There was a King, and it is a good while ago he was in it, and he
married a King’s daughter, and at the end of two years they had a son,
and the mother died. And before dying she made a will, and she willed to
the son but one thing only—a little black Bullockeen was out in the
meadow. And she laid commands on the King: ‘Do not marry another woman,’
she said, ‘till the son I have left with you will give you leave three
times to do it.’
And the son grew to be about seven years old, and he bought a hurling
stick and a silver ball, and he used to go hurling. And one day he was
putting the ball, and when he’d give it a blow that sent it over, he
would be over before it would fall, and when he would strike it hither,
he’d be hither before it, he was that smart, that it would not fall to
the ground. The King was passing that way, and when he saw him he said:
‘It’s a pity your mother not to see you,’ says he, ‘for it is proud out
of you she would be this day.’ ‘Let you leave talking of my mother and
let you take another woman,’ says the son.
Well, the next day he was out with the ball again, and he was twice
smarter that day, and to throw the ball over, he would be over before
it, and to hit it back hither, he would be hither before it, the way it
didn’t touch the ground at all through that day. The King was looking at
him. ‘It’s a pity your mother not to be here and to see you,’ says he.
‘It is time for you to put another woman’s skin on my mother,’ says the
son. And the same thing happened on the third day.
So he married another King’s daughter, and the King’s son had a
step-mother, and a bad step-mother she was. She had three daughters, and
she used to be starving the King’s son, and not to be giving him
nourishment; but he had nothing but hardship, and all she would give him
to eat was stirabout, and she used to be giving all to the daughters.
He was out in the field one day, and the little black Bullockeen came to
him and it said: ‘I know the way you are treated,’ it said, ‘and the
sort of nourishment they are giving you. And unscrew now my left horn,’
it said, ‘and take what you will find out of it.’ So he unscrewed the
left horn, and the first thing he took out was a napkin, and he spread
it out on the grass; and then he took out cups and plates and every sort
of food, and he sat down and ate and drank his enough. And then he put
back the napkin and all into the horn again, and screwed it on.
That was going on every day, and he used to be throwing his stirabout
away into the ash-bin; and the servants found it, and they told the
Queen that he was throwing away what they gave him, and getting fat all
the same. And the Queen did not know what to do, and she would give the
whole world to get quit of him, he being so smart; but she could get no
way to do it.
So she sent for an old prophecy—a woman that did foretellings—and she
asked her what way would she get quit of the step-son. ‘It’s what is
keeping him so smart,’ says the prophecy-woman, ‘is the little
Bullockeen out in the meadow. And let you keep a watch on him,’ says
she, ‘and you’ll know it’s truth I’m telling.’ So the Queen says: ‘I
have three daughters,’ says she, ‘and I’ll send them to watch him,’ says
she, ‘for the one is as sharp as an earwig, and the other is sharper
again, and the third has one eye in the back of her poll that can see
through every enchantment.’ So the first of the girls went out, but
before she went the little Bullockeen says to the son: ‘Your step-sister
will be coming to-day to watch you,’ says he, ‘and unscrew now my right
horn, and take out a pin of slumber you will find under it, and when you
see her coming go and play with her for a while, and put the pin of
slumber into her ear and she will fall asleep.’ So he did as the
Bullockeen told him, and he put the pin of slumber into the
step-sister’s ear, and she fell into a deep sleep in the grass and never
woke till evening.
The next day the second of the girls went out to keep watch, where the
son and the Bullockeen were eating their dinner together. But the
Bullockeen rose a fog and an enchantment around them, that she could see
nothing, and so she went home to her mother.
The third day the third of the daughters went out, and the son took the
pin of slumber as before, and put it in her ear, and she fell asleep.
But if the two front eyes were shut, the eye at the back of the poll was
open. Then the Bullockeen put the fog and the enchantment around her;
but if he did, the eye at the back of her poll was able to see through
every enchantment, and she went back and she told the mother that the
step-brother got all he could use out of the Bullockeen’s horn, and that
he got out of it the best dinner was in the world.
So the Queen sent again for the old prophecy, and she came, and the
Queen asked her what way could she bring the King to do away with the
Bullockeen. ‘For he will not do it for my asking,’ says she.
‘Let you let on to be sick,’ says the hag, ‘and stop in your bed,’ says
she, ‘and send for the King, and tell him there is nothing will cure you
but the liver of the Bullockeen,’ says she.
So the Queen stopped in her bed and let on to be sick, and she sent for
the King, and she said there was nothing could cure her but to kill the
Bullockeen and to give her his liver. ‘I cannot do that,’ says the King;
‘for when that boy’s mother was dying,’ says he, ‘she made a will,’ says
he, ‘and she willed him nothing but the little Bullockeen in the meadow.
But ask me any other thing,’ says he, ‘and I will give it.’
So the Queen sent for the hag and told her that. ‘Let you take a little
black cock is without,’ says the hag, ‘and let them kill it and take the
puddings out of him,’ says she, ‘and fill it with blood, and let you put
that in your mouth and squeeze it the time the King will come in, and
tell him it is the heart’s blood is running from you for the want of the
liver of the Bullockeen,’ says she.
So the Queen did as she bade her, and they killed the cock and filled
the pudding with blood, and the Queen put it in her mouth where she was
in bed. ‘Oh, go run out for the King,’ says she, ‘for I am near my
death.’ So the King came running in. ‘Oh,’ says she, ‘I am near my
death!’ says she, and she squeezes the blood out of her mouth, and the
King thought it was her heart’s blood was coming from her. ‘It will not
stop,’ says she, ‘till I’ll get the liver of the little Bullockeen; and
let you kill him now for me,’ says she. ‘I cannot do that,’ says the
King; and he made her the same answer as before and went out of the
room.
So the Queen sent again for the old prophecy and told her all. ‘Haven’t
you a yard out there,’ says she, ‘and a wall around it,’ says she, ‘is
that high a bird can hardly fly over it,’ says she. ‘And let you drive
the Bullockeen in there,’ says she, ‘and put your champions around to
kill it.’ So that was done, but when the Bullockeen saw all the
champions making an attack on him, he rose up in the air, and the Queen
was leaning out through the window, and he took her on his horns, and
whitewashed the wall with her bones.
He called to the boy then, and the boy put a halter on him, and they
rode away together where the winds never blew, and the cocks never crew,
and the old boy himself never sounded his horn. And they overtook the
wind that was before them, and the wind that was after them couldn’t
overtake them.
They came then to a great wood, and the Black Bullockeen says to the
boy: ‘Get up now into the highest tree you can find, and stop there
through the day, for I have to fight with the Red Bull that is coming
against me. And unscrew my right horn,’ says he, ‘and take out the
little bottle that is in it,’ says he, ‘and keep it with you; and if I
am well at the end of the day,’ says he, ‘it will be as white as snow.’
The Red Bull came to meet him then, and his head was as big as another’s
body would be; and he and the little Bullockeen went to fight together
and the boy stopped up in the tree. And in the evening he looked at the
little bottle, and what was in it was as white as before. So he came
down, and he found the Bullockeen, and got up on his back again, and
they went off the same as before.
They came then to the wood where the White Bull was, and he came out to
fight the Bullockeen, and all happened the same as the first day. And
the boy came down from his tree and got on his back again, and they went
on to another wood. And the Green Bull came to meet him this time, and
the boy went up in a tree. And at evening he looked at the little bottle
and it was red up to the cork. He got down then and went to look for the
Bullockeen, and he found him lying on the ground at the point of death.
[Illustration: THE BLACK BULLOCKEEN DIES.]
And the Green Bull made a great bellow, and made away and left him
there. And the Bullockeen said: ‘I am going to leave you now,’ says he,
‘but I won’t go without leaving you something. And when I am dead,’ says
he, ‘cut three strips of skin off of me, from the nape of the neck to
the root of the tail, and put them about your body. And you to be
wearing those,’ says he, ‘they’ll give you the strength of six hundred
men.’
So the boy sat down on the ground and cried him through three days and
three nights. And after that he cut off as he was bade the three strips
of the skin, and put them around his body, and they gave him the
strength of six hundred men.
That now is the story of the Bullockeen, and it is a story that happened
in the long ago.
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