t us go there for the night," said Conchubar. So they
brought their chariots and their horses and their arms; and they were
hardly in the house when every sort of food and of drink, some they knew
and some they did not know, was put before them, so that they never
spent a better night. And when they had eaten and drunk and began to be
satisfied, Conchubar said to the young man, "Where is the mistress of
the house that she does not come to bid us welcome?" "You cannot see her
to-night," said he, "for she is in the pains of childbirth."

So they rested there that night, and in the morning Conchubar was the
first to rise up; but he saw no more of the man of the house, and what
he heard was the cry of a child. And he went to the room it came from,
and there he saw Dechtire, and her maidens about her, and a young child
beside her. And she bade Conchubar welcome, and she told him all that
had happened her, and that she had called him there to bring herself and
the child back to Emain Macha. And Conchubar said, "It is well you have
done by me, Dechtire; you gave shelter to me and to my chariots; you
kept the cold from my horses; you gave food to me and my people, and now
you have given us this good gift. And let our sister, Finchoem, bring up
the child," he said. "No, it is not for her to bring him up, it is for
me," said Sencha, son of Ailell, chief judge and chief poet of Ulster.
"For I am skilled; I am good in disputes; I am not forgetful; I speak
before anyone at all in the presence of the King; I watch over what he
says; I give judgment in the quarrels of kings; I am judge of the men of
Ulster; no one has a right to dispute my claim, but only Conchubar."

"If the child is given to me to bring up," said Blai, the distributor,
"he will not suffer from want of care or from forgetfulness. It is my
messages that do the will of Conchubar; I call up the fighting men from
all Ireland; I am well able to provide for them for a week, or even for
ten days; I settle their business and their disputes; I support their
honour; I get satisfaction for their insults."

"You think too much of yourself," said Fergus. "It is I that will bring
up the child; I am strong; I have knowledge; I am the King's messenger;
no one can stand up against me in honour or riches; I am hardened to war
and battles; I am a good craftsman; I am worthy to bring up the child. I
am the protector of all the unhappy; the strong are afraid of me; I am
the helper of th