"Who will go out and fight to-day?" said Finn, on the morning of the
morrow. "I will go," said Oisin, "and the chief men of the sons of
Baiscne with me; for we get the best share of all the pleasant things of
Ireland, and we should be first to defend her." "I will answer that
challenge," said the King of France, "for it is against Finn I am come
to Ireland, on account of my wife that he brought away from me; and
these men will fall by me now," he said, "and Finn himself at the last;
for when the branches of a tree are cut off, it is not hard to cut down
the tree itself."
So the King of France and Oisin met one another at the eastern end of
the strand, and they struck their banners of soft silk into the green
hill, and bared their swords and made a quick attack on one another. And
at one time the king struck such a great blow that he knocked a groan
out of Oisin. But for all that he was worsted in the end, and great fear
came on him, like the fear of a hundred horses at the sound of thunder,
and he ran from Oisin, and he rose like a swallow, that his feet never
touched the earth at all; and he never stopped till he came to Gleann
na-n Gealt, the Valley of Wild Men. And ever since that time, people
that have lost their wits make for that valley; and every mad person in
Ireland, if he had his way, would go there within twenty-four hours.
And there rose great cries of lamentation from the armies of the World
when they saw him going from them, and the Fianna of Ireland raised
great shouts of joy.
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