Three fifties
of them sat or played in their great hall as Brian entered, and they
gazed on him but spoke no word. Then Brian strode to the wide hearth,
and without a word he seized from it a spit that was made of beaten
gold, and turned again to go. But at that the laughter of the
sea-maidens rippled through the hall and one of them said:
"Thou art a bold man, Brian, and bolder than thou knowest; for if
thy two brothers were here, the weakest of us could vanquish all the
three. Nevertheless, take the spit for thy daring; we had never
granted it for thy prayers."
So Brian thanked them and bade farewell, and he rose to the surface of
the water. Ere long his brethren perceived him as he shouldered the
waves on the bosom of the deep, and they sailed to where he was and
took him on board. And thus ended the quest for the seventh portion of
the eric of Kian.
After that their hopes revived a little, and they set sail for the
land of Lochlann, in which was the Hill of Mochaen. When they had
arrived at the hill Mochaen came out to meet them with his three sons,
Corc and Conn and Hugh; nor did the Sons of Turenn ever behold a band
of grimmer and mightier warriors than those four.
"What seek ye here?" asked Mochaen of them They told him that it had
been laid upon them to give three shouts upon the hill.
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