r, whether it be far--
In which are thousands of many-hued women,
Which the clear sea encircles.

If one has heard the voice of the music,
The chorus of little birds from the Land of Peace,
A band of women comes from a height
To the plain of sport in which he is.

There comes happiness with health
To the land against which laughter peals:
Into the Land of Peace at every season
Comes everlasting joy.

Through the ever-fair weather
Silver is showered on the lands,
A pure-white cliff over the range of the sea
Receives from the sun its heat.

There are thrice fifty distant isles
In the ocean to the west of us:
Larger than Erin twice
Is each of them, or thrice.

A wonderful child will be born after ages,
Who will not be in lofty places,
The son of a woman whose mate is unknown,
He will seize the rule of the many thousands.

A rule without beginning, without end.
He has created the world so that it is perfect:
Earth and sea are His--
Woe to him that shall be under His unwill!

'Tis He that made the heavens,
Happy he that has a white heart!
He will purify multitudes with pure water,
'Tis He that will heal your sicknesses.

Not to all of you is my speech,
Though its great marvel has been revealed:
Let Bran listen from the crowd of the world
To the wisdom told to him.

Do not sink upon a bed of sloth!
Let not intoxication overcome thee!
Begin a voyage across the clear sea,
If perchance thou mayst reach the Land of Women.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 3: The name of one of the Isles of the Happy.]

[Footnote 4: 'Ese vapor transparente y dorado, que solo se ve en los
climas meridionales.']

[Footnote 5: The name of one of the Isles of the Happy.]

THE SEA-GOD'S ADDRESS TO BRAN

Then on the morrow Bran went upon the sea. When he had been
at sea two days and two nights, he saw a man in a chariot
coming towards him over the sea. It was Manannan, the son of
Ler, who sang these quatrains to him.

To Bran in his coracle it seems
A marvellous beauty across the clear sea:
To me in my chariot from afar
It is a flowery plain on which he rides.

What is a clear sea
For the prowed skiff in which Bran is,
That to m