“You are wrong,” said Dermot. “The words of the trial were, ‘until you have brought to the courtyard the hound with the golden chain.’ I have carried out the command of the trial; now I am going to take the hound back to the Red Giant, who has more right and more need of him than any of us.”
The king knew he was caught by the terms of his own sentence. He pounded the arms of his throne in anger, but he did not dare deny the terms he had pronounced.
“Well,” demanded Dermot, “do I get to see my chief, Finn MacCool?”
“You do not,” answered the king. “I did not say that bringing the hound was the only trial you would have to accomplish. You shall not see your chief until you bring me the true story of the Sorrowful Knight.”
Dermot was willing to try another test. He believed that the king was honest in saying he meant to have two trials before releasing Finn.
“Where can I find this man?” he asked.
“That is for you to find out,” said the king.
Dermot left the palace and went to the long house. Once more he felt discouraged, but once more the small chief came to his aid.
“I’ll wager you have been sent to get the story of the Sorrowful Knight,” he said.
“How did you guess it?” asked Dermot.