Myths and Legends of the Celtic Race - Knowledge Rush

222 Myths and Legends of the Celtic Race[260]laughed and said: “Be it so, Conan, and if thou prove faithful andvaliant I also will keep faith.” Conan served him for thirty years,and no man of all the Fianna was keener and hardier in fight.Conan mac MornaThere was also another Conan, namely, mac Morna, who wasbig and bald, and unwieldy in manly exercises, but whose tonguewas bitter and scurrilous; no high or brave thing was done thatConan the Bald did not mock and belittle. It is said that whenhe was stripped he showed down his back and buttocks a blacksheep's fleece instead of a man's skin, and this is the way it cameabout. One day when Conan and certain others of the Fianna werehunting in the forest they came to a stately dūn, white-walled,with coloured thatching on the roof, and they entered it to seekhospitality. But when they were within they found no man, but agreat empty hall with pillars of cedar-wood and silken hangingsabout it, like the hall of a wealthy lord. In the midst there was atable set forth with a sumptuous feast of boar's flesh and venison,and a great vat of yew-wood full of red wine, and cups of goldand silver. So they set themselves gaily to eat and drink, forthey were hungry from the chase, and talk and laughter wereloud around the board. But one of them ere long started to hisfeet with a cry of fear and wonder, and they all looked round,and saw before their eyes the tapestried walls changing to roughwooden beams, and the ceiling to foul sooty thatch like that ofa herdsman's hut. So they knew they were being entrapped bysome enchantment of the Fairy Folk, and all sprang to their feetand made for the doorway, that was no longer high and stately,but was shrinking to the size of a fox earth—all but Conan theBald, who was gluttonously devouring the good things on thetable, and heeded nothing else. Then they shouted to him, and asthe last of them went out he strove to rise and follow, but foundhimself limed to the chair so that he could not stir. So two ofthe Fianna, seeing his plight, rushed back and seized his armsand tugged with all their might, and as they dragged him away