The Mabinogion Part 21

A bard that will not silence me, Silence may he not obtain, Till he goes to be covered Under gravel and pebbles; Such as shall listen to me, May G.o.d listen to him."

Then sang he the piece called "The Spite of the Bards."

"Minstrels persevere in their false custom, Immoral ditties are their delight; Vain and tasteless praise they recite; Falsehood at all times do they utter; The innocent persons they ridicule; Married women they destroy, Innocent virgins of Mary they corrupt; As they pa.s.s their lives away in vanity, Poor innocent persons they ridicule; At night they get drunk, they sleep the day; In idleness without work they feed themselves; The Church they hate, and the tavern they frequent; With thieves and perjured fellows they a.s.sociate; At courts they inquire after feasts; Every senseless word they bring forward; Every deadly sin they praise; Every vile course of life they lead; Through every village, town, and country they stroll; Concerning the gripe of death they think not; Neither lodging nor charity do they give; Indulging in victuals to excess.

Psalms or prayers they do not use, t.i.thes or offerings to G.o.d they do not pay, On holidays or Sundays they do not wors.h.i.+p; Vigils or festivals they do not heed.

The birds do fly, the fish do swim, The bees collect honey, worms do crawl, Every thing travails to obtain its food, Except minstrels and lazy useless thieves.

I deride neither song nor minstrelsy, For they are given by G.o.d to lighten thought; But him who abuses them, For blaspheming Jesus and his service."

Taliesin having set his master free from prison, and having protected the innocence of his wife, and silenced the Bards, so that not one of them dared to say a word, now brought Elphin's wife before them, and showed that she had not one finger wanting. Right glad was Elphin, right glad was Taliesin.

Then he bade Elphin wager the king, that he had a horse both better and swifter than the king's horses. And this Elphin did, and the day, and the time, and the place were fixed, and the place was that which at this day is called Morva Rhiannedd: and thither the king went with all his people, and four-and-twenty of the swiftest horses he possessed. And after a long process the course was marked, and the horses were placed for running. Then came Taliesin with four- and-twenty twigs of holly, which he had burnt black, and he caused the youth who was to ride his master's horse to place them in his belt, and he gave him orders to let all the king's horses get before him, and as he should overtake one horse after the other, to take one of the twigs and strike the horse with it over the crupper, and then let that twig fall; and after that to take another twig, and do in like manner to every one of the horses, as he should overtake them, enjoining the horseman strictly to watch when his own horse should stumble, and to throw down his cap on the spot. All these things did the youth fulfil, giving a blow to every one of the king's horses, and throwing down his cap on the spot where his horse stumbled. And to this spot Taliesin brought his master after his horse had won the race. And he caused Elphin to put workmen to dig a hole there; and when they had dug the ground deep enough, they found a large cauldron full of gold. And then said Taliesin, "Elphin, behold a payment and reward unto thee, for having taken me out of the weir, and for having reared me from that time until now." And on this spot stands a pool of water, which is to this time called Pwllbair.

After all this, the king caused Taliesin to be brought before him, and he asked him to recite concerning the creation of man from the beginning; and thereupon he made the poem which is now called "One of the Four Pillars of Song."

"The Almighty made, Down the Hebron vale, With his plastic hands, Adam's fair form:

And five hundred years, Void of any help, There he remained and lay Without a soul.

He again did form, In calm paradise, From a left-side rib, Bliss-throbbing Eve.

Seven hours they were The orchard keeping, Till Satan brought strife, With wiles from h.e.l.l.

Thence were they driven, Cold and s.h.i.+vering, To gain their living, Into this world.

To bring forth with pain Their sons and daughters, To have possession Of Asia's land.

Twice five, ten and eight, She was self-bearing, The mixed burden Of man-woman.

And once, not hidden, She brought forth Abel, And Cain the forlorn, The homicide.

To him and his mate Was given a spade, To break up the soil, Thus to get bread.

The wheat pure and white, Summer tilth to sow, Every man to feed, Till great yule feast.

An angelic hand From the high Father, Brought seed for growing That Eve might sow;

But she then did hide Of the gift a tenth, And all did not sow Of what was dug.

Black rye then was found, And not pure wheat grain, To show the mischief Thus of thieving.

For this thievish act, It is requisite, That all men should pay t.i.the unto G.o.d.

Of the ruddy wine, Planted on sunny days, And on new-moon nights; And the white wine.

The wheat rich in grain And red flowing wine Christ's pure body make, Son of Alpha.

The wafer is flesh, The wine is spilt blood, The Trinity's words Sanctify them.

The concealed books From Emmanuel's hand Were brought by Raphael As Adam's gift,

When in his old age, To his chin immersed In Jordan's water, Keeping a fast,

Moses did obtain In Jordan's water, The aid of the three Most special rods.

Solomon did obtain In Babel's tower, All the sciences In Asia land.

So did I obtain, In my bardic books, All the sciences Of Europe and Africa.

Their course, their bearing, Their permitted way, And their fate I know, Unto the end.

Oh! what misery, Through extreme of woe, Prophecy will show On Troia's race!

A coiling serpent Proud and merciless, On her golden wings, From Germany.

She will overrun England and Scotland, From Lychlyn sea-sh.o.r.e To the Severn.

Then will the Brython Be as prisoners, By strangers swayed, From Saxony.

Their Lord they will praise, Their speech they will keep, Their land they will lose, Except wild Walia.

Till some change shall come, After long penance, When equally rife The two crimes come.

Britons then shall have Their land and their crown, And the stranger swarm Shall disappear.

All the angel's words, As to peace and war, Will be fulfilled To Britain's race."

He further told the king various prophecies of things that should be in the world, in songs, as follows.

Footnotes:

{1} It is also stated, that there is in the Hengwrt Library, a MS.

containing the Graal in Welsh, as early as the time of Henry I. I had hoped to have added this to the present collection; but the death of Col. Vaughan, to whom I applied, and other subsequent circ.u.mstances, have prevented me from obtaining access to it.

{2} Hades.

{3} The word "Pryder" or "Pryderi" means anxiety.

{4} The version in the Greal adds, "And their coin was fairy money;"

literally, dwarf's money: that is, money which, when received, appeared to be good coin, but which, if kept, turned into pieces of fungus, &c.

{5} This dialogue consists of a series of repartees with a play upon words, which it is impossible to follow in the translation.