"
They said to Cormac that it was his turn now. So Cormac told them how
his wife, and his son, and his daughter, had been brought away from him,
and how he himself had followed them till he came to that place.
And with that the whole pig was boiled, and they cut it up, and Cormac's
share was put before him. "I never used a meal yet," said he, "having
two persons only in my company." The man of the house began singing to
him then, and put him asleep. And when he awoke, he saw fifty armed men,
and his son, and his wife, and his daughter, along with them. There was
great gladness and courage on him then, and ale and food were given out
to them all. And there was a gold cup put in the hand of the master of
the house, and Cormac was wondering at it, for the number of the shapes
on it, and for the strangeness of the work. "There is a stranger thing
yet about it," the man said; "let three lying words be spoken under it,
and it will break into three, and then let three true words be spoken
under it, and it will be as good as before." So he said three lying
words under it, and it broke in three pieces. "It is best to speak truth
now under it," he said, "and to mend it. And I give my word, Cormac," he
said, "that until to-day neither your wife or your daughter has seen the
face of a man since they were brought away from you out of Teamhair, and
that your son has never seen the face of a woman." And with that the cup
was whole again on the moment.
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