Part 3 (1/2)
”It shall never be thy part to be the first to divide it,” said a great fair-haired warrior of the men of Ulster.
”Who then is this?” said Ket.
”'Tis Eogan, son of Durthacht,”[1] said they all; ”Eogan, the lord of Fernmay.”
”I have seen him upon an earlier day,” said Ket.
”Where hast thou seen me?” said Eogan.
”It was before thine own house,” said Ket. ”As I was driving away thy cattle, a cry of war was raised in the lands about me; and thou didst come out at that cry. Thou didst hurl thy spear against me, and it was fixed in my s.h.i.+eld; but I hurled the same spear back against thee, and it tore out one of thy two eyes. All the men of Ireland can see that thou art one-eyed; here is the man that struck thine other eye out of thy head,” and he also sat down.
”Make ye ready again for the strife for renown, O ye men of Ulster!” cried Ket. ”Thou hast not yet gained the right to divide the Boar,” said Munremur, Gerrcind's son.
”Is that Munremur?” cried Ket; ”I have but one short word for thee, O Munremur! Not yet hath the third day pa.s.sed since I smote the heads off three warriors who came from your lands, and the midmost of the three was the head of thy firstborn son!” and Munremur also sat down.
”Come to the strife for renown!” cried Ket.
”That strife will I give to thee,” said Mend the son of Salcholcam (the Sword-heeled).
”Who is this?” asked Ket.
”'Tis Mend,” said all who were there.
”Hey there!” cried Ket. ”The son of the man with the nickname comes to measure his renown with mine! Why, Mend, it was by me that the nickname of thy father came; 'twas I who cut the heel from him with [1. p.r.o.nounced Yeogan, son of Doorha.]
my sword so that he hopped away from me upon one leg! How shall the son of that one-legged man measure his renown with mine?” and he also sat down.
”Come to the strife for renown!” cried Ket.
”That warfare shalt thou have from me!” said an Ulster warrior, tall, grey, and more terrible than the rest.
”Who is this?” asked Ket.
”'Tis Celtchar, the son of Uitechar,” cried all.
”Pause thou a little, Celtchar,” said Ket, ”unless it be in thy mind to crush me in an instant. Once did I come to thy dwelling, O Celtchar, a cry was raised about me, and all men hurried up at that cry, and thou also camest beside them. It was in a ravine that the combat between us was held; thou didst hurl thy spear against me, and against thee I also hurled my spear; and my spear pierced thee through the leg and through the groin, so that from that hour thou hast been diseased, nor hath son or daughter been born to thee. How canst thou strive in renown with me?” and he also sat down.
”Come to the strife for renown!” cried Ket.
”That strife shalt thou have,” said Cuscrid the Stammerer, of Macha, king Conor's son.
”Who is this?” said Ket. ”'Tis Cuscrid,” said all; ”he hath a form which is as the form of a king.”
”Nor hath he aught to thank thee for,” said the youth.
”Good!” said Ket. ”It was against me that thou didst come on the day when thou didst first make trial of thy weapons, my lad: 'twas in the borderland that we met. And there thou didst leave the third part of thy folk behind thee, and thou didst fly with a spear-thrust through thy throat so that thou canst speak no word plainly, for the spear cut in sunder the sinews of thy neck; and from that hour thou hast been called Cuscrid the Stammerer.” And in this fas.h.i.+on did Ket put to shame all the warriors of the province of Ulster.
But as he was exulting near to the Boar, with his knife in his hand, all saw Conall, the Victorious enter the palace; and Conall sprang into the midst of the house, and the men of Ulster hailed him with a shout; and Conor himself took his helmet from his head, and swung it on high to greet him.
”'Tis well that I wait for the portion that befalls me!” said Conall. Who is he who is the divider of the Boar for ye?”
”That office must be given to the man who stands there,” said Conor, ”even to Ket, the son of Mata.”
”Is this true, O Ket?” said Conall. ”Art thou the man to allot this Boar?” And then sang Ket: Conall, all hail!
Hard stony spleen Wild glowing flame!
Ice-glitter keen!
Blood in thy breast Rageth and boils; Oft didst thou wrest Victory's spoils: Thou scarred son of Finuchoem,[1] thou truly canst claim To stand rival to me, and to match me in fame!
And Conall replied to him: Hail to thee, Ket!
Well are we met!
Heart icy-cold, Home for the bold!
Ender of grief!
Car-riding chief!
Sea's stormy wave!
Bull, fair and brave!
Ket! first of the children of Matach!
The proof shall be found when to combat we dart, The proof shall be found when from combat we part; He shall tell of that battle who guardeth the stirks, He shall tell of that battle at handcraft who works; And the heroes shall stride to the wild lion-fight, For by men shall fall men in this palace to-night: Welcome, Ket![2]
[1. p.r.o.nounced Finn-hoom.
2. The short lines of this rhetoric have the metre of the original Irish.]
”Rise thou, and depart from this Boar,” said Conall.
”What claim wilt thou bring why I should do this?” said Ket.
”'Tis true indeed,” said Conall, ”thou art contending in renown with me. I will give thee one claim only, O Ket! I swear by the oath of my tribe that since the day that I first received a spear into my hand I have seldom slept without the head of a slain man of Connaught as my pillow; and I have not let pa.s.s a day or a night in which a man of Connaught hath not fallen by my hand.”
”'Tis true indeed,” said Ket, ”thou art a better warrior than I. Were but Anluan here, he could battle with thee in another fas.h.i.+on; shame upon us that he is not in this house!”
”Aye, but Anluan is here! ”cried Conall, and therewith he plucked Anluan's head from his belt. And he threw the head towards Ket, so that it smote him upon the chest, and a gulp of the blood was dashed over his lips. And Ket came away from the Boar, and Conall placed himself beside it.
”Now let men come to contend for renown with me!” cried Conall. But among the men of Connaught there was none who would challenge him, and they raised a wall of s.h.i.+elds, like a great vat around him, for in that house was evil wrangling, and men in their malice would make cowardly casts at him. And Conall turned to divide the Boar, and he took the end of the tail in his mouth. And although the tail was so great that it was a full load for nine men, yet he sucked it all into his mouth so that nothing of it was left; and of this hath been said: Strong hands on a cart thrust him forward; His great tail, though for nine men a load, Was devoured by the brave Conall Cernach, As the joints he so gaily bestowed.
Now to the men of Connaught Conall gave nothing except the two fore-legs of the Boar, and this share seemed to be but small to the men of Connaught, and thereon they sprang up, and the men of Ulster also sprang up, and they rushed at each other. They buffeted each other so that the heap of bodies inside the house rose as high as the side-walls of it; and streams of blood flowed under the doors.
The hosts brake out through the doors into the outer court, and great was the din that uprose; the blood upon the floor of the house might have driven a mill, so mightily did each man strike out at his fellow. And at that time Fergus plucked up by the roots a great oak-tree that stood in the outer court in the midst of it; and they all burst out of the court, and the battle went on outside.
Then came out Mac Datho, leading the hound by a leash in his hand, that he might let him loose between the two armies, to see to which side the sense of the hound would turn. And the hound joined himself with the men of Ulster, and he rushed on the defeated Connaughtmen, for these were in flight, And it is told that in the plain of Ailbe, the hound seized hold of the poles of the chariot in which Ailill and Maev rode: and there Fer-loga, charioteer to Ailill and Maev, fell upon him, so that he cast his body to one side, and his head was left upon the poles of the chariot. And they say that it is for that reason that the plain of Ailbe is so named, for from the hound Ailbe the name hath come.