Maelduin was filled with love for her andasked her for her love; but she told him that love was sin and she had noknowledge of sin; so she left him. On the morrow they found their boat,stranded on a crag, while lady and fortress and island had all vanished.Another island on which they landed was large and bare, with anotherfortress and a palace. There they met a lady who was kinder. She wore anembroidered purple mantle, gold embroidered gloves, and ornamentedsandals, and was just riding up to the palace door. Seventeen maidenswaited there for her. She offered to keep the strangers as guests, andthat each of them should have a wife, she herself wedding Maelduin. Shewas, it seems, the widow of the king of the island, and these were herseventeen daughters. She ruled the island and went every day to judge thepeople and direct their lives. If the strangers would stay, she said thatthey should never more know sorrow, or hardships, or old age; she herself,in spite of her large family, being young and beautiful as ever. Theystayed three months, and it seemed to all but Maelduin that the threemonths were three years. When the queen was absent, one day, the men tookthe boat and compelled Maelduin to leave the island with them; but thequeen rode after them and flung a rope, which Maelduin caught and whichclung to his hand.
Pages:
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84