Transcript

Bhí fear cneasta oibre ag goil an bóthar. Casadh robálaí dhó. Chuaigh siad ag caint.

"Goidé an sórt deis theacht i dtír atá agad?"

"Fear cneasta cruaidh oibre atá ionam (ag iarraidh) mo bheatha a tharraingt leis an (...) (cneasta). Goidé an sórt fear thú féin?"

"Robálaí."

"Ó," arsa fear an chneastacht. "Bhí fear..." ar seisean.

"Ghoidfinn a oiread aon oíche amháin," ar seisean, "agus saothrófá i gcaitheamh do shaoil."

(Bhuail) fear an chneastacht (...).

"Cén geall a chuirfeas tú?"

"Cuirfidh mé cúig phunta leat," ar fear an chneastacht.

Chuir siad cúig phunta.

"Cé bhfágfaidh muid le socrú aige é?"

"An chéad fhear a chasfaíor[1] dhúinn ar an mbóthar."

Bhog siad leo chun bóthair. Cén fear a casadh dhófa ach robálaí eile. Ligeadh an scéal aige.

Dúirt sé, "Á, a amadáin, shaothró-... ghoidfeadh an fear sin a oiread aon oíche amháin is shaothrófá i gcaitheamh i do shaoil."

Bhí an geall cailltí. D'imigh siad leofa ag argóint aríst. Chuir siad geall eile. Chuir sé a chulaith éadaigh agus an dá shúil a bhí ina cheann dhon fhear an chneastacht (...) robáil. D'fhága siad le socrú ag an gcéad fhear a chasfaí dhófa. Goidé an fear a casadh dhófa aríst ach robálaí eile. D'inis siad a scéal dó nuair a casadh dhófa é.

"Á, a amadáin," ar seisean, "ghoidfeadh an fear sin a oiread aon oíche amháin is shaothrófá i gcaitheamh i do shaoil," ar seisean. "Níl in do... do chuid oibre ach (...)."

Bhuel, nuair a bhí an geall cailltí aige bhí sé gan éadach gan amharc. "Caithigí isteach sa gcoill mé," ar seisean, "as amharc na ndaoiní sul bhfeicfí ar (...) an bhóthair mé."

Chaith siad isteach é. Bhí sé ag iarraidh foscadh, ' siúl thart leis na... ' caint leis na coillte go bhfuair sé teach in áit a rabh cait fhiáin. Fuaigh sé isteach go teach seo is bhí tinidh ann. Théigh sé é féin ag an tinidh agus fuaigh sé isteach faoin mbairille. Dúirt sé, "Fanfaidh mé anseo faoin mbairille seo a fhad agus bheas mé beo. Coinneoidh sé foscadh orm."

Tháinig na cait fhiáin isteach gan mórán moille i ndéidh a bheith amuigh ag seilg i rith an lae. Thoisigh siad ag bruith is ag róstadh, ag fáil suipéir (ar chúlú) réidh dhóibh féin. Nuair a bhí an suipéar réidh d'ith siad é. Fuaigh siad... Shuigh siad thart.

"Dé a' scéal?" arsa cat eicinteacht acu.

Fuaigh sé thart go ndeachaigh sé ag an rí-chat. Thit sé ar an rí-chat an scéal a insean. D'inis sé scéal fá bhean óg... an bás uirthi... a leithide seo dh'áit. (Ar seisean), "Tá cúig phunta, cúig mhíle dhéag de phuntaí de thíocht isteach aici sa bhliain. Pósfaidh sí fear ar bith a leigheasfas í. Ach sáróidh sé ar dhochtúirí na hÉireann a leigheas ach leigheasóidh mise í. Tá rud beag (caitin) i bpoll agus," ar seisean, "agus tá tobar uisce ag bun crainn agus dhá bhfaghadh sí trí bhraon de le n-ól leigheasódh sé í. Is tá mise le sin a dhéanamh gan mórán moille is a thabhairt 'uici."

Bhuel, mhoithigh an fear seo a bhí faoin mbairille an chaint. "Chuirfeadh sé súil insa dall," (ar seisean). "Bhéarfadh sé amharc dhon dall is (chuirfeadh) sé súil sa té nach bhfuil aon súil ina cheann. Agus... bhuel, má fhaghaimse é sin," arsa an fear seo, "cuirfidh sé, b'fhéidir, súil in mo cheann."

Translation

An honest working man was travelling along the road. He met a robber. They started talking.

"What kind of means have you to live on?"

"I am an honest hard working man trying to spend my life with the (...). What kind of a man are you yourself?"

"A robber."

"Oh," said the honest man. "There was a man..." he said.

"In one night I would rob as much as you would earn your whole life," he said.

The honest man (...).

"What will you bet?"

"I will bet you five pounds," said the honest man.

They bet five pounds.

"Who will we leave it with to settle?"

"The first man we meet on the road."

They went along the road. Who did they meet but another robber. He was told the story.

"Ah, you fool," he said. "That man would earn in one night as much as you would earn in your whole life."

The bet was lost. Off they went again, arguing. They placed another bet. He bet the honest man his suit of clothing and the two eyes in his head (...). They left it with the first man whom they met on the road to settle. Who did they meet again but another robber. They told him their story when they met him.

"Ah, you fool," he said, "That man would earn in one night as much as you would earn your whole life," he said. "Your work is nothing but (...)."

Well, when he had lost the bet he was naked and blind. "Throw me into the woods," he said, "out of people's sight before I am seen on (...) of the road."

They threw him in. He was looking for shelter, walking around the.... talking to the woods until he found a house in a place where there were wild cats. He went into this house and there was a fire there. He heated himself by the fire and he went in under the barrel. He said, "I'll stay here under this barrel while I am alive. It will keep me sheltered."

The wild cats came in shortly after that having been out hunting for the day. They started boiling and roasting, preparing a (...) supper for themselves. When the supper was ready the ate it. They went.... They sat around.

"What's the story?" said one of the cats.

He went around until the came to the king-cat. It fell to the king-cat to tell the story. He told a story about a young woman... dying(?)... in a certain place. He said, "She has five pounds, fifteen thousand pounds of income per year. She will marry any man who will cure her. But all the doctors in Ireland will fail to cure her, but I will cure her. There is a small (...) thing in a hole and," he said, "and there is a well of water at the bottom of a tree and if she got three drops of it to drink it would cure her. And I am going to do that shortly and bring it to her."

Well, this man who was under the barrel heard the talk. "It would put eyes into the blind," he said. "It would bring sight to the blind and it would put eyes into the one who had no eyes in his head. And, well, if I get that," said this man, "perhaps it will put eyes in my head."

Footnotes

Commentary

This is an example of an international folktale, ATU 613 The two travellers. Standard versions concern a wager between two men about which is more powerful - truth or falsehood. They ask a passer-by to act as mediator, but he is biased towards the supporter of falsehood, and the man who believes in truth has his eyes put out as part of the wager. After being blinded, he spends a night in the forest, where he overhears animals talking about a miraculous cure. He uses the cure to restore his sight, and subsequently uses it to heal a sick princess. He is greatly rewarded, and when the man who took his eyes hears his story, he himself tries the same trick. He hides in the forest, hoping to overhear the animals, but they discover him and tear him to pieces. It is a popular tale, and is often told in combination with other well-known folktales. It has been recorded throughout Eurasia as far east as Korea, and is known in the Americas and many parts of Africa. See Hans Jorg Uther, The types of international folktales: a classification and bibliography (3 vols, Helsinki, 2004). It is a well-recorded story in Ireland, with examples coming from all four provinces, primarily in the west, and particularly in county Galway. See Seán Ó Súilleabháin and Rieder Th. Christiansen, The types of the Irish folktale (Helsinki, 1968). Motifs include B241.2.3 King of cats, D1505.5 Magic water restores sight, D1505.5.3 Magic fountain restores sight, G661.1 Ogre’s secret overheard, H963 Tasks performed by means of secrets overheard from tree, K451.1 Unjust umpire as trickster’s confederate, N451.1 Secrets of animals (demons) accidentally overheard from tree (bridge) hiding place, N452 Secret remedy overheard in conversation of animals (witches) and N2.2.3 Eyes wagered. See Stith Thompson, Motif-index of folk literature (rev. and enlarged ed., 6 vols, Bloomington, Ind., 1955-8).