Legendary fictions of the Irish Celts

2 68 Ficimn of the Irish Celts.
then with her on a visit, to hunt me with a great pack of
wolf-dogs. I led them a good chase, but was taken at
last.
" Just as they were on the point of devouring me, the
King of Greece himself came up, and so I howled out
dismally to him, imitating the human voice as well as I
could. I held up my fore-paws, and he saw the big
tears rolling down from my eyes. He knew there was
something mysterious about me, and rescued me from
the dogs at once. I walked home by his side, and he
kept me about him, and grew quite attached to me. All
this terribly annoyed my wife, but she was prevented by
a higher power from killing me wath her own hands, and
I kept too close to her father to be in danger from any
one else. All this time she and the false wild man
searched for the sword of light, but could not find it. It
was kept in a thin recess in a wall, under a spell, and
no one but I could discover the method of coming at
it. She did all she could to persuade the king to send
me away, but he would not gratify her. At last one
day she brought a druidic sleep on our child in the
cradle, so that he seemed without life, and she sprinkled
him with blood, and threw some also on me. For I
used to stay in the room with the infant whenever I
could. She then began to shriek and cry till her father
and the servants ran in to see what the matter was.
* Oh, father, father !
' said she, pointing to the cradle,
and then to me, ' see what your favourite has done !
All were rushing to kill me at once, but he ordered them
to stop. He took the slat in his hand, and drew it down
the child's body from its breast to its toes, and again
from its breast to its finger ends, muttering some words,
and it sat up, and began to stretch out its arms to him.
He examined the places where the blood spots were,
and found no wound. Then he called me to him, and
said to those around him, ' Here is some treachery and
mystery which I must clear up. Mac Tire,' he continued,
addressing me, and striking me with the rod, 'I com-
'