At last his patience left him and he said, "I
see with that ye have been doing this since the beginning of the
world, and that ye will still be doing it in the end thereof," and
with that he went on his way.
And many other strange things he saw, but of them we say nothing now,
till he came to the gateway of a great and lofty Dun, where he entered
in and asked hospitality. Then there came to him a tall man clad in a
cloak of blue that changed into silver or to purple as its folds waved
in the light, and with him was a woman more beautiful than the
daughters of men, even she of whom it was said her beauty was as that
of a tear when it drops from the eyelid, so crystal-pure it was and
bright.[32] They greeted Cormac courteously and begged him to stay
with them for the night.
[32] See Miss Hull's CUCHULAIN, THE HOUND OF ULSTER, p. 175.
The pair were Mananan, god of the sea, and Fand his wife, of
whom a tale of great interest is told in the Cuchulain Cycle of
legends. The sea-cloak of Mananan is the subject of a
magnificent piece of descriptive poetry in Ferguson's CONGAL.
Cormac then entered a great hall with pillars of cedar and
many-coloured silken hangings on the walls. In the midst of it was a
fire-place whereon the host threw a huge log, and shortly afterwards
brought in a young pig which Cormac cut up to roast before the fire.
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