Say where He, the Hand-on-Sword,
Labra swift, abideth?
He who, of the triumphs lord,
In strong chariot rideth.
When victorious troops are led,
Labra hath the leading;
He it is, when spears are red,
Sets the points a-bleeding.
And the man replied to her, and spoke thus:
Labra, who of speed is son,
Comes, and comes not slowly;
Crowded hosts together run,
Bent on warfare wholly.
Soon upon the Forest Plain
Shall be set the killing;
For the hour when men are slain
Fidga's[FN#29] Fields are filling![FN#30]
[FN#29] Pronounced, nearly, Feega.
[FN#30] Irish metre approximately imitated in these stanzas.
They entered then into the palace, and they saw there thrice fifty couches within the palace, and three times fifty women upon the couches, and the women all bade Laeg welcome, and it was in these words that they addressed him:
Hail! for the guide,
Laeg! of thy quest:
Laeg we beside
Hail, as our guest!
"What wilt thou do now?" said Liban; "wilt thou go on without a delay, and hold speech with Fand?"
"I will go," he answered, "if I may know the place where she is."
"That is no hard matter to tell thee," she answered; "she is in her chamber apart." They went therein, and they greeted Fand, and she welcomed Laeg in the same fashion as the others had done.