The King of Irelands Son | Page 6

find. Nevertheless your son must seek for him and take the three
hairs out of his beard or else lose his head. For if the heir to your
kingdom does not honorably pay his forfeit, the ground of Ireland won't
give crops and the cattle won't give milk." "And," said the Councillor,
"as a year is little for his search, he should start off at once, although
I'm bound to say, that I don't know what direction he should go in."
The next day the King's Son said good-by to his father and his
foster-brothers and started off on his journey. His step-mother would
not give him her blessing on account of his having brought in the
brown bear that turned her from her chair in the supper-room. Nor
would she let him have the good horse he always rode. Instead the
Prince was given a horse that was lame in a leg and short in the tail.
And neither hawk nor hound went with him this time.
All day the King's Son was going, traveling through wood and waste
until the coming on of night. The little fluttering birds were going from
the bush tops, from tuft to tuft, and to the briar-roots, going to rest; but

if they were, he was not, till the night came on, blind and dark. Then
the King's Son ate his bread and meat, put his satchel under his head
and lay down to take his rest on the edge of a great waste.
In the morning he mounted his horse and rode on. And as he went
across the waste he saw an extraordinary sight--everywhere were the
bodies of dead creatures--a cock, a wren, a mouse, a weasel, a fox, a
badger, a raven---all the birds and beasts that the King's Son had ever
known. He went on, but he saw no living creature before him. And then,
at the end of the waste he came upon two living creatures struggling.
One was an eagle and the other was an eel. And the eel had twisted
itself round the eagle, and the eagle had covered her eyes with the black
films of death. The King's Son jumped off his horse and cut the eel in
two with a sharp stroke of his sword.
The eagle drew the films from her eyes and looked full at the King's
Son. "I am Laheen the Eagle," she said, "and I will pay you for this
service, Son of King Connal. Know that there has been a battle of the
creatures--a battle to decide which of the creatures will make laws for a
year. All were killed except the eel and myself, and if you had not
come I would have been killed and the eel would have made the laws. I
am Laheen the Eagle and always I will be your friend. And now you
must tell me how I can serve you."
"You can serve me," said the King's Son, "by showing me how I may
come to the dominion of the Enchanter of the Black Back-Lands."
"I am the only creature who can show you, King's Son. And if I were
not old now I would carry you there on my back. But I can tell you how
you can get there. Ride forward for a day, first with the sun before you
and then with the sun at your back, until you come to the shore of a
lake. Stay there until you see three swans flying down. They are the
three daughters of the Enchanter of the Black Back-Lands. Mark the
one who carries a green scarf in her mouth. She is the youngest
daughter and the one who can help you. When the swans come to the
ground they will transform themselves into maidens and bathe in the
lake. Two will come out, put on their swanskins and transform
themselves and fly away. But you must hide the swanskin that belongs

to the youngest maiden. She will search and search and when she
cannot find it she will cry out, 'I would do anything in the world for the
creature who would find my swanskin for me.' Give the swanskin to
her then, and tell her that the only thing she can do for you is to show
you the way to her father's dominion. She will do that, and so you will
come to the House of the Enchanter of the Black Back-Lands. And now
farewell to you, Son of King Connal."
Laheen the Eagle spread out her wings and flew away, and the King's
Son journeyed on, first with the sun before him and then with the sun at
his back, until he came to the shore of a wide lake. He turned his horse
away, rested himself on the