The Submersion of the city of Ys

Here is the song of the sibmersion of the city of Ys in its version of the mythology Gallic.

The town of Ys

The city of Ys

I

Did you hear, did you hear what the man of God said to King Gradlon who is at Ys ?
 »Do not indulge in love; do not indulge in follies. After the pleasure, the pain!
 Whoever bites into the flesh of fish will be bitten by fish; and whoever swallows will be swallowed.
 And he who drinks and mixes wine, will drink water like a fish; and who does not know, will learn. " 

II

King Gradlon spoke: - Happy guests, I want to go to sleep a little.
- You will sleep tomorrow morning; stay with us this evening; nevertheless, let it be done as you wish.
Thereupon, the lover flowed gently, very gently these words in the ear of the king's daughter:
- Sweet Dahut, and the key?
- The key will be removed; the well will be opened: let it be done according to your wishes!

III

Now whoever saw the old king asleep would have been filled with admiration,
In admiration at seeing him in his purple cloak,
her snow-white hair flowing over her shoulders, and her gold chain around her neck.
Anyone who had been on the lookout would have seen the white young girl enter the room gently, barefoot:
She approached the king her father, she knelt down, and she took off the chain and key.

IV

He is still sleeping, he is sleeping the king. But a cry rises in the plain: - The water is released! the city is submerged!
- Lord King, get up! and on horseback! and far from here! The overflowing sea breaks its dikes!
Cursed be the white young girl who opened, after the feast, the door of the well of the city of Ys, this barrier of the sea!

V

- Forester, forester, tell me, Gradlon's wild horse, have you seen him pass through this valley?
- I did not see Gradlon's horse pass by here, I only heard him in the dark night:
Trip, trip, trip, trip, trip, trip, fast as fire!
“Have you seen, fisherman, the daughter of the sea, combing her hair fair as gold, in the midday sun, by the water's edge?
– I saw the white girl of the sea, I even heard her sing: her songs were plaintive like the waves.