"

"I can dive like a fish," said Enda; "but how can I walk beneath the
waters?"

"You can do it easily enough," said the swan, "if you get the
water-dress of Brian, one of the three sons of Turenn, and his helmet
of transparent crystal, by the aid of which he was able to walk under
the green salt sea."[3]

"And where shall I find them?"

"They are in the water-palace of Angus of the Boyne," said the swan;
"but you should set out at once, for if the spell be not broken before
the moon is full again, it cannot be broken for a year and a day."

"I'll set out in the first ray of the morning," said Enda.

"May luck and joy go with you," said the swan. "And now the hours
of silence are coming upon me, and I have only time to warn you that
dangers you little dream of will lie before you in your quest for the
golden cup."

"I am willing to face all dangers for your sake, O princess," said Enda.

"Blessings be upon you, Enda," said the swan, and she sailed away from
the shadow out into the light across the lake to the sedgy banks. And
Enda saw her no more.

He rowed his curragh home, and he lay on his bed without taking off his
clothes. And as the first faint glimmer of the morning came slanting down
the mountains, he stepped into his curragh and pulled across the lake,
and took the road towards the water-palace of Angus of the Boyne.

When he reached the banks of the glancing river a little woman, dressed
in red, was standing there before him.

"You are welcome, Enda," said she. "And glad am I to see the day that
brings you here to help the winsome Princess Mave. And now wait a
second, and the water-dress and crystal helmet will be ready for you."

And, having said this, the little woman plucked a handful of wild
grasses, and she breathed upon them three times and then flung them on
the river, and a dozen fairy nymphs came springing up through the water,
bearing the water-dress and crystal helmet and a shining spear. And they
laid them down upon the bank at Enda's feet, and then disappeared.

"Now, Enda," said the fairy woman, "take these; by the aid of the dress
and the helmet you can walk beneath the waters. You will need the spear
to enable you to meet the dangers that lie before you. But with that
spear, if you only have courage, you can overcome everything and everyone
that may attempt to bar your way."

Having said this, she bid good-by to Enda, and stepping off the bank,
she floated out upon the river a