apes
on it, and for the strangeness of the work. "There is a stranger thing
yet about it," the man said; "let three lying words be spoken under it,
and it will break into three, and then let three true words be spoken
under it, and it will be as good as before." So he said three lying
words under it, and it broke in three pieces. "It is best to speak truth
now under it," he said, "and to mend it. And I give my word, Cormac," he
said, "that until to-day neither your wife or your daughter has seen the
face of a man since they were brought away from you out of Teamhair, and
that your son has never seen the face of a woman." And with that the cup
was whole again on the moment. "Bring away your wife and your children
with you now," he said, "and this cup along with them, the way you will
have it for judging between truth and untruth. And I will leave the
branch with you for music and delight, but on the day of your death they
will be taken from you again." "And I myself," he said, "am Manannan, son
of Lir, King of the Land of Promise, and I brought you here by
enchantments that you might be with me to-night in friendship.

"And the Riders you saw thatching the house," he said, "are the men of
art and poets, and all that look for a fortune in Ireland, putting
together cattle and riches. For when they go out, all that they leave in
their houses goes to nothing, and so they go on for ever.

"And the man you saw kindling the fire," he said, "is a young lord that
is more liberal than he can afford, and every one else is served while
he is getting the feast ready, and every one else profiting by it.

"And the well you saw is the Well of Knowledge, and the streams are the
five streams through which all knowledge goes. And no one will have
knowledge who does not drink a draught out of the well itself or out of
the streams. And the people of many arts are those who drink from them
all."

And on the morning of the morrow, when Cormac rose up, he found himself
on the green of Teamhair, and his wife, and his son, and his daughter,
along with him, and he having his branch and his cup. And it was given
the name of Cormac's Cup, and it used to judge between truth and
falsehood among the Gael. But it was not left in Ireland after the night
of Cormac's death, as Manannan had foretold him.

CHAPTER XII. CLIODNA'S WAVE

And it was in the time of the Fianna of Ireland that Ciabhan of the
Curling Hair, the king of Ulster's son, went