by George Moore
LABAN. In a few minutes, Finn will stand with his hand on Diarmuid’s shoulder.
GRANIA. Then I have done well in sending him to Finn. I did it for
Diarmuid’s sake, and for my father’s sake and for the sake of my father’s kingdom. I chose Diarmuid because he was young and comely, but oh, how can I forget the greatness of Finn. He has gone to bring Finn to me. In a few minutes Finn and his Fianna will stand under this roof.
LABAN. That is true, my daughter, sit beside me here and tell me what happened to you when you left Tara.
GRANIA. When we left Tara we came to a little glade on the hillside and we heard there a sudden and a beautiful singing of birds, and we saw a red fox creeping in the grass.
LABAN. And then?
GRANIA. And then we saw a young man sitting in the long grass.
LABAN. What did he say?
GRANIA. He was but a herdsman’s son seeking a master and so Diarmuid took him into his service, and yet, Mother, I think that he was greater than Diarmuid or I, for he gave us much good service, and so much good counsel. He never put us in a cave that had not two mouths, or let us take refuge in an island that had not two harbours, nor eat our food where we had cooked it, nor sleep where we had eaten it. He never let us lie for many hours in one place, and he often changed our sleeping places in the middle of the night.
LABAN. What name did he bid you call him?
GRANIA. He bid us call him, Mudham. But I think he had some great and beautiful name did we but know it. Have you ever seen him,
Mother?
LABAN. It is said that none who have seen him have been long content with any mortal lover.
GRANIA. I have been content with Diarmuid nigh on seven years.
LABAN. Did you ever hear that beautiful singing of birds again?
GRANIA. Yes, I heard them sing by the banks of a river; I heard them when Diarmuid broke his oath to Finn. We had wandered by the banks of a river nine days, and Mudham fished for us, and every day we hung an uncooked salmon on a tree as a token to Finn. On the tenth day we hung a cooked salmon, for on the ninth night a sword had not lain between us — but Mother, I can tell you no more. I would have you tell me, you who know all things, what is passing in the valley. Have Finn and Diarmuid made friends? Has Diarmuid passed the fires of the Fianna without speaking?
LABAN. They have spoken, and they are on their way hither, so forget them for a while, and tell me if you are happy in this valley.
GRANIA. I stand by the door of this house, seeing the hours wane, waiting for Diarmuid to come home from his hunting. Nothing has happened until to-day, and now Diarmuid and Finn are walking up the valley together, reconciled at last. I had come to think I should never look on a stirring day again, and I had thought to send all the thread you would spin to be woven into a grass green web on which to embroider my wanderings with Diarmuid among the woods. I should have been many years embroidering it, but when it was done and hung round this room, I should have seen birds, beasts, and leaves which ever way I turned, and Diarmuid and myself wandering among them.
LABAN. But now you have thrown the doors wide open and the days are streaming in upon you again.
GRANIA. Yes, yes, have I done rightly? Had I not sent Diarmuid to Finn, the broil would have begun again... I must put on my jewels. The Fianna will be here in a moment, and Finn has never seen me in my jewels. Spin for me, Mother, spin for me; tell me I have done rightly. But no, they are coming. I can hear their footsteps. Go to the serving men and bid them take the drinking horns and the flagons from the cupboard. [Exit Laban. Grania stands before a long brazen mirror that hangs upon the wall, and puts the gold circlet about her head and the heavy bracelets upon her arm, and the great many-coloured cloak upon her which she fastens with an emerald clasp. She puts a gold girdle about her waist. Enter Cormac, Finn, Caoelte, Diarmuid and others of the Fianna. Diarmuid is talking to Finn. Enter servants with flagons of ale, drinking horns and torches). Welcome Usheen, welcome Caoelte, welcome Goll and all the noble Fianna into my house. I am happy that such men shall stand under my roof. The shepherds of Ben Bulben will tell each other many years after we are dead that Finn, Usheen, Caoelte, and Goll stood under this roof. [Grania goes to her father and leads him to a high seat]. You cannot go from us now, for I am too glad for leave taking.
CORMAC. I will stay a little while, and will drink a horn of ale with this noble company who will defend Eri against the men of Lochland.
DIARMUID. We have been here but three moons and have not had time to build a house great enough for ourselves and for our people. This winter we shall build a house of oak wood great enough for two hundred people to sleep under its pillars. All the Fianna who come shall sleep under our roof.
GRANIA. When you speak of their coming, you make us think of their leave-taking, and I would forget that they shall ever leave us.
CORMAC. Eri is safe now that her great men are united.
CAOELTE. For a long while when we lighted our fires at night, there was no fire at which some did not side with Finn, some with Diarmuid. But at last those that were of Finn’s party and those that were of Diarmuid’s party gathered about different fires. And this year the fires were lighted far apart.
USHEEN. And time wore on until one day the swords were out and the earth red underfoot.
FINN. If all Eri were red under foot, it was but Grania’s due that men in coming times might know of the love she had put into men’s hearts.
[He puts his hand on Diarmuid’s shoulder. Two serving men go round with ale. Grania stops them and takes the flagons from them].
GRANIA. It is right that I should serve the ale on such a day as this.
CORMAC. My daughter must not pour out the ale.
USHEEN. If Grania pours out the ale we shall sleep sound to-night.
CORMAC. YOU have spoken folly, Usheen... I, I spoke out of a dream. Grania, since you have taken the flagons from your serving men, serve us. But I would you had not done this.
[Grania goes round filling each one’s horn with ale. Diarmuid and Finn are still standing together on the right. She pauses, considering for an instant, and then fills Finn’s horn]
CAOELTE. Diarmuid, we have not spoken to you nor seen you these seven years.
GOLL. Have you no word for us?
USHEEN. We would drink with you.
[Diarmuid goes up the stage and joins the group who are standing half way up the stage, near to where the King is sitting].
GRANIA. In this ale you will not drink sleep, but you will drink forgetfulness of me, and friendship for Diarmuid.
FINN. Had I known that you would speak like this I would not have come to your house.
GRANIA. But you have come here for this.
USHEEN. It is not enough for Finn and Diarmuid to drink together; they must be bound together by the blood bond. They must be made brothers before the gods. They must be bound together.
CAOELTE. Yes, yes, one of you there by the door — you Finmole — cut a sod of grass with your sword. They must be bound together.
DIARMUID. [Ashe comes down the stage, he draws his sword]. Finn, draw blood out of your hand as I draw blood out of mine.
[Finn pricks his hand with his dagger and goes towards Diarmuid and lets blood from his hand drop into Diarmuid’s cup. Diarmuid lets the blood from his hand drop into the cup also. He gives the cup to Finn]. Speak the holy words, Finn.
FINN. [Having drunk out of the cup].
This bond has bound us
Like son to father
Let him who breaks it
Be driven from the thresholds
Of God-kind and man-kind.
[Diarmuid takes the cup and drinks].
DIARMUID. — Let the sea bear witness,
Let the wind bear witness,
Let the earth bear witness,
Let the fire bear witness,
Let the dew bear witness,
Let the stars bear witness.
[Finn takes the cup and drinks].
FINN. — Six that are deathless
Six holy creatures
Have witnessed the binding.
[A sod of grass is handed in through the door and from man to man till it comes to Usheen and Caoelte who hold it up one on each side. First Finn and then Diarmuid pass under it].
CAOELTE. They are of one blood.
USHEEN. They have been born again out of the womb of the earth.
CAOELTE. Give back the sod to the ground. Give the holy sod to the Goddess.
[The Fianna pass the sod from one to another and out through the door, each one speaking these words over it in a monotonous and half audible muttering: “Blessed is the Goddess. May the ground be blessed.”].
GOLL. This bond has shown that Finn can forgive. It has been said falsely that he never forgives although he has forgiven me. Finn has forgiven Goll.
[Finn turns to Goll effusively].
CORMAC. Now my errand is done and I shall bid Grania and Diarmuid and all this goodly company farewell.
[He rises but lingers, talking with certain of his Councillors].
DIARMUID. I have done this though you have followed me and hunted me through the woods of Eri for seven years.
FINN. I forgave you because we had need of you, Diarmuid. [Turning away]. Although you left the Fianna for a woman.
DIARMUID. Grania, pour out the ale for Finn.
FINN. It is right for a man to have a time for love, but now you are with your old companions again.
DIARMUID. I did not accept the peace you offered me at once, because I had taken Grania from you.
FINN. [Looking at Grania]. It seems a long while ago, Grania. You should have been my wife seven years ago.
GRANIA. Then it was not for me that you followed Diarmuid so many years. Why did you follow him? What reason could you have had, if it all seems so long ago.
FINN. Our marriage was to have mended an old crack in the land. It was to have joined the Fianna to the High King for ever, but it was not for this marriage’s sake that I followed Diarmuid. I followed him because he had broken his oath.
DIARMUID. I shall make atonement for the breaking of my oath with fifty heads of cattle, and I will give you my black bull. Come to the door, and you will see him in the valley. He is grazing on the edge of the herd and you will see what a noble stride he has. But who is this with two of the Fianna, this fat man in the sheep skin. It is my enemy Conan. I shall be glad to drink a horn of ale with him to the forgetfulness of all enmity. [To the others.] I have not seen you for seven years and seven years have changed some here a little. I would drink with every one of you. I would that you had but a single hand that I might hold it this day, this happy day.
[Enter Conan with Griffan and Fergus and a shepherd].
CONAN. Keep your spears in your hands. We are only just in time... a great beast... come... come... we will be in front of him before he can run into the wood.
[Exeunt Conan and all the Fianna except Finn],
DIARMUID. I thought I had driven off the last of the wolves.
[Diarmuid goes out. There are only Cormac, Finn, Grania and a shepherd on the stage].
SHEPHERD. He is not a wolf! He is not a wolf! He has gored twenty of my sheep. He broke out by the stepping stones.
[He goes out].
GRANIA. The shepherd said it was not a wolf, ask him.
FINN. He said it has gored twenty of his sheep. It must be the boar I heard of as I came hither. It has come out of a dark wood to the eastward... a wood men are afraid of.
GRANIA. Then Diarmuid must not go to this hunting. I will call him.
[She goes to the door]. He is standing on the hillside. He is coming towards us. That is well. [Coming down the stage to Finn], So it was not for my sake that you followed Diarmuid. This flight and this pursuit for seven years were for no better reason than the breaking of an oath.
FINN. I followed Diarmuid because I hated him.
GRANIA. But now you have forgiven him. You are friends again. Yes,
Finn, I would have you friends but my wish can be nothing to you.
I was proud to think you followed Diarmuid for me, but you have said it was to avenge the breaking of an oath. This is a man’s broil.
No woman has part in it.
FINN. Cormac told me that it was you who persuaded Diarmuid to bring me to this house, and but for this, I would not have come.
GRANIA. It was well that you came. Men who are so great as Finn and Diarmuid must be friends. My father fears a landing of the men of Lochland, and I am weary of this valley where there is nothing but the rising and the setting of the sun and the grazing of flocks and herds.
FINN. Did you send for me because you are weary of this valley?
GRANIA. I wanted to see you because of your greatness. I loved Diarmuid... he was young and comely and you seemed to me to be old, you were grey.
FINN. I am seven years older now, and my hair is greyer. I must seem very old to you now.
GRANIA. No, you seem younger. As you stand there, as you lean upon your spear, you seem to me a young man. I do not think of your grey hair any longer.
FINN. That day in Tara you would not wear your ornaments, but now you wear them.
[Diarmuid comes slowly down the stage].
DIARMUID. What have you to say to one another; what were you saying to Grania, Finn? I can see by Grania’s face that she is but little pleased to see me again.
GRANIA. Why do you say this? What has happened, Diarmuid? That shepherd said the wolf had killed twenty sheep.
DIARMUID. There is no wolf in the thicket; they do not know what they are hunting. [Enter Conan]. No matter whether it be a wolf or a boar that is hiding there, I have come in to find you and Finn talking together in a way that is not to my liking.
[Cormac and the Fianna enter).
FINN. Was it to watch me, Diarmuid, that you came back again? And would you not have me speak to Grania? As you will, then. [Turning to Conan). Conan is listening. What has he to say about this beast that has gored twenty sheep?
CONAN. And Diarmuid has come back again because he saw it was a boar and not a wolf, and he remembered that day in Tara, when I told him he is to go out hunting a boar and be killed by it, and
Diarmuid is to be torn by the tusks, he is to be bloody, his face shall be foul because it shall be bloody. I told him these things in Tara, and he remembers them, that is why he has not gone out hunting.
DIARMUID. Finn has contrived the trap for me, but I shall not fall into it. There can be no peace between Finn and me.
[He draws his sword].
FINN. [Who draws his sword]. By the drawing of his sword, Diarmuid has broken the peace I gave him, and the sight of Grania has brought to mind all the wrongs he has done me.
GRANIA. To you, Finn, I say that I would not have sent for you had I thought that the broil would begin again. To you, Diarmuid, I say that I will speak to what man I please, that no man shall thwart me. Where is my father? [Turning suddenly towards them]. No, I will not have you fight for me. Forbid them, father.
[She goes to Cormac].
DIARMUID. Our swords shall decide between us. I shall slay you, Finn.
FINN. One of us two shall die.
[They draw their swords, and the Fianna rush between them].
GOLL. Finn and Diarmuid cannot fight — fling up their swords, thrust the spear between them. Has Finn forgotten the blood bond? He who raises his hand against the blood bond raises his hand against the gods.
CONAN. [Coming towards them]. If Finn and Diarmuid cannot fight with one another, let them hunt the boar, and let Grania be given to him who kills it. Aonghus, who watches over lovers and hunters shall decide between them.
[Diarmuid lifts his sword to strike. Leaving her father, Grania comes forward].
GRANIA. He is not worthy enough for you to strike him — give me your sword.
FINN. [Standing in front of Conan]. No, Grania, he shall not die, he has spoken the truth. Finn and Diarmuid
love the one woman.
CONAN. A tale I once told him has given him no stomach for the hunting of a boar.
FERGUS. The boar is bigger than any beast I ever saw.
GRIFFAN. It is certainly no mortal beast.
DIARMUID. What was its colour, was it covered with bristles?
CONAN. I saw it; it was black and bristleless. [He goes over and stands by Diarmuid]. Finn, Caoelte, Usheen look at us; there is one terror in the heart of Diarmuid and Conan.
GRIFFAN. I saw it too, it was dark like the sea, and it made a noise like the sea in a storm.
FINN. We listen to the idle tales of spearmen. Whatever the colour of the beast may be, we shall slay it. [The Fianna move up the stage].
Conan has spoken well. Diarmuid has little stomach for this hunting. Why did he ask for the blood bond? It was not I who went to him... it was he who came to me with his hand pricked with his dagger. These are the only wounds he will dare. This blood bond keeps him from my sword and he speaks of an old tale that he may not go to the hunt. Diarmuid is craven.
DIARMUID. Finn lies; he knows why I will not go to this hunt. He seeks my death because he loves Grania.
FERGUS. If Diarmuid does not go to this hunt, Diarmuid is craven.
GRIFFAN. Finn has said it, he is craven.
CAOELTE. Diarmuid must not go to this hunt. You have done wickedly this day, Conan, and after your kind.
FATHNA. He has a hare’s heart. The gods have given him a hare’s heart.
FINN. Take up your spears. We will go against this beast, let him who will stay behind.
DIARMUID. Go against the boar, but it shall be as if you hunted the sea or the wind. Your spears shall break, and your hounds fly and whimper at your heels.
[Exeunt all except Grania, Cormac, and Diarmuid. After a moment’s pause a horn is heard in the distance. Diarmuid takes a spear from the wall].
GRANIA. Why do you take your spear... you will not go to this hunt?
DIARMUID. This beast came to slay us. This hunt will sweep over us. It is coming through the woods, and I shall be caught up like a leaf.
[They bar the door and stand listening].
GRANIA. They said the boar ran into the woods — it will have gone into the mountain before this.
