Page:The Mythology of All Races Vol 3 (Celtic and Slavic).djvu/124

 CHAPTER VII THE LOVES OF THE GODS

IKE the gods of Greece and India, the deities of the Celts had many love adventures, and the stories concerning these generally have a romantic aspect. An early tale of this class records that one night, as Oengus slept, he saw a beautiful maiden by his bed-side. He would have caught hold of her, but she vanished, and until next night he was restless and ill. Again she appeared, singing and playing on a cymbal, and so it continued for a year till Oengus was sick of love. Fergne, a cunning leech, diagnosed the cause of his patient's illness and bade Boann, Oengus's mother, search all Ireland for the maiden, but though she sought during a whole year, the girl could not be found. Fergne therefore bade Boann summon Dagda, Oengus's father, and he advised him to ask the help of Bodb, King of the síde of Munster, famed for knowledge. Bodb discovered the maiden, and Oengus set out to see whether he could recognize her. By the sea they found many girls, linked two and two by silver chains; and one, taller than the rest, was the maiden of the vision, Caer, daughter of Ethal of síd Uaman. Dagda, advised by Bodb, sought help from Ailill and Medb, King and Queen of Connaught—another instance of mortals aiding gods; but Ethal refused Ailill's request to give up Caer, whereupon Dagda's army with Ailill's forces destroyed his síd and took him prisoner. Still he refused, because he had no power over his daughter, for every second year she and her maidens took the form of birds at Loch Bél Draccan (the "Lake of the Dragons' Mouths"); and thither Dagda bade Oengus go. At this loch, says incidental