THE ISLAND QUEEN DETAINS THEM WITH HER MAGIC THREAD-CLEW.
The next island they reached was very large. On one side rose a lofty,
smooth, heath-clad mountain, and all the rest of the island was a grassy
plain. Near the sea-shore stood a great high palace, adorned with
carvings and precious stones, and strongly fortified with a high rampart
all round. After landing, they went towards the palace, and sat to rest
on the bench before the gateway leading through the outer rampart; and,
looking in through the open door, they saw a number of beautiful young
maidens in the court.
After they had sat for some time, a rider appeared at a distance, coming
swiftly towards the palace; and on a near approach, the travellers
perceived that it was a lady, young and beautiful and richly dressed.
She wore a blue, rustling silk head-dress; a silver-fringed purple cloak
hung from her shoulders; her gloves were embroidered with gold thread;
and her feet were laced becomingly in close-fitting scarlet sandals. One
of the maidens came out and held her horse, while she dismounted and
entered the palace; and soon after she had gone in, another of the
maidens came towards Maildun and his companions and said--
"You are welcome to this island. Come into the palace; the queen has
sent me to invite you, and is waiting to receive you."
They followed the maiden into the palace; and the queen bade them
welcome, and received them kindly. Then, leading them into a large hall
in which a plentiful dinner was laid out, she bade them sit down and
eat. A dish of choice food and a crystal goblet of wine were placed
before Maildun; while a single dish and a single drinking-bowl, with a
triple quantity of meat and drink, were laid before each three of his
companions. And having eaten and drunk till they were satisfied, they
went to sleep on soft couches till morning.
Next day, the queen addressed Maildun and his companions--
"Stay now in this country, and do not go a-wandering any longer over the
wide ocean from island to island. Old age or sickness shall never come
upon you; but you shall be always as young as you are at present, and
you shall live for ever a life of ease and pleasure."
"Tell us," said Maildun, "how you pass your life here."
"That is no hard matter," answered the queen. "The good king who
formerly ruled over this island was my husband, and these fair young
maidens that you see are our children. He died after a long reign, and
as he left no son, I now reign, the sole ruler of the island. And every
day I go to the Great Plain, to administer justice and to decide causes
among my people."
"Wilt thou go from us to-day?" asked Maildun.
"I must needs go even now," she replied, "to give judgments among the
people; but as to you, you will all stay in this house till I return in
the evening, and you need not trouble yourselves with any labour or
care."
They remained in that island during the three months of winter. And
these three months appeared to Maildun's companions as long as three
years, for they began to have an earnest desire to return to their
native land. At the end of that time, one of them said to Maildun--
"We have been a long time here; why do we not return to our own
country?"
"What you say is neither good nor sensible," answered Maildun, "for we
shall not find in our own country anything better than we have here."
But this did not satisfy his companions, and they began to murmur
loudly. "It is quite clear," said they, "that Maildun loves the queen of
this island; and as this is so, let him stay here; but as for us, we
will return to our own country."
Maildun, however, would not consent to remain after them, and he told
them that he would go away with them.
Now, on a certain day, not long after this conversation, as soon as the
queen had gone to the Great Plain to administer justice, according to
her daily custom, they got their curragh ready and put out to sea. They
had not gone very far from land when the queen came riding towards the
shore; and, seeing how matters stood, she went into the palace and soon
returned with a ball of thread in her hand.
Walking down to the water's edge, she flung the ball after the curragh,
but held the end of the thread in her hand. Maildun caught the ball as
it was passing, and it clung to his hand; and the queen, gently pulling
the thread towards her, drew back the curragh to the very spot from
which they had started in the little harbour. And when they had landed,
she made them promise that if ever this happened again, some one should
always stand up in the boat and catch the ball.
The voyagers abode on the island, much against their will, for nine
months longer. For every time they attempted to escape, the queen
brought them back by means of the clew, as she had done at first,
Maildun always catching the ball.
At the end of the nine months, the men held council, and this is what
they said--
"We know now that Maildun does not wish to leave the island; for he
loves this queen very much, and he catches the ball whenever we try to
escape, in order that we may be brought back to the palace."
Maildun replied, "Let some one else attend to the ball next time, and
let us try whether it will cling to his hand."
They agreed to this, and, watching their opportunity, they again put off
towards the open sea. The queen arrived, as usual, before they had gone
very far and flung the ball after them as before. Another man of the
crew caught it, and it clung as firmly to his hand as to Maildun's; and
the queen began to draw the curragh towards the shore. But Diuran,
drawing his sword, cut off the man's hand, which fell with the ball into
the sea; and the men gladly plying their oars, the curragh resumed her
outward voyage.
When the queen saw this, she began to weep and lament, wringing her
hands and tearing her hair with grief; and her maidens also began to
weep and cry aloud and clap their hands, so that the whole palace was
full of grief and lamentation. But none the less did the men bend to
their oars, and the curragh sailed away; and it was in this manner that
the voyagers made their escape from the island.