"Eat thy meal now," said the man of the house.
"I never ate before," said Cormac, "having only two people in my company."
"Wouldst thou eat it with three others?"
"If they were dear to me, I would," said Cormac.
Then the door opened, and there entered the wife and children of Cormac: great was his joy and his exultation.
Then Manannan mac Lir, lord of the fairy Cavalcade, appeared before him in his own true form, and said thus:
"I it was, Cormac, who bore away these three from thee. I it was who gave thee this branch, all that I might bring thee here. Eat now and drink."
"I would do so," said Cormac, "could I learn the meaning of the wonders I saw to-day."
"Thou shalt learn them," said Manannan. "The horsemen thatching the roof with feathers are a likeness of people who go forth into the world to seek riches and fortune; when they return their houses are bare, and so they go on for ever. The young man dragging up the trees to make a fire is a likeness of those who labour for others: much trouble they have, but they never warm themselves at the fire. The three heads in the wells are three kinds of men. Some there are who give freely when they get freely; some who give freely though they get little; some who get much and give little, and they are the worst of the three, Cormac," said Manannan.
After that Cormac and his wife and his children sat down, and a table-cloth was spread before them.