He heard their story to the end, and then said, "Your tidings are bad,
my sons, and I fear me you are doomed to meet your death in seeking what
the Ildana asks. But the doom is a just one, for it was an evil thing to
kill Kian. Now as to this eric-fine: it cannot be obtained by any living
man without the help of either Luga himself or of Mannanan Mac Lir;[8]
but if Luga wishes to aid you, ye shall be able to get it. Go ye now,
therefore, and ask him to lend you Mannanan's steed, Enbarr of the
Flowing Mane. If he wishes you to get the full eric-fine, he will lend
you the steed; otherwise he will refuse, saying that she does not belong
to him, and that he cannot lend what he himself has got on loan. Then,
if ye obtain not the steed, ask him for the loan of Mannanan's canoe,
the Wave-sweeper, which would be better for you than the steed; and he
will lend you that, for he is forbidden to refuse a second request."
So the sons of Turenn returned to Luga, and having saluted him, they
said--
"It is not in the power of any man to obtain this eric-fine without thy
own aid, O Luga; we ask thee, therefore, to lend us Mannanan's steed,
Enbarr of the Flowing Mane."
"That steed is not my own," said Luga; "and I cannot lend that which I
have myself obtained on loan."
"If that be so," said Brian, "then I pray thee lend us Mannanan's canoe,
the Wave-sweeper."
"I shall lend you that," replied Luga; "it lies at Bruga of the
Boyne;[XLV.] and ye have my consent to take it."
So they came again to their father, and this time Ethnea, their sister,
was with him; and they told them that Luga had given them the canoe.
"I have much fear," said Turenn, "that it will avail you little against
the dangers of your quest. Nevertheless, Luga desires to obtain that
part of the eric that will be useful to him at the battle of
Moytura,[11] and so far he will help you. But in seeking that which is
of no advantage to him, namely, the cooking-spit, and the three shouts
on Midkena's Hill, therein he will give you no aid, and he will be glad
if ye perish in your attempts to obtain it."
They then set out for Bruga of the Boyne, accompanied by their sister
Ethnea, leaving Turenn lamenting after them. The canoe they found lying
in the river; and Brian went into it and said--
"It seems to me that only one other person can sit here along with me;"
and he began to complain very bitterly of its smallness. He ceased,
however, at the bidding of Ethnea, who told him that the canoe would
turn out large enough when they came to try it, and that it was under
strict command not to let any one grumble at its smallness. And she went
on to say--
"Alas, my beloved brothers, it was an evil deed to slay the father of
Luga of the Long Arms! and I fear you will suffer much woe and hardship
on account of it."
ETHNEA.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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