They swooped down upon the orchard from above. It was done so swiftly that they carried off the three apples, unhit either by shaft or stone. But their difficulties were not yet over. The king of the country had three daughters who were well skilled in witchcraft. By sorcery they changed themselves into three ospreys, and pursued the three hawks. But the sons of Tuirenn reached the shore first, and, changing themselves into swans, dived into the sea. They came up close to their coracle, and got into it, and sailed swiftly away with the spoil. Thus their first quest was finished, and they voyaged on to Greece, to seek the pig’s-skin of King Tuis. No one could go without some excuse into a king’s court, so they decided to disguise themselves as poets, and to tell the door-keeper that they were professional bards from Erin, seeking largess at the hands of kings. The porter let them into the great hall, where the poets of Greece were singing before the king. When those had all finished, Brian rose, and asked permission to show his art. This was accorded; and he sang: “O Tuis, we conceal not thy fame. We praise thee as the oak above the kings; The skin of a pig, bounty without hardness! This is the reward which I ask for it. “A stormy host and raging sea Are a dangerous power, should one oppose it. The skin of a pig, bounty without hardness! This is the reward I ask, O Tuis.” “That is a good poem,” said the king, “only I do not understand it.” “I will explain it,” said Brian. “‘_We praise thee as the oak above the kings_’; this means that, as the oak excels all other trees, so do you excel all other kings in nobility and generosity. ‘_The skin of a pig, bounty without hardness_’; that is a pig’s-skin which you have, O Tuis, and which I should like to receive as the reward of my poem. ‘_A stormy host and raging sea are a dangerous power, should one oppose it_’; this means to say, that we are not used to going without anything on which we have set our hearts, O Tuis.” “I should have liked your poem better,” replied the king, “if my pig’s-skin had not been mentioned in it. It was not a wise thing for you to have done, O poet. But I will measure three fills of red gold out of the skin, and you shall have those.” “May all good be thine, O King!” answered Brian. “I knew that I should get a noble reward.” So the king sent for the pig’s-skin to measure out the gold with. But, as soon as Brian saw it, he seized it with his left hand, and slew the man who was holding it, and Iuchar and Iucharba also hacked about them; and they cut their way down to the boat, leaving the King of Greece among the dead behind them. “And now we will go and get King Pisear’s spear,” said Brian. So, leaving Greece, they sailed in their coracle to Persia.