The Mabinogion Vol. 3 | Page 8

this being done the feast went on, and he denied no
one while it lasted. And when the feast was ended, Pwyll said unto
Heveydd, "My Lord, with thy permission I will set out for Dyved
to-morrow." "Certainly," said Heveydd, "may Heaven prosper thee. Fix
also a time when Rhiannon may follow thee." "By Heaven," said Pwyll,
"we will go hence together." "Wiliest thou this, Lord?" said Heveydd.
"Yes, by Heaven," answered Pwyll.
And the next day, they set forward towards Dyved, and journeyed to
the palace of Narberth, where a feast was made ready for them. And
there came to them great numbers of the chief men and the most noble
ladies of the land, and of these there were none to whom Rhiannon did
not give some rich gift, either a bracelet, or a ring, or a precious stone.
And they ruled the land prosperously both that year and the next.
And in the third year the nobles of the land began to be sorrowful at
seeing a man whom they loved so much, and who was moreover their

lord and their foster-brother, without an heir. And they came to him.
{29} And the place where they met was Preseleu, in Dyved. "Lord,"
said they, "we know that thou art not so young as some of the men of
this country, and we fear that thou mayest not have an heir of the wife
whom thou hast taken. Take therefore another wife of whom thou
mayest have heirs. Thou canst not always continue with us, and though
thou desire to remain as thou art, we will not suffer thee." "Truly," said
Pwyll, "we have not long been joined together, and many things may
yet befall. Grant me a year from this time, and for the space of a year
we will abide together, and after that I will do according to your
wishes." So they granted it. And before the end of a year a son was
born unto him. And in Narberth was he born; and on the night that he
was born, women were brought to watch the mother and the boy. And
the women slept, as did also Rhiannon, the mother of the boy. And the
number of the women that were brought into the chamber, was six. And
they watched for a good portion of the night, and before midnight every
one of them fell asleep, and towards break of day they awoke; and
when they awoke, they looked where they had put the boy, and behold
he was not there. "Oh," said one of the women, "the boy is lost!" "Yes,"
said another, "and it will be small vengeance if we are burnt or put to
death because of the child." Said one of the women, "Is there any
counsel for us in the world in this matter?" "There is," answered
another, "I offer you good counsel." "What is that?" asked they. "There
is here a stag-hound bitch, and she has a litter of whelps. Let us kill
some of the cubs, and rub the blood on the face and hands of Rhiannon,
and lay the bones before her, and assert that she herself had devoured
her son, and she alone will not be able to gainsay us six." And
according to this counsel it wast settled. And towards morning
Rhiannon awoke, and she said, "Women, where is my son?" "Lady,"
said they, "ask us not concerning thy son, we have nought but the
blows and the bruises we got by struggling with thee, and of a truth we
never saw any woman so violent as thou, for it was of no avail to
contend with thee. Hast thou not thyself devoured thy son? Claim him
not therefore of us." "For pity's sake," said Rhiannon; "The Lord God
knows all things. Charge me not falsely. {30} If you tell me this from
fear, I assert before Heaven that I will defend you." "Truly," said they,
"we would not bring evil on ourselves for any one in the world." "For

pity's sake," said Rhiannon; "you will receive no evil by telling the
truth." But for all her words, whether fair or harsh, {31a} she received
but the same answer from the women.
And Pwyll the chief of Annwvyn arose, and his household, and his
hosts. And this occurrence could not be concealed, but the story went
forth throughout the land, and all the nobles heard it. Then the nobles
came to Pwyll, and besought him to put away his wife, because of the
great {31b} crime which she had done. But Pwyll answered them, that
they had no cause wherefore they might ask him to put away his wife,
save for her having no children. "But children has she now had,
therefore will I not put