The Coming of Cuculain Read online

  CHAPTER XV

  ACROSS THE MEARINGS AND AWAY

  "Say, rushed the bold eagle exultingly forth. From his home, in the dark rolling clouds of the North?"

  CAMPBELL.

  As for the boys, they proceeded joyfully after that pleasant skirmishand friendly encounter, both on account of the discomfiture of him whowas reckoned the prime champion of the Ultonians, and because they wereat large in Erin, with no one to direct them, or to whom they shouldrender an account; and their happiness, too, was increased by themettle, power and gallant action of the steeds, and by the clanking ofthe harness and the brazen chains, and the ringing of the weapons ofwar, and the roar of the revolving wheels, and owing to the velocity oftheir motion and the rushing of the wind upon their temples and throughtheir hair.

  Then Cuculain stood up in the chariot, and surveyed the land on allsides, and said--

  "What is that great, firm-based, indestructible mountain upon our lefthand, one of a noble range which, rising from the green plain, runseastward. The last peak there is the mountain of which I speak, whosefoot is in the Ictian sea and whose head neighbours the firmament."

  And Laeg said, "Men call it Slieve Modurn, after a giant of the eldertime, when men were mightier and greater than they are now. He was ofthe children of Brogan, uncle of Milesius, and his brothers wereFuad and Eadar and Breagh, and all these being very great menare commemorated in the names of noble mountains and sea-dividingpromontories."

  "Guide thither the horses," said Cuculain. "It is right that those whotake the road against an enemy should first spy out the land, choosingjudiciously their point of onset, and Slieve Modurn yonder commands amost brave prospect."

  Laeg did so. There, in a green valley, they unharnessed the horses andtethered them to graze, and they themselves climbed the mountain andstood upon the top in the most clear air. Thence Laeg showed him thegreen plain of Meath extending far and wide, and the great streams ofMeath where they ran, the Boyne and the Blackwater, the Liffey and theRoyal Rye, and his own stream the Nanny Water, clear and sparkling,which was very dear to Laeg, because he had snared fish there anderected dams, and had done divers boyish feats upon its shores.

  Cuculain said, "I see a beautiful green hill, shaped like an invertedewer, on the south shore of the Boyne. There is a noble palace there.I see the flashing of its lime-white sides, and the colours of thevariegated roof and around it are other beautiful houses. How is thatcity named O Laeg, and who dwells there?"

  "That is the hill of Temair," answered Laeg, "Tara's high citadel. Wellmay that city be beautiful, for the seat of Erin's high sovereignty isthere. The man who holds it is Arch-king of all Erin."

  "Westward by south," said Cuculain, "I see another city widely built,and unenclosed by ramparts and defensive works, and hard by there is amost smooth plain. At one end of the plain I see a glittering, and alsoat the other."

  And Laeg said, "That is the hill of Talteen, so named because the motherof far-shooting Lu, the Deliverer, is worshipped there, and every year,when the leaves change their colour, games and contests of skill arecelebrated there in her honour. So it was enjoined on the men of Erinby her famous son. Chariot races are run there on that smooth plain.The glittering points on either side of it are the racing pillars ofburnished brass, the starting-post, and that which the charioteers grazewith the glowing axle. Many a noble chariot has been broken, and manya gallant youth slain at the further of those twain. It was there thatConcobar raced his steeds against the woman with child, concerning whichthings there are rumours and prophesyings."

  So Cuculain questioned Laeg concerning the cities of Meath, andconcerning the noble raths and duns where the kings and lords andchief men of Meath dwelt prosperously, rejoicing in their great wealth.Cuculain said, "None of these kings and lords and chief men whom thouhast enumerated have at any time injured my nation, and there is not oneupon whom I might rightly take vengeance. But I see one other splendiddun, and of this thou hast said no word, though thrice I have questionedthee concerning it."

  Laeg grew pale at these words, and he said,

  "What dun is that, my master?"

  Cuculain said, "O fox that thou art, right well thou knowest. It is nota little or mean one, but great, proud, and conspicuous, and vauntinglyit rears its head like a man who has never known defeat, but on thecontrary has caused many widows to lament. Its white sides flashedagainst the dark waters of the Boyne, and its bright roofs glitter abovethe green woods. There is a stream that runs into the Boyne beside it,and there are bulwarks around it, and great strong barriers."

  Laeg answered, "That is the dun of the sons of Nectan."

  "Let us now leave Slieve Modurn," said Cuculain, "and guide thither myhorses, for I shall lay waste that dun, and burn it with fire, afterhaving slain the men who dwell there."

  Then Laeg clasped his comrade's knees, and said, "Take the road, dearmaster, against the royalest dun in all Meath, but pass by that dun.The men are not alive to-day who at any time approached it with warlikeintent. Those who dwell there are sorcerers and enchanters, lords of allthe arts of poison and of war."

  Cuculain answered, "I swear by my gods that Dun-Mic-Nectan is the onlydun in all Meath which shall hear my warlike challenge this day. Descendthe hill now, for verily thither shalt thou fare, and that whether thouart willing or unwilling."

  Now, for the first time, his valour and his destructive wrath werekindled in the soul of Dethcaen's nursling. Laeg saw the tokens of it,and feared and obeyed. Unwillingly he came down the slopes of SlieveModurn, and unwillingly harnessed the horses and yoked the chariot,and yoked the horses. Southwards, then, they fared swiftly through thenight, and the intervening nations heard them as they went. When theyarrived at the dun of the sons of Nectan it was twilight and the dawningof the day. Before the dun there was a green and spacious lawn in fullview of the palace, and on the lawn a pillar and on the pillar a hugedisc of shining bronze. Cuculain descended and examined the disc, andthere was inscribed on it in ogham a curse upon the man who should enterthat lawn and depart again without battle and single combat with the menof the dun. Cuculain took the disc from its place and cast it from himsouthwards. The brazen disc skimmed low across the plain and then soaredon high until it showed to those who looked a full, bright face, likethe moon's, after which, pausing one moment, it fell sheer down and sankinto the dark waters of the Boyne, without a sound, or at all disturbingthe tranquil surface of the great stream, and was no more seen.

  "That bright lure," said Cuculain, "shall no more be a cause of death tobrave men. This lawn, O Laeg, is surely the richest of all the lawns inthe world. Close-enwoven and thick is the mantle of short green grasswhich it wears, decked all over with red-petalled daisies and brightflowers more numerous than the stars on a frosty night."

  "That is not surprising," said Laeg, "for the lawn is enriched and madefat by the blood that has been shed abundantly now for a long time, theblood of heroes and valiant men--slain here by the people of the dun.Very rich too, are the men, both on account of their strippings of theslain, and on account of the druidic well of magic which is within thedun. For the people come from far and near to pay their vows at thatwell, and they give costly presents to those sorcerers who are priestsand custodians of the same."

  "Noble, indeed, is the dun," said Cuculain. "But it is yet early, forthe sun is not yet risen from his red-flaming eastern couch, and thepeople of the dun, too, are in their heavy slumber. I would repose nowfor a while and rest myself before the battles and hard combats whichawait me this day. Wherefore, good Laeg, let down the sides and seatsof the chariot, that I may repose myself for a little and take a shortsleep."

  For just then precisely an unwonted drowsiness and desire for slumberpossessed Cuculain.

  "Witless and devoid of sense art thou," answered Laeg, "for who butan idiot would think of sweet sleep and agreeable repose in a hostileterritory, much more in full view of those who look out from a foeman'sdun, and that dun, Dun-Mic-Nectan?
"

  "Do as I bid thee," said Cuculain. "For one day, if for no other, thoushalt obey my commands."

  Laeg unyoked the chariot and turned the great steeds forth to graze onthe druidic lawn, which was never done before at any time. He letdown the chariot and arranged it as a couch, and his young master laidhimself therein, composing his limbs and pillowing tranquilly his head,and he closed his immortal eyes. Very soon sweet slumber possessed him.Laeg meanwhile kept watch and ward, and his great heart in his breastcontinually trembled like the leaf of the poplar tree, or like a rush ina flooded stream. The awakening birds unconscious sang in the trees, thedew glittered on the grass; hard by the royal Boyne rolled silently.The son of Sualtam slumbered without sound or motion, and the charioteerstood beside him upright, like a pillar, his grey bright eyes fixed uponthe house of the sorcerers, the merciless, bloody, and ever-victorioussons of Nectan, the son of Labrad.

  Of the people of the dun, Foil, son of Nectan, was the first to awake.It was his custom to wander forth by himself early in the morning,devising snares and stratagems by which he might take and destroy men athis leisure. He was more cruel than anything. By him the great door ofthe dun, bound and rivetted with brass, was flung open. With one hand hebackshot the bar, which rushed into its chamber with a roar and crashas of a great house when it falls, and with the other he drew back thedoor. It grated on its brazen hinges, and on the iron threshold, with anoise like thunder. Then Foil stood black and huge in the wide doorwayof the dun, and he looked at Laeg and Laeg looked at him. The manwas ugly and fierce of aspect. His hair was thick and black; he wasbull-necked and large-eared. His mantle was black, bordered with darkred; his tunic, a dirty yellow, was splashed with recent blood. Therewere great shoes on his feet soled with wood and iron. In his hand hebore a staff of quick-beam, as it were a full-grown tree without itsbranches. He being thus, strode forward in an ungainly manner to Laeg,and with a surly voice bade him drive the horses off the lawn.

  "Drive them off thyself," said Laeg.

  He sought to do that, but owing to the behaviour of the steeds, hedesisted right soon, and turned again to Laeg.

  "Who is the sleeping youth?" said he, "and wherefore hath he come hitherin an evil hour?"

  "He is a certain mild and gentle youth of the Ultonians," replied Laeg,"who yester morning prosperously assumed his arms of chivalry for thefirst time, and hath come hither to prove his valour upon the sons ofNectan."

  "Many youths of his nation have come hither with the same intent," saidthe giant, "but they did not return."

  "This youth will," said Laeg, "after having slain the sons of Nectan,and after having sacked their dun and burned it with fire."

  Foil hearing that word became very angry, and he gripped his greatstaff and advanced to make a sudden end of Laeg first, and then of thesleeper, Laeg, on his side, drew Cuculain's sword. Hardly and using allhis strength, could he do so and at the same time hold himself in anattitude of defence and attack, but he succeeded. His aspect, too, washigh and warlike, and his eyes shone menacingly the while his hearttrembled, for he knew too well that he was no match for the man.

  "Go back now for thy weapons of war," he cried, "and all thywar-furniture, and thy instruments of sorcery and enchantment. Trulythou art in need of them all."

  When Foil saw how the enormous sword flashed in the lad's hand, and sawthe fierceness of his visage and heard his menacing words, he returnedto the dun. The people of the dun were now awake, and they clusteredlike bees on the slope of the mound, and in the covered ways beneaththe eaves and along the rampart, and they hissed and roared and shoutedwords of insult and contumely, lewd and gross, concerning Laeg andconcerning that other youth who slept in such a place and at such atime. But Laeg stood still and silent, with his eyes fixed on the dun,and with the point of his sword leaning on the ground, for his righthand was weary on account of its great weight. Very ardently he longedthat his master should awake out of that unreasonable slumber. Yet hemade no attempt to rouse him, for it was unlawful to awake Cuculainwhen he slept. Conspicuous amongst the people of the dun were Foil'sbrethren, Tuatha and Fenla, Tuatha vast in bulk, and Fenla, tall andswift, wearing a mantle of pale blue. Around Fenla stood the threecup-bearers, who drew water from the magic well, Flesc, Lesc, and Leamwere their names. At the same time that Foil reappeared in the doorwayof the dun, fully armed and equipped for battle, Cuculain awoke andsat up. At first he was dazed and bewildered, for divine voices weresounding in his ears, and fleeting visionary presences were departingfrom him. Then he heard the people how they shouted and saw his enemydescending the slope of the dun, sights and sounds indeed diverse fromthose his dreams and visions. With a cry he started from his bed, likea deer starting from his lair, and the people of the dun fell suddenlysilent when they beheld the velocity of his movements, the splendour ofhis beauty, and the rapidity with which he armed himself and stood forthfor war.

  "That champion is Foil, son of Nectan," said Laeg, "and there is notone in the world with whom it is more difficult to contend both in otherrespects and chiefly in this, that there is but one weapon wherewith hemay be slain. To all others he is invulnerable. That weapon is an ironball having magic properties, and no man knows where to look for it,or where the man hath hidden it away. And O my dear master, thou goestforth to certain death going forth against that man."

  "Have no fear on that account," said Cuculain, "for it has been revealedto me where he hides it. It is a ges to him to wear it always on hisbreast above his armour, but beneath his mantle and tunic. There it issuspended by a strong chain of brass around his neck. With that ball Ishall slay him in the manner in which I have been directed by those whovisited me while I slept."

  Then they fought, and in the first close so vehement was the onset ofFoil, that Cuculain could do no more than defend himself, and around thetwain sparks flew up in showers as from a smithy where a blacksmith andhis lusty apprentices strongly beat out the red iron. The second wassimilar to the first, and equally without results. In the third closeCuculain, having sheathed his sword, sprang upwards and dashed hisshield into the giant's face, and at the same time he tore from itsplace of concealment the magic ball, rending mightily the brazen chain.And he leaped backwards, and taking a swift aim, threw. The ball flewfrom the young hero's hand like a bolt from a sling, and it struck thegiant in the middle of the forehead below the rim of his helmet, butabove his blazing eyes, and the ball crashed through the strong frontalbone, and tore its way through the hinder part of his head, and wentforth, carrying the brains with it in its course, so that there was afree tunnel and thoroughfare for all the winds of heaven there. With acrash and a ringing, armour and weapons, the giant fell upon theplain and his blood poured forth in a torrent there where he himselfinvulnerable had shed the blood of so many heroes. Laeg rejoiced greatlyat that feat, and with a loud voice bade the men of the dun bring forththeir next champion. This was Tuatha the second son of Nectan, and thefiercest of the three, he buffeted his esquires and gillas, while theyarmed him, so that it was a sore task for them to clasp and strap andbrace his armour upon him that day, for their faces were bloody from hishands, and the floor of the armoury was strewn with their teeth. Thatarmour was a marvel and astonishment to all who saw it, so many thick,hard skins of wild oxen of the mountains had been stitched together tofurnish forth the champion's coat of mail. It was strengthened, too,with countless bars and rings of brass sewed fast to it all over, andit encompassed the whole of his mighty frame, from his shoulders to hisfeet. The helmet and neckpiece were one, wrought in like manner, onlystronger. The helmet covered his face. There was no opening theresave breathing slits and two round holes through which his eyes shoneterribly. On his feet were strong shoes bound with brass. To any otherman but himself this armour would have been an encumbrance, for it wasgood and sufficient loading for a car drawn by one yoke of oxen; but soclad, this man was aware of no unusual weight. When they had clasped himand braced him to his satisfaction, and, indeed, that was not easy, theyput upon him his
tunic of dusky grey, and over that his mantle of darkcrimson, and fastened it on his breast with a brooch whose wheel alonewould task one man's full strength to lift from the ground.

  Then Tuatha went forth out of the dun, and when his people saw him theyshouted mightily, for before that they had been greatly dismayed, andcast down on account of the slaying of Foil, whom till then they haddeemed invincible. They were all males dwelling here together in sorceryand common lust for blood. No woman brightened their dark assembliesand the voice of a child was never heard within the dun or around it. Sothey rejoiced greatly when they beheld Tuatha and saw him how wrathfullyhe came forth, breathing slaughter, and heard his voice; for terriblyhe shouted as he strode down from the dun, and he banned and cursedCuculain and Laeg, and devoted them to his gloomy gods. Beneath his feetthe massive timbers of the drawbridge bent and creaked.

  Said Laeg, "This man, O dear Setanta, is far more terrible than thefirst, for he is said to be altogether invulnerable and proof againstany weapon that was ever made."

  "It is not altogether thus," said Cuculain, "but if the man escapes thefirst stroke he is thenceforward invincible, and surely slays his foe.Therefore give into my hand Concobar's unendurable and mighty ashenspear, for I must make an end of him at one cast or not at all."

  Tuatha now rushed upon Cuculain, flinging darts, of which he carriedmany in his left hand. Not one of them did Cuculain attempt to take uponhis shield, but altogether eluded them, for now he swerved to one sideand now to another, and now he dropped on one knee and again spranghigh in air, so that the missile hurtled and hissed between his gatheredfeet. Truly since the beginning of the world there was not, and to theend of the world there will not be, a better leaper than thy nursling,daughter of Cathvah; and behind him all the lawn was as it were sownthick with spears, and these so buried in the earth that two-thirds oftheir length was concealed and a third only projected slantwise from thegreen and glittering sward. When the man with all his force, fury, andvenom had discharged his last shaft and seen it, too, shoot screamingbeneath the aerial feet of the hero, he roared so terribly that theshores and waters of the Boyne and the surrounding woods and grovesreturned a hollow moan, and, laying his right hand on the hand-grip ofhis sword, he rushed upon Cuculain. At that moment Cuculain poised thebroad-bladed spear of Concobar Mac Nessa and cast it at the man, who wasnow very near, and came rushing on like a storm, having his vast sworddrawn and flashing. That cast no one could rightly blame whether as toforce or direction, for the brazen blade caught the son of Nectan fullon breast under the left pap and tore through his thick and strongarmour and burst three rib bones, and fixed itself in his heart, so thathe fell first upon his knees, stumbling forward, and then rolled overon the plain and a torrent of black blood gushed from his mouth andnostrils.

  "That was indeed a brave cast," said Laeg, "for the coat is thethickness of seven bulls' hides, and plated besides, and the rib-bones,through which Concobar's great spear impelled by thee hath burst hisvictorious way, are stronger than the thigh-bones of a horse; but pluckout the spear now, for it is beyond my power to do so, and stand wellupon thy guard, for the two combats past will be as child's play tothat which now awaits thee. Fenla, the third son of Nectan, is preparinghimself for battle. He is called the Swallow, because there is not aman in the world swifter to retreat, or swifter to pursue. He is more athome in the water than on the dry land, for through it he dives like awater-dog, and glides like an eel, and rushes like a salmon when in thespring-time he seeks the upper pools. Greatly I fear that his challengeand defiance will be to do battle with him there, where no man born ofwoman can meet him and live."

  "Say not so, O Laeg," said Cuculain, "and be not so afraid and castdown, but still keep a cheerful heart in thy breast and a high and bravecountenance before the people of the dun. For my tutor Fergus paid agood heed to my education in the whole art of war and especially as toswimming. He is himself a most noble swimmer and I have profited by hisinstructions. Once he put me to the test. It was in the great swimmingbath in the Callan, dug out, it is said, by the Firbolgs in the ancientdays, and the trial was in secret and its issue has not been revealed tothis day. On that occasion I swam round the bath holding two well-grownboys in my right arm and two in my left, and there was a fifth sittingon my shoulders with his hands clasped on my forehead, and my back wasnot wetted by the Callan. Therefore dismiss thy fear and answer thoutheir challenge with a strong voice and a cheerful countenance."

  Laeg did that and he answered their challenge with a voice that rang,striking fear into the hearts of those who heard him. Forthwith, then,Fenla, wearing sword and shield, sprang at a bound over the rampart andfoss, and his course thence to the Boyne was like a flash of blue andwhite and he plunged into the dark stream like a bright spear, anddiving beneath the flood he emerged a great way off, and cried aloud forhis foe.

  "I am here," cried Cuculain, at his side. "Cease thy shouting and lookto thyself, for it is not my custom to take advantage of any man."

  Marvellous and terrible was the battle which then ensued between thesechampions. For the spray and the froth and the flying spume of theconvulsed and agitated waters around that warring twain, rose in whiteclouds, and owing to the fierceness of the combat and the displacementof the waters around them, the Boyne on either hand beat her greenmargin with sudden and unusual billows, for the divine river was takenwith a great surprise on that occasion. Amid the roar of the waters eversounded the dry clash of the meeting swords and the clang of the smittenshields and the ringing of helmets. Sometimes one champion would diveseeking an advantage, and the other would dive too, in order to eludeor meet the assault. Then the frothing surface of the stream wouldclear itself, and the Boyne run dark as before, though the mounted watershowed that the combat still raged in its depths. The swallows, too, hadbeen scared away, returning, skimmed the surface, and the bird whichis the most beautiful of all darted a bright streak low across the darkwater. Anon the submerged champions, coming to the surface for breath,renewed their deadly combat amid foaming waters and clouds of spray.The full particulars of this combat are not related, only that thewizard-champion grew weaker, while his vigour and strength continuedunabated with the son of Sualtam, and that in the end he slew the other,and in the sight of all he cut off his head and flung it from the middleBoyne to the shore, and that the headless trunk of Fenla, son of Nectan,floated down-stream to the sea. When the people of the dun saw that,they brake forth west-ward and fled. Then Cuculain and Laeg invaded thedun, and they burst open the doors of the strong chambers, and of thedungeons beneath the earth, and let loose the prisoners and the hostagesand the prepared victims, and they broke the idols and the instrumentsof sorcery, and filled in the well. After that they replenished thevacant places of the war-car with things the most precious and such aswere portable, and gave all the rest to the liberated captives for aprey. Last of all they applied fire to the vast dun, and quickly thedevouring flames shot heavenward, fed with pine and red yew, and rolledforth a mighty pillar of black smoke, reddened with rushing sparks andflaming embers. The men of Tara saw it, and the men of Tlatga, andof Tailteen, and of Ben-Eadar, and they consulted their prophets andwizards as to what this portent might mean, for it was not a littlesmoke that the burning of Dun-Mic-Nectan sent forth that day.