On the shores of the west, where the great hills stand with their feet in the sea, dwelt a goatherd and his wife, together with their three sons and one daughter.All day long the young men fished and hunted, while their sister took out the kids to pasture on the mountain, or stayed at home helping her mother and mending the nets.
For several years they all lived happily together, when one day, as the girl was out on the hill with the kids, the sun grew dark and an air cold as a thick white mist came creeping, creeping up from the sea.
She rose with a shiver, and tried to call to her kids, but the voice died away in her throat, and strong arms seemed to hold her.
Loud were the wails in the hut by the sea when the hours passed on and the maiden came not.Many times the father and brothers jumped up, thinking they heard her steps, but in the thick darkness they could scarcely see their own hands, nor could they tell where the river lay, nor where the mountain.One by one the kids came home, and at every bleat someone hurried to open the door, but no sound broke the stillness.Through the night no one slept, and when morning broke and the mist rolled back, they sought the maiden by sea and by land, but never a trace of her could be found anywhere.
Thus a year and a day slipped by, and at the end of it Gorla of the Flocks and his wife seemed suddenly to have grown old.Their sons too were sadder than before, for they loved their sister well, and had never ceased to mourn for her.At length Ardan the eldest spoke and said:
'It is now a year and a day since our sister was taken from us, and we have waited in grief and patience for her to return.Surely some evil has befallen her, or she would have sent us a token to put our hearts at rest; and I have vowed to myself that my eyes shall not know sleep till, living or dead, I have found her.'
'If you have vowed, then must you keep your vow,' answered Gorla.'But better had it been if you had first asked your father's leave before you made it.Yet, since it is so, your mother will bake you a cake for you to carry with you on your journey.Who can tell how long it may be?'
So the mother arose and baked not one cake but two, a big one and a little one.
'Choose, my son,' said she.'Will you have the little cake with your mother's blessing, or the big one without it, in that you have set aside your father and taken on yourself to make a vow?'
'I will have the large cake,' answered the youth; 'for what good would my mother's blessing do for me if I was dying of hunger?' And taking the big cake he went his way.
Straight on he strode, letting neither hill nor river hinder him.
Swiftly he walked-- swiftly as the wind that blew down the mountain.
The eagles and the gulls looked on from their nests as he passed, leaving the deer behind him; but at length he stopped, for hunger had seized on him, and he could walk no more.Trembling with fatigue he sat himself on a rock and broke a piece off his cake.
'Spare me a morsel, Ardan son of Gorla,' asked a raven, fluttering down towards him.
'Seek food elsewhere, O bearer of ill-news,' answered Ardan son of Gorla; 'it is but little I have for myself.' And he stretched himself out for a few moments, then rose to his feet again.On and on went he till the little birds flew to their nests, and the brightness died out of the sky, and a darkness fell over the earth.On and on, and on, till at last he saw a beam of light streaming from a house and hastened towards it.
The door was opened and he entered, but paused when he beheld an old man lying on a bench by the fire, while seated opposite him was a maiden combing out the locks of her golden hair with a comb of silver.
'Welcome, fair youth,' said the old man, turning his head.'Sit down and warm yourself, and tell me how fares the outer world.It is long since I have seen it.'
'All my news is that I am seeking service,' answered Ardan son of Gorla; 'I have come from far since sunrise, and glad was I to see the rays of your lamp stream into the darkness.'
'I need someone to herd my three dun cows, which are hornless,' said the old man.'If, for the space of a year, you can bring them back to me each evening before the sun sets, I will make you payment that will satisfy your soul.'
But here the girl looked up and answered quickly:
'Ill will come of it if he listens to your offer.'
'Counsel unsought is worth nothing,' replied, rudely, Ardan son of Gorla.'It would be little indeed that I am fit for if I cannot drive three cows out to pasture and keep them safe from the wolves that may come down from the mountains.Therefore, good father, I will take service with you at daybreak, and ask no payment till the new year dawns.'
Next morning the bell of the deer was not heard amongst the fern before the maiden with the hair of gold had milked the cows, and led them in front of the cottage where the old man and Ardan son of Gorla awaited them.
'Let them wander where they will,' he said to his servant, 'and never seek to turn them from their way, for well they know the fields of good pasture.But take heed to follow always behind them, and suffer nothing that you see, and nought that you hear, to draw you into leaving them.Now go, and may wisdom go with you.'
As he ceased speaking he touched one of the cows on her forehead, and she stepped along the path, with the two others one on each side.As he had been bidden, behind them came Ardan son of Gorla, rejoicing in his heart that work so easy had fallen to his lot.At the year's end, thought he, enough money would lie in his pocket to carry him into far countries where his sister might be, and, in the meanwhile, someone might come past who could give him tidings of her.
