was in the fields an' along be the hedges an' ditches from
sunrise to sunset, collectin' the matarials av a dose fur the Pooka, but
phat he got, faith, I dunno, no more does any wan, fur he never said, but
kep the saycret to himself an' didn't say it aven to the quane, fur he
knewn that saycrets run through a woman like wather in a ditch. But there
was wan thing about it that he cudn't help tellin', fur he wanted it but
cudn't get it widout help, an' that was three hairs from the Pooka's tail,
axceptin' which the charm 'udn't work. So he towld a man he had, he'd give
him no end av goold if he'd get thim fur him, but the felly pulled aff his
caubeen an' scrotched his head an' says, 'Faix, yer Honor, I dunno phat'll
be the good to me av the goold if the Pooka gets a crack at me carkidge
wid his hind heels,' an' he wudn't undhertake the job on no wages, so the
king begun to be afeared that his loaf was dough.

"But it happen'd av the Friday, this bein' av a Chewsday, that the Pooka
caught a sailor that hadn't been on land only long enough to get bilin'
dhrunk, an' got him on his back, so jumped over the clift wid him lavin'
him dead enough, I go bail. Whin they come to sarch the sailor to see phat
he had in his pockets, they found three long hairs round the third button
av his top-coat. So they tuk thim to the king tellin' him where they got
thim, an' he was greatly rejiced, bekase now he belaved he had the Pooka
sure enough, so he ended his inchantmint.

"But as the avenin' come, he riz a doubt in the mind av him thish-a-way.
Ev the three hairs wor out av the Pooka's tail, the charm 'ud be good
enough, but if they wasn't, an' was from his mane inshtead, or from a
horse inshtead av a Pooka, the charm 'udn't work an' the Pooka 'ud get
atop av him wid all the feet he had at wanst an' be the death av him
immejitly. So this nate and outprobrious argymint shtruck the king wid
great force an' fur a bit, he was onaisey. But wid a little sarcumvintion,
he got round it, for he confist an' had absolution so as he'd be ready,
thin he towld wan av the sarvints to come in an' tell him afther supper,
that there was a poor widdy in the boreen beyant the Corkschrew that
wanted help that night, that it 'ud be an arriant av marcy he'd be on, an'
so safe agin the Pooka if the charm didn't howld.

"'Sure, phat'll be the good o' that?' says the man, 'It 'ull be a lie, an'
won't work.'

"'Do you be aisey in yer mind,' says the king to him agi