the giant’s head was cut off; and she asked him if any one was before
her to the king with the news. And she ran to the king and told him the
giant’s head was cut off, and he gave her a shovel of gold as the reward
of her trouble.
When the son of the King of Scotland was gone, the son of the King of
Prussia arose out of his hole, and he took with him a book and a knife,
and he swore that unless she said it was he had done the action, he
would cut the head off her father and every one of them. He took his
sword and he cut a piece from the giant’s head, and took it home in proof
that he killed the giant.
The king came and his hosts before him, and they raised him on their
shoulders and carried him home. And there was great joy on the king and
his people that the giant was killed; and the two other sisters were
cheerful; but there was dissatisfaction and sorrow and trouble on the
third sister, and she spoke not a word to them except to say, “You will
have it yet.”
The king spent the night cheerfully, till the whiteness of the day came
upon the morrow.
The next day the second sister went out, and the son of the King of
Scotland fought for her, and when he would not go home with her, she cut
off a lock of his hair; but the son of the King of Prussia said it was he
killed the giant. And the next day the third sister went out, and the son
of the King of Scotland killed the third giant. The girl asked him would
he go home with her, and he said he would not, and she took with her one
of his shoes.
And when the son of the King of Prussia went home, and the third giant
killed by the son of the King of Scotland, proclamation was made of the
marriage of the son of the King of Prussia, and the daughter of the King
of Erin. And when they ate their supper, word was sent to the priest of
the pattens and the clerk of the table, (to come) to marry them. And the
hen-wife came and the champion to the wedding; and they arose that the
pair might be married. The priest asked the girl if she would marry that
man, and she said she would not. And he struck her a box with his fist,
and said, “How do you know that you are my choice? Haven’t I my choice of
the family to get?” And the king said he had.
Then came the second daughter, and the priest asked her, would she marry
him? and she said she would not. And he struck her a blow of his fist,
and he said, “How do you know that you are my choice? Haven’t I my choice
of you to get?” And the king said he had.
Then came the third girl, and the priest asked her, would she marry him?
and she said she would not. And the son of the King of Prussia gave her a
blow of his fist, and he said, “How do you know that you are my choice?
Haven’t I my choice of you to get?” And the king said he had.
Then the Scotchman got up and he gave the son of the King of Prussia a
blow with the tip of his boot and knocked him down. And the king offered
a reward of five pounds to whoever would tell who struck the champion.
And, as there were bad people present, he was told it was the old man
down there who had struck him. He was caught, and he was bound, and when
the daughters saw him they knew him, and they threw themselves on their
knees before their father and begged he would grant them one request; and
he said he would, but that one of them must marry the man.
“It is not for that man we are asking, but for this one, who saved us.”
He put the three daughters in three rooms, and he called the eldest,
and she came to him and told him that he was the man who saved her. She
put her hand in her pocket and she took out the piece she cut from his
champion’s suit, and it answered to the coat. Then the king called the
second daughter, and she said likewise, and showed the lock of hair, and
her father was satisfied. He called the third daughter, and she showed
the shoe, and she said she had no fear of him, that he it was who saved
her.
The Scotchman got up standing, and he bound the son of the King of
Prussia, and they were going to put him to death. Then the daughters
asked the son of the King of Scotland if he would marry any of them, and
he said that to one of them he was bound; but that when he knew what
the son of the King of Prussia was going to do he came without[12] his
father’s leave to Erin to save them, “and I cannot marry a woman till I
go to my father and then I will come back to you.”
And the daughter said, “Marry one of us and then go to your father, and
then you can come back.”
He said he could not do that, that he would go to his father first. Said
she,—
“If you do not marry one of us, I will put you for a year under disesteem
and bad esteem; every one will be spitting on you and cursing you;
whoever is meanest you shall be under his curses; and till you marry one
of us, or get cause for laughter, your mouth to be at the back of your
head.”
And when he saw that, “If I were going this hour to marry you, I would
not marry you now.”
The disfigurement came on him. He turned to the door and opened his hand,
and all that were between him and the door he killed. He went on from
place to place in hopes of getting a cure for himself, and he left not
a doctor in the place that he was not getting the water of healing and
every sort of drugs from them.
He was going till a man met him who was giving food and work to every
one, and he went to him and asked him for work. The man said he would
give it if the workmen would take him. He had eighteen men, six of them
each in different places he had, and he went up to one set of six and
said to them, “Here is a helper I am bringing you; I don’t think he’ll
increase our work, and I myself will give him enough to eat.”
They spat upon him and said they would not have him.
Then they came to another six, and they would not take him; and they
came to another, and they took him. And when the master went away,
Crooked-mouth said he was sleepy, and asked for leave to sleep that day.
And they gave him leave; and in the night he told them not to go out
to work in the morning until he came in to his breakfast, and when he
came in to his breakfast the work of a week was done. And those six were
walking about and not doing a turn.
At that time a gentleman sent an invitation to dinner to the man (who
had the workmen) and for his men to come with him. And they went drawing
that way, and a robber met them on the road and bound every one of
them and took his money from the master. And he told his men to bind
Crooked-mouth, and Crooked-mouth said that not one should bind him but
the robber himself.
“Come up to me and I’ll bind you. You won’t be having your stories to
make of me.”
When he went to bind him, Crooked-mouth laid hold of him, and turned him
round, and threw him on the ground, and told him to hand out his master’s
money quickly, or he would kill him. So he gave him the money back and
loosed the men.
“Master,” said he, “here are twelve others for him, and I will do their
work.”
“Oh!” said the master, “I will not ask one turn of you, except one meal
and one drink for ever.”
So he gave over to the robber the twelve other men, who had refused to
let him work with them. And before he parted with the robber he put him
under obligations.
“I will not kill you,” said he, “this is O’Daly, and I am Gerald O’Daly,
and anything at all that’s ever asked of you by the honour of O’Daly, do
that.”
Then they went on with themselves to the house, and there was a feast
ready for them; and they took their meal, and while they were eating,
the twelve others he gave over to the robber came. One of them asked the
robber to let them go their way by the honour of O’Daly, and he told them
to go and a hundred welcomes, and if it were a greater thing (he would
grant it).
When Crooked-mouth ate his supper, he stretched himself under the table,
and when the others ate their supper, (the gentleman) put them out to
sleep in the barn, and when he came in he heard snoring, and he gave the
man a kick, and asked him why he wasn’t with the others, and he said he
would not leave the house that night; and the man of the house said that
he must leave; that no one slept in the house for a year, and that he
should not sleep in it that night. But the other said he would sleep in
it, and find out about everything in the house. He took the man of the
house and put him in a basket, and put him in the chimney to smother him;
and he asked him, “Let me down, and I will tell you.” He let him down,
but he would not tell him; and he put him back three times one after
another, and the third time he came down he told him.
“I was one day standing at the gable of my house, and I saw a ship coming
under full sail into the harbour, and a man and a woman jumped out (on
the shore) and ran; and I saw a great monster in the sea coming the same
way, and the monster ran after them; and the man put his hand in his
pocket, and pulled out something, and flung it at the monster; and the
monster sent out such a spout of blood that the two were drowned in it. I
took them with me and washed them, and I put herbs of the hill on them,
and I have had them for two years, and there is not a night since that I
don’t burn a penny candle looking at their beauty.”
He opened a room and showed them to Crooked-mouth, and he took the water
of healing and sprinkled some of it on them, and they arose alive again.
And his mouth came as it was at first, and the disfigurement went from
him, and he asked his brother what it was took him that way. And his
brother said,—
“When you were gone a day and a year I went to the sea, hoping to see a
ship or boat that would give me tidings of you, or to see if I would see
a board that I would recognise; and one day I met a pretty bird-serpent,
and a stone with him, and it was written on the stone that that was the
stone that would kill the bird; and I took the stone and the bird home
with me, and I put the bird into a cage, and kept it there for a week,
and it became so big I had to put it into the stable; and it went on
growing bigger and bigger till I had to make a place for it in the wood,
and to tie the brambles round it, and I had four men killing beef and
giving it food. And one day I was walking round near it, and it made
a lunge at me to eat me, and I said it would do that at last. I went
and took a ship, and went to sea, and I was sailing three days when my
sister rose up to me, and I did not know she was on board the ship. We
were sailing till we came to the harbour, and the serpent was following
us, and I went up on the land, and the serpent followed; and, as God was
helping me, I had my waistcoat on that day, and the stone was in the
pocket, and I flung the stone at her, and she spouted so much blood that
I and my sister were drowned. I don’t know what happened to us since
then.”
“I took you with me, and cleansed you, and put herbs of the hill round
about you, and there is not a night for two years I don’t burn a penny
candle looking on you, and I believe that it is I should get her in
marriage.”
The four spent the night pleasantly, telling one another everything; and
in the morning when they arose, and the people who were at supper the
night before were gathered together, the master did not recognise that
Crooked-mouth was with him. But when Crooked-mouth told him that it was
he was there, O’Daly bade him come with him, but he would not. He went
with his brother and his sister and the other man to Scotland. And when
they came to his father’s court, his father was banished by Faugauns and
Blue-men; and he and the other people who were taking possession of his
father’s court began; and he and they spent three nights and three days
killing one another, and on the third day he had killed and banished them
all. But when he and the cat met, the cat killed him and he killed the
cat; and his brother was going everywhere that he killed, and at last
he found him and the cat dead. And he searched his pocket and found in
it the bottle of healing-water, and as he was drawing the cork from the
bottle, some of the water fell on the dead man, and he arose alive again.
He went then with his sister and the other man who was in the place
of husband to his sister; and they cleansed the king’s castle, and he
brought his father and mother and their people home to the castle, and
they were well from that out. Then he gave his sister in marriage to the
man, who found himself and her on the day when the serpent drowned them.
There came the priest of the pattens and the clerk of the table, and the
pair were wedded.
He himself then went back to Erin, and married the daughter of the King
of Erin, who was to be eaten by the giants, and the son of the King of
Prussia was to save her.
[12] This contradicts what is stated on page 140.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
_BEAUTY OF THE WORLD._
_Narrator, P. MINAHAN, Malinmore, Glencolumkille, co. Donegal._
There was a king then, and he had but one son. He was out hunting. He was
going past the churchyard. There were four men in the churchyard and a
corpse. There was debt on the corpse. The king’s son went in. He asked
what was the matter. Said one of the men:
“The dead man is in our debt. I am not willing to bury the body, till the
two sons who are here, promise to pay the debts.”
“We are not able to pay,” said one of them.
“I have five pounds,” said the king’s son; “I will give them to you to
bury the body.”
He gave the five pounds. The body was buried. The king’s son went
hunting. He went home in the evening. In the morning of the morrow there
was snow. He went out hunting in the snow. He killed a black raven. He
stood over it and looked at it. He said in his own mind he would never
marry a woman whose head was not as black as the bird’s wing, and her
skin as white as the snow, and her cheeks as red as the blood on the snow.
He went home. On the morning of the morrow, when he rose, he washed
himself, and he went away to find the woman. When he was going for a
time, he met with a red-haired young man. The young man saluted him. He
asked him where he was going. The king’s son told him he was going to get
one sight of that woman.
“It is better for you to hire me,” said the young man.
“What wages do you be asking?”
“Half of all we gain, to the end of a year and a day.”
The two went on with themselves till the evening came. Said the red man:
“There is a man related to me living in this wood below. Do you wait here
till I go down to him.”
The red man went down to the house of the giant. The giant was sitting on
a chair by the fire.
“Uncle, dear,” said the red man, “is it like this you are?”
“Yes, kinsman mine: what is coming to me?”
Said the red man: “The King of the prodigious Eastern World is coming up
to kill you. Get out of the way as quick as you can.”
“I have an iron house outside there. Lock me into it.”
He locked the man in. He went to his master. He took his master up to the
house of the giant. He got ready their supper. They went to rest. This
was the giant’s cry in the morning. “Let them open.” The red man went to
him. He asked him what was the matter.
“I am ready to perish with hunger. Let me out of this quickly.”
“I will not let you out,” said the red man, “till you tell me where the
dark cloak is.”
“That is what I will never tell any one.”
“Well, if you like better not to tell, you will be there till you die.”
“Sooner than be here any longer, it is hanging in such a room.”
“I know where it is,” said the red man. “Be here as long as you like.”
When the giant heard that he would not get out, he took a jump out
between two bars of the iron house. Two halves were made of him. Half
fell outside and half inside. The red man went to the giant’s house. He
got ready the breakfast. He and his master breakfasted. He took with them
plenty of gold and silver, two horses and two saddles. They went till
evening was there, and they went into another wood.
“I have an uncle,” said the red man, “living here. We shall get lodging
to-night. Stay you here, till I go up.”
The red men went in to the giant’s house.
“Uncle, dear, is it here you are resting?”
“Yes, kinsman, dear: what is coming on me?”
“The King of the prodigious East is coming to kill you. Hide yourself as
quick as you can.”
“I have an iron house here outside. Lock me into it.”
He locked him in. He brought his master. They made ready their supper.
This was the giant’s cry in the morning, “Let them open.”
“I will not open,” said the red man, “till you tell me where are the
slippery shoes.”
“They are under the bed.”
“I know myself where they are,” said the red man. “Stop there as long as
you like.”
When the giant saw he was not to get out, he took a leap between two bars
of the iron house. Two halves were made of him. Half fell inside, and
half out.
The red man and his master went on travelling till evening. They came to
another wood. There was a giant in the wood. The red man did to him as to
the other giants. He took from him the sword of light, and plenty of gold
and silver.
“Now,” said the red man to his master, “we shall be going home. We have
got enough: go forward no farther. The woman you are approaching,—there
is not a tree in the wood on which a man’s head is not hung, except one
tree that is waiting for your head. We’ll return home.”
“I will never go home,” said the king’s son, “till I get one sight of
that woman.”
They went forward till they came to the king’s house. The king made
great welcome for them. They took their dinner. They spent the night in
drinking and sport. When they were sitting to their supper she came down
from the top of the house. Her head was as black as the bird’s wing, her
skin as white as the snow, and her cheeks as red as the blood. She came
to them, to the place where they were eating. She threw him a comb. Said
she, “If you have not that comb to give me to-morrow, I will cut your
head from you.”
He took hold of the comb. He put it down in his pocket. When they were
going to bed the red man said, “See if you have the comb.” He put his
fingers in his pocket. He had not the comb. His tears fell.
“It’s a pity I did not take your advice when you told me to return home.”
“Perhaps we shall get the better of her entirely,” said the red man. He
was comforting him till he got him to bed. When he got him to bed he put
on the dark cloak. He took with him the slippery shoes and the sword of
light. He went out and stood in the back yard. She came out. She made
down to the sea. She came to the sea. She threw a shell from her pocket.
She made a boat of it. She went into the boat. She began rowing with two
paddles, till she came in on an island that was in the sea. There was a
great giant on the shore. “Have you got anything for me to-night?”
“I have not,” said she; “but I’ll have it to-morrow night. The son of
the King of Erin is with me to-night. I shall have him for you to-morrow
night.”
They went to the house. “Here is the comb I gave him to-night: it is
yours.”
The giant opened a chest. He left the comb in the bottom of the chest.
The red man was standing by the chest. When the giant left the comb in
it, the red man took it and put it in his pocket. The house was full of
goats. She went to milk the goats, till she milked one part of milk, and
one part of blood. She got the supper ready. That was the stuff they
took. The giant drew out an iron harrow and the skin of a white mare.
They lay upon that till morning. When the day came she arose and went
away drawing to the sea. The red man followed her. When she came to the
boat she put it in the water. She went into it. The red man followed her
on the sea. He was dashing water on her with the sword. She did not know
what was delaying her. When they got home the red man went to his master.
He asked him was he asleep. The king’s son said he was not.
“I have saved your head to-night. Here is the comb. Put it in your
pocket.”
He put it in his pocket. The red man went to bed. When breakfast was
ready in the morning the bell rang. They rose and they washed. When they
were taking their breakfast she came down from the top of the house.
“Have you got the comb I gave you yesterday?”
He put his finger in his pocket. He threw the comb to her. When she saw
he had the comb to get she went by with one sweep. She broke the half of
what was on the table. “I have a third of your daughter won,” said the
son of the King of Ireland.
“You have,” said the king; “you are the best champion ever came into my
house.”
They went hunting that day. When they came home they were making fun
together till supper-time. When they were taking their supper, the
beautiful woman came to them. She threw a pair of scissors to him:
“Unless you have them for me to-morrow, I will have your head.”
He took the scissors. He put them in his pocket. When they were going
to bed said the red man to his master, “Look and see if you have the
scissors.”
“I have not,” said his master.
“It’s bad for you to lose them.”
He went lamenting. The red man was comforting him till he got him to bed.
When he slept, the red man went out. He put on the dark cloak and the
slippery shoes, and took the sword of light. He stood outside the door.
It was not long till she came out. She went down to the sea. She took a
shell out of her pocket. She threw it on the sea and made a boat of it.
She went to the island. The giant was on the shore.
“Have you got anything for me to-night?”
“I have not,” she said; “but I shall have the son of the King of Erin
to-morrow night.” They went to the house. “Here are the scissors I gave
him to-night. They are yours.”
The giant opened a chest. He put the scissors in the bottom of the chest.
The red man was standing by. When the giant put the scissors in the
chest, the red man took them and put them in his pocket.
They took their supper. The giant pulled out the harrow and the skin of
the white mare. They lay upon that till morning. In the morning she went
to the sea. The red man followed her. She put her boat on the water. She
went into it. The red man followed her. He dashed in water on her with
the sword. When they got home, the red man went to his master. He asked
him was he asleep? The king’s son said he was not.
“I have saved your head this night. Here are the scissors for you.”
In the morning, when breakfast was ready, she came down from the top of
the house. She was wet and dripping. She asked him had he the scissors to
give her. He put his hand in his pocket. He threw her the scissors. She
gave one sweep. She did not leave a bit of delf on the table she did not
break in her rage. The king’s son said to the king he had two-thirds of
his daughter won.
“You have,” said the king; “and I hope you will win her altogether. I am
tired of her.”
They went hunting that day till night came. When supper was ready, she
came down with a flight.
“Unless you have the last lips I shall kiss this night, I’ll have your
head.”
“It’s hard for me,” said the king’s son, “to know what are the last lips
you kiss.”
He was so troubled he did not know what to do. The red man was comforting
him till he got him to bed. Then he went out. She came out. She went to
the island. When she got in on the island the giant was bellowing on the
shore.
“Have you anything for me?” said the giant.
“I will never give you anything more. You let the comb go; you let the
scissors go: he had the two to give me in the morning. To-night I put on
him obligations for something he won’t have to give me: that is, the last
lips I shall kiss this night—and those are your lips.”
She went to milk the goats. She mixed a part of blood, and a part of
milk. She made ready the supper. They ate and drank enough. He got the
iron harrow and the skin of the white mare. They lay upon that till
morning. When the day came upon the morrow she kissed him three times.
“Those are the last lips I shall kiss. He won’t have them to give me
to-morrow.”
She rose and she went. When she went out the red man whisked the head
off the giant. He put a knot in the ear. He threw it over his shoulder.
He was on the shore as soon as she was. She went into the boat. She was
drawing to home. He went out after her. Much as he drenched her the
nights before, twice as much did he drench her this night. They went
home. The red man came to his master in bed.
“Are you asleep, master?”
“I am not now,” said the king’s son.
“Here are the last lips she kissed last night, and, by my faith, they
were ugly lips for a lady to be kissing.”
He took the head and threw it under the bed. When breakfast was ready in
the morning she came down with a flight. She asked him,—
“Where are the last lips that I kissed last night?”
He put his hand under the bed. He took hold of the giant’s head. He threw
it over at her feet. When she saw the giant was dead she gave one sweep,
and she left not a chair or a table, nor anything on the table, she did
not make smash of, so great was her anger.
“I have your daughter all won now,” said the king’s son.
“You have; and you are the best champion that came under my roof ever.”
“Well, we’ll go hunting to-day,” said the red man. They went hunting. The
red man cut three bundles of rods. He made three flails. When they came
home, “Now,” said he, “bring your daughter out here.”