Transcript

Bhí fear thiar i gConamara fadó insa tseanaimsir a dtugaidís Tadhg Ó Mongáin air. Theastaigh sé uaidh a theacht isteach go Gaillimh ar theachtaireacht. Chaith sé i bhfad ag faire ar a theachtair-... ar an... ar an truip.

Tháinig sé isteach lá, é féin agus a ghearrán[1] bán. (Bhí) sióg (...) ar an mbóthar ar an mbealach. Agus duine ar bith nach mbeadh thar an spota sin san oíche, shulá dtigeadh an oíche, ní feicfí aríst ag brách é. Tháinig an oíche ar Thadhg agus ar a ghearrán bán agus casadh an tsióg dhó.

"Go mbeannaí Dia dhuit, a Thaidhg," a dúirt an tsióg.

"Go mbeannaí Dia agus Muire dhuit," a dúirt Tadhg.

"(Is) fada an lá ag faire ar an truip seo a thabhairt thú, a Thaidhg," a dúirt an tsióg.

"Bhuel, is fada," a dúirt Tadhg.

"Tá tú i ngreim faoi dheireadh," a dúirt an tsióg.

"Tás[2]," a dúirt Tadhg.

"Tá trí cheist a'msa le cur ort," a dúirt sé, "agus murb fhuil[3] tú in ann iad a fhuascailt ní feicfear aríst go bráth thú."

"Bhuel, tearaí[4] leofa," a dúirt Tadhg.

"Géag úr i mbarr an chrainn, a Thaidhg," a dúirt sé, "agus smál dubh ar a leiceann. Tomhais fáth ar an leathrann."

"Cailleach agus buarach (ar an tsáil)," a dúirt Tadhg, "agus í dhá fáscadh go teann teann."

"Ní shin é," a dúirt Tadh-... an tsióg. "Géag úr i mbarr an chrainn, a Thaidhg," a dúirt sé, "agus smál dubh ar a leiceann."

"Tá teach mór i nDún na Gall," a dúirt Tadhg, "agus ní ligfear aon nduine isteach ann."

"Ní shin é, a Thaidhg," a dúirt sé, "ach is maith an cainteoir thú. Géag úr i mbarr an chrainn, a Thaidhg," a dúirt sé, "agus smál dubh ar a leiceann."

"(Clár daraí a chúl leis féin), iolrach agus a chrúba ar easnamh."

"Ní shin é," a dúirt Ta-... an tsióg, "ach is maith an cainteoir thú, a Thaidhg. Tiúrfaidh mé round eile dhuit. Géag úr i mbarr an chrainn agus smál dubh ar a leiceann."

"Coinneal agus coinnleoir ann," a dúirt Tadhg.

"Tá sé agad insa deireadh, a Thaidhg," a dúirt an tsióg.

D'imigh leothu síos an bóthar agus bhí teach ósta ar thaobh an bhóthair. Dúirt Tadhg go rachadh sé isteach is go bhfaghadh sé deoch.

"Ná téirigh isteach ansin, a Thaidhg," a dúirt an tsióg. "Níl ann ach (deachmhaí)[5]."

"(Dh)á mbeinn gan a fháil ann ach deoch uisce," a dúirt Tadhg, "caithfidh mé ghoil isteach."

Chuaigh sé isteach agus tharraing sé an capall aniar go dtí an doras. D'ól sé a dheoch agus bhí an tsióg amuigh ag fada-... ag fanacht leis.

Nuair ab fhada leis an tsióg go rabh sé ag goil amach, "Tá an gearrán bán insa tseisrigh, a Thaidhg," a dúirt sé, "agus é ar easbhaidh ama."

"Is cuma liom," a dúirt Tadhg, "ach an té nach n-ólfaidh leann... An té nach n-ólfaidh (deachmhaí) bíodh sé ar easbhaidh leanna. Ní rachaidh mise amach go maidin."

Fuaigh an tsióg ar siúl agus chuaigh Tadhg abhailí.

Translation

There was a man out west in Conamara long ago in the old days who was called Tadhg Ó Mongáin. He wanted to come into Galway on an errand. He spent a long time thinking about his err-... about the journey.

He came in one day, himself and his white nag. There was (?) a fairy (...) on the road along the way. And anybody who wasn't past that spot at night-time, before the night fell, would never again be seen. The night fell on Tadhg and on his white nag and he met the fairy.

"Good day to you, Tadhg," said the fairy.

"Good day," said Tadhg.

"You have been thinking of making this trip for a long time, Tadhg," said the fairy.

"Indeed, I have," said Tadhg.

"You are in a bind at last," said the fairy.

"I am," said Tadhg.

"I have three questions to ask you," he said, "and if you are not able to solve them you will never be seen again."

"Well, bring them on," said Tadhg.

"A fresh branch at the top of the tree, Tadhg," he said, "and a black stain on its cheek." Solve the riddle of that half-verse."

"A hag with a spancel on the heel (?)," said Tadhg, "being squeezing very tightly."

"That's not it," said Tadh-... the fairy. "A fresh branch at the top of the tree, Tadhg," he said, "and a black stain on its cheek."

"There is a big house in Donegal," said Tadhg, "and nobody will be let into it."

"That's not it, Tadhg," he said, "but you are a good talker. A fresh branch at the top of the tree, Tadhg," he said, "and a black stain on its cheek."

"An oak board with its back to itself (?), an eagle missing its claws."

"That's not it," said Ta-... the fairy, "but you are a good talker, Tadhg. I will give you another go. A fresh branch at the top of the tree, and a black stain on its cheek."

"A candle with a candle-stick," said Tadhg.

"You have it at last, Tadhg," said the fairy.

Off they went down the road and there was an inn beside the road. Tadhg said that he would go in and that he would get a drink.

"Don't go in there, Tadhg," said the fairy. "There is nothing but dregs(?) in there."

"If I were only getting a drink of water there," said Tadhg, "I have to go in."

He went in and he pulled the horse over to the door. He drank his drink and the fairy was outside waiting for him.

When the fairy was tired of waiting for him to come out, "The white nag is in the plough-team(?), Tadhg," he said, "and is short of time.

"I don't care," said Tadhg, "but he who won't drink beer... he who won't drink dregs(?) will be short of beer. I won't go out until morning."

The fairy went off and Tadhg went home.

Footnotes

Commentary

This is a version of a stave-anecdote that was most commonly told in Munster tradition, involving a ghost or spirit challenging a passer-by, under threat of death, to complete a quatrain about a candle and candlestick. See Dáithí Ó hÓgáin, Myth, legend and romance (New York, 1991), 239. In this instance, it is set in the context of fairy lore, and the fairy threatens to abduct rather than kill the intended victim. This motif is one that has ample precedence in oral tradition, through storytelling and song. It is recorded under the title 'Riddles wisely expounded' in James Child's collection of ballads. One of the earliest versions of the song comes from an English song called 'Inter Diabolus et Virgo', dating from around 1450, which describes a riddling contest between a devil and a woman he wishes to abduct. See Francis James Child, The English and Scottish popular ballads (5 vols, New York, 1965), vol. 1, 3. The story may also have its origins in an episode from ancient Greek lore, concerning a riddling contest between Oedipus and the Sphinx. See Lowell Edmunds and Alan Dundes, Oedipus: a folklore casebook (New York, 1983), 159. It may therefore be related to an international folk motif, H541.1.1 Sphinx propounds riddle on pain of death. It also contains motifs 540.1 Supernatural creatures propound riddles. See Stith Thompson, Motif-index of folk literature (rev. and enlarged ed., 6 vols, Bloomington, Ind., 1955-8). Additionally, for a list of motifs concerning riddles in early Irish tradition, see Tom Peete Cross, Motif-index of early Irish literature (Bloomington, Ind., 1952), 341-2.