From Beside the Fire, Douglas Hyde (David Nutt, London).
There was once a tailor in Galway, and he started out on a journey to go to the king's court at Dublin.
He had not gone far till he met a white horse, and he saluted him."God save you," said the tailor.
"God save you," said the horse."Where are you going?""I am going to Dublin," said the tailor, "to build a court for the king and to get a lady for a wife, if I am able to do it." For, it seems the king had promised his daughter and a great lot of money to any one who should be able to build up his court.The trouble was, that three giants lived in the wood near the court, and every night they came out of the wood and threw down all that was built by day.So nobody could get the court built.
"Would you make me a hole," said the old white garraun, "where Icould go a-hiding whenever the people are for bringing me to the mill or the kiln, so that they won't see me; for they have me perished doing work for them.""I'll do that, indeed," said the tailor, "and welcome."He brought his spade and shovel, and he made a hole, and he said to the old white horse to go down into it till he would see if it would fit him.The white horse went down into the hole, but when he tried to come up again, he was not able.
"Make a place for me now," said the white horse, "by which I'll come up out of the hole here, whenever I'll be hungry.""I will not," said the tailor; "remain where you are until I come back, and I'll lift you up."The tailor went forward next day, and the fox met him."God save you," said the fox.
"God save you," said the tailor."Where are you going," said the fox.
"I'm going to Dublin, to try will I be able to make a court for the king." "Would you make a place for me where I'd go hiding?" said the fox."The rest of the foxes do be beating me, and they don't allow me to eatanything with them."
"I'll do that for you," said the tailor.
He took his axe and his saw, and he made a thing like a crate, and he told the fox to get into it till he would see whether it would fit him.The fox went into it, and when the tailor got him down, he shut him in.When the fox was satisfied at last that he had a nice place of it within, he asked the tailor to let him out, and the tailor answered that he would not.
"Wait there until I come back again," says he.
The tailor went forward the next day, and he had not walked very far until he met a modder-alla; and the lion greeted him.
"God save you," said the lion."God save you," said the tailor.
"Where are you going?" said the lion.
"I'm going to Dublin till I make a court for the king if I'm able to make it," said the tailor.
"If you were to make a plough for me," said the lion, "I and the other lions could be ploughing and harrowing until we'd have a bit to eat in the harvest.""I'll do that for you," said the tailor.
He brought his axe and his saw, and he made a plough.When the plough was made he put a hole in the beam of it, and he said to the lion to go in under the plough till he'd see was he any good of a ploughman.He placed the lion's tail in the hole he had made for it, and then clapped in a peg, and the lion was not able to draw out his tail again.
"Loose me out now," said the lion, "and we'll fix ourselves and go ploughing."The tailor said he would not loose him out until he came back himself.He left him there then, and he came to Dublin.
When he came to Dublin, he got workmen and began to build the court.At the end of the day he had the workmen put a great stone on top of the work.When the great stone was raised up, the tailor put some sort of contrivance under it, that he might be able to throw it down as soon as the giant would come as far as it.The workpeople went home then, and the tailor went in hiding behind the big stone.
When the darkness of the night was come, he saw the three giants arriving, and they began throwing down the court until they came as far as the place where the tailor was in hiding up above, and a man of them struck a blow of his sledge on the place where he was.The tailor threw down the stone, and it fell on him and killed him.They went home then and left all of the court that was remaining without throwing it down, since a man of themselves was dead.
The tradespeople came again the next day, and they were working until night, and as they were going home the tailor told them to put up the big stone on the top of the work, as it had been the night before.They did that for him, went home, and the tailor went in hiding the same as he did the evening before.
