The Latin Irish Lives of Ciaran | Page 7

his
dreams a shining man appeared to him, saying to him, "Sorrow not
concerning thy horse, for among you there is a boykin [_puerulus_],
Saint Kiaranus son of Beoedus the wright, who by God's grace can
quicken thy horse. Let him pour water into the mouth of the horse, with
prayer, and upon its face, and forthwith it shall arise sound. And do
thou bestow a gift on the boy for the quickening of thy horse." Now
when Aengus son of the king was awakened out of sleep, he told these
words to his friends; and he himself came to Saint Kyaranus and led
him up to the place where the horse was lying dead. When the dutiful

boy Kyaranus poured water into the mouth and on the face of the horse,
it forthwith rose from death and stood whole before them all. The son
of the king bestowed that field, which was great and the best, upon
Saint Kiaranus in perpetuity.
IV. HOW CIARAN TURNED WATER INTO HONEY
3. On another day the mother of Saint Kyaranus upbraided him, saying,
"The sensible other boys bring honey to their parents every day, from
the fields and the places where honey is found. But this our son, weak
and soft as he is, bringeth us no honey." The holy boy Kyaranus,
hearing this saying of his mother chiding him, made his way to a spring
hard by, and thence filled a vessel with water. When he blessed it,
honey of the best was made from the water, and he gave it to his
mother. But his parents, astonished at the miracle, sent that honey to
the deacon Iustus, who had baptized him, that he might himself see the
miracle wrought by God through the boy whom he baptized. When he
had heard and seen it, he gave thanks to Christ, and prayed for the boy.
VI. HOW CIARAN AND HIS INSTRUCTOR CONVERSED,
THOUGH DISTANT FROM ONE ANOTHER
4. The holy boy Kyaranus, as he kept the flocks of his parents, was
wont to read the Psalms with Saint Diarmatus. But that teaching was
imparted in a manner to us most wondrous. For Saint Kiaranus was
keeping the flocks in the southern part of the plain of Aei, and Saint
Diarmatus was dwelling in the northern part of the same plain, and the
plain was of great extent between them. And thus, from afar off, they
would salute each the other at ease, with words, across the spaces of the
plain; and the elder would teach the boy from his cell across the plain,
and the boy would read, sitting upon a rock in the field. The which rock
is reverenced unto this day, as the Cross of Christ, called by the name
of Kyaranus, is placed upon it. Now thus by divine favour were the
holy ones wont to hear each the other, while others heard them not.
IX. HOW CIARAN RESTORED A CALF WHICH A WOLF HAD
DEVOURED

5. On a day when Saint Kyaranus was keeping the herds, a cow gave
birth to a calf in his presence. Now in that hour the dutiful boy saw a
wretched wasted hungry wolf a-coming towards him, and God's servant
said to him, "Go, poor wretch, and devour that calf." Forthwith the
famished hound fell upon the calf and devoured it. But when the holy
herd-boy had come home with his herds, the cow, seeking her calf, was
making a loud outcry; and when Derercha, mother of Saint Kyaranus,
saw it, she said unto him, "Kyaranus, where is the calf of yonder cow?
Restore it, although it be from sea or from land. For thou has lost it, and
its mother's heart is sore vexed." When Saint Kyaranus heard these
words, he returned to the place where the calf was devoured, and
collected its bones into his breast; then returning, he laid them before
the cow as she lamented. Straightway, by divine mercy, by reason of
the holiness of the boy, the calf arose before them all, and stood whole
upon its feet, sporting with its mother. Then those who stood by lifted
up their voices in praise to God, blessing the boy.
V. HOW CIARAN WAS DELIVERED FROM A HOUND
6. As the dutiful boy Kyaranus was going out to a homestead hard by,
certain worldly men, cruel and malignant, let loose a most savage
hound at him, so that it should devour him. When Saint Kyaranus saw
the fierce hound coming towards him, he appropriated a verse of the
Psalmist, saying, "Lord, deliver not the soul that trusteth in Thee unto
beasts." Now as the hound was rushing vehemently, by divine favour it
thrust its head into the ring-fastening of a calf; and tied by the
ring-fastening, it struck its head against