"But, Thomas, ye maun hold your tongue,
"Whatever ye may hear or see;
"For, if you speak word in Elflyn land,
"Ye'll ne'er get back to your ain countrie."
O they rade on, and farther on,
And they waded through rivers aboon the knee,
And they saw neither sun nor moon,
But they heard the roaring of the sea.
It was mirk mirk night, and there was nae stern light,
And they waded through red blude to the knee;
For a' the blude, that's shed on earth,
Rins through the springs o' that countrie.
Syne they came on to a garden green,
And she pu'd an apple frae a tree—
"Take this for thy wages, true Thomas;
"It will give thee the tongue that can never lie."
"My tongue is mine ain," true Thomas said;
"A gudely gift ye wad gie to me!
"I neither dought to buy nor sell,
"At fair or tryst where I may be.
"I dought neither speak to prince or peer,
"Nor ask of grace from fair ladye."
"Now hold thy peace!" the lady said,
"For, as I say, so must it be."
He has gotten a coat of the even cloth,
And a pair of shoes of velvet green;
And, till seven years were gane and past,
True Thomas on earth was never seen.