This, then, was the fifth quest of the Sons
of Turenn.
"And whither do ye voyage now?" said Asal to them.
"We go," said they, "to Iorroway for the hound's whelp which is
there."
"Take me with you, then," said Asal, "for the King of Iorroway is
husband to my daughter, and I may prevail upon him to grant you the
hound without combat."
So the King's ship was manned and provisioned, and the Sons of Turenn
laid up their treasures in the Boat of Mananan, and they all sailed
joyfully forth to the pleasant kingdom of Iorroway.
But here, too, they found all the coasts and harbours guarded, and
entrance was forbidden them. Then Asal declared who he was, and him
they allowed to land, and he journeyed to where his son-in-law, the
King of Iorroway, was. To him Asal related the whole story of the sons
of Turenn, and why they were come to that kingdom.
"Thou wert a fool," said the King of Iorroway, "to have come on such a
mission. There are no three heroes in the world to whom the Immortals
have granted such grace that they should get my hound either by favour
or by fight."
"That is not a good word," said Asal, "for the treasures they now
possess have made them yet stronger than they were, and these they won
in the teeth of kings as strong as thou." And much more he said to him
to persuade him to yield up the hound, but in vain.
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