Celts -- Folklore; Fairy tales; Fairy tales -- Great Britain; Folklore -- Great Britain; Tales -- Great Britain
"In thy hand will I give thee a small bag," said she. "See that thou
keep it well, and he will ask of thee the banquet and the feast, and the
preparations, which are not in thy power. Unto the hosts and the
household will I give the feast. And such will be thy answer respecting
this. And as concerns myself, I will engage to become his bride this
night twelvemonth. And at the end of the year be thou here," said she,
"and bring this bag with thee and let thy hundred knights be in the
orchard up yonder. And when he is in the midst of joy and feasting, come
thou in by thyself, clad in ragged garments, and holding thy bag in thy
hand, and ask nothing but a bagful of food: and I will cause that if all
the meat and liquor that are in these seven cantrevs were put into it,
it would be no fuller than before. And after a great deal has been put
therein, he will ask thee whether thy bag will ever be full. Say thou
then that it never will, until a man of noble birth and of great wealth
arise and press the food in the bag with both his feet, saying, 'Enough
has been put therein.' And I will cause him to go and tread down the
food in the bag, and when he does so, turn thou the bag, so that he
shall be up over his head in it, and then slip a knot upon the thongs of
the bag. Let there be also a good bugle-horn about thy neck, and as soon
as thou hast bound him in the bag, wind thy horn, and let it be a signal
between thee and thy knights. And when they hear the sound of the horn,
let them come down upon the palace."
"Lord," said Gwawl, "it is meet that I have an answer to my request."
"As much of that thou hast asked as it is in my power to give, thou
shalt have," replied Powel.
"My soul," said Rhiannon unto him, "as for the feast and the banquet
that are here, I have bestowed them upon the men of Dyved, and the
household, and the warriors that are with us. These can I not suffer to
be given to any. In a year from to-night a banquet shall be prepared for
thee in this palace, that I may become thy bride."
So Gwawl went forth to his possessions, and Powel went also back to
Dyved. And they both spent that year until it was the time for the feast
at the palace of Heveyth Hen. Then Gwawl the son of Clud set out to the
feast that was prepared for him, and he came to the palace and was
received there with rejoicing. Powel also, the chief of Annuvyn, came to
the orchard with his hundred knights, as Rhiannon had commanded him,
having the bag with him. And Powel was clad in coarse and ragged
garments, and wore large clumsy old shoes upon his feet. And when he
knew that the carousal after the meat had begun, he went towards the
hall, and when he came into the hall, he saluted Gwawl the son of Clud,
and his company, both men and women.
"Heaven prosper thee!" said Gwawl, "and the greeting of Heaven be unto
thee!"
"Lord," said he, "may Heaven reward thee! I have an errand unto thee."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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