But Oisin said, "The world of men compared with thy world is
like this dreary waste compared with the city of thy father; yet in
that city, Niam, none is better or worse than another, and I hunger to
tell my tale to ignorant and feeble folk that my words can move, as
words of mine have done of old, to wonder and delight. Then I shall
return to thee, Niam, and to thy fair and blissful land; and having
brought over to mortal men a tale that never man has told before, I
shall be happy and at peace for ever in the Land of Youth."
So they fared back to the golden city, and next day Niam brought to
Oisin the white steed that had borne them from Erinn, and bade him
farewell. "This our steed," she said, "will carry thee across the sea
to the land where I found thee, and whithersoever thou wilt, and what
folk are there thou shalt see, and what tale thou hast to tell can be
told. But never for even a moment must thou alight from his back, for
if thy foot once touch again the soil of earth, thou shalt never win
to me and to the Land of Youth again. And sorely do I fear some evil
chance. Was not the love of Niam of the Head of Gold enough to fill a
mortal's heart? But if thou must go, then go, and blessing and victory
be thine."
Then Oisin held her long in his arms and kissed her, and vowed to make
no long stay and never to alight from the fairy steed.
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