Then Cuchulain went forth until he came to the pillar, and then saw he the woman in the green mantle come to him. "This is good, O Cuchulain!" said she. "'Tis no good thing in my thought," said Cuchulain. "Wherefore camest thou to me last year?" he said. "It was indeed to do no injury to thee that we came," said the woman, "but to seek for thy friendship. I have come to greet thee," she said, "from Fand, the daughter of Aed Abra; her husband, Manannan the Son of the Sea, hath released her, and she hath thereon set her love on thee. My own name is Liban, and I have brought to thee a message from my spouse, Labraid the Swift, the Sword-Wielder, that he will give thee the woman in exchange for one day's service to him in battle against Senach the Unearthly, and against Eochaid Juil,[FN#27] and against Yeogan the Stream." "I am in no fit state," he said, "to contend with men to-day." "That will last but a little while," she said; "thou shalt be whole, and all that thou hast lost of thy strength shall be increased to thee. Labraid shall bestow on thee that boon, for he is the best of all warriors that are in the world." [FN#27] Pronounced, nearly, Yeo-hay Yool. "Where is it that Labraid dwelleth?" asked Cuchulain. "In Mag Mell,[FN#28] the Plain of Delight," said Liban; "and now I desire to go to another land," said she. [FN#28] Pronounced Maw Mel. "Let Laeg go with thee," said Cuchulain, "that he may learn of the land from which thou hast come." "Let him come, then," said Liban. They departed after that, and they went forward until they came to a place where Fand was. And Liban turned to seek for Laeg, and she set him upon her shoulder. "Thou wouldest never go hence, O Laeg!" said Liban, "wert thou not under a woman's protection." "'Tis not a thing that I have most been accustomed to up to this time," said Laeg, "to be under a woman's guard." "Shame, and everlasting shame," said Liban, "that Cuchulain is not where thou art." "It were well for me," answered Laeg, "if it were indeed he who is here." They passed on then, and went forward until they came opposite to the shore of an island, and there they saw a skiff of bronze lying upon the lake before them. They entered into the skiff, and they crossed over to the island, and came to the palace door, and there they saw the man, and he came towards them. And thus spoke Liban to the man whom they saw there: Say where He, the Hand-on-Sword, Labra swift, abideth? He who, of the triumphs lord, In strong chariot rideth. When victorious troops are led, Labra hath the leading; He it is, when spears are red, Sets the points a-bleeding. And the man replied to her, and spoke thus: Labra, who of speed is son, Comes, and comes not slowly; Crowded hosts together run, Bent on warfare wholly. Soon upon the Forest Plain Shall be set the killing; For the hour when men are slain Fidga's[FN#29] Fields are filling![FN#30] [FN#29] Pronounced, nearly, Feega.