ver seen before or since. They knocked the soft
ground into hard, the hard into soft, the soft into spring wells, the
spring wells into rocks, and the rocks into high hills. They fought
long, and at last Billy's bull killed the other and drank his blood.
And then Billy took out the napkin out of the bull's ear again and
spread it out and ate another hearty dinner. Then says the bull to
Billy, says he, "The morrow at twelve o'clock I'm to fight the brother
to the two bulls I killed--he's a mighty great bull entirely, the
strongest of them all; he's called the Black Bull of the Forest, and
he'll be too able for me. When I'm dead!" says the bull, "you, Billy,
will take with you the napkin, and you'll never be hungry; and the
stick, and you'll be able to overcome everything that comes in your
way; and take out your knife and cut a strip of the hide off my back
and another strip off my belly, and make a belt of them, and as long
as you wear them you cannot be killed." Billy was very sorry to hear
this, but he got up on the bull's back again, and they started off and
away where you wouldn't know day by night or night by day, over high
hills, low hills, sheep-walks, and bulloch-traces, the Cove of Cork,
and Old Tom Fox with his bugle horn. And sure enough at twelve o'clock
the next day they met the great Black Bull of the Forest and both of
the bulls to it, and commenced to fight, and the like of the fight was
never seen before or since; they knocked the soft ground into hard
ground, and the hard ground into soft; and the soft into spring wells,
the spring wells into rocks, and the rocks into high hills. And they
fought long, but at length the Black Bull of the Forest killed Billy
Beg's bull and drank his blood. Billy Beg was so vexed at this that
for two days he sat over the bull neither eating nor drinking, but
crying salt tears all the time. Then he got up, and he spread out the
napkin, and ate a hearty dinner, for he was very hungry with his long
fast; and after that he cut a strip of the hide off the bull's back
and another off the belly, and made a belt for himself, and taking it
and the bit of stick, and the napkin, he set out to push his fortune,
and he travelled for three days and three nights till at last he came
to a great gentleman's place, Billy asked the gentleman if he could
give him employment, and the gentleman said he wanted just such a boy
as him for herding cattle. Billy asked what cattle would he have to
he