Vietnam or Thailand ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Updated: May 9, 2025
Then said Oisin the son of Finn, 'I counsel you, get ye hence, for the head that the King seeketh from you is the head of Dermat, and were ye to attempt to take it, then would Dermat take yours, were ye twenty times the number that ye be. And as for the quicken-berries, know ye that they grow on a fairy tree, guarded by the one-eyed giant Sharvan.
By the wicket-gate leading from my chamber shall I go forth, and if thou followest me not, alone shall I flee from the sight of Finn. And having spoken thus, Grania went forth from the hall. Then was Dermat in sore plight, for he would not depart from the solemn vow that Grania had laid upon him, and yet he feared lest the Princess should not escape the wrath of Finn.
With care and with skill did they play, until at length Finn said to his son, 'I see one move, Oisin, that would win thee the game, yet is there none of thine helpers that can show thee how thou mayest win. Then Dermat, who had watched the game from among the branches overhead, spoke aloud to himself the move that should be played. And Grania sat by her husband ill at ease.
Was it not to warn him that your serving-man gave three shouts, and was it not to warn him that ye sent unto him my dog Bran? Full well I know that Dermat is hid behind yonder strong fence. And Finn cried aloud, 'Which of us, Dermat, is it that speaketh truth? Art thou behind the fence? 'Thou, as ever, art right, O King, cried Dermat.
And the voice of Finn answered, 'He that hateth thee, and will sever thy head from thy body shouldst thou dare to come forth. 'At length have I found the door I seek, for by the door that Finn guardeth, by it only shall I pass out. But Dermat, seeing of a sudden an unguarded spot, sprang with a light bound over the fence, and ran so swiftly that soon he was beyond the reach of sword or spear.
Then was the wrath of Finn so great that he said he would hang his nobles, and not one would he spare, if they did not again find the track, and that with all speed. So, being sore afraid, they crossed the river, and when they had searched they saw the horses one on either side, and they found, too, the spot where Dermat and Grania had turned from the river.
But the champion, recovering, sprang upon the giant, and seizing his great club, he ceased not to belabour him until he fell to earth a dead man. Then Dermat sat down to rest. And he told the captive chiefs to drag the body of the giant into the wood and bury it, that Grania might not be affrighted. And when they had come back he sent for the Princess.
But Dermat said, 'We will not flee, but neither Finn nor his men shall enter the hut without my leave. Then was Grania filled with foreboding, yet spake she no further, for sad and stern was her husband's voice, and in his eyes she read his gloom.
Then tenderly did Dermat lift his wife in his strong arms and bear her across the ford, and neither the sole of her foot nor the hem of her mantle touched the stream. Afterwards Dermat led one of the horses across the ford, but the other he left on the far side.
Now when Grania heard of the quicken-berries she longed with a great longing to taste them. At first she said nought for she knew how they were guarded by the surly giant Sharvan; but when she could hide her desire no longer, she said to Dermat, 'So great is my longing for the berries of the quicken-tree that if I may not eat of them I shall surely die.
Word Of The Day
Others Looking