Transcript

Do bhí beirt iascairithe ann agus (...) iascach ballach a bhíodar. Agus do thit duine acu in poll. Agus nuair do bhí sé ag titim do chuir sé scread nimhe as féin agus do dh'iompaigh sé naoi n-uaire mórtimpeall an fear do bhí ar an gcloich 'na dheabhaidh. Agus do bhí sé dá bhá agus dá mhúchadh insa pholl. Agus ní raibh aon fhocal aige ach "Ó, a Dhia, táim báite! Ó, a Dhia, táim báite!"

Agus nuair a tháinig an fear a bhí ar an gcloich 'na dheabhaidh chuige féinig, "Dhera, mhuise," arsa é sin, "bá agus múchadh ort, gan (locht) d'éinne insa tír seo ach duit féinig. Agus má tánn tú báite nach tú féin a bháigh tú féinig, a óinsigh," arsa é sin. "Agus tánn tú geairid go leor anois d'ifreann nó do fhlaithis Dé a dh'fheiscint."

Agus 'na dhiaidh sin do tháinig trua aige dhó agus do bheir sé ar an ndorú a bhí ina dhorn agus do chaith sé amach air é. Agus cá gcuirfeadh sé an dubhán ná isteach 'na shúil. Agus do thug sé leis isteach é go socair agus nuair a bhí sé dá tharrac aníos ar an gcloich chuige féinig do strac an dubhán an tsúil as. Agus cad a dhein an fear go raibh an tsúil stracaithe as a cheann ná é a chur isteach fén gcúirt ansan. Agus do bhí Dónall Ó Conaill san am san 'na chabhainsiléir dlí. Agus do bhíodar ar feadh naoi m(...) lena (chéilí) agus do chuaigh do Dhónall féin aon chúis do réiteach. Ach nuair a bhí Dónall ag teacht abhaile tréis tigh na cúirte do dh'fhágaint do bhuail triúr nó ceathrar garsún leis agus cúirt acu ar an gcúis chéanna. Agus dúirt duine acu go bhféadfadh sé féinig an chúis sin do réiteach agus go b'fhuirist í a réiteach. Agus do dh'fhiarfaigh Dónall dó conas.

"Neosaidh mé dhuit é, a Dhónaill," arsa é sin. "Tabhair leat an fear go bhfuil an tsúil bainte amach as a cheann agus caith amach an poll céanna é. Agus má thagann sé isteach bhuaidh féinig tabhair díol 'na shúil dó."

Ní dhein Dónall ach lámh a chur ina phóca ansan agus do thug sé nóta púint dó. "By Gor," arsa Dónall, "in aon áit eile... pé an áit eile go gcífead tú tabharfaidh mé síntiús eile dhuit." Agus do dh'imigh Dónall bhuaidh.

Agus do dh'imigh an garsún ar scáth an chlaí agus do fuair sé crosaire nó caochbhearna éigin go dtáini' sé roim Dhónall amuigh ar an mbóthar. Agus d'fháiltigh sé... chuir sé fáilte roim Dhónall. "Táim anso aríst, a dhuine uasail romhat," arsa é sin. "Agus dúraís ó chianaibh liom go dtabharfá síntiús eile dhom insa scéal an áit go gcífeá mé."

"Á," arsa Dónall, "duine dhom phlandaí féin is ea thú." Ní dhein sé ach a lámh a chur ina phóca agus nóta chúig phúint a thabhairt dó. Agus do ghlaoigh sé leis an garsún ar an (mol) arís agus do chuaigh sé go dtí an mbeirt iascairithe agus do ghlaoigh sé ar an mbeirt iascairithe le cois a chéile.

Agus do dh'fhiafraigh sé don bhfear go raibh an tsúil as an raibh sé sásta (len) é féin a chaitheamh amach an poll arís. "Agus má thagann tú isteach uait féin," arsa é sin, "tabharfadsa díol id shúil duit."

"Ha ha ha ha, mhuise, am briathar féin," arsa é sin, "ná fuilim! Ná beirim a bhfeaca don bpoll cheana!"

"Más ea," arsa Dónall, arsa é sin, "téir abhaile!"

Translation

There were two fishermen and (...) they were fishing wrasse. And one of them fell into the water. And when he was falling he let out a frightful scream and he spinned nine times around the man who he left behind on the rock. And he was being drowned and smothered in the sea. And he couldn't say a word but "Oh God, I'm drowned! Oh God, I'm drowned!"

And when the man he had left behind him on the rock came to his senses, "Yerra," he said, "may you drown and smother, and it isn't anyone's fault but your own. And if you are drowned isn't it yourself who drowned yourself, you fool," he said. "And you are close enough now to see either hell or heaven."

And after that he felt sorry for him and he caught the fishing line that was in his hand and he threw it out upon him. And where would he put the hook only into his eye. And he brought him in gently, and when he was pulling him up on the rock towards himself the hook pulled the eye out of him. And what did the man whose eye was ripped out of his head do only bring him to court then. And at that time Daniel O'Connell was a legal counsel. And they spent nine (...) and Daniel O'Connell himself couldn't settle the case. But when Daniel was returning home after leaving the courthouse he met three or four boys at court for the same charge. And one of them said that he could resolve the case and that it was easily solved. And Daniel asked him how.

"I'll tell you Daniel," he said. "Take the man whose eye is gone from his head and throw him out to sea in the same place. And if he comes in by himself give him compensation for his eye."

Daniel did nothing but put his hand in his pocket there and then and gave him a pound note. "By Gor," said Daniel, "wherever else... wherever else I see you I will give you another donation." And Daniel left him.

And the boy went along the shadow of the ditch and found a crossing or some narrow gap where he came before Daniel out on the road. And he welcomed... he welcomed Daniel. "I'm here again, before you sir," he said. "And you told me a while ago that you would give me another donation wherever you would see me."

"Ah," said Daniel, "you are one of my kind." He did nothing but put his hand in his pocket and gave him a five pound note. And he called the boy to come with him (?) (...) again and he went to the two fishermen and he called the two fishermen together.

And he asked the man without the eye if he was happy to throw himself out into the sea again. "And if you come by yourself," he said, "I'll give you compensation for your eye."

"Ha ha ha ha, upon my word," he said, "I am not! I saw enough of that sea before!"

"If that's how it is," said Daniel, he said, "go home!"

Commentary

This is one of a number of international folktales that became attached to the Irish folk hero Daniel O'Connell. It is a variant of ATU 155 The ungrateful snake returned to captivity. In international versions, a man rescues a snake from a trap, only for the snake to try to attack the man. Judgement is asked of another animal, who tricks the snake into being returned to the trap. See Hans Jorg Uther, The types of international folktales: a classification and bibliography (3 vols, Helsinki, 2004). In Irish versions of the same tale, a man loses his eye while being saved from drowning, and seeks compensation from his rescuer, and the arbitrator determines he must be placed back into peril to see if he can survive without assistance. It is relatively popular in Ireland, with examples having been collected from mainly Munster and Connacht, and several in Ulster. See Seán Ó Súilleabháin and Rieder Th. Christiansen, The types of the Irish folktale (Helsinki, 1968). The Irish version may have its origins in medieval French oral tradition, as a similar narrative was popular amongst the jongleurs, the travelling storytellers of fourteenth-century France. See Merriam-Webster’s Encyclopedia of literature (Springfield, Mass., 1995), 399.