Page:My people stories of the peasantry of West Wales.djvu/99

 is kept by Mistress Shames, where he consorted with the disreputable Shon the Pig Droverone without honour in the land. Six weeks after his wedding Twm was stricken by illness. The Respected Josiah Bryn-Bevan, then Judge of Capel Sion, declared that the Lord was smiting His enemy, a just fate for all that offendeth Him. The third day of his illness Twm crept into the four-poster bed in the kitchen, and he ordered Madlen to bake a loaf of leavened bread and to place it on his belly; and a stubby beard grew on his chin.

The evening of that day Dr. Morgan came by Tybach; Madlen stopped him, saying, “Indeed, now, doctor bach, come him in and give me small counsel about Twm.” The doctor examined Twm and he said to him: “Well-well, Twm, you will perish in a few days.”

When Madlen heard this she placed a