Page:West Irish folk-tales and romances - William Larminie.djvu/136

 104 water of healing that was hanging on his brother. He dipped a feather in the bottle and rubbed it to his brother's mouth. His brother arose alive.

“I seem as if I was asleep.”

“Did you not wonder then? It was providence saved me when I did not come to battle with you on the night when you rose up from behind the barrel, or you would have killed me as you have done (to the others) to-day.”

“What good is it for you to be big when you are not a good soldier?”

“It is long since I have had time any day to kill birds. Many's the time I was hungry when I killed the three hundred men. I had no time to kill birds for my breakfast in the morning. To-day I have time to kill plenty.”

“You will not kill a beast to-day,” said the champion of the red belt.

He then went killing. He killed. The big man went among the gathering of the birds. He was killing till night. He said he had enough killed.

Then they went home. They got ready their supper. They took their supper. They went to rest them. The king knight of the black castle was not going to rise very early. He had nothing to kill.

They were going to take a walk in the wood. “Is there a woman at all who is good for much on the island?” said the champion of the red belt.