The young girls said to Patrick, "Whence are ye, and whence come ye?"
and Patrick answered, "It were better for you to confess to the true
God than to inquire concerning our race."
"Who is God?" said the young girls, "and where is God, and of what
nature is God, and where is His dwelling-place? Has your God sons and
daughters, gold and silver? Is he everlasting? Is he beautiful? Did
Mary foster her son? Are His daughters dear and beauteous to men of
the world? Is He in heaven, or on earth, in the sea, in rivers, in
mountainous places, in valleys?"
Patrick answered them, and made known who God was, and they believed
and were baptised, and a white garment put upon their heads; and
Patrick asked them would they live on, or would they die and behold
the face of Christ? They chose death, and died immediately, and were
buried near the well Clebach.
KING O'TOOLE AND HIS GOOSE.
S. LOVER.
"By Gor, I thought all the world, far and near, heerd o' King
O'Toole--well, well, but the darkness of mankind is ontellible! Well,
sir, you must know, as you didn't hear it afore, that there was a
king, called King O'Toole, who was a fine ould king in the ould
ancient times, long ago; and it was him that owned the churches in the
early days. The king, you see, was the right sort; he was the rale
boy, and loved sport as he loved his life, and huntin' in partic'lar;
and from the risin' o' the sun, up he got, and away he wint over the
mountains beyant afther the deer; and the fine times them wor.
"Well, it was all mighty good, as long as the king had his health;
but, you see, in coorse of time the king grew ould, by raison he was
stiff in his limbs, and when he got sthriken in years, his heart
failed him, and he was lost intirely for want o' divarshin, bekase he
couldn't go a huntin' no longer; and, by dad, the poor king was
obleeged at last for to get a goose to divart him. Oh, you may laugh,
if you like, but it's truth I'm tellin' you; and the way the goose
divarted him was this-a-way: You see, the goose used for to swim
acrass the lake, and go divin' for throut, and cotch fish on a Friday
for the king, and flew every other day round about the lake, divartin'
the poor king. All went on mighty well, antil, by dad, the goose got
sthriken in years like her master, and couldn't divart him no longer,
and then it was that the poor king was lost complate. The king was
walkin' one mornin' by the edge of the lake, lamentin' his cruel fate,
and thinkin' o' drownin' himself, that could get no divarshun in life,
when all of a suddint, turnin' round the corner beyant, who should he
meet but a mighty dacent young man comin' up to him.
"'God save you,' says the king to the young man.
"'God save you kindly, King O'Toole,' says the young man. 'Thrue for
you,' says the king. 'I am King O'Toole,' says he, 'prince and
plennypennytinchery o' these parts,' says he; 'but how kem ye to know
that?' says he. 'Oh, never mind,' says St. Kavin.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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