Old Celtic Romances. Anonymous

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СКАЧАТЬ 'Tis the anchoret tolling his soft matin bell:

       He has come to release us from sorrow, from pain,

       From the cold and tempestuous shores where we dwell!

      Trust in the glorious Lord of the sky;

       He will free us from Eva's druidical spell:

       Be thankful and glad, for our freedom is nigh,

       And listen with joy to the voice of the bell!

      Then her brothers became calm; and the four swans remained listening to the music of the bell, till the cleric had finished his matins.

      "Let us sing our music now," said Finola.

      And they chanted a low, sweet, plaintive strain of fairy music, to praise and thank the great high King of heaven and earth.

      Kemoc heard the music from where he stood; and he listened with great astonishment. But after a time it was revealed to him that it was the children of Lir who sang that music; and he was glad, for it was to seek them he had come.

      When morning dawned he came to the shore of the lake, and he saw the four white swans swimming on the water. He spoke to them, and asked them were they the children of Lir.

      They replied, "We are indeed the children of Lir, who were changed long ago into swans by our wicked stepmother."

      "I give God thanks that I have found you," said Kemoc; "for it is on your account I have come to this little island in preference to all the other islands of Erin. Come ye now to land, and trust in me; for it is in this place that you are destined to be freed from your enchantment."

      So they, filled with joy on hearing the words of the cleric, came to the shore, and placed themselves under his care. He brought them to his own house, and, sending for a skilful workman, he caused him to make two bright, slender chains of silver; and he put a chain between Finola and Aed, and the other chain he put between Ficra and Conn.

      So they lived with him, listening to his instructions day by day, and joining in his devotions. They were the delight and joy of the cleric, and he loved them with his whole heart; and the swans were so happy that the memory of all the misery they had suffered during their long life on the waters caused them neither distress nor sorrow now.

CHAPTER VII.

       Table of Contents

      THE CHILDREN OF LIR REGAIN THEIR HUMAN SHAPE AND DIE.

      The king who ruled over Connaught at this time was Largnen, the son of Colman; and his queen was Decca, the daughter of Finnin,[XXVI.] king of Munster—the same king and queen whom Eva had spoken of in her prophecy long ages before.

      Now word was brought to queen Decca regarding these wonderful speaking swans, and their whole history was related to her; so that even before she saw them, she could not help loving them, and she was seized with a strong desire to have them herself. So she went to the king, and besought him that he would go to Kemoc and get her the swans. But Largnen said that he did not wish to ask them from Kemoc. Whereupon Decca grew indignant; and she declared that she would not sleep another night in the palace till he had obtained the swans for her. So she left the palace that very hour, and fled southwards towards her father's home.

      Largnen, when he found she had gone, sent in haste after her, with word that he would try to procure the swans; but the messengers did not overtake her till she had reached Killaloe. However, she returned with them to the palace; and as soon as she had arrived, the king sent to Kemoc to request that he would send the birds to the queen; but Kemoc refused to give them.

      Largnen became very angry at this; and he set out at once for the cleric's house. As soon as he had come, he asked the cleric whether it was true that he had refused to give the swans to the queen. And when Kemoc answered that it was quite true, the king, being very wroth, went up to where the swans stood, and seizing the two silver chains, one in each hand, he drew the birds from the altar, and turned towards the door of the church, intending to bring them by force to the queen; while Kemoc followed him, much alarmed lest they should be injured.

      The king had proceeded only a little way, when suddenly the white feathery robes faded and disappeared; and the swans regained their human shape, Finola being transformed into an extremely old woman, and the three sons into three feeble old men, white-haired and bony and wrinkled.

      When the king saw this, he started with affright, and instantly left the place without speaking one word; while Kemoc reproached and denounced him very bitterly.

      As to the children of Lir, they turned towards Kemoc; and Finola spoke—

      "Come, holy cleric, and baptise us without delay, for our death is near. You will grieve after us, O Kemoc; but in truth you are not more sorrowful at parting from us than we are at parting from you. Make our grave here and bury us together; and as I often sheltered my brothers when we were swans, so let us be placed in the grave—Conn standing near me at my right side, Ficra at my left, and Aed before my face."[XXVII.]

      Come, holy priest, with book and prayer;

       Baptise and shrive us here:

       Haste, cleric, haste, for the hour has come,

      And death at last is near!

      Dig our grave—a deep, deep grave,

       Near the church we loved so well;

       This little church, where first we heard

       The voice of the Christian bell.

      As oft in life my brothers dear

       Were sooth'd by me to rest—

       Ficra and Conn beneath my wings,

       And Aed before my breast;

      So place the two on either hand—

       Close, like the love that bound me;

       Place Aed as close before my face,

       And twine their arms around me.

      Thus shall we rest for evermore,

       My brothers dear and I:

       Haste, cleric, haste, baptise and shrive,

       For death at last is nigh!

      Then the children of Lir were baptised, and they died immediately. And when they died, Kemoc looked up; and lo, he saw a vision of four lovely children, with light, silvery wings, and faces all radiant with joy. They gazed on him for a moment; but even as they gazed, they vanished upwards, and he saw them no more. And he was filled with gladness, for he knew they had gone to heaven; but when he looked down on the four bodies lying before him, he became sad and wept.

      And Kemoc caused a wide grave to be dug near the little church; and the children of Lir were buried together, as Finola had directed—Conn at her right hand, Ficra at her left, and Aed standing before her face. And he raised a grave-mound over them, placing a tombstone on it, with their names СКАЧАТЬ