The astonished king, who could not for shame go back upon his word, asked for a year’s delay. Mider agreed to return upon that day year to claim Etain. Eochaid consulted with his warriors, and they decided to keep watch through the whole of the day fixed by Mider, and let no one pass in or out of the royal palace till sunset. For Eochaid held that if the fairy king could not get Etain upon that one day, his promise would be no longer binding on him. So, when the day came, they barred the door and guarded it, but suddenly they saw Mider among them in the hall. He stood beside Etain, and sang this song to her, setting out the pleasures of the homes of the gods under the enchanted hills. “O fair lady! will you come with me To a wonderful country which is mine, Where the people’s hair is of golden hue, And their bodies the colour of virgin snow? “There no grief or care is known; White are their teeth, black their eyelashes; Delight of the eye is the rank of our hosts, With the hue of the fox-glove on every cheek. “Crimson are the flowers of every mead, Gracefully speckled as the blackbird’s egg; Though beautiful to see be the plains of Inisfail[182] They are but commons compared to our great plains. “Though intoxicating to you be the ale-drink of Inisfail, More intoxicating the ales of the great country; The only land to praise is the land of which I speak, Where no one ever dies of decrepit age. “Soft sweet streams traverse the land; The choicest of mead and of wine; Beautiful people without any blemish; Love without sin, without wickedness. “We can see the people upon all sides, But by no one can we be seen; The cloud of Adam’s transgression it is That prevents them from seeing us. “O lady, should you come to my brave land, It is golden hair that will be on your head; Fresh pork, beer, new milk, and ale, You there with me shall have, O fair lady!”[183] Then Mider greeted Eochaid, and told him that he had come to take away Etain, according to the king’s wager. And, while the king and his warriors looked on helplessly, he placed one arm round the now willing woman, and they both vanished. This broke the spell that hung over everyone in the hall; they rushed to the door, but all they could see were two swans flying away.