This is the story of the mythological cycle Irish which is called The Tragic Death of the Children of Lir.
CHAPTER I
Bove Derg elected King of the Dedannans
After the battle of Taillltenn, the Dedannans of the five provinces of Erin met in a place of assembly, in order to examine their state, and to choose a king. For their lords said that it was better for them to have one king over all, than to be divided, as they were, serving divers lords and princes.
Then, of those who hoped to obtain sovereignty for themselves, the following lords were the noblest, namely: Bove Derg, the son of the Dagda, his brother Angus, of Bruga on the Boyne, who, however, had not no burning desire to become king, preferring to remain what he was; Ilbrec of Assaroe; Lir of Shee Finnaha and Midir le Hautain of Bri-Leth.
So the lords went to council, except the five named above, and the decision they arrived at was to elect Bove Derg, the son of the Dagda, king of all the Dedannan people. When the election was made known to all, none of those who were disappointed took the matter to heart, except the one Lir of Shee Finnaha. And when Lir found that the lords had chosen Bove Derg, he was greatly offended, and immediately left the assembly in anger, without taking leave of anyone, and without showing any sign of respect or obedience to the new king.
When the lords heard this, they were angry, and they declared that they would follow him to Shee Finnaha, and kill him with spear and sword, and burn his house, because he did not obey the king whom they had elected in sovereign council.
But Bove Derg did not allow them to do so. “This man,” he said, “will defend his territory, and many will be killed, and I am nevertheless your king, although he has not submitted to me. »
Things remained like this for a long time. But at last a great misfortune befell Lir, for his wife died after an illness of three days. This weighed heavily on him, and his heart was full of regret after her. His death, moreover, was a big event at the time, and it was talked about a lot through Erin.
When news reached the abode of Bove Derg, where the lords of the Dedannans were then assembled, the king said:
“As Lir's wife is now deceased, my friendship would be useful to him, if he were willing to accept it. For I have in my house three young daughters, the fairest and most learned in all Erin, namely, Eve, Eva, and Alva, my own adopted children, and the daughters of Allil de Ara. “
The Dedannans agreed to this, and said that their king had spoken with wisdom and truth.
So messengers were sent to Lir, and they were told to say to him:
"If you are ready to submit to the king, he will give you one of his three adopted children as a wife, and you will have his friendship forever." "
It pleased Lir to contract this alliance, and accordingly he set out the next day from Shee Finnaha with a company of fifty chariots; and they neither stopped nor turned away until they reached the palace of Bove Derg, on the shore of the Great Lake. Their arrival brought much joy and happiness to the king and his household, for although Lir had not initially submitted to Bove Derg, he was a good man, and was much loved by the king himself and of all his subjects. So Lir and his followers received a kind welcome, and were provided with everything necessary, and they were well served that night.
The next day the three daughters of Allil of Ara sat on the same bed as the queen their foster mother, and the king said to Lir:
"Take your pick from the three maidens, and whichever one you choose, she will be your wife." "
“They are all beautiful,” declared Lir, “and I cannot say which one surpasses the others, so I will take the eldest, for she must be the noblest of the three. »
Then the king said, “Eve is the firstborn, and she will be given to you if you wish.” »
So Lir chose Eve for his wife, and they got married that same day.
Lir stayed for a fortnight in the king's palace, then he left with his wife for his own home, Shee Finnaha, where he celebrated his marriage with a grand royal wedding feast.
CHAPTER II
The Children of Lir
In time, Lir's wife bore him two children at the same time, a daughter and a son, whose names were Finola and Aed. A second time she gave birth to two twins, two sons, who were called Ficra and Conn, and she died giving birth to them. This was a source of great pain to Lir, and he would almost have died of grief, if only his mind had not been diverted from his sadness by his great love for his four little children.
When the news of Eve's death reached the house of Bove Derg, the king was in deep sorrow, and the people of his house uttered three loud cries of lamentation for her. And when their mourning was over, the king said:
“We weep for our foster child, both for her own sake and for the love of the good man to whom we had given her, for we are grateful for his alliance and his friendship. But our relationship will not be over, and our alliance will not be broken, because I will give him his sister to wife, my second adopted child, Eva. »
Messengers were sent to Lir to Shee Finnaha, to speak to him of this, and he consented. So after some time he came to the king's house to marry her, and they were united; and he took him to his own house.
The four children grew up under Eva's care. She cared for them with tenderness and her love for them increased every day. They slept next to their father, and he often got up from his bed at dawn, and went to their bed, to talk with them and caress them.
The king, Bove Derg, loved them almost as much as their father. He went several times every year to Shee Finnaha to see them, and he used to bring them back often to his palace, where he kept them as long as he could each time, and he always felt sad when he sent them home.
At this time, also, the Dedannans were in the habit of celebrating the Festival of Time in the house of their lords, in turn, and when the festival took place at Shee Finnaha, these children were the delight and joy of the Dedannans . For nowhere could four such beautiful children be found, so that those who saw them were always delighted by their beauty and sweetness, and could not help loving them with all their hearts.
CHAPTER III
The four Children of Lir are transformed into four white swans by their stepmother
So when Eva saw that the children of Lir were receiving so much attention and affection from their father, and from all the others who came to his house, it seemed to her that she was being neglected for their benefit, and a A venomous dart of jealousy entered her heart, which turned her love into hatred, and she began to have feelings of bitter enmity for her sister's children.
Her jealousy poisoned her so much that she feigned illness, and went to bed for nearly a year, filled with gall and plotting misdeeds, and, at the end of this time, she committed an evil and cruel act of treason on the children of Lir.
One day she ordered her horses to be harnessed to her chariot, and she set out for Bove Derg Palace, taking the four children with her.
Finola did not want to leave, for it had been revealed to her in a dark dream that Eva was intent on some terrible act of fratricide, and she knew well that her stepmother intended to kill her and her brothers that day. there, or in another way to bring ruin upon them. But she was unable to avoid the fate that awaited her.
When they had gone far enough from Shee Finnaha on their way to the palace, Eva tried to convince her people to kill the children. “Kill them, and you will be rewarded with all the riches of this world that you can desire, for their father no longer loves me, and he has neglected and abandoned me because of his great love for these children. »
But they heard his words with horror, and refused, saying: “We are not going to kill them.” Frightening is the act you have contemplated, O Eva, and misfortune will surely befall you just for having thought of killing them.”
Then she took the sword to kill them herself, but her weakness as a woman prevented her, and she was not able to strike them.
Then they advanced once more, and traveled until they came to the shore of Lake Darvra, where they stopped, and the horses were unharnessed.
She led the children to the edge of the lake, and told them to go and bathe, and as soon as they entered the clear water, she struck them one by one with a druidic wand, and transformed them into four beautiful white swans. like snow. And she addressed them these words:
“Go home, you swans, to the waves of Darvra; With the noisy birds begins your life of sadness: Your friends will mourn your fate, but none can save you; For I have spoken the terrible words of destiny. »
After that, Lir's four children turned their faces to their stepmother, and Finola spoke:
“Bad is the act you have committed, Eva; your friendship for us has been a friendship of betrayal, and you have caused our ruin without reason. But the deed will be avenged, because the power of your witchcraft is no greater than the druidic power that our friends will use to punish you, and the fate that awaits you is worse than ours. »
Our mother-in-law loved us a long time ago;
Our mother-in-law has now forged our misfortune:
With a wave of a magic wand and terrible words,
She has changed us into beautiful snow-white birds;
And we will live on the waters for eternity,
By storms driven from shore to shore.
Finola spoke again and said, "Tell us now how long we will be in swan form, so that we know when our miseries are over." "
“It would have been better for you if you had not asked that question,” said Eva, “but I will tell you the truth, as you asked. Three hundred years on calm Lake Darvra, three hundred years on the Sea of Moyle, between Erin and Alban, three hundred years in Irros Domnann and Inis Glora on the West Sea. Until the union of Largnen, the prince of the north, with Decca, the princess of the south, until the Tailkenn comes in Erin, bringing the light of pure faith and until you hear the sound of the Christian bell. And neither by your own power, nor by mine, nor by the power of your friends, can you be freed until the time is right. »
Then Eva repented of what she had done, and she said: "Since I can give you no other reparation, I will allow you to keep your own Gaelic language, and you will be able to sing sweet and plaintive music of fairies, which will surpass all the music of the world, and which will put to sleep all those who listen to it. Furthermore, you will retain your human reason, and you will not be in pain because of your swan form. »
And she sang this lai:
Depart from me, you graceful swans;
The waters are now your home:
Your palace is the cave of mother-of-pearl,
Your layer the crest of the crystal wave,
And your coat foams to the whiteness of milk!
Get away from me, o snow-white swans
With your music and the Gaelic word:
The crystalline Darvra, the winter Moyle,
The stormy shores of the island of Glora;
Three hundred years on each!
Read the Victorious, your unhappy father,
His loved ones in vain he will call;
Her heavy heart is a bug full of blood,
His house is joyless forever,
And his anger on me will melt away!
Through the cycles of grief and fear of time
If no language can express our anguish;
Until Faith sheds its heavenly rays,
Until you hear the Tailkenn's hymn of praise,
And the voice of the Christian bell!
Then, ordering her horses to be harnessed to her chariot, she set off west, leaving the four white swans to swim on the lake.
Our father will watch and cry in vain;
He will never see us come back.
Four beautiful children, happy at home;
Four white swans on the feathery foam;
And we will live on the waters for eternity,
By storms driven from shore to shore.
CHAPTER IV
The four white swans of Lake Darvra.
When Eva arrived at Bove Derg's house, the lords welcomed her, and the king asked her why she had not brought Lir's children to him.
“Because,” she replied, “Lir no longer loves you, and he does not want to entrust his children to you, for fear that you will harm them. »
The king was greatly astonished and troubled at this, and he said, “How can this be? Because I love these children much more than I love my own. »
But he imagined in his mind that Eva had plotted some betrayal against them. He sent swift messengers north to Shee Finnaha, to inquire about the children, and to ask that they be sent to him.
When the messengers had carried their message, Lir was surprised, and he asked: “Did not the children reach the palace with Eva? »
They replied, “Eva came alone, and she told the king that you refused to let the children come. "
Lir's heart was sad and painful when he heard this, and then he was convinced that Eva had destroyed his four beautiful children. So early the next morning his chariot was harnessed for him, and he set out with his retinue for the king's palace, and they traveled with all speed until they came to the shore of Lake Darvra.
Lir's children will approach the cavalcade, and Finola says these words:
I see a magical troop of warriors,
From the ridge over there, come to the shore;
I see them descend into the valley,
Their bent chariots advancing slowly;
I see their shields and the golden meshes,
Their spears and helmets sparkling intensely.
Ah! I know this proud crew well;
I know their thoughts too well today:
The Dedannan troop and the royal Lir;
Four pink children they are looking for:
Too early, alas! they will find us here,
Four snowy swans like talking children!
Come on, dear brothers, let's approach the coast,
To welcome Lir's mysterious troop.
Oh, sorry welcome! lamentable day,
Which will never bring a bright tomorrow!
Unhappy father, condemned forever
To mourn our fate in hopeless pain!
When Lir approached the bank, he heard the birds speaking, and, filled with astonishment, he asked them how it was that they had human voices.
“Know, Lir,” Finola said, “that we are your four children, who have been turned into swans and condemned by the witchcraft of our mother-in-law, our own mother's sister, Eva, because of her dire jealousy. "
When Lir and his people heard this, they uttered three long, painful cries of grief and lamentation.
After a while, their father asked them: "Is it possible to restore you to your first forms?"
“That is not possible,” replied Finola; “No man has the power to free us until Largnen of the north and Decca of the south are united. Three hundred years we will be on Lake Darvra, three hundred years on the currents of the Sea of Moyle, three hundred years on the Sea of Glora in the west. And we will not return to human form until Taillkenn comes with his pure faith in Erin, nor until we hear the voice of the Christian bell. »
And again the people uttered three loud cries of pain.
“Since you have kept your language and your sanity,” said Lir, “come ashore, and you will live at home, conversing with me and my people. "
“We are not allowed to leave the waters of the lake, and we can no longer live with our people. But the wicked Eva has allowed us to retain our human reason, and our Gaelic language, and we also have the power to sing the plaintive music of the fairies, so sweet that those who listen to us would never want to know any other happiness. Stay with us tonight, and we will sing our music for you. »
Lir and his people remained on the shore of the lake and the swans sang their slow fairy music, which was so sweet and sad, that the people, as they listened, fell into a calm and sweet sleep.
At the light of dawn the next morning, Lir got up, and he bade his children farewell for the moment, to go and look for Eva.
The time has come for me to go:
Never again, alas! my dear children,
Your rosy smiles will not brighten my heart,
Nor the light in Lir's dark house.
Dark was the day when I first took
This Eva live with me!
Hard was the heart of the woman who operated
This cruel and evil fate!
I lie down to rest, in vain;
Because during the endless sleepless night,
My beloved little ones, as in themselves,
Still stand there in front of my eyes.
Finola, once my pride and joy;
The dark Aed, adventurous and daring;
The brilliant Ficra, amiable, mischievous boy;
And little Conn, with his gold curls;
Tied to the reed-covered shores of Darvra,
By Eva's evil magic power:
Oh, children, children, never again
My heart will never know an hour of peace!
Lir then departed, and traveled southwest until he came to the king's palace, where he was welcomed, and Bove Derg began to reproach him, in the presence of Eva, for not having brought the children.
“Alas,” said Lir, “it was not by me that the children were prevented from coming. But Eva, your foster child, their mother's sister, through a traitorous trick transformed them through her witchcraft into four white swans on the lake of Darvra.
The king was confounded and distressed by this news, and when he looked at Eva, he knew by her face that what Lir had told him was true, and he began to reproach her with a harsh and angry voice.
“The wicked trick you have committed,” he said, “will be worse for you than for the children of Lir, for their suffering will come to an end, and they will be happy at last. "
Again he spoke to her more fiercely than before, and he asked her which form among all others, on the earth or above the earth, or under the earth, she most abhorred, and in which she most feared being transformed.
And she, who was obliged to answer sincerely, declared: “A demon of the air”. “This is the appearance you will take,” said Bove Derg, and as he spoke he struck her with a Druidic wand, and transformed her into an air demon. She opened her wings, and flew with a cry high and far through the clouds, and she is still a demon of the air, and she must remain a demon of the air, until the end of the time.
Then Bove Derg and the Dedannans assembled on the shore of the lake, and camped there, because they wished to stay with the birds, and listen to their music. The Milesians came running and set up camp there in the same way, for historians say that no music that was ever heard in Erin could be compared with the song of these swans.
And so the swans spent their time. During the day they conversed with the men of Ireland, both the Dedannans and the Milesians, and talked lovingly with their friends and fellow feeders, and at night they sang their slow, sweet fairy music, the most pleasant that was ever heard by men, so that all who heard it, even those who were in sorrow, sickness or pain, forgot their sorrows and sufferings, and fell into a sweet sleep, whence they woke up happy and radiant.
So they continued, the Dedannans and the Milesians, in their encampments, and the swans on the lake, three hundred years. And at the end of this time, Finola said to his brothers:
“Do you know, my dear brothers, that we have come to the end of our stay here, and that we only have this night left to spend on Lake Darvra? »
When the three sons of Lir heard this, they were in great distress and sorrow, for they were almost as happy on Lake Darvra, surrounded by their friends, and conversing with them from day to day, as if they had been in the their father's house into their own natural forms, while they would now have to live on the dark and stormy Sea of Moyle, far from all human society.
Early the next morning they arrived at the lake, to speak to their father and their friends for the last time, and to say goodbye to them, and Finola sang this lai:
I
Farewell, farewell, our dear father!
The sad last hour has come:
Farewell, Bove Derg! farewell to all,
Until the terrible day of the curse!
We leave beloved friends and landscapes,
For a house of sorrow and sorrow;
And that day of misfortune
Must come and finish,
Before we meet again!
II
We will live for centuries on stormy Moyle,
In loneliness and fear;
The sweet words of loving friends
We will never hear them again.
Four happy children a long time ago;
Four snow-white swans today;
And on the wild sea of Moyle
Our covers will be
Cold and salty spray.
III
Over there on the misty river of time
When three hundred years have passed
Three hundred more in the storm and the cold,
On the desolate shores of Glora;
Until the noble Decca was Largnen's wife;
Until North and South unite;
Until the hymns are sung,
And let the bells ring,
At the dawn of the light of pure faith
IV
Arise, my brethren, from the waves of Darvra,
On the wings of the south wind;
We leave father and friends today
Behind us in immeasurable pain.
Ah! sad, separation, and sad our flight
To Moyle's tempestuous heart;
Because the day of misfortune
Must come and finish,
Before we meet again!
The four swans then spread their wings, and rose above the surface of the water in the sight of all their friends, until they reached a great height in the air. Then, after resting and looking down for a while they flew straight north, until they reached the Sea of Moyle between Erin and Alban.
The men of Ireland were affected by their departure, and they made a law, and proclaimed throughout all the land, that no one should kill a swan in Erin from that day forward.
CHAPTER V
The four white swans on the sea of Moyle
As for the children of Lir, miserable was their refuge and bad their situation on the sea of Moyle. Their hearts were twisted with pain for their father and their friends, and when they looked towards the steep, rocky coasts that stretched far away, and saw the great dark and wild sea around them, they were overcome with fear. and despair. They also began to suffer from cold and hunger, so that all the hardships they had endured on Lake Darvra seemed nothing compared to their suffering on the Moyle Sea Current.
And so they lived, until one night a great storm fell on the sea. When she saw the sky full of black and threatening clouds, Finola spoke to her brothers:
“Dear brothers, we are ill prepared for this night, for it is certain that the coming storm will separate us, and now we must choose a place of meeting, or we may not see each other again. "
And they replied: “Dear sister, you speak truth and wisdom, so let us choose Carricknarone, because it is a rock that we know very well. »
And they chose Carricknarone as their meeting place.
Midnight came, and with it the onset of the storm. A wild and brutal wind swept across the dark sea, lightning streaked [the sky], and great waves arose, and their violence and roar increased.
The swans were quickly scattered across the waters, so that not one of them knew in which direction the others had been driven. All that night they were tossed by the roaring winds and waves, and it was with great difficulty that they preserved their lives.
Towards morning the storm abated, and the sea became calm and smooth again, and Finola swam towards Carricknarone. But she found none of her brothers there, she could see no trace of them when she looked all around the top of the rock overlooking the broad sea front.
So she was terrified, because she thought she would never see them again, and she began their plaintive lament in these terms:
The heartbreaking anguish and unhappiness of this life
I am no longer able to bear them:
My wings are numb with this merciless frost;
My three little brothers are scattered and lost;
And I am left here in despair.
My three little brothers, I won't see them anymore
Until the dead rise from the grave:
As I often sheltered them with my wings and my chest,
And I soothed their sorrows and rocked their rest,
As the dark night fell around us!
Ah, where are my brothers, and why have I lived,
This last affliction the worst to know?
What is left now if not a life of despair?
Because, alas! I am no longer able to bear
This heartbreaking anguish and this misfortune.
Soon after, she looked out to sea again, and she saw Conn coming towards the rock, with his head bowed, and his feathers all soaked with the salt spray, and she welcomed him with a joyful heart.
Soon after, Ficra appeared, but he was so weakened by the rain and the cold and the privation, that he was barely able to reach the place where Finola and Conn were standing, and when they spoke to him, he couldn't say a single word in return. Then Finola put them both under her wings, and she said:
“If Aed were here now, everything would be happy for us. "
In no time they saw Aed coming towards them, his head held high, his feathers all dry and beaming; and Finola gave him a cheerful welcome. She then put it under the feathers of her breast, while Conn and Ficra remained under her wings, and she said to them:
“My dear brethren, although you may judge this night to be very bad, we will have many like it from now on. "
So they lived for a long time on the Sea of Moyle, experiencing difficulties of all kinds, until one winter night a great wind, snow and very severe frost came upon them, such that nothing of that what they had suffered could not be compared to the distress of that night. Finola said these words:
Our life is a life of misfortune;
No shelter or rest, we find:
Let the snow rush sharply;
How cold is this winter wind!
Frozen sea spray,
From the dark north-easterly wind,
I protect my three brothers,
Under my wings and my chest.
Our mother-in-law sent us here,
And we know the distress well:
In the cold and hunger and fear;
Our life is a life of misfortune!
Another year passed on the Sea of Moyle, and one night in January a terrible frost fell upon land and sea, so that the waters were frozen and became a solid floor of ice all around them. The swans remained on Carricknarone all night, and their feet and wings were caught in the ice, so that in the morning they had to fight hard to leave their place, and they left the skin of their feet, the feathers of their wings and breast feathers clinging to the rock.
“Sad is our condition this night, my beloved brethren,” declared Finola, “we are forbidden to leave the sea of Moyle, and yet we will not suffer the salt water, for if it enters our wounds, I fear let us not die of pain. »
And she said this lai:
Our lot is deplorable here today;
Our naked and frozen bodies,
Soaked in the sour and brackish spray,
And torn apart on this rocky hill!
Cruel the jealous heart of our mother-in-law
Who banishes us from the house;
Transformed into swans by magical art,
To row the foam of the ocean
This dark and snowy winter day,
Our bath is the vast ocean;
In the burning summer ray that thirsts,
Our drink is the brackish tide.
And there, in the midst of steep rocks, we remain,
In this stormy bay;
Four children bound by an enchantment;
Our fate is deplorable today!
They were, however, obliged to swim the Moyle Current, wounded and torn as they were, for though the brine was harsh and bitter, they could not avoid it. They remained as close to the coast as possible, until after a long time the feathers on their breasts and wings grew again, and their wounds were healed.
After this they lived there a great number of years, sometimes visiting the shores of Erin, and sometimes the headlands of Alban. But they always returned to the Sea of Moyle, for it was destined to be their home until the end of three hundred years.
One day they came to the mouth of the Bann on the northern coast of Erin, and looking inland they saw a large troop of horsemen approaching directly from the southwest. They were mounted on white horses and dressed in brightly colored clothing, and as they rode toward the shore their weapons gleamed in the sun.
"Don't you know that cavalcade over there?" Finola asked his brothers.
“We do not know them,” they replied, “but it is probable that it is a group of Milesians, or perhaps a troop of our own people, the Dedannans.
They swam towards the shore, to find out who the strangers were, and the horsemen on their side, when they saw the swans, immediately recognized them, and rode towards them until they were within earshot.
In fact, they were a group of Dedannans, and the lords who commanded them were the two sons of Bove Derg, King Dedannan, namely Aed the Quick-Spirit, and Fergus the Chessplayer, with a third of the Fairy Army. They had been for a long time searching for the children of Lir along the northern shores of Erin, and now that they had found them, they were joyful, and they and the swans greeted each other with tender expressions of friendship and kindness. 'love. The children of Lir asked [for news] of the Dedannans, and in particular of their father Lir, and of Bove Derg, and of all the rest of their friends and relations.
“They are all well,” replied the chief, “and they, and the Dedannans in general, are now gathered in your father's house at Shee Finnaha, celebrating the Feast of Time, pleasantly and pleasantly. Their happiness would indeed be complete, except that you are not with them, and that they do not know where you have been since you left Lake Darvra.
“Miserable has been our life since that day,” said Finola, “and no language can tell of the suffering and pain we endured on the sea of Moyle.
And she sang these words:
Ah, happy is the bright home of Lir today,
With mead, music, the lays of poets:
But dark and cold the home of her children,
Forever thrown onto the brackish foam.
Our twisted feathers are thin and light
When the strong wind blows in the winter night:
Yet often we were dressed, a long time ago,
Of purple coats and snowy furs.
On the dark Moyle stream our food and our wine
are sandy seagrass and bitter brine:
Yet often we feasted in ancient times,
And we drank the nutty mead from golden goblets.
Our beds are rocks in soaked caves;
Our lullaby the roar of the waves:
But rich and soft layers we once had,
And harpists rocked us every night to put us to sleep.
Lonely we swim on the stormy current,
Through frost and snow, through storm and rain:
Alas for the days around us came
Lords and princes and friends we loved!
My little twin brothers under my wings
Hold tight, when the north wind stings bitterly,
And Aed snuggles up close to my chest;
Thus, side by side in the night we rest.
Our father's tender kisses, Bove Derg's hugs,
The light of Mannanan's divine face,
Angus's love, all, all are lost;
And we live, on the waves for eternity!
After this they bade each other farewell, for it was not lawful for the children of Lir to remain far from the stream of Moyle. As soon as they had separated, the Fairy Cavalcade returned to Shee Finnaha, where they reported to the Dedannan lords all that had happened, and described the situation of the children of Lir. And the lords replied:
“It is not in our power to help them, but we are glad that they are alive, and we know that in the end the enchantment will be broken, and they will be freed from their suffering. »
As for the children of Lir, they returned to their home by the sea of Moyle, and remained there until they had reached the end of their years.
CHAPTER VI
The four white swans on the western sea
And when their three hundred years were completed, Finola said to his brothers, “It is time for us to leave this place, for our time here has come to an end. "
The hour has come, the hour has come;
Three hundred years have passed:
We leave this dark and sad house,
And we are flying west, finally!
We leave the Moyle stream forever;
On the clear cold wind we go;
Three hundred years around the island of Glora,
Where winter storms blow!
There is no sheltered abode, no place of rest,
From the angry breath of the storm:
Flee, brothers, flee to the far west,
Because the time has finally come!
So the swans left the Sea of Moyle, and flew westward, until they reached Irros Domnann and the sea around the island of Glora. They remained there for a long time, suffering greatly from the storms and cold, and in no way better off than they were on the Sea of Moyle.
It happened that a young man named Ebric, from a good family, the owner of a plot of land located along the shore, noticed the birds and heard their songs.
He took great pleasure in listening to their plaintive music, and he went down to the shore almost every day to see them and to converse with them, so that he came to love them very much, and they appreciated him. Also. This young man told his neighbors the story of the talking swans, so that the news spread far and wide, and it was he who put the story into shape, after hearing it from the swans themselves, and told it as it is told here.
Once again their sorrows began again, and to describe what they suffered on the great Western Sea would only be to tell again the story of their lives on the Moyle. But one particular night came, it froze so hard that the whole surface of the sea, from Irros Domnann to Achill, froze to a very great depth and the snow was blown by a northwest wind. That night it seemed to the three brothers that they could not bear their suffering any longer, and they began to complain loudly and pitifully. Finola tried to console them, but she was not able to do so, as they lamented even more, and then she began to lament with the others.
After a while Finola spoke to them saying: “My dear brothers, believe in the great and splendid God of truth, who made the earth with its fruits, and the sea with its wonders, put your trust in Him, and He will help you. will send help and comfort. »
“We believe in Him,” they said.
“And I too,” said Finola, “I believe in God, who is perfect in everything, and who knows all things. "
And at the predestined hour they all had faith, and the Lord of heaven sent them help and protection, so that neither cold nor storm struck them from that time on, as long as they sojourned on the sea from West.
So they continued [living] on Irros Domnann, until they had fulfilled their appointed time there. And Finola spoke to the sons of Lir “My dear brothers, the end of our time here has come, we will now go and visit our father and our people. »
And his brothers were happy when they heard this. Then they rose lightly from the surface of the sea, and flew eastward with joyful hope, until they reached Shee Finnaha. But when they landed, they found the place deserted and lonely, its rooms all in ruins and covered with tall grass and nettle forests, no houses, no fire, no trace of human presence.
Then the four swans gathered together, and they uttered three dismal cries of pain.
And Finola sang this lai:
What does this sad, this terrible change mean,
Who dries up my heart of misfortune?
My father's house, sad and lonely,
Its rooms and gardens invaded by weeds,
A terrible and strange reversal!
No conquering hero, no hunting dogs,
No shield in a row on its walls,
No shining silver goblet, no joyous cavalcade,
No gatherings of young men or noble ladies,
To brighten up its desolate rooms!
A harbinger of sadness that the house of our youth
totally in ruins, abandoned, and bare.
Alas for the leader, the gentle and courageous;
His glory and his sorrows are silent in the grave,
And we still have to live in despair!
From ocean to ocean, from age to age,
We have experienced the fulfillment of times;
a life such as men have never heard of,
In suffering and sorrow our fate was sealed,
By the merciless crime of our mother-in-law!
The children of Lir stayed that night in the ruins of the palace, the home of their ancestors, where they themselves had been fed, and several times during the night they sang their sad, sweet fairy music.
Early the next morning they left Shee Finnaha, and flew west towards Inis Glora, where they landed on a small lake. There they began to sing so sweetly that all the birds of the surroundings gathered around them in a flock on the lake, and on its bank, to listen to them, so that the small lake was called the Lake of the Troupes of Birds.
During the day the birds ordinarily flew to distant points on the coast to feed, sometimes to Iniskea of the solitary crane, now called Achill, and sometimes southward to the rocks of the Bonn Sea, and towards many other islands and headlands along the shore of the West Sea, but they returned to Inis Glora every evening.
They lived in this way until Saint Patrick came to Erin with pure faith, and until Saint Kemoc came to Inis Glora.
The first night Kemoc spent on the island, the children of Lir heard his bell at morning time, tinkling faintly in the distance. And they shivered greatly, and sprang up, and ran like madmen, for the sound of the bell was strange and terrible to them, and its chords filled them with great fear. The three brothers were more frightened than Finola, so that they left her almost alone, but after a while they came to her, and she asked them:
“Do you know, my brothers, what is that sound? "
And they answered, “We heard a faint, frightened voice, but we do not know what it is.” »
“It is the voice of the Christian bell,” declared Finola, “and now the end of our suffering is near, for this bell is the signal that we will soon be freed from our enchantment, and freed from our life of suffering, for God wanted it. »
And she sang this lai:
Hear, O swans, the voice of the bell,
The sweet bell we have dreamed of for years;
Her notes fluttering on the night breeze say
May the end of our long life of pain be near!
Hear, O swans, the heavenly chords;
It is the ringing of the anchorite's sweet bell at mornings:
He came to free us from sorrow, from pain,
Cold and stormy shores where we stay!
Have faith in the glorious Lord of heaven;
He will free us from Eva's druidic spells:
Be grateful and happy, for our freedom is near,
And listen with joy to the voice of the bell!
Then his brothers calmed down, and the four swans remained listening to the music of the bell, until the clerk had finished his mornings.
“Let's sing our music now,” says Finola.
And they sang a deep, sweet and plaintive chord of fairy music, to praise and thank the King, High and great, of heaven and earth.
Kemoc heard the music from where he was, and he listened with great astonishment. But after a while it was revealed to him that it was the children of Lir who were singing this music, and he was happy, for he had come to seek them.
When morning dawned, he came to the shore of the lake, and he saw the four white swans swimming on the water. He spoke to them, and asked them if they were the children of Lir.
They replied, "We are indeed Lir's children, and we were metamorphosed into swans long ago by our wicked mother-in-law."
“I thank God for having found you,” said Kemoc, “for it is for you that I have come to this little island in preference to all the other islands of Erin. Come now to the earth, and trust in me; for it is in this place that you are destined to be freed from your enchantment. »
They then came, filled with joy at the words of the cleric, to the coast, and placed themselves under his guard. He took them to his own house, and sent for a skilled workman, and made for him two sparkling, fine silver chains, and he placed one chain between Finola and Aed, and the other chain he placed between Ficra and Conn .
They thus lived with him, listening to his teachings day by day, and joining in his devotions. They were the joy and pleasure of the cleric and he loved them, with all his heart, and the swans were so happy that the memory of all the suffering they had undergone during their long life on the waters did not now cause them neither pain nor distress.
CHAPTER VII
The Children of Lir regain their human form and die
The king who reigned over Connaught at this time was Largnen, the son of Colman, and his queen was Decca, the daughter of Firmin, king of Munster, the same king and queen that Eva had spoken of in her prophecy long centuries before.
Then, stories were brought to Queen Decca concerning these marvelous swans gifted with speech, and their whole story was told to her, so that even before seeing them, she could not help but love them, and she was moved. of a strong desire to possess them herself. So she went to the king, and begged him to go to Kemoc and get the swans. But Largnen said he didn't want to ask Kemoc for them. Whereupon Decca became indignant, and declared that she would not sleep another night in the palace until she had obtained the swans for herself. So she left the palace at once, and went south to her father's house.
Largnen, when he discovered that she was gone, sent hastily after her, saying that he would try to procure the swans, but the messengers did not reach her until she had reached Killaloe. However, she returned with them to the palace, and as soon as she arrived, the king sent to ask Kemoc to send the birds to the queen, but Kemoc refused to give them.
This made Largnen very angry, and he immediately left for the clerk's house. As soon as he arrived, he asked the clerk if it was true that he had refused to give the swans to the queen. And when Kemoc replied that it was indeed true, the king, very angry, went to the place where the swans were standing, and, seizing the two silver chains, one in each hand, he pushed the birds away from them. the altar, and turned towards the door of the church, intending to bring them by force to the queen, while Kemoc followed him, alarmed by fear lest they should be injured.
The king had barely advanced, when suddenly the white feathered garments faded and disappeared, and the swans regained their human form, Finola transformed into an extremely old woman, and the three sons into three feeble old men, with white hair, gaunt and wrinkled.
When the king saw this, he rushed forward in terror, and immediately left the place without uttering a single word, while Kemoc reproached him and castigated him bitterly.
As for Lir's children, they turned to Kemoc, and Finola said:
“Come, blessed cleric, and baptize us without delay, for our death is near. You will mourn for us afterwards, Kemoc, but in truth, you are no more saddened at parting from us than we are at parting from you. Dig our grave here and bury us together, and as I often sheltered my brothers when we were swans, place us in the grave thus: Conn near me on my right, Ficra on my left, and Aed before me. »
Come, blessed cleric, with the book and prayer
Baptize us and confess us here:
Hurry, cleric, hurry, for the hour has come,
And death is finally near!
Dig our grave, deep, deep,
Near the church that we loved so much;
This little church, where we first heard
The voice of the Christian bell.
As often in life my dear brothers
I comforted me close to sleep
Ficra and Conn under my wings,
And Aed in front of my chest;
So place them both on either side
Very close, like the love that binds me;
Place Aed so close in front of my face,
And put their arms around me.
So let us rest for eternity,
My dear brothers and I:
Hurry, clerk, hurry, baptize and confess,
Because death is finally here!
Then the children of Lir were baptized, and they died immediately. And when they died, Kemoc lifted up his eyes, and, behold, he saw a vision of four beautiful children, with bright wings of silver, and faces beaming with joy. They looked at him for a moment, but as they looked they disappeared upwards, and he saw them no more. And he was filled with contentment, for he knew that they had gone to heaven, but when he looked back down at the four bodies lying before him, he became sad and wept.
And Kemoc had a large grave dug near the little church, and the children of Lir were buried together, as Finola had requested, Conn on his right hand, Ficra on his left, and in front of his face Aed. And he raised a mound over them, and set up a tombstone above it, with their names engraved in Ogam, after which he uttered a lamentation for them, and their burial rites were performed.
So far we have told the distressing story of the fate of the children of Lir.
