“You are not a husband for me now, you must go from me,” said she to Art. “The man who has the sword of light is my sister’s husband; he has the strength of thousands in him, and can run with the speed of wild beasts. You did not know me, did not know that I was not that gruagach’s daughter; you did not ask me who I was. Now you are in trouble, you must go. Sit on the horse that I rode, and that the gruagach gave you, take the bridle in your right hand, and let the horse go where he pleases; he will face the ocean, but a road will open before him, and he will never stop till he comes to my father’s castle. My father is King Under the Wave. The horse will stop at steps in front of the castle; you will dismount then. My father will ask where you got that steed, and you will say you got him when you won him and the daughter of King Under the Wave from the Red Gruagach.”
Next morning Art took farewell of his wife and his father and mother, started, and never stopped nor dismounted till he came to the steps outside the castle-yard where horsemen used to mount and dismount. He came down then.
“Where did you get that horse?” asked King Under the Wave; “and where is the rider who left my castle on his back?”
“I won him and the daughter of King Under the Wave from the Red Gruagach.”
“Ah, ’tis easily known to me that it was the Foxy Gruagach who stole my child. Now, who are you, and where are you going?”
“I am Art, son of the King of Leinster, in Erin.”
King Under the Wave gave a hundred thousand welcomes to Art then, and said, “You are the best king’s son that has ever lived; and if my daughter was to go from me, I am glad that it is to you she went. It is for the fortune that you are here, I suppose?”
“I am not here for a fortune; but I am in heavy trouble. I am in search of the sword of light.”
“If you are going for that sword, I fear that you will not be a son-in-law of mine long. It is the husband of another daughter of mine who has the sword of light now; and while he has it, he could kill the whole world. But I like you better, and will send servants to the stable to get you the worst horse for to-night; you will need the best afterward. Balor Beimenach, this son-in-law of mine, will grow stronger each time you go to his castle. One of my men will ride with you, and show you where Balor lives, and show you the window of the room where he sleeps. You will turn your horse’s back to the window, and call out, ‘Are you asleep, Balor Beimenach?’ He will reply, and call out, ‘What do you want?’ You will answer, ‘The sword of light and the story of Balor Beimenach.’ Put spurs to your horse that instant, and ride away, with what breath the horse has. I will have the twelve gates of this castle open before you, to know will you bring the life with you. Balor is bound not to cross a gate or a wall of this castle without my request, or to follow any man through a gate or over a wall of mine. He must stop outside.”
On the following day, Art and a serving-man rode away; the man pointed out Balor’s castle, and the window of his bedchamber. In the evening, Art rode up to the window, and shouted, “Are you asleep, Balor Beimenach?”