in three hours there was not one of them
left to stand against him. Then twice nine hundred better fighters
again were sent out against him, and within four hours there was not one
of them left to stand against him. Then the king himself came out, and
he stood in the great door, and he said: "Where did the man come from
that has brought destruction on the whole of my kingdom?" "I will tell
you that," said he; "I am Diarmuid, a man of the Fianna of Ireland." "It
is a pity you not to have sent a messenger telling me that," said the
king, "and I would not have spent my men upon you; for seven years
before you were born it was put in the prophecy that you would come to
destroy them. And what is it you are asking now?" he said. "It is the
cup of healing from your own hand I am asking," said Diarmuid. "No man
ever got that cup from me but yourself," said the king, "but it is easy
for me to give it to you, whether or not there is healing in it."

Then the King of the Plain of Wonder gave Diarmuid the cup, and they
parted from one another; and Diarmuid went on till he came to the river,
and it was then he thought of the red man, that he had given no thought
to while he was at the king's house. But he was there before him, and
took his foot in the palm of his hand and brought him over the river. "I
know where it is you are going, Diarmuid," he said then; "it is to heal
the daughter of King Under-Wave that you have given your love to. And it
is to a well I will give you the signs of you should go," he said, "and
bring a share of the water of that well with you. And when you come
where the woman is, it is what you have to do, to put that water in the
cup, and one of the drops of blood in it, and she will drink it, and the
same with the second drop and the third, and her sickness will be gone
from her from that time. But there is another thing will be gone along
with it," he said, "and that is the love you have for her."

"That will not go from me," said Diarmuid. "It will go from you," said
the man; "and it will be best for you make no secret of it, for she will
know, and the king will know, that you think no more of her then than of
any other woman. And King Under-Wave will come to you," he said, "and
will offer you great riches for healing his daughter. But take nothing
from him," he said, "but ask only a ship to bring you home again to
Ireland. And do you know who am I myself?" he said. "I do not know,"
said Diarmuid. "I am th