[4]"Unfair, side by side,
To come to the ford.
'Gainst my noble ward[b]
Hath Medb turned my hand!
"There'll come rooks and crows
To gaze on my arms,
To eat flesh and blood.
A tale, Cu, for thee!"[4]
W. 3964. Thereupon Cuchulain hastened towards Ferdiad and clasped his two arms about him, and bore him with all his arms and his armour and his dress northwards over the ford, that so it should be [1]with his face[1] to the north[a] of the ford the triumph took place and not to the west[b] of the ford with the men of Erin. *LL. fo. 87b. Cuchulain laid Ferdiad there on the ground, and a cloud and a faint and a swoon came over Cuchulain there by the head of Ferdiad. Laeg espied it, and the men of Erin all arose for the attack upon him. "Come, O Cucuc," cried Laeg; "arise now [2]from thy trance,[2] for the men of Erin will come to attack us, and it is not single combat they will allow us, now that Ferdiad son of Daman son of Darè is fallen by thee." "What availeth it me to arise, O gilla," moaned Cuchulain, "now that this one is fallen by my hand?" In this wise the gilla spake and he uttered these words and Cuchulain responded:—