Fergus got up for his sword after that.
'Alas!' said he.
'What is the matter with you?' said Medb.
'An ill deed have I done to Ailill,' said he. 'Wait here, while I go into the wood,' said Fergus; 'and do not wonder though it be long till I come.'
It happened that Medb knew not the loss of the sword. He goes thence, and takes the sword of his charioteer with him in his hand. He makes a wooden sword in the wood. Hence there is Fid Mor Drualle in Ulster.
'Let us go on after our comrades,' said Fergus. All their hosts meet in the plain. They pitch their tents. Fergus is summoned to Ailill to play chess. When Fergus went to the tent, Ailill began to laugh at him. [Note: Here follows about two columns of rhetoric, consisting of a taunting dialogue between Ailill, Fergus and Medb.]
***
Cuchulainn came so that he was at Ath Cruinn before them.
'O friend Loeg,' said he to his charioteer, 'the hosts are at hand to us.'
'I swear by the gods,' said the charioteer, 'I will do a mighty feat before warriors … on slender steeds with yokes of silver, with golden wheels …'