“What has brought thee hither, O Cua?” said Ferdia. Now Cua means “squint-eyed,” and Ferdia called him by this scoffing name, because he wished to appear bold and unconcerned, though in his heart he feared and was ashamed; yet he liked not to show his fear. “Welcome thy coming, O squint-eyed one.”
But Cuchulain answered seriously, “Up to to-day, O Ferdia, no greeting would have been more welcome than greeting of thine, for I should have esteemed it the welcome of a friend. To-day, however, I do not count it such. And indeed, Ferdia, more fitting would it have been that I should offer welcome to thee, than that thou shouldst offer it to me, seeing that it is thou who hast intruded into my province and not I into thine. It was for me to challenge thee to fight, and not for thee to challenge me.”
“What induced thee to come to this combat at all, O Cuchulain,” replied Ferdia, “as though thou wert mine equal? Dost thou not remember, that in the old days when we were with Scáth, thou wast in attendance on me as my pupil, and thy place it was to tie up my javelins for me, and to make my couch?”
“That indeed is true,” Cuchulain answered gravely; “for I was in those years thy junior in age and standing, in feats and in renown. I did then but my duty. But to-day it is no longer so; there is not now in the world any champion to whom I am not equal, or whom I would refuse to fight. O Ferdia, my friend, it was not well for thee that thou didst listen to the enticements of Ailill and of Meave, urging thee to come out and fight with me. When we were with Scáth it was side by side that we went to every battle and every battle-field, to conflicts and to feats of war. Together we wandered through strange unknown lands, together we encountered dangers and difficulty; in all things we stood side by side, aiding and supporting one another.
“We were heart’s companions
Comrades in assemblies,
Brothers, who together
Slept the dreamless sleep.
In all paths of peril,