Part 25 (1/2)
At a little distance from this they found another small island, with many trees on it, some standing singly, and some in cl.u.s.ters, on which were perched great numbers of birds. They also saw an aged man on the island, who was covered thickly all over with long, white hair, and wore no other dress. And when they landed, they spoke to him, and asked him who he was and what race he belonged to.
”I am one of the men of Erin,” he replied. ”On a certain day, a long, long time ago, I embarked in a small curragh, and put out to sea on a pilgrimage; but I had got only a little way from sh.o.r.e, when my curragh became very unsteady, as if it were about to overturn. So I returned to land, and, in order to steady my boat, I placed under my feet at the bottom, a number of green surface sods, cut from one of the gra.s.sy fields of my own country, and began my voyage anew. Under the guidance of G.o.d, I arrived at this spot; and He fixed the sods in the sea for me, so that they formed a little island. At first I had barely room to stand; but every year, from that time to the present, the Lord has added one foot to the length and breadth of my island, till in the long lapse of ages it has grown to its present size. And on one day in each year, He has caused a single tree to spring up, till the island has become covered with trees. Moreover, I am so old that my body, as you see, has become covered with long, white hair, so that I need no other dress.
”And the birds that ye see on the trees,” he continued, ”these are the souls of my children, and of all my descendants, both men and women, who are sent to this little island to abide with me according as they die in Erin. G.o.d has caused a well of ale to spring up for us on the island: and every morning the angels bring me half a cake, a slice of fish, and a cup of ale from the well; and in the evening the same allowance of food and ale is dealt out to each man and woman of my people. And it is in this manner that we live, and shall continue to live till the end of the world; for we are all awaiting here the day of judgment.”
Maildun and his companions were treated hospitably on the island by the old pilgrim for three days and three nights; and when they were taking leave of him, he told them that they should all reach their own country except one man.
CHAPTER XXI.
THE ISLAND OF THE BIG BLACKSMITHS.
When they had been for a long time tossed about on the waters, they saw land in the distance. On approaching the sh.o.r.e, they heard the roaring of a great bellows, and the thundering sound of smiths' hammers striking a large glowing ma.s.s of iron on an anvil; and every blow seemed to Maildun as loud as if a dozen men had brought down their sledges all together.
When they had come a little nearer, they heard the big voices of the smiths in eager talk.
”Are they near?” asked one.
”Hus.h.!.+ silence!” says another.
”Who are they that you say are coming?” inquired a third.
”Little fellows, that are rowing towards our sh.o.r.e in a pigmy boat,”
says the first.
When Maildun heard this, he hastily addressed the crew--
”Put back at once, but do not turn the curragh: reverse the sweep of your oars, and let her move stern forward, so that those giants may not perceive that we are flying!”
The crew at once obey, and the boat begins to move away from the sh.o.r.e, stern forward, as he had commanded.
The first smith again spoke. ”Are they near enough to the sh.o.r.e?” said he to the man who was watching.
”They seem to be at rest,” answered the other; ”for I cannot perceive that they are coming closer, and they have not turned their little boat to go back.”
In a short time the first smith asks again, ”What are they doing now?”
”I think,” said the watcher, ”they are flying; for it seems to me that they are now farther off than they were a while ago.”
At this the first smith rushed out of the forge--a huge, burly giant--holding, in the tongs which he grasped in his right hand, a vast ma.s.s of iron sparkling and glowing from the furnace; and, running down to the sh.o.r.e with long, heavy strides, he flung the red-hot ma.s.s with all his might after the curragh. It fell a little short, and plunged down just near the prow, causing the whole sea to hiss and boil and heave up around the boat. But they plied their oars, so that they quickly got beyond his reach, and sailed out into the open ocean.