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"No man in Erin has ever beaten me at any game." So they played until dusk, the prince quite forgetting his fear of the giant. Although the Giant of Loch Lein was a skillful player, the Prince of Erin beat him badly. "You may go," grumbled the giant when the game was at an end. "You are surely a wonderful player the best in all the land."
In those days the people were fond of deeds of magic, so the prince requested Glic to call the mighty Giant of Loch Lein, that he might perform some tricks. In a few moments the giant entered the room, bowing sternly as the people clapped their hands and cheered. He did not look at the prince but bowed low to the two kings. "Your Majesties," he said, "it is my daughter who is the real magician.
And so good-bye and 'good luck to ye, Cork, and your pepper-box steeple, for we leave you to-morrow! 'Her ancestors were kings before Moses was born, Her mother descended from great Grana Uaile. Charles Lever. Knockarney House, Lough Lein. We are in the province of Munster, the kingdom of Kerry, the town of Ballyfuchsia, and the house of Mrs. Mullarkey.
Make haste, for the time is short." "Yellow Lily of Loch Lein!" shouted the prince, without looking at her. "Yellow Lily of Loch Lein!" he shouted again. Then he looked down and saw at his feet a stack of little white bones. He gathered them up and, climbing slowly, made a little ladder by sticking them against the tree.
Her father is powerful, her family is famous, her wealth cannot be counted, and she is as beautiful as the Queen of the Fairies." "If she will have me, I will marry her," said the prince, "but I will not seek her myself." The king sent Glic to the court of Loch Lein, bearing rich gifts and guarded by soldiers and attendants.
In a few weeks he returned and told the King of Erin that the King of Loch Lein had consented to give the prince his daughter in marriage. Preparations were at once made for a great wedding. All kinds of sports, several dances, and other amusements were to be enjoyed at court, and the royal families of many different kingdoms, even from the isles of the sea, were to be present.
She greeted the prince as her sisters had done, bade him wash his face and hands, gave him his supper, and sent him to bed. On the following morning after breakfast she gave him a ball of thread and said: "Son of the Prince of Erin, you have lost your head to the Giant of Loch Lein, who lives near by in a great castle surrounded by spikes. Some day you will lose your head to his daughter.
"Woe is me; it is the Giant of Loch Lein!" cried the prince. He wanted to run away as fast as he could, but his feet would not move. He stood trembling in every limb, for he knew that the Giant of Loch Lein hunted in the wood for boys just as the boys hunted for game.
The King of Loch Lein looked puzzled, but he answered promptly: "Keep the old one by all means, for it will fit better and you are more accustomed to it." "I thank you for your sound advice," continued the prince with a smile. "Yellow Lily, the daughter of the Giant of Loch Lein, is the old key to my heart, and I will wed no other girl.
Follow this ball of thread to the lake behind the castle. When you reach the lake at midday, the ball will be unwound. In a few minutes more the daughters of the cruel Giant of Loch Lein will come to the lake to bathe. Their names are Blue Lily, White Lily, and Yellow Lily. The latter is the wisest and most beautiful of the three.
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