There was no end to Merlin's disguises--sometimes as an old man,sometimes as a boy or a dwarf, then as a woman, then as an ignorant clown;--but the legends always give him some object to accomplish, some work todo, and there was always a certain dignity about him, even when helpingKing Arthur, as he sometimes did, to do wrong things. His fame extendedover all Britain, and also through Brittany, now a part of France, wherethe same poetic legends extended. This, for instance, is a very old Bretonsong about him:-- MERLIN THE DIVINER Merlin! Merlin! where art thou going So early in the day, with thy black dog? Oi! oi! oi! oi! oi! oi! oi! oi! oi! oi! oi! Oi! oi! oi! oi! oi! I have come here to search the way, To find the red egg; The red egg of the marine serpent, By the seaside, in the hollow of the stone. I am going to seek in the valley The green water-cress, and the golden grass, And the top branch of the oak, In the wood by the side of the fountain. Merlin! Merlin! retrace your steps; Leave the branch on the oak, And the green water-cress in the valley, As well as the golden grass; And leave the red egg of the marine serpent In the foam by the hollow of the stone. Merlin! Merlin! retrace thy steps; There is no diviner but God.Merlin was supposed to know the past, the present, and the future, and tobe able to assume the form of any animal, and even that of a_menhir_, or huge standing stone.
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