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THE WELL OF D'YERREE-IN-DOWAN.
A long time ago—before St. Patrick's time—there was an old king in Connacht, and he had three sons. The king had a sore foot for many years, and he could get no cure. One day he sent for the Dall Glic (wise blind man) which he had, and said to him:
"I'm giving you wages this twenty years, and you can't tell me what will cure my foot."
"You never asked me that question before," said the Dall Glic; "but I tell you now that there is nothing in the world to cure you but a bottle of water from the Well of D'yerree-in-Dowan" (i.e., end of the world).
In the morning, the day on the morrow, the king called his three sons, and he said to them:
"My foot will never be better until I get a bottle of water from the Well of D'yerree-in-Dowan, and whichever of you will bring me that, he has my kingdom to get."
"We will go in pursuit of it to-morrow," says the three. The names of the three were Art, Nart (i.e., strength), and Cart[1] (i.e., right).
On the morning of the day on the morrow, the king gave to each one of them a purse of gold, and they went on their way. When they came as far as the cross-roads, Art said:
"Each one of us ought to go a road for himself, and if one of us is back before a year and a day, let him wait till the other two come; or else let him set up a stone as a sign that he has come back safe."
They parted from one another after that, and Art and Nart went to an inn and began drinking; but Cart
- ↑ These names are not exactly pronounced as written. To pronounce them properly say yart first, and then yart with an n and a c before it, n'yart and c'yart.
