Tell me all, thou poor man, of thine ailing; For a maiden am I that is wise; Is there naught, that to heal thee availing, Thou couldst win by mine aid, and arise Ailill If I told thee, thou beautiful maiden, My words, as I formed them, would choke, For with fire can eyes' curtains be laden: Woman-secrets are evil, if woke. Etain It is ill woman-secrets to waken; Yet with Love, its remembrance is long; And its part by itself may be taken, Nor a thought shall remain of the wrong. Ailill I adore thee, white lady, as grateful; Yet thy bounty deserve I but ill: To my soul is my longing but hateful, For my body doth strive with me still. Eocho Fedlech,[FN#9] his bride to him taking, Made thee queen; and from thence is my woe: For my head and my body are aching, And all Ireland my weakness must know. Etain If, among the white women who near me abide, There is one who is vexing, whose love thou dost hide; To thy side will I bring her, if thus I may please; And in love thou shalt win her, thy sickness to ease. Ah lady! said Ailill, "easily could the cure of my sickness be wrought by the aid of thee, and great gain should there come from the deed, but thus it is with me until that be accomplished: Long ago did my passion begin, A full year it exceeds in its length; And it holds me, more near than my skin, And it rules over wrath in its strength. And the earth into four it can shake, Can reach up to the heights of the sky And a neck with its might it can break, Nor from fight with a spectre would fly. In vain race up to heaven 'tis urged; It is chilled, as with water, and drowned: 'Tis a weapon, in ocean submerged; 'Tis desire for an echo, a sound. 'Tis thus my love, my passion seem; 'tis thus I strive in vain To win the heart of her whose love I long so much to gain. [FN#9] Pronounced Yeo-ho Fayllya, see note, p. 166. And the lady stood there in that place, and she looked upon Ailill, and the sickness in which he lay was perceived by her; and she was grieved on account of it: so that upon a certain day came the lady to Ailill, and "Young man," she said, "arouse thyself quickly, for in very truth thou shalt have all that thou desirest; and thereon did she make this lay: Now arouse thyself, Ailill the royal: Let thy heart, and thy courage rise high; Every longing thou hast shall be sated, For before thee, to heal thee, am I. Is my neck and its beauty so pleasing? 'Tis around it thine arms thou shalt place; And 'tis known as a courtship's beginning When a man and a woman embrace. And if this cometh not to content thee, O thou man, that art son to a king! I will dare to do crime for thy healing, And my body to please thee will bring. There were steeds, with their bridles, one hundred, When the price for my wedding was told; And one hundred of gay-coloured garments, And of cattle, and ounces of gold.