Here is the so-called episode of Allen's Little Hotel from Fenian Cycle.
Little Allen Hotel
There was a lively, beautiful, enormous banquet given by Find son of Cumall, grandson of Baiscné, at Allen the great, in Leinster. When the banquet was ready to serve, the nobles and lords of the Fenians came to take part. Here are the noblest and most honored before Find: Goll the kind, the active son of Morna, Ossian son of Find, Oscar son of Ossian, Mac Lugach with the terrible hand, Diarmaid with the luminous face, Cailté son of Ronan, the strong children of Dubdirma, the children of Smol and the race of Dubdaboirenn, Goll Gulban, the swift Corr and his sons Conn, Donn, Aed and Anacan, Ivor the wonderworker, son of bloody and victorious Crimthann, and two sons of the King of Leinster who were at the same time wards of Find, and Coirell grandson of Conbran. There came with them to the banquet two sons of the king ofScotland and a violent and mad crowd of sons of kings and lords from all over the world. Moreover, all the Fenians of Ireland came there.
Find sat in the champion's seat in the middle of the hotel; the kind Goll son of Morna, in the other seat, and the nobles of their house on either side of them. Each then took his place, according to his rank and his country, in the fixed and suitable place, as had been their custom in all places and at all times before.
Then the servants rose in a veritable crowd to serve and supply the hotel; They took jeweled drinking horns, with gems of pure crystal, artistic and elegant, from each shining goblet, full of art and beauty, and they distributed strong, fermented drinks, exquisite liquors, very sweet, to these good warriors. Gaiety arose among young people, madness and wit among heroes, gentleness and modesty among women, knowledge and prophecy among poets.
Then a herald rose straight up quickly and shook a rough iron chain to suppress the serfs and the peasants; he shook a long chain of old silver to suppress the Fenian nobles and lords as well as the poets. And all listened in deep silence to Fergus with his beautiful mouth; the poet of Find and the Fenians stood up and sang ballads, songs and good poems of ancestors and old times in front of Find son of Cumall, and Find, Ossian. Oscar and Mac Lugach wonderfully rewarded the poet with the most beautiful treasures and riches.
Then he went before Goll son of Morna and told him about the Hotels and the Destructions, the Raids and the Courtes of old, so that his art made the sons of Morna happy and in good spirits. Then Goll said, “Where is my mail?
– Here I am, O king of the Fenians, she said.
– Did you bring me my manual tribute from Norway?
- I brought it. "truly," she said, and saying this she rose quickly and threw, like the mass of an enormous pig, or the charge of a vigorous, lively and brave hero, of beautiful refined gold, into the middle of the hotel in front of Goll.
He untied the envelope which contained this tribute and spread the precious treasures on the ground in the presence of those present. Goll rewarded Fergus as was his custom and there was no learned and eloquent poet, nor a good laboring poet, nor a melodious harpist, nor a learned and precise antiquary, nor any man of science in Ireland or in Scotland, who was in Allen's hotel that night, to whom Goll made no largesse of gold, or silver, or other precious things.
Find spoke and said: “O Goll, how long have you had this tribute on the Norwegians, while I have on them my own tribute and there is a warrior to guard my tribute and my taxes, my hunt and my spoils, and this warrior is Ciaran son of Lathairné, a tough, duelist and vigorous hero whose house numbers ten hundred valiant soldiers? »
Then Goll answered Cumall's son, for he had understood that Find was angry with him and jealous of him, and he said: 'O Find, I have long had this tribute on the Scandinavians; it was the time when your father forced me into war and struggle; the king of Ireland went with his provincials after Cumall against me; I had to leave Ireland to them. I went to Brittany, I captured the country, I killed the king and I massacred his people; but Cumall chased me away. From there I passed into Finnlochlann; the king of Finnlochlann fell under my blows as well as his house; but Cumall chased me away. From there I came to Scotland, the king of Scotland fell under my blows; but Cumall chased me away. From there I came to the land of the Saxons; the king of the Saxons fell under my blows, as did his house; but Cumall chased me away. I came to the battle of Cnucha and there your father fell under my blows; It was at this time that I obtained this tribute from the Scandinavians, said Goll. I took you with me to go to the fortress of the king of the Scandinavians, and fifteen men with you. The wife of the king of Scandinavia gave you his love and you were in an underground prison for a year; a day was appointed to put you and yours to death; and, by thy hand, O Find, I went to the fortress of the king of Scandinavia, I slew king Eogan the great; I massacred his people, I took their gold and their silver, and I imposed a king on the Scandinavians, Tiné of great strength, son of Triscall; I forced him to levy a tribute for me from the Scandinavians, and here he is, said Goll. Moreover, O Find, he continued, it is not a manual tribute that you have among them, but an indemnity of king of the Fenians and protector, and I do not want to lessen it. So, O Find, do not be jealous of me because of this tribute, for if I had anything more than this, it is to you and to the men of Ireland that I would give it. »
Find answered him with anger and bravery. “O Goll,” he said, “you confessed in this story that you came from the city of Beirbé to Cnucha and that there you killed my father; it is daring of you to tell it to me.
“By your hand,” said Goll, “if you brought me dishonor as your father did, I would inflict on you the same treatment that I inflicted on Cumall.
– O Goll, said Find, my power would be very good, to leave him behind to you! For I have in my house a hundred brave warriors to oppose each of those who compose yours.
“This is how your father was,” said Goll, “and I avenged my dishonor on him and I will do the same to you if you take away my tribute. “
Cairell Cneisgell (white skinned), Baiscne's grandson, spoke and said, “O Goll,” he said, “there are many men you have put down in the house of Find son of Cumall. "
Conan the bald, the cursed, son of Morna, spoke and said: “I swear by my arms,” he said, “that however small the house Goll has, he has never been without having with him a hundred a man and that each of them would repress you.
– Are you one of these, O Conan of devious words, of the peeled head? Cairell said.
“I am one, O brown Cairell, of scratchy nails, of wrinkled skin, of weak strength,” said Conan, “and I will go and prove to you that Find was wrong.
Then Cairell stood up and struck Conan with a bold and furious blow. Conan did not respond respectfully, as he delivered another blow to Cairell, right in the middle of the forehead and into the teeth. Thereupon, they administered furious blows, very rapid, truly venomous in the body and on the skin, to each other, so that, following this fistfight, the chests and breasts of these brave men were torn for a long time.
Then there stood up the two sons of Oscar son of Ossian, Echtach and Ilann; They made thick roofs of their shields around them and they gave Conan, in the melee, deep and difficult to heal blows. When the two sons of Goll son of Morna saw Conan in this embarrassment, they rose up and wounded the sons of Oscar in battle.
Then arose the strong, brave lion and the swift, furious, irresistible dragon, Oscar the valiant son of Ossian, and he put his beautiful golden garment on his charming body; a beautiful artistic plaque at his neck; his great hero's shield on his left hand; his hard, straight-bladed sword in his other hand. He went impetuously, courageously to the aid of his family and his brother Cairell. Without drawing his sword, he resorted to hammer blows – he had a hammer in each hand – for this sudden attack. Conan said to Oscar: “I thank the gods that you meet in true duel with me, O Oscar,” he said, “for I will cut the thread of your life. »
Then Oscar and Conan approached each other and their meeting ended in the defeat of Conan from whom Oscar extracted a cry of distress. Conan looked at Art Oc son of Morna, and this all-powerful warrior rose up and wounded Oscar. Ossian the very strong, son of Find, could not bear this and injured Art. Garbfoltach son of Morna rose up and wounded Ossian. The bold Mac Lugach stood up, put on his combat harness and hard struggle and wounded Garbfoltach. Broad-chested Garadh, son of Morna, rose up and wounded MacLugach. Then stood up Faelan son of Find, with his three hundred brothers with him, and he entered vigorously and bravely into the fray and by him the sons of Morna were driven from their place.
Then arose the brave lion, the majestic warrior of great spirit, the swift, furious dragon, the gay bear, and the wrath of persistent blows, and the pillar of bravery and the strong pillar of battle, Goll the gracious , the energetic, purple-cheeked, clear-minded son of Morna, and he put on him his harness of battle and duel: a beautiful pectoral, adorned with flowers, around his neck; her magnificent garment, bordered in white, on her beautiful skin; his sword with its sharp point, very solid and striking well, in his hand with brown nails; his large warrior shield, humped, in his left hand. He went boldly, furious, irresistible, into the hotel and he did not leave a sparkling candle or a burning, brilliant torch in the big hotel without extinguishing it, nor a table without breaking it into little gaping pieces.
Then Find uttered his battle cry, “the hero of the wood,” with all his might and bade the Fenians of Ireland exterminate and put to death, without giving quarter, the sons of Morna.
Then the Fenians made thick, strong, indissoluble palisades, with their shields all around them. Find put himself at the head of these brave men and they began to break each other's bones without giving any quarter. Then a transport of anger seized Goll; to protect his own, he made of himself a solid, unbreakable shield; then the valiant troops and their great leaders became furious; the warriors, enraged, and the fighters, more numerous; and the combatants were covered with wounds following the violent, hateful, poisonous combat that the great heroes waged against each other. Much blood flowed freely from the sides of the sons of the nobles; deep, incurable wounds covered the destructive and inseparable crowd. It was a bad place for a weak and sick person, or for a delicate woman with long fingers, or for an old man burdened with distant years, who would have been in Allen's little hotel that night, listening to the moans of young and old, plebeians and nobles, in distress, weakened, dying, thrown to the ground and cut to pieces. And they remained in this manner from the beginning of the night until the rising of the sun the next day, without giving quarter to one another.
Then arose the prophetic poet of incisive speech, the man of verse, richly rewarded, Fergus of the beautiful mouth, and the men of science of the Fenians with him; and they sang their lays, their good poems and their panegyric songs to these heroes to hold them back and soften them.
Then, to the music of the poets, they stopped chopping and grinding and let their weapons fall to the ground. The poets picked up their weapons and made reconciliation among themselves. However Find said that he would not make peace with the clan of Morna before he had the sentence of the King of Ireland, that of Ailbé daughter of Cormac Mac Art son of Cond Cechathach, that of Cairbré Lifechair heir of Ireland, the sentence of Fithal and Flathri and before the approval of the judgment was given by Finntan son of Bochna. Goll said he would grant him all that. They undertook, under the guarantee of the poets, to firmly establish this peace and they settled one day, a fortnight from that moment, on the meadow of Tara.
Then the losses of the Fenians were examined, and these were those who were missing from the house of Find; eleven hundred men and women, and there were many gracious, very noble ladies, and pretty, well-made women, kind young girls, with sweet words, heroes full of bravery and valor to fall there; and there were many wounded noses, gouged out eyes, chopped ears, legs cut to the bone, torn hands, lacerated bodies, holed sides among those who remained alive from the house of Find son of Cumall, at that time.
As for Goll and his good house, the clan of Morna, they were missing only eleven men and fifty women. It was not that the women had been killed, but that they had died of fear and shock. Everyone who could heal was treated. And they made graves very deep and very wide for all those who had died on both sides.
Then the great hall of Allen was cleaned and everyone took their place according to their nobility and their country. They took fourteen days to make this arrangement, and at the end of this time they went to Tara. Cormac and Cairbré, Ailbe and Fithal, Flathri and Finntan sons of Bochna sat in the place of judgment. Find came forward first to tell his story. But Goll said, “O Find,” said he, “it is not to thee we will give to relate the matter which is between us; for you will make truth with lies, lies with truth, against me; together we entrust the matter to Fergus. May he swear by his gods to do justice between us! »
Find consents and Fergus guarantees to do justice. Then he said that it was Cairell who had punched Conan first; that Goll's two sons had come to Conan's aid; that Oscar had come to the aid of his house; and that thereupon the Fenians of Ireland and the clan of Morna had risen against each other, and had begun to break each other's bones without quarter, since the beginning of the night until sunrise the next day, and that the losses of the house of Find son of Cumall, on this occasion, had been eleven hundred men and women and that those of the clan of Morna had been eleven men and fifty women, and that, moreover, there were a large number of wounded on both sides following this rush.
“I am surprised at the small loss of the Morna clan,” said Cormac, “given the numbers they had in front of them. » Fergus said that it was Goll who had come as a shield to protect his people, “and this, O king of Ireland,” he said, “is the story of this hotel.” Flathri said: “Damage to the clan of Morna,” he said, “for it was against them that the assault was begun.
“It’s not the decision of a lawyer’s son,” said Cormac; for every warrior owes obedience to his lord.
“That's true for a bruise,” said Flathri, “but not for shedding of blood. » Fithal said: "Let us exempt the clan of Morna from paying damages to those who started the aggression and furthermore let us exempt Find, because of the extent of its losses, from paying damages. »
Finntan son of Bochna said: "Here is a judgment of the son of a lawyer!" "
Cormac and Cairbré praised this sentence.
Then the Fenians were summoned into the field; judgment was presented to them, and peace was thus made between them. This is the story of Petit Hotel d'Allen.
