Transcript

Bhí aige[1] Mícheál Ó Radhsa gamhain. Agus ba ghnách leis an ghamhain seo a cur 'un tsléibhe ga'n[2] lá le cuid ba a chomharsan.

Tháinig coineascar amháin fliuch agus dúirt sé le bean an toighe go rachadh sé 'un tsléibhe fán ghamhain. Dúirt bean an toighe, "Cha ligeann tú leis[3]. P'fhéadfaí[4] go dtiocfadh sé abhaile leis na ba eile."

"Cuma liom," a deir sé, "rach' mé ina choinne."

Amach suas leis 'uige[5] geata an tsléibhe agus chas sé ar fear beag[6] agus cailín bheag[7]. Dúirt an fear beag coineascar fliuch a bhí ann.

"Seadh," a deir Mícheál. "An bhfa'a[8] sibh gamhain?"

"Chonaic," a deir an chailín bheag. "Tá sé thuas (úd) ar an chnoic."

Amach suas leis agus fuair sé an gamhain[9] go díreach ins an áit a dúirt sí. Thiomáil sé ar ais (ag) teacht abhaile. Taobh amuigh den gheata insa seanbhóthar bhí sé cailí-... buachaillí beag ina shuí ar sé gearrán. Ar an taobh eile den bhóthar bhí sé cailíní ina suí ar sé gearránaí deas. Deir fear acu, "Gá ngeobhas muinn[10] gearrán do Mhícheál?"

"Níl feidhm gearráin air. Cuirfidh muinn a mharcaíocht ar a ghamhain é."

Nuair a dúirt sé sin, amach leis (na t-eallach) síos agus char stop siad go dtáinig siad chuige Bád an Chaoil[11]. Trasna leofa ansin uilig go rabh siad ar an taobh thall. Agus seo Mícheál agus a ghamhain trasna leis comh maith le ceann ar bith acu. Amach suas leofa fríde Chontae an Dúin agus tháinig cailín bheag clósáilte... clósáilte do Mícheál agus dúirt sí leis ine[12] nGaelac[13], "Anois, a Mhícheál, is cuma goidé a chualanns tú nó a fheiceas tú, ná labhair aon fhocal amháin go dtiocfaidh tú ar ais, ar do bhás."

Amach leofa agus char stop siad go dtáinig siad chuige hAbhainn an Bhanna. Tá sé sin breá léim trasna. Siar leis na gearránaí uilig. Seo Mícheál agus a ghamhain agus trasna leis mar a bheadh héan ann. ( I've a bad cold. ) Thiontaigh sé thart nuair a bhí sé ar an taobh eile agus dúirt sé leis féin, "Má bheas mé gan aon fhocal a labhairt comh fada agus a bheas mé beo, sin léim iontach do gamhain."

Nuair a dúirt sé sin thiontaigh sé ar ais. Cha rabh fear, bean nó gearrán ar a n-amharc. Bhí sé ina seasamh i lár páirc mhór cúig míle as an Iúr, é féin agus a ghamhain. B'éigean dó a thiomáilt isteach 'un an Iúir, agus as an Iúr go dtí Ó Méith cúig míle eile. Sin an m-... sin an méad a fuair Mícheál ar son (a) onairtrí[14] fhocal a labhair sé.

Translation

Michael Rice had a calf. And he used to send the calf up the mountain every single day with his neighbours' cows.

A wet evening came and he told the woman of the house he would go up the mountain for the calf. The woman of the house said, "There's no need. He might come back with the other cows."

"I don't mind," he said. "I'll go for him."

Out he went and up to the mountain gate and he met a little man and a little girl. The little man said it was a wet evening.

"Yes," said Michael. "Did you see a calf?"

"We did," said the little girl. "He's up there on the hill."

He went up and found the calf just where she had said. He drove it back towards home. Outside the gate on the old road six little boys were sitting on six horses. On the other side of the road six girls were sitting on six fine horses. One of them said, "Where will we find a horse for Michael?"

"He doesn't need a horse. We'll put him riding on his calf."

When he said that, out came the cattle downwards and they didn't stop until they came to the Narrow Water. They all crossed to the other side. And then Michael and his calf went across as well as any of them. Off they went up through county Down and a little girl came near Michael and she said to him in Irish, "Now, Michael, it doesn't matter what you hear or see, don't utter a single word until you return, or it will be the death of you."

Off they went and they didn't stop until they came to the river Bann. That's a fine jump across. All the horses moved back. Here is Michael and his calf and he goes across like a bird. (I've a bad cold.) He turned around when he was on the other side and he said to himself, "Even if I never utter another word in my life, that was a fine jump for a calf."

After he said that he turned back. There wasn't a man, woman or horse to be seen. He was standing in a big field five miles from Newry, himself and his calf. He had to drive it into Newry, and from Newry to Omeath, another five miles. That's what Michael got for the two or three words he spoke.

Footnotes

Commentary

This story is related in a general sense to similar narratives surrounding the fairies, and great journeys taken by mortals in their company. In many of these stories, a tabu is placed on people, such as the idea that they must not speak, or eat any food offered to them, lest they end up trapped in the fairy realm. This example appears to contain motif C715.1 Tabu: speaking in fairyland. See Stith Thompson, Motif-index of folk literature (rev. and enlarged ed., 6 vols, Bloomington, Ind., 1955-8). The general structure of this story, a thrilling ride on the back of a calf, seems to be related to stories surrounding the Púca, a supernatural shapeshifter who tormented mortals by carrying them on wild rides. For further information see Deasún Breathnach, Chugat an púca (Dublin, 1993).

This story is transcribed also in Heinrich Wagner and Colm Ó Baoill, Linguistic atlas and survey of Irish dialects (4 vols, Dublin, 1958-69), vol. 4, 295, and in Róise Ní Bhaoill, Ulster Gaelic voices: bailiúchán Doegen 1931 (Belfast, 2010), 250-53. Further versions from the same speaker appear in An tUltach 3:6 (1926), 7; 5:8 (1928), 6.