Irish Wonders | Page 9

the river, an' the avil sper'ts 'ud say how they dhrew him in an' down to
the bottom in his sins an' thin to the pit wid him. An' owld Belzebub 'ud
listen to all av thim, wid a rayporther, like thim that's afther takin' down
the spaches at a Lague meetin', be his side, a-writing phat they said, so
as whin they come to be paid, it 'udn't be forgotten.
"Thim wor the times fur the Pookas too, fur they had power over thim
that wint forth afther night, axceptin' it was on an arriant av marcy they
were. But sorra a sinner that hadn't been to his juty reglar 'ud iver see
the light av day agin afther meetin' a Pooka thin, for the baste 'ud aither
kick him to shmithereens where he stud, or lift him on his back wid his
teeth an' jump into the say wid him, thin dive, lavin' him to dhrownd, or
shpring over a clift wid him an' tumble him to the bottom a bleedin'
corpse. But wasn't there the howls av joy whin a Pooka 'ud catch a
sinner unbeknownst, an' fetch him on the Corkschrew wan o' the nights
Satan was there. Och, God defind us, phat a sight it was. They made a
ring wid the corpse-candles, while the witches tore him limb from limb,
an' the fiends drunk his blood in red-hot iron noggins wid shrieks o'
laughter to smother his schreams, an' the Pookas jumped on his body
an' thrampled it into the ground, an' the timpest 'ud whishle a chune, an'
the mountains about 'ud kape time, an' the Pookas, an' witches, an'
sper'ts av avil, an' corpse-candles, an' bodies o' the dead, an' divils, 'ud
all jig together round the rock where owld Belzebub 'ud set shmilin', as
fur to say he'd ax no betther divarshun. God's presince be wid us, it
makes me crape to think av it.
"Well, as I was afther sayin', in the time av King Bryan, the Pookas
done a dale o' harrum, but as thim that they murthered wor dhrunken
bastes that wor in the shebeens in the day an' in the ditch be night, an'
wasn't missed whin the Pookas tuk them, the King paid no attintion, an'
small blame to him that 's.
"But wan night, the queen's babby fell ill, an' the king says to his man,
says he, 'Here, Riley, get you up an' on the white mare an' go fur the
docther.'
"'Musha thin,' says Riley, an' the king's counthry house was in the break

o' the hills, so Riley 'ud pass the rath an' the Corkschrew on the way
afther the docther; 'Musha thin,' says he, aisey and on the quiet, 'it's
mesilf that doesn't want that same job.'
"So he says to the king, 'Won't it do in the mornin'?'
"'It will not,' says the king to him. 'Up, ye lazy beggar, atin' me bread,
an' the life lavin' me child.'
"So he wint, wid great shlowness, tuk the white mare, an' aff, an' that
was the last seen o' him or the mare aither, fur the Pooka tuk 'em. Sorra
a taste av a lie's in it, for thim that said they seen him in Cork two days
afther, thrading aff the white mare, was desaved be the sper'ts, that
made it seem to be him whin it wasn't that they've a thrick o' doin'.
"Well, the babby got well agin, bekase the docther didn't get there, so
the king left botherin' afther it and begun to wondher about Riley an'
the white mare, and sarched fur thim but didn't find thim. An' thin he
knewn that they was gone entirely, bekase, ye see, the Pooka didn't lave
as much as a hair o' the mare's tail.
"'Wurra thin,' says he, 'is it horses that the Pooka 'ull be stalin'? Bad
cess to its impidince! This 'ull niver do. Sure we'll be ruinated entirely,'
says he.
"Mind ye now, it's my consate from phat he said, that the king wasn't
consarned much about Riley, fur he knewn that he cud get more
Irishmen whin he wanted thim, but phat he meant to say was that if the
Pooka tuk to horse-stalin', he'd be ruinated entirely, so he would, for
where 'ud he get another white mare? So it was a mighty sarious
question an' he retired widin himself in the coort wid a big book that he
had that towld saycrets. He'd a sight av larnin', had the king, aquel to a
school-masther, an' a head that 'ud sarcumvint a fox.
"So he read an' read as fast as he cud, an' afther readin' widout shtoppin',
barrin' fur the bit an' sup, fur siven days an' nights, he come out, an'
whin