The King of Irelands Son | Page 5

were the strange cattle put out at one side
of the field than they came back on the other. Then down came
Maravaun, the King's Councillor. He declared they were enchanted
cattle, and that no one on Ireland's ground could put them away. So in
the seven-acre field the cattle stayed.
When the King of Ireland's Son saw what his companion of yesterday
could do he rode straight to the glen to try if he could have another
game with him. There at the turn of the road, on a heap of stones, the
gray old fellow was sitting playing a game of cards, the right hand
against the left. The King of Ireland's Son fastened his horse to the
branch of a tree and dismounted.
"Did you find yesterday's wager settled?" said the gray old fellow.
"I did," said the King of Ireland's Son.
"Then shall we have another game of cards on the same
understanding?" said the gray old fellow.
"I agree, if you agree," said the King of Ireland's son. He sat under the
bush beside him and they played again. The King of Ireland's Son won.
"What would you like me to do for you this time?" said the gray old
fellow.
Now the King's Son had a step-mother, and she was often
cross-tempered, and that very morning he and she had vexed each other.
So he said, "Let a brown bear, holding a burning coal in his mouth, put
Caintigern the Queen from her chair in the supper-room to-night."

"It shall be done," said the gray old fellow.
Then the King of Ireland's Son mounted his horse and rode away
His hound at his heel, His hawk on his wrist; A brave steed to carry
him whither he list, And the green ground under him,
and he went back to the Castle. That night a brown bear, holding a
burning coal in his mouth, came into the supper-room and stood
between Caintigern the Queen and the chair that belonged to her. None
of the servants could drive it away, and when Maravaun, the King's
Councillor, came he said, "This is an enchanted creature also, and it is
best for us to leave it alone." So the whole company went and left the
brown bear in the supper-room seated 'in the Queen's chair.

II
The next morning when he wakened the King's Son said, "That was a
wonderful thing that happened last night in the supper-room. I must go
off and play a third game with the gray old fellow who sits on a heap of
stones at the turn of the road." So, in the morning early he mounted and
rode away
His hound at his heel, His hawk on his wrist; A brave steed to carry
him whither he list, And the green ground under him,
and he rode on until he came to the turn in the road. Sure enough the
old gray fellow was there. "So you've come to me again, King's Son,"
said he. "I have," said the King of Ireland's Son, "and I'll play a last
game with you on the same understanding as before." He tied his horse
to the branch and sat down on the heap of stones. They played. The
King of Ireland's Son lost the game. Immediately the gray old fellow
threw the cards down on the stones and a wind came up and carried
them away. Standing up he was terribly tall.
"King's Son," said he, "I am your father's enemy and I have done him
an injury. And to the Queen who is your father's wife I have done an

injury too. You have lost the game and now you must take the penalty I
put upon you. You must find out my dwelling-place and take three
hairs out of my beard within a year and a day, or else lose your head."
With that he took the King of Ireland's Son by the shoulders and lifted
him on his horse, turning the horse in the direction of the King's Castle.
The King's Son rode on
His hound at his heel, His hawk on his wrist; A brave steed to carry
him whither he list, And the blue sky over him.
That evening the King noticed that his son was greatly troubled. And
when he lay down to sleep everyone in the Castle heard his groans and
his moans. The next day he told his father the story from beginning to
end. The King sent for Maravaun his Councillor and asked him if he
knew who the Enchanter was and where his son would be likely to find
him.
"From what he said," said Maravaun, "we may guess who he is. He is
the Enchanter of the Black Back-Lands and his dwelling-place is hard
to