Blair Collection > Popular tales of the West Highlands > Volume 2

THE widow's SOX. 3OI
speech, searmoix xa croiche ; and he pi;t up his arm,
and the king's daughter saw the name which she had
written there, and knew him ; and she called out,
" Hold your hands, for every one in the kingdom
shall die if that man is hurt." And then she took
him by the hand, and they were to he married.
Then she dressed him grandly, and asked how he
had found her out ; and he told her ; and she a-ked
where he had found the box ; and he said, when he
was in extremity in the island ; and then she took
him by the hand before her father, and all the kings,
and she said she would marry the fisher's son, for he
it was who had freed her from spells.*
" Oh kings," said she, " if one of you were killed
to-day, the rest would fly ; but this man put his trust
in me, and had his head cut off three times. Because
* Here, according to MacCraw, he built a palace ; and one of
tlae rivals stole the magic box, and carried off the princess and
the palace to the realm of rats; and when the widow's son saw
that the palace was gone he was very sorrowful, and went down
to the shore ; and there he met with an old man, who took pity
on him, and offered to help him. He threw a rod into the sea, and
it became a boat ; and he said, " Here's for thee a he-cat, and
he will sail with thee ;" and the cat sat at the helm, and they
hoisted the three tall towering sails, etc., etc. {The old passage,
descriptive of the voyage.) When they reached the realm of rats,
the first rat that the cat saw he caught ; and the rat said, " Thine
is my lying down and rising up ; let me go and I will serve
thee." So the cat let him go; and the man said, "Now steal
for me the snuff-box that the man in the castle has." " That,"
said the rat, " is easy, for it is on the window ledge ; " and
the rat stole the box. Then the man opened it, and " they " said
"Good master, good master, what shall 'ioe' do?" and he said,
" Take me and my wife, and that castle, back to Lochlann ; and
be knocking each other's heads about till we arrive, for that you
brought it here." So they were all carried back to Lochlann,
and then the right wedding was held.