But I will give you three
times the full of the skin of gold as the price of your poem," he said.
"May good be with you, king," said Brian, "and I know well it was no
easy thing I was asking, but I knew I would get a good ransom for it.
And I am that covetous," he said, "I will not be satisfied without
seeing the gold measured myself into the skin."
The king sent his servants with them then to the treasure-house to
measure the gold. "Measure out the full of it to my brothers first,"
said Brian, "and then give good measure to myself, since it was I made
the poem."
But when the skin was brought out, Brian made a quick sudden snatch at
it with his left hand, and drew his sword and made a stroke at the man
nearest him, and made two halves of him. And then he kept a hold of the
skin and put it about himself, and the three of them rushed out of the
court, cutting down every armed man before them, so that not one escaped
death or wounding. And then Brian went to where the king himself was,
and the king made no delay in attacking him, and they made a hard fight
of it, and at the end the King of Greece fell by the hand of Brian, son
of Tuireann.
The three brothers rested for a while after that, and then they said
they would go and look for some other part of the fine. "We will go to
Pisear, King of Persia," said Brian, "and ask him for the spear."
So they went into their boat, and they left the blue streams of the
coast of Greece, and they said: "We are well off when we have the apples
and the skin.
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