the palace, and was
received there with rejoicing. Pwyll, also, the chief of Annwn came to
the orchard with his hundred knights, as Rhiannon had commanded him,
having the bag with him. And Pwyll was clad in coarse and ragged
garments, and wore large clumsy old shoes upon his feet. And when he
knew that the carousal after the meat had begun, he went towards the
hall, and when he came into the hall, he saluted Gwawl the son of Clud,
and his company, both men and women. "Heaven prosper thee," said Gwawl,
"and the greeting of Heaven be unto thee." "Lord," said he, "May Heaven
reward thee, I have an errand unto thee." "Welcome be thine errand, and
if thou ask of me that which is just, thou shalt have it gladly." "It is
fitting," answered he. {26} "I crave but from want, and the boon that I
ask is to have this small bag that thou seest filled with meat." "A
request within reason is this," said he, "and gladly shalt thou have it.
Bring him food." A great number of attendants arose and begun to fill
the bag, but for all that they put into it, it was no fuller than at
first. "My soul," said Gwawl, "will thy bag be ever full?" "It will
not, I declare to Heaven," said he, "for all that may be put into it,
unless one possessed of lands, and domains, and treasure, shall arise and
tread down with both his feet the food that is within the bag, and shall
say, 'Enough has been put herein.'" Then said Rhiannon unto Gwawl the
son of Clud, "Rise up quickly." "I will willingly arise," said he. So
he rose up, and put his two feet into the bag. And Pwyll turned up the
sides of the bag, so that Gwawl was over his head in it. And he shut it
up quickly and slipped a knot upon the thongs, and blew his horn. And
thereupon behold his household came down upon the palace. And they
seized all the host that had come with Gwawl, and cast them into his own
prison. And Pwyll threw off his rags, and his old shoes, and his
tattered array; and as they came in, every one of Pwyll's knights struck
a blow upon the bag, and asked, "What is here?" "A Badger," said they.
And in this manner they played, each of them striking the bag, either
with his foot or with a staff. And thus played they with the bag. Every
one as he came in asked, "What game are you playing at thus?" "The game
of Badger in the Bag," said they. And then was the game of Badger in the
Bag first played.

"Lord," said the man in the bag, "If thou wouldest but hear me, I mer