"If that be so," said Brian, "then I pray thee lend us Mannanan's canoe, the Wave-sweeper."
"I shall lend you that," replied Luga; "it lies at Bruga of the Boyne;[XLV.] and ye have my consent to take it."
So they came again to their father, and this time Ethnea, their sister, was with him; and they told them that Luga had given them the canoe.
"I have much fear," said Turenn, "that it will avail you little against the dangers of your quest. Nevertheless, Luga desires to obtain that part of the eric that will be useful to him at the battle of Moytura,[11] and so far he will help you. But in seeking that which is of no advantage to him, namely, the cooking-spit, and the three shouts on Midkena's Hill, therein he will give you no aid, and he will be glad if ye perish in your attempts to obtain it."
They then set out for Bruga of the Boyne, accompanied by their sister Ethnea, leaving Turenn lamenting after them. The canoe they found lying in the river; and Brian went into it and said—
"It seems to me that only one other person can sit here along with me;" and he began to complain very bitterly of its smallness. He ceased, however, at the bidding of Ethnea, who told him that the canoe would turn out large enough when they came to try it, and that it was under strict command not to let any one grumble at its smallness. And she went on to say—
"Alas, my beloved brothers, it was an evil deed to slay the father of Luga of the Long Arms! and I fear you will suffer much woe and hardship on account of it."
Ethnea.
The deed was a dark one, a deed full of woe,
Your brother Dedannan to slay;
And hard and relentless the heart of your foe,
The bright-faced Ildana, that forced you to go,
This eric of vengeance to pay!
The Brothers.