Transcript

Bhí buachaill aimsire ann fadó a bhí ag obair ó am go ham aige[1] máistrí crua. Fé dheireadh, fuair sé cortha dá bheatha agus don saol acu. Agus dúirt sé aon tráthnóna amháin nuair a bhraith sé go raibh an máistir ag éisteacht leis: "Mo mhallacht ort, a Adam," ar seisean, "agus mo dhá mhallacht ort, a Éabha. Breá an saol a bheadh agam mara mbeadh sibh. Agus táim (bhur n-eascaine) anso insa trinse seo ó cheann ceann na bliana."

"Tá an ceart agat," arsa an máistir á fhreagairt, "agus is mithid duit feabhsú a chur ar do chuid oibre. Tar liomsa anois agus beidh saol maith agat ar feadh do shaoil arís. Beir(ir) mar mhaor os chionn mo chuid fear agus ní gá dhuit lá oibre do dhéanamh feasta."

Chuaigh sé in éineacht leis. Chuir sé isteach i seomra é, é féin agus a bhean. Thug sé ceart an tseomra ins an iomlán dóibh ach aon rud amháin a bhí ar an mbord. Adúirt leis: "Ná dein oiread agus bain(t) leis sin," ar seisean, "ach bíodh an chuid eile agat."

Mar sin a bhí. Chuir an bhean suas é féach' cad a bhí fén mbosca. Sa deireadh thiar thall ghéill sé dhi. Thóg sé an bosca is pé rud a bhí ann d'imigh sé. Ar an láthair sin do tháinig an máistir.

"Cad é seo déanta agat?" ar seisean. "Mheasas go raibh an chuid eile dhon seomra fairsing do dhóthain. Agus gan baint leis sin. Anois," a dúirt sé, "téir mar a rabhais cheana. Níl áit eile sa tsaol oiriúnach duit ach é."

Translation

Long ago there lived a servant boy who worked from time to time for hard masters. In the end he got fed up with his living and with his life with them. And one evening when he thought the master was listening to him he said: "My curse on you Adam," he said, "and my double curse on you, Eve. What a fine life I would have if it wasn't for you. And I am cursing you both (?) here in this trench from the start of the year to the end."

"You are right," said the master, answering him, "and it is time for you to improve your work. Come with me now and you will have a good life again for the rest of of your days. You will be (?) the foreman over all my men and you will not have to work another day from now on."

He went along with him. He put him in a room, himself and his wife. He gave them access to everything in the room except for one thing which was on the table. He said to him: "Don't even touch that," he said, "but have everything else."

That's how it was. The woman urged him to see what was under the box. In the end he yielded to her. He lifted the box and whatever was in it escaped. At that very moment the master came.

"What is this you have done?" he said. "I thought the rest of the room was enough for you. And not to touch that. Now," he said, "go where you were before. No other place in this world suits you but it."

Footnotes

Commentary

This is an Irish version of an international folktale, namely ATU 1416 The mouse in the silver jug. See Hans Jorg Uther, The types of international folktales: a classification and bibliography (3 vols, Helsinki, 2004). In the international versions, it is a couple who bemoan their lifestyle, and curse Adam and Eve. A rich patron offers them a life of luxury, as long as they do not open a certain vessel. They succumb to temptation, however, and a mouse or bird flies out of the vessel upon opening. The story contains the central motif entitled C324 Tabu: looking into jug and H1554.1 Test of curiosity: mouse in jug. See Stith Thompson, Motif-index of folk literature (rev. and enlarged ed., 6 vols, Bloomington, Ind., 1955-8). These motifs are central to a common Irish variant of the same story, whereby a holy person demands that no one open a vessel, and upon violation of this command, mice or rats emerge. It is used as an aetiological tale to explain the origin of mice or rats, and is often found in association with St Martin of Tours. See Seán Ó Súilleabháin and Rieder Th. Christiansen, The types of the Irish folktale (Helsinki, 1968).