“And you likewise,” said O’Donnell. “Whence come you, and what is your craft?”
“I come from the outmost stream of earth,
From the glens where the white swans glide,
A night in Islay, a night in Man,
A night on the cold hillside.”
“It’s the great traveller you are,” said O’Donnell.
“Maybe you’ve learnt something on the road.”
“I am a juggler,” said the lank grey beggarman, “and for five pieces of silver you shall see a trick of mine.”
“You shall have them,” said O’Donnell; and the lank grey beggarman took three small straws and placed them in his hand.
“The middle one,” said he, “I’ll blow away; the other two I’ll leave.”