The Mabinogion Vol. 3 by Sir Owen Morgan Edwards and Lady Charlotte Schreiber (classic fiction TXT) 📕

best I love is to be thy bride this night; I come to ask her of thee, with the feast and the banquet that are in this place.”  And Pwyll was silent because of the answer which he had given.  “Be silent as long as thou wilt,” said Rhiannon.  “Never did man make worse use of his wits than thou hast done.”  “Lady,” said he, “I knew not who he was.”  “Behold, this is the man to whom they would have given me against my will,” said she.  “And he is Gwawl the son of Clud, a man of great power and wealth, and because of the word thou hast spoken, bestow me upon him lest shame befall thee.”  “Lady,” said he, “I understand not thine answer.  Never can I do as thou sayest.”  “Bestow me upon him,” said she, “and I will cause that I shall never be his.”  “By what means will that be?” asked Pwyll.  “In thy hand will I give thee a small bag,” said she.  “See that thou keep it well, and he will ask of thee the banquet, and the feast, and the preparations which are not in thy power.  Unto the hosts and the household will I give the feast.  And such will be thy answer respecting this.  And as concerns myself, I will engage to become his bride this night twelvemonth.  And at the end of the year be thou here,” said she, “and bring this bag with thee, and let thy hundred knights be in the orchard up yonder.  And when he is in the midst of joy and feasting, come thou in by thyself, clad in ragged garments, and holding thy bag in thy hand, and ask nothing but a bagfull of food, and I will cause that if all the meat and liquor that are in these seven Cantrevs were put into it, it would be no fuller p. 25than before.  And after a great deal has been put therein, he will ask thee, whether thy bag will ever be full.  Say thou then that it never will, until a man of noble birth and of great wealth arise and press the food in the bag, with both his feet saying, ‘Enough has been put therein;’ and I will cause him to go and tread down the food in the bag, and when he does so, turn thou the bag, so that he shall be up over his head in it, and then slip a knot upon the thongs of the bag.  Let there be also a good bugle horn about thy neck, and as soon as thou hast bound him in the bag, wind thy horn, and let it be a signal between thee and thy knights.  And when they hear the sound of the horn, let them come down upon the palace.”  “Lord,” said Gwawl, “it is meet that I have an answer to my request.”  “As much of that thou hast asked as it is in my power to give, thou shalt have,” replied Pwyll.  “My soul,” said Rhiannon unto him, “as for the feast and the banquet that are here, I have bestowed them upon the men of Dyved, and the household, and the warriors that are with us.  These can I not suffer to be given to any.  In a year from to-night a banquet shall be prepared for thee in this palace, that I may become thy bride.”

So Gwawl went forth to his possessions, and Pwyll went also back to Dyved.  And they both spent that year until it was the time for the feast at the palace of Heveydd Hên.  Then Gwawl the son of Clud set out to the feast that was prepared for him, and he came to the palace, and was received there with rejoicing.  Pwyll, also, the chief of Annwn came to the orchard with his hundred knights, as Rhiannon had commanded him, having the bag with him.  And Pwyll was clad in coarse and ragged garments, and wore p. 26large clumsy old shoes upon his feet.  And when he knew that the carousal after the meat had begun, he went towards the hall, and when he came into the hall, he saluted Gwawl the son of Clud, and his company, both men and women.  “Heaven prosper thee,” said Gwawl, “and the greeting of Heaven be unto thee.”  “Lord,” said he, “May Heaven reward thee, I have an errand unto thee.”  “Welcome be thine errand, and if thou ask of me that which is just, thou shalt have it gladly.”  “It is fitting,” answered he. [26]  “I crave but from want, and the boon that I ask is to have this small bag that thou seest filled with meat.”  “A request within reason is this,” said he, “and gladly shalt thou have it.  Bring him food.”  A great number of attendants arose and begun to fill the bag, but for all that they put into it, it was no fuller than at first.  “My soul,” said Gwawl, “will thy bag be ever full?”  “It will not, I declare to Heaven,” said he, “for all that may be put into it, unless one possessed of lands, and domains, and treasure, shall arise and tread down with both his feet the food that is within the bag, and shall say, ‘Enough has been put herein.’”  Then said Rhiannon unto Gwawl the son of Clud, “Rise up quickly.”  “I will willingly arise,” said he.  So he rose up, and put his two feet into the bag.  And Pwyll turned up the sides of the bag, so that Gwawl was over his head in it.  And he shut it up quickly and slipped a knot upon the thongs, and blew his horn.  And thereupon behold his household came down upon the palace.  And they seized all the host that had come with Gwawl, and cast them into his own p. 27prison.  And Pwyll threw off his rags, and his old shoes, and his tattered array; and as they came in, every one of Pwyll’s knights struck a blow upon the bag, and asked, “What is here?”  “A Badger,” said they.  And in this manner they played, each of them striking the bag, either with his foot or with a staff.  And thus played they with the bag.  Every one as he came in asked, “What game are you playing at thus?”  “The game of Badger in the Bag,” said they.  And then was the game of Badger in the Bag first played.

“Lord,” said the man in the bag, “If thou wouldest but hear me, I merit not to be slain in a bag.”  Said Heveydd Hên, “Lord, he speaks truth.  It were fitting that thou listen to him, for he deserves not this.”  “Verily,” said Pwyll, “I will do thy counsel concerning him.”  “Behold this is my counsel then,” said Rhiannon; “Thou art now in a position in which it behoves thee to satisfy suitors and minstrels, let him give unto them in thy stead, and take a pledge from him that he will never seek to revenge that which has been done to him.  And this will be punishment enough.”  “I will do this gladly,” said the man in the bag.  “And gladly will I accept it,” said Pwyll, “since it is the counsel of Heveydd and Rhiannon.”  “Such then is our counsel,” answered they.  “I accept it,” said Pwyll.  “Seek thyself sureties.”  “We will be for him,” said Heveydd, “until his men be free to answer for him.”  And upon this he was let out of the bag, and his liegemen were liberated.  “Demand now of Gwawl his sureties,” said Heveydd, “we know which should be taken for him.”  And Heveydd numbered the sureties.  Said Gwawl, “Do thou thyself draw up p. 28the covenant.”  “It will suffice me that it be as Rhiannon said,” answered Pwyll.  So unto that covenant were the sureties pledged.  “Verily, Lord,” said Gwawl, “I am greatly hurt, and I have many bruises.  I have need to be anointed, with thy leave I will go forth.  I will leave nobles in my stead, to answer for me in all that thou shall require.”  “Willingly,” said Pwyll, “mayest thou do thus.”  So Gwawl went towards his own possessions.

And the hall was set in order for Pwyll and the men of his host, and for them also of the palace, and they went to the tables and sat down.  And as they had sat that time twelvemonth, so sat they that night.  And they eat, and feasted, and spent the night in mirth and tranquillity.  And the time came that they should sleep, and Pwyll and Rhiannon went to their chamber.

And next morning at the break of day, “My Lord,” said Rhiannon, “arise and begin to give thy gifts unto the minstrels.  Refuse no one to-day that may claim thy bounty.”  “Thus shall it be gladly,” said Pwyll, “both to-day and every day while the feast shall last.”  So Pwyll arose, and he caused silence to be proclaimed, and desired all the suitors and the minstrels to show and to point out what gifts were to their wish and desire. [28]  And this being done the feast went on, and he denied no one while it lasted.  And when the feast was ended, Pwyll said unto Heveydd, “My Lord, with thy permission I will set out for Dyved to-morrow.”  “Certainly,” said p. 29Heveydd, “may Heaven prosper thee.  Fix also a time when Rhiannon may follow thee.”  “By Heaven,” said Pwyll, “we will go hence together.”  “Wiliest thou this, Lord?” said Heveydd.  “Yes, by Heaven,” answered Pwyll.

And the next day, they set forward towards Dyved, and journeyed to the palace of Narberth, where a feast was made ready for them.  And there came to them great numbers of the chief men and the most noble ladies of the land, and of these there were none to whom Rhiannon did not give some rich gift, either a bracelet, or a ring, or a precious stone.  And they ruled the land prosperously both that year and the next.

And in the third year the nobles of the land began to be sorrowful at seeing a man whom they loved so much, and who was moreover their lord and their foster-brother, without an heir.  And they came to him. [29]  And the place where they met was Preseleu, in Dyved.  “Lord,” said they, “we know that thou art not so young as some of the men of this country, and we fear that thou mayest not have an heir of the wife whom thou hast taken.  Take therefore another wife of whom thou mayest have heirs.  Thou canst not always continue with us, and though thou desire to remain as thou art, we will not suffer thee.”  “Truly,” said Pwyll, “we have not long been joined together, and many things may yet befall.  Grant me a year from this time, and for the space of a year we will abide together, and after that I will do according to your wishes.”  So they granted it.  And before the end of a year a son was born unto him.  And in Narberth was he born; and on the night that he was p. 30born, women were brought to watch the mother and the boy.  And the women slept, as did also Rhiannon, the mother of the boy.  And the number of the women that were brought into the chamber, was six.  And they watched for a good portion of the night, and before midnight every one of them fell asleep, and towards break of day they awoke; and when they awoke, they looked where they had put the boy, and behold he was not there.  “Oh,” said one of the women, “the boy is lost!”  “Yes,” said another, “and it will be small vengeance if we are burnt or put to death because of the child.”  Said one of the women, “Is there any counsel for