not see a glimpse, and when I myself said
to him that I would get out in spite of him, he gave a
spring out of
the water, and he stood in the mouth of the cave, and he
said that
he would have revenge for the sight of his eye. I had but
to stay
there crouched the length of the night, holding in my breath
in such
a way that he might not find out where I was.
"When he felt the birds
calling in the morning, and knew that the
day was, he said, 'Art thou sleeping? Awake and let out
my lot of
goats.' I killed the buck. He cried, 'I do believe that
thou art
killing my buck.'
"'I am not,' said I, 'but
the ropes are so tight that I take long to
loose them.' I let out one of the goats, and there he was
caressing
her, and he said to her, 'There thou art thou shaggy, hairy
white
goat; and thou seest me, but I see thee not.' I kept letting
them
out by the way of one and one, as I flayed the buck, and
before the
last one was out I had him flayed bag-wise. Then I went
and I put my
legs in place of his legs, and my hands in place of his
forelegs,
and my head in place of his head, and the horns on top
of my head,
so that the brute might think that it was the buck. I went
out. When
I was going out the giant laid his hand on me, and he said,
'There
thou art, thou pretty buck; thou seest me, but I see thee
not.' When
I myself got out, and I saw the world about me, surely,
oh, king!
joy was on me. When I was out and had shaken the skin off
me, I said
to the brute, 'I am out now in spite of you.'
"'Aha!' said he, 'hast thou
done this to me. Since thou wert so
stalwart that thou hast got out, I will give thee a ring
that I have
here; keep the ring, and it will do thee good.'
"'I will not take the ring
from you,' said I, 'but throw it, and I
will take it with me.' He threw the ring on the flat ground,
I went
myself and I lifted the ring, and I put it on my finger.
When he
said me then, 'Is the ring fitting thee?' I said to him,
'It is.'
Then he said, 'Where art thou, ring?' And the ring said,
'I am
here.' The brute went and went towards where the ring was
speaking,
and now I saw that I was in a harder case than ever I was.
I drew a
dirk. I cut the finger from off me, and I threw it from
me as far as
I could out on the loch, and there was a great depth in
the place.
He shouted, 'Where art thou, ring?' And the ring said,
'I am here,'
though it was on the bed of ocean. He gave a spring after
the ring,
and out he went in the sea. And I was as pleased then when
I saw him
drowning, as though you should grant my own life and the
life of my
two sons with me, and not lay any more trouble on me.
"When the giant was drowned
I went in, and I took with me all he had
of gold and silver, and I went home, and surely great joy
was on my
people when I arrived. And as a sign now look, the finger
is off
me."
"Yes, indeed, Conall, you are wordy and wise," said
the king. "I see
the finger is off you. You have freed your two sons, but
tell me a
case in which you ever were that is harder than to be looking
on
your son being hanged tomorrow, and you shall get the soul
of your
eldest son."
"Then went my father," said Conall, "and
he got me a wife, and I was
married. I went to hunt. I was going beside the sea, and
I saw an
island over in the midst of the loch, and I came there
where a boat
was with a rope before her, and a rope behind her, and
many precious
things within her. I looked myself on the boat to see how
I might
get part of them. I put in the one foot, and the other
foot was on
the ground, and when I raised my head what was it but the
boat over
in the middle of the loch, and she never stopped till she
reached
the island. When I went out of the boat the boat returned
where she
was before. I did not know now what I should do. The place
was
without meat or clothing, without the appearance of a house
on it. I
came out on the top of a hill. Then I came to a glen; I
saw in it,
at the bottom of a hollow, a woman with a child, and the
child was
naked on her knee, and she had a knife in her hand. She
tried to put
the knife to the throat of the babe, and the babe began
to laugh in
her face, and she began to cry, and she threw the knife
behind her.
I thought to myself that I was near my foe and far from
my friends,
and I called to the woman, 'What are you doing here?' And
she said
to me, 'What brought you here?' I told her myself word
upon word how
I came. 'Well then,' said she, 'it was so I came also.'
She showed
me to the place where I should come in where she was. I
went in, and
I said to her, 'What was the matter that you were putting
the knife
on the neck of the child?' 'It is that he must be cooked
for the
giant who is here, or else no more of my world will be
before me.'
Just then we could be hearing the footsteps of the giant,
'What
shall I do? what shall I do?' cried the woman. I went to
the
caldron, and by luck it was not hot, so in it I got just
as the
brute came in. 'Hast thou boiled that youngster for me?'
he cried.
'He's not done yet,' said she, and I cried out from the
caldron,
'Mammy, mammy, it's boiling I am.' Then the giant laughed
out HAI,
HAW, HOGARAICH, and heaped on wood under the caldron.
"And now I was sure I would
scald before I could get out of that. As
fortune favoured me, the brute slept beside the caldron.
There I was
scalded by the bottom of the caldron. When she perceived
that he was
asleep, she set her mouth quietly to the hole that was
in the lid,
and she said to me 'was I alive?' I said I was. I put up
my head,
and the hole in the lid was so large, that my head went
through
easily. Everything was coming easily with me till I began
to bring
up my hips. I left the skin of my hips behind me, but I
came out.
When I got out of the caldron I knew not what to do; and
she said to
me that there was no weapon that would kill him but his
own weapon.
I began to draw his spear and every breath that he drew
I thought I
would be down his throat, and when his breath came out
I was back
again just as far. But with every ill that befell me I
got the spear
loosed from him. Then I was as one under a bundle of straw
in a
great wind for I could not manage the spear. And it was
fearful to
look on the brute, who had but one eye in the midst of
his face; and
it was not agreeable for the like of me to attack him.
I drew the
dart as best I could, and I set it in his eye. When he
felt this he
gave his head a lift, and he struck the other end of the
dart on the
top of the cave, and it went through to the back of his
head. And he
fell cold dead where he was; and you may be sure, oh king,
that joy
was on me. I myself and the woman went out on clear ground,
and we
passed the night there. I went and got the boat with which
I came,
and she was no way lightened, and took the woman and the
child over
on dry land; and I returned home."
The king of Lochlann's mother was putting on a fire at
this time,
and listening to Conall telling the tale about the child.
"Is it you," said she, "that
were there?"
"Well then," said he, "'twas
I."
"Och! och!" said she, "'twas
I that was there, and the king is the
child whose life you saved; and it is to you that life
thanks should
be given." Then they took great joy.
The king said, "Oh, Conall,
you came through great hardships. And
now the brown horse is yours, and his sack full of the
most precious
things that are in my treasury."
They lay down that night, and if it was early that Conall
rose, it
was earlier than that that the queen was on foot making
ready. He
got the brown horse and his sack full of gold and silver
and stones
of great price, and then Conall and his three sons went
away, and
they returned home to the Erin realm of gladness. He left
the gold
and silver in his house, and he went with the horse to
the king.
They were good friends evermore. He returned home to his
wife, and
they set in order a feast; and that was a feast if ever
there was
one, oh son and brother. |