“What good will that be,” they decided, “if Bress does not also lengthen the lives of the cows?”
This was beyond the power of Bress to do; so he made another offer.
“Tell your people,” he said to Lugh, “that, if they will spare my life, they shall have a good wheat harvest every year.”
But they said: “We already have the spring to plough and sow in, the summer to ripen the crops, the autumn for reaping, and the winter in which to eat the bread; and that is all we want.”
Lugh told this to Bress. But he also said: “You shall have your life in return for a much less service to us than that.”
“What is it?” asked Bress.
“Tell us when we ought to plough, when we ought to sow, and when we ought to harvest.”
Bress replied: “You should plough on a Tuesday, sow on a Tuesday, and harvest on a Tuesday.”
And this lying maxim (says the story) saved Bress’s life.
Lugh, the Dagda, and Ogma still pursued the Fomors, who had carried off in their flight the Dagda’s harp. They followed them into the submarine palace where Bress and Elathan lived, and there they saw the harp hanging on the wall. This harp of the Dagda’s would not play without its owner’s leave. The Dagda sang to it: