“From what he said,” said Maravaun, “we may guess who he is. He is the Enchanter of the Black Back-Lands and his dwelling-place is hard to find. Nevertheless your son must seek for him and take the three hairs out of his beard or else lose his head. For if the heir to your kingdom does not honorably pay his forfeit, the ground of Ireland won’t give crops and the cattle won’t give milk.” “And,” said the Councillor, “as a year is little for his search, he should start off at once, although I’m bound to say, that I don’t know what direction he should go in.” The next day the King’s Son said good-by to his father and his foster-brothers and started off on his journey. His step-mother would not give him her blessing on account of his having brought in the brown bear that turned her from her chair in the supper-room. Nor would she let him have the good horse he always rode. Instead the Prince was given a horse that was lame in a leg and short in the tail. And neither hawk nor hound went with him this time. All day the King’s Son was going, traveling through wood and waste until the coming on of night. The little fluttering birds were going from the bush tops, from tuft to tuft, and to the briar-roots, going to rest; but if they were, he was not, till the night came on, blind and dark. Then the King’s Son ate his bread and meat, put his satchel under his head and lay down to take his rest on the edge of a great waste. In the morning he mounted his horse and rode on. And as he went across the waste he saw an extraordinary sight--everywhere were the bodies of dead creatures--a cock, a wren, a mouse, a weasel, a fox, a badger, a raven---all the birds and beasts that the King’s Son had ever known. He went on, but he saw no living creature before him. And then, at the end of the waste he came upon two living creatures struggling. One was an eagle and the other was an eel. And the eel had twisted itself round the eagle, and the eagle had covered her eyes with the black films of death. The King’s Son jumped off his horse and cut the eel in two with a sharp stroke of his sword. The eagle drew the films from her eyes and looked full at the King’s Son. “I am Laheen the Eagle,” she said, “and I will pay you for this service, Son of King Connal. Know that there has been a battle of the creatures--a battle to decide which of the creatures will make laws for a year. All were killed except the eel and myself, and if you had not come I would have been killed and the eel would have made the laws. I am Laheen the Eagle and always I will be your friend. And now you must tell me how I can serve you.” “You can serve me,” said the King’s Son, “by showing me how I may come to the dominion of the Enchanter of the Black Back-Lands.”