carved by those about him)
Give me the building plans, and have you written
That we—Cuchullain is looking in his shield;
It may be the pale riders of the wind
Throw pictures on it, or that Mananan,
His father's friend and sometime fosterer,
Foreknower of all things, has cast a vision,
Out of the cold dark of the rich sea,
Foretelling Emain's greatness.
CUCHULLAIN.
No, great king
I looked on this out of mere idleness,
Imagining a woman that I loved.
(The sound of a trumpet without.)
CONCOBAR.
Open the door for that is a herald's trumpet.
(The great door at the back is flung open; a young man who is fully armed and carries a shield with a woman's head painted on it, stands upon the threshold. Behind him are trumpeters. He walks into the centre of the hall, the trumpeting ceases.)
What is your message?
YOUNG MAN.
I am of Aoife's army.
FIRST KING.
Queen Aoife and her army have fallen upon us.
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