"This giant, whose name was Darmod David Odeen, was not a respectable
person at all, but a big ould vagabond. He was twice the size of the
other giant, who, though bigger than any man, was not a big giant; for,
as there are great and small men, so there are great and small giants--I
mean some are small when compared with the others. Well, Finn served
this giant a considerable time, doing all kinds of hard and unreasonable
service for him, and receiving all kinds of hard words, and many a hard
knock and kick to boot--sorrow befall the ould vagabond who could thus
ill-treat a helpless foundling. It chanced that one day the giant caught
a salmon, near a salmon-leap upon his estate--for, though a big ould
blackguard, he was a person of considerable landed property, and high
sheriff for the county Cork. Well, the giant brings home the salmon by
the gills, and delivers it to Finn, telling him to roast it for the
giant's dinner; 'but take care, ye young blackguard,' he added, 'that in
roasting it--and I expect ye to roast it well--you do not let a blister
come upon its nice satin skin, for if ye do, I will cut the head off your
shoulders.' 'Well,' thinks Finn, 'this is a hard task; however, as I
have done many hard tasks for him, I will try and do this too, though I
was never set to do anything yet half so difficult.' So he prepared his
fire, and put his gridiron upon it, and lays the salmon fairly and softly
upon the gridiron, and then he roasts it, turning it from one side to the
other just in the nick of time, before the soft satin skin could be
blistered. However, on turning it over the eleventh time--and twelve
would have settled the business--he found he had delayed a little bit of
time too long in turning it over, and there was a small, tiny blister on
the soft outer skin. Well, Finn was in a mighty panic, remembering the
threats of the ould giant; however, he did not lose heart, but clapped
his thumb upon the blister in order to smooth it down. Now the salmon,
Shorsha, was nearly done, and the flesh thoroughly hot, so Finn's thumb
was scalt, and he, clapping it to his mouth, sucked it, in order to draw
out the pain, and in a moment--hubbuboo!--became imbued with all the
wisdom of the world."

_Myself_. Stop, Murtagh! stop!

_Murtagh_. All the witchcraft, Shorsha.

_Myself_. How wonderful!

_Murtagh_. Was it not, Shorsha? The salmon, do you see, was a fairy
salmon.

_Myself_. What a strange coinc