" "What bride-gift is that?" said Finn. "It is your
promise," said she, "I to be your only wife through the length of a
year, and to have the half of your time after that." "I will not give
that promise," said Finn, "to any woman of the world, and I will not
give it to you," he said.
On that the young woman took a cup of white silver from under a
covering, and filled it with strong drink, and she gave it to Finn.
"What is this?" said Finn. "It is very strong mead," said she. Now there
were bonds on Finn not to refuse anything belonging to a feast, so he
took the cup and drank what was in it, and on the moment he was like one
gone mad. And he turned his face towards the Fianna, and every harm and
every fault and every misfortune in battle that he knew against any one
of them, he sprang it on them, through the mad drunkenness the young
woman had put on him.
Then the chief men of the Fianna of Ireland rose up and left the place
to him, every one of them setting out for his own country, till there
was no one left upon the hill but Finn and Caoilte. And Caoilte rose up
and followed after them, and he said: "Fianna of Ireland," he said, "do
not leave your lord and your leader through the arts and the tricks of a
woman of the Sidhe." Thirteen times he went after them, bringing them
back to the hill in that way. And with the end of the day and the fall
of night the bitterness went from Finn's tongue; and by the time Caoilte
had brought back the whole of the Fianna, his sense and his memory were
come back to him, and he would sooner have fallen on his sword and got
his death, than have stayed living.
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