The Adventures of Nera

Here are the Adventures of Nera, from the red branch of the mythology Irish.

Adventures of Nera

1. One evening of Samain Ailill and Medb were in Rath Cruachan with their whole household. They began to cook the food. Two captives had been hanged by them the day before that day. Then Ailill said, "Whoever now wants to put a wickerwork around the foot of one of the two captives who are on the gallows, will have a reward from me, such as he chooses." "

2. Great was the darkness of that night and its horror, and demons were to appear throughout that night. In turn, each of them went out to try [the adventure] that night, and quickly returned to the house. “I'll get your reward,” Nera said, “and I'll go out. "Verily you shall have this, my golden hilted sword, [which is] there. Said Ailill.

3. Then this Nera moved away towards the captives, and put a good armor on him. He put a bit of wicker at the foot of one of the two captives. Three times he detached himself. Then the captive told him that unless he put a suitable ankle on it, he would not fix it, even if he worked at it until the next day. So Nera put a suitable ankle in it.

4. From the gallows the captive said to Nera: "It is manly, O Nera!" "" Manly, indeed! Nera said. "By the truth of your valor, take me on your neck, that I can drink something with you." I was very thirsty when I was hanged. »« Come on my neck then! Nera said. So he went on his neck. "Where should I take you? Nera said. "To the house which is closest to us," said the captive.

5. So they went to this house. So they saw something. A lake of fire around the house [around the hearth, H.2.16]. "There is nothing to drink for us in this house," said the captive. “There is never fire in her without reserve [of wood]. "So let's go to the other house, which is closer to us," said the captive. They went there and saw a lake of water around her. "Don't go to this house," said the captive. No one washes, and there is no tub or bucket of dirty water in it at night after bed. "So let's go to the other house," said the captive. "Now my drink is there in this house," said the captive. He [Nera] let it fall to the floor. He entered the house. There were tubs for washing and bathing, and drink in both. [There was] also a bucket of dirty water on the floor of the house. He took a sip from each of them and splashed the last drops from his mouth on the faces of the people in the house, so that they all died. Now it is not good (to have) or a tub for washing or bathing, or an unreserved fire [of wood] or a bucket of dirty water in a house after bedtime.

6. Thereupon he brought him back to his [place of] punishment, and Nera returned to Cruachan. So he saw something. The fort was set on fire in front of him, and he saw a bunch of heads of his people (cut off) by the warriors in the fort. He then followed the army into the cave of Cruachan. "A man on the trail here!" Said the last man to Nera. "More boring is the way," his comrade [the last man, Eg.] Told him, and each man says these words to his mate from the last man to the first. Thereupon, they reached the sid of Cruachan and entered it. Then the heads were shown to the king in the sid. "What should we do with the man who came with you?" Said one of them. "Let him come here, so I can talk to him," said the king. Then Nera came to them and the king said to him: "What brought you with the warriors in the sid? Said the king to him. “I came with your army,” Nera said. "Now go home over there," said the king. “There is a lonely woman over there who will welcome you. Tell her that it is from me that you are sent to her, and come to this house every day with a load of firewood ”.

7. So he did as he was told. The woman welcomed him and said, "Welcome to you, if the king sent you here." "It's him, really," Nera said. Every day Nera used to go with a load of wood towards the fort. Every day he saw a blind man and a lame man on his neck coming out of the fort in front of him. They would go until they were at the edge of a well in front of the fort. "Is it there?" Said the blind man. "It is there," said the lame man. "Let's go," said the lame man.

8. Nera then asked the woman about it. "Why do the blind and the lame visit the well?" "They inspect the crown, which is in the well," said the woman, "namely, a golden diadem, which the king wears on his head. This is where it is kept. "Why are these two going?" Nera said. “It's not hard to tell,” she said, “because they are the ones who are approved by the king to inspect the crown. One of them was blinded, the other made lame. "Come here for a while," Nera said to his wife, "so you can tell me about my adventures now." "" What happened to you? The woman asked. "It's not hard to say," Nera said. “When I came to the sid, it seemed to me that the Cruachan rath had been destroyed and that Ailill and Medb with their entire household were dead inside. "It is not true indeed," said the woman, "but a magical army has come to you. [to them, H.2.16] It will come true, she said, unless he [Nera] reveals it to his friends. "How am I going to give a warning to my people," said Nera. “Get up and go over to them,” she said. “They are still around the same cauldron and the contents have not yet been removed from the fire. Yet it had seemed to him that three days and three nights [had passed] since he had gone to the sid. "Tell them to be on guard next Halloween, unless they come and destroy the people of the sid." For I promise them this: the sid will be destroyed by Ailill and Medb, and the crown of Briun will be carried away by them. "

9. [These are the three things, which were found there, namely: Lóegaire's mantle in Armagh, and Briun's crown in Connaught, and Dunlaing's shirt in Leinster in Kildare.]

10. "How will it be believed that I went to the sid?" Nera said. "Take the fruits of summer with you," said the woman. Then he took wild garlic with him and primrose and golden fern. "And I will be pregnant with you," she said, "and I will give you a son." And send a message from you to the sid, when your people come to destroy the sid, that you may take your family and your flocks out of the sid. "

11. Thereupon Nera went to his people, and found them around the same cauldron, and told them his adventures. And then his sword was given to him, and he sojourned with his people until the end of a year. This was the same year in which Fergus Mac Roeg came as an exile from the land of Ulster to Ailill and Medb in Cruachan. "Your date has come, oh Nera," Ailill told Nera. "Get up and get your people and your cattle out of the sid, that we can go and destroy the sid." "

12.Then Nera went to his wife in the sid, and she welcomed her. “Go to the fort now,” the woman said to Nera, “and take a load of firewood with you. I went there for a whole year with a burden of firewood on my neck every day for you, and I said you were sick. And there is also your son there. So he walked out towards the fort, and carried a load of wood with him on his neck. "Welcome, recovered from the disease you were in!" Said the king. "I'm unhappy that the woman slept with you without asking for anything." "Your will will be done on this matter," Nera declared. "It won't be difficult for you," said the king. He returned to his house. "Now watch your cows today!" Said the woman. “I gave a cow of them to your son as soon as he was born. So Nera went with her cattle during the day.

13. Then, while he was asleep, the Morrigan took her son's cow, and the Brun de Cualnge took her up to the east in Cualnge. She (the Morrigan) then returned west again with her cow. Cuchulain caught up with them in the plain of Murthemne as they crossed it. Because it was one of the gessa de Cuchulain that even a woman could not leave her land without her knowledge. [It was one of his gessa that the birds could not feed on his land, if they did not leave him something. It was one of his gessa let the fish be in the berries, unless he died of his hand. It was one of his gessa that the warriors of another tribe are in his country without his defying them, before morning, if they come at night, or before night, if they come during the day. Every young girl and every single woman that was in Ulster, they were under his protection until they were meant for their husbands. Those are the gessa by Cuchulain]. Cuchulain caught up with the Morrigan with her cow, and he said, "This cow must not be taken." "

14. Nera then returned to her house with her cows in the evening. “My son's cow is missing,” he said. [her, H.2.16] "I don't deserve that you go and watch the cows this way," his wife told him. With that, the cow arrived. “A wonder now! Where did this cow come from? "Truly, she comes from Cualnge, after having been ridden by the Brun de Cualnge," said the woman. "Arise now, lest your warriors come," she said. “This army cannot move for a year until next Halloween. They will come next Halloween: because the sid de Erinn's are always open during Halloween.

15. Nera went to his people. "Where do you come from? Ailill and Medb asked Nera, and where have you been since you left us? "I have been to the fairylands," Nera declared, "full of great treasures and precious things, with lots of clothing and food, and wonderful treasures. They will come to kill you on next Halloween, unless it has been revealed to you. "We will definitely go against them," Ailill said. So they stayed there until the end of the year. “Now if you've got something in the sid,” Ailill said to Nera, “take it away. So Nera went the third day before Halloween and brought her herd out of the sid. Now, as the bull came out of the sid, viz. Aingen cow's calf (Aingene was his son's name), he bellowed three times. At the same time Ailill and Fergus were playing chess, when they heard something, the bull's roar in the plain. Fergus then said:

"I don't like veal
bellowing in the plain of Cruachan,
the son of the black bull of Cualnge, who approaches,
the young son of the Loch Laig bull.

There will be calves without cows
in Bairche en Cualnge,
the king will go to a *** march
because of that Aingene calf.

17. (Aingene was the name of the man and Be Aingeni the name of the woman, and the appearance that Nera saw on them was the same that Cuchulain saw in the Tain Bo Regamna [Raid of the cows of Regamain].]

18. Next, the bull calf and the White-horned [de Ai, H.2.16] met in the plain of Cruachan. One night and one day they fought there, until at last the young bull was defeated. So the young bull mooed when he was defeated. "What is the calf mooing?" Medb asked his herdsman, whose name was Buaigle. “I know that, my good father Fergus,” said Bricriu, “this is the verse you sang in the morning. With that Fergus glanced sideways and punched Bricriu's head with his fist, so that the five men of the chessboard that were in his hand, entered Bricriu's head, and it was lasting harm to him. "Tell me, O Buaigle, what does the bull say?" Medb asked. “In truth,” replied Buaigle, “he said that if his father came to his aid, viz. the Brun de Cualnge, he [the White-horned] would not be taken into consideration in Ai, and he would be beaten [and paraded] across the whole plain of Ai on all sides. "Medb then said in the manner of an oath:" I swear by the gods by whom my people swear, that I will not lie down, nor sleep on a camp bed or on a woolen bed, nor drink of whey; I will not take care of myself, nor drink dark or white beer, and I will not taste any food until I see these two bulls fighting in front of my eyes. "

19. Then the men of Connaught and the dark army of the exiles entered the sid, and destroyed the sid, and took out what was in it. And then they took away the crown of Briun. This is the third wonderful gift in Erinn, with Lóegaire's coat in Armagh, and Dunlaing's shirt in Leinster in Kildare. Nera was left with his people in the sid, and has not been released until now, nor will he be released until the Day of Judgment.