Heroes of the dawn/The Return of Oisin
THE RETURN OF OISIN
We have followed the wanderings of Caeilté through many years; we must now go back to Oisin, whom we left journeying with Niav on the white horse to the Land of the Ever-Young. And this is the story which Oisin related to St. Patrick, two hundred years later, when he returned to Ireland from Tirna-noge.
"Over unnumbered leagues of sea the white horse sped, outracing the swift sea-birds and the rushing wind. Many curious and startling sights I beheld, and often I asked Niav to check the horse's speed, so that I could observe them more closely.
"How far we had travelled I do not know, when we came to a region of islands, inhabited by strange and terrible beings and animals. As we neared the first island a sound of hammering fell on my ears, and looking before me I saw that the island was peopled by dark and mighty men, cat-headed and dog-headed, who moved immense red-hot masses of metal about as easily as though they were small balls. I requested Niav to hurry by this place, but before we had passed it one of the smiths, seeing that we were hurrying onward, seized a huge mass of the glowing metal in his hands and hurled it after us. The iron fell into the sea, which hissed and boiled and sent up a high column of steam, but we were unhurt.
"The next island we came to was surrounded by a rampart of fire. A terrible bellowing smote our ears as we approached, and on the shore we saw a weird, gigantic animal—like nothing I, at least, had ever seen before—which rushed madly to and fro. It had a head like a lion, and its body resembled that of a horse, and when it caught sight of us it stood upright on its hind legs and pawed the air; then the bones and flesh inside the skin began to turn and twist about, first one way, then another, but the skin did not move at all, and its eyes glared steadily and horribly at me the whole time. In all the years of my life before I had never known fear, but now a trembling and faintness came over me.
"'Is there no other way to your land except by these islands filled with evil beings?' I asked Niav.
"'They are but shadows of things which have been,' she replied, 'and if your courage does not falter they cannot harm you. All who go to my country must pass by the Islands of Shades.'
"We rode on, passing many other islands. From one, overhung by dark mists, came the sound of weeping and lamentation; from another came the sound of laughter, and I saw that its inhabitants were wandering aimlessly about, laughing continually as they moved. I thought they were a senseless people, to laugh without any apparent reason, but Niav said they were shadows also.
"Now the sky darkened with heavy masses of clouds, and a strong hot wind swept out of the south upon us. Not a gleam of light was to be seen in any point of the heavens; notwithstanding the darkness above and around us the sea shone as though on fire. Mountainous waves rose and raced each other, and I thought that death would certainly overtake me in the midst of the sea; but Niav laughed and bade me observe how the white horse rode over the tempestuous waves without even wetting its fetlocks.
"'Must all who go to your country pass by these perils?' I asked Niav again, for I knew some who had been to Tir-na-noge, but I had never heard them speak of their journey thither.
"'There is no other way for those who seek the Island of the Ever-Young,' answered Niav. 'Soon, however, we shall reach a pleasanter region.'
"The wind ceased, and the sky grew bright again. In a little while we came to a very calm sea, green as grass and so clear that looking down I could see at the bottom a beautiful shining city of white marble palaces, and smooth flowery lawns where multitudes of people walked. The music of their speech
WE RODE ON, PASSING MANY OTHER ISLANDS
and laughter rose to my ears, and I asked Niav what land it was that lay hidden under the water.
"'That is Tir-fa-tonn—the country under the waves,' Niav replied.
"'It would be pleasant to rest there for a time,' I said.
"'I must go to my own country,' said Niav. 'Do you wish to stop here? If you do you will not see me again for many ages.'
"I had no desire to be where Niav was not, so we rode on. After a time there fled by us a fawn, and swiftly chasing it a white dog with red ears. Next came a fair young girl on a horse, carrying a branch of golden apples in her outstretched hand, and closely following her a young man on a white horse, covered by a network of gold silken thread, holding in his right hand a shining unsheathed sword. I was eager to join in the chase, but Niav said:
"'O Oisin, son of Fionn, heed them not; these also are passing shadows.'
"Now there came sweeping through the air a gigantic bird, whose outspread wings hid a great space of the sky. Seven golden rays shone round its head, the rest of it was white as the swan's breast. When it saw Niav it swooped down, and hovering over her sang a very melodious song. Then it turned round, and preceding us flew straight to the west.
"In a few minutes, it seemed to me, the horse began to slacken speed, and rising out of the sea before us I saw a beautiful sunny land, its wide plains covered with jewel-like flowers, and hills that shimmered with rainbow colours in the distance. Not far from the shore stood a royal dun, with curious patterns worked in precious stones on its walls. Many other palaces were scattered about, and cheerful sun-chambers for the women.
"'What fair and pleasant place is this?' I inquired of Niav.
"'This is my land,' she proudly answered; 'and all I have told you about it is true, and there will be fulfilled all the promises I have made you.'
"On the shore a stately and glittering company of warriors awaited us. At their head stood Niav's father, a tall man of very noble and dignified appearance, wearing a cloak of sun-coloured silk, and on his head a red-gold crown. The queen stood by his side, attended by a number of fair young girls, and when the king and queen had greeted Niav they welcomed me.
"'There is no man we welcome more gladly to our land, noble Oisin,' the king said. 'For love of you our daughter Niav travelled the wide sea; for love of her you left your father and friends and country; now our fair and gentle daughter shall be given to you to be your wife for ever. Peace and joy and lasting youth will here be yours too, and all the delights that the heart can desire or the mind imagine you will find awaiting you.'
"I am not usually lacking in speech, Patrick, as you know, but there was such a high and splendid dignity about the king that I could find no words with which to thank him for his gracious welcome; I could only bend my knee before him in silent homage.
"Then we went into the dún, where a great feast was prepared in honour of our coming. For ten days we feasted and rejoiced; at the close of that time Niav became my wife.
"Truly, Patrick, there is no other country under the sun, or above it, that equals in beauty and delight the Land of the Ever-Young. If you could once behold it you would cease your perpetual singing of praises about that heaven you have never seen."
"You are a profane old man, Oisin," said Patrick, "and all the prayers that I have prayed to God in heaven on your account have not yet availed to change you. But your story interests me, so proceed."
"Time passed quickly and joyously in Tir-na-noge. Two sons Niav gave to me, and a daughter, who was so beautiful that I called her 'The Flower of Women.' But one day I felt a great longing to see my father and friends once more, and going to the king and my wife I asked them to grant me permission to visit my own country again.
"'It is a sorrowful request you make, Oisin,' said Niav; 'but if you wish to go I will not hinder you, though I fear that if you once leave here you will never return.'
"I reassured her, and bade her put her doubts away, for the white horse with golden hoofs would certainly bring me back to her again. When I was ready for my journey Niav stood by my side, and looking up into my face said, very solemnly:
"'Remember well what I now say to you, Oisin. If once you alight from the horse, or place your feet to the ground, you will never return to me. And I tell you your journey will be in vain, for Fionn and his Fians are no longer in the land; instead of your great warriors you will find a multitude of weak, sad-faced men, who say prayers to a strange God night and day; instead of the cheerful barking of hounds and sound of the chase you will hear the melancholy ringing of bells wherever you go. Again I say to you, Oisin, let nothing tempt you to dismount from the horse; if you do you will never return to this country, for old, old age will fall upon you in the twinkling of an eye. For the third time I say to you; whatever happens do not alight from the horse. Alas! a great grief is in my heart, for I think I shall never see you again.'
"I put my arms round her and kissed her, and said I would remember her words, and that not even my dear father would keep me from her side for long. Then I mounted the white horse, and swifter than the wind I travelled the waves until, in the soft clear dawn of a spring morning, I saw the cliffs and green hills of my country appear.
"I came to the silver-white sands of Berramain, where I had left my father and comrades, but no sign of their presence or any dwellings there could I see. I shouted the war-cry of the Fianna, and listened and waited for the sound of my father's mighty tread and the hounds' tumult, but no sound, except the lapping of the wavelets and the rustling of the leaves, disturbed the silence.
"Across plains and over hills I continued my journey, marvelling that the country should have changed so much during my short absence, for many of the thick forests I so well remembered hunting through with Fionn and the Fians had disappeared, and in some places there was hardly a tree left standing. At last I stopped before a group of puny men and women, and questioned them.
"'Tell me,' said I, 'where Fionn and his Fians are, and whether they are engaged in battle or the chase?'
"They regarded me with amazement and fear—why they feared me I do not know, for I never harmed any one except in rightful battle or dispute. Then, as no one answered me, I repeated my question again, saying that when the Fians asked questions it was not their wont to be kept waiting for answers. One of the men, in a very weak and trembling voice, then spoke:
"'Great lord,' he said, 'our bards sing of a mighty hero, Fionn, who lived long ages ago, and of the deeds of him and his Fians, who were the bravest warriors the world has ever seen. They sing, too, of Oisin his son, who score upon score of years ago followed a faery maiden to the Land of the Ever-Young, and from that country he has never returned. Some of the old stories say that Fionn died of grief because his son had gone from him. But one thing is certain, that it is many generations since the noble Fionn and his Fians lived and died.'
"I was silent. I could not imagine that my father and comrades had ceased to live. Then I turned from the wondering men and women, and travelled as quickly as I could to my old home on the Hill of Allen. But desolation reigned there. Where there had formerly been a great dún only a few broken walls were standing, and the weeds and wild flowers were growing where my father and companions had sat at many a banquet.
"Heavy sorrow enfolded me, still I could not believe that my father was not at some other of his many dwellings. North and south and west and east I searched for him, but could not find him. At length I came to Gleann-na-smol, which was one of his favourite places, and the only spot in Ireland I had not searched; if I did not find him there I should know he was no longer living, as Niav had foretold me, and I would then turn my horse's head to the west and rejoin Niav and my children again.
"I travelled slowly, looking on all sides and listening eagerly for the sound of the hunting-cry or the laugh of my friends. Then I heard a great commotion before me, and hope sprang up in my heart that at last my search was ended. But on going forward I found that it was only a number of little men struggling to raise a big rock from its place in the ground. It had fallen back on some of them, who were crying and shouting over their little hurts. I tell you, Patrick, it was not of men like those that the Fianna was composed. We would not have employed them even for our horse-boys.
"Unobserved I looked at their puny efforts for a moment, then they saw me, and in their astonishment let the rock fall back more heavily on their comrades, who would surely have been crushed to death had not I, taking pity on them, stooped sideways from my saddle, and with one hand I plucked the rock from the earth and hurled it fifty yards away. Alas! it was my undoing, for with the effort I made the golden saddle-strap broke, and I slipped to the ground.
"As I touched the earth I remembered Niav's words, but too late. Quickly as a flying shadow the white horse disappeared, and still more quickly a withered, shrivelled old age came upon me, and left me feeble and helpless as you, O Patrick, now behold me. It is my unending grief that never again shall I see Niav and my dear children; my noble father and comrades have all gone from me, and I, the last of the Fianna, am left alone, with a heart more full of sorrow than was any man's ever before."