by W. B. Yeats
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 thi
cket; 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.
DIARMUID. The things to come are like the wind; they could sweep this house away. This image of death is coming like the wind — who knows what enchantment has called it out of the earth? It was not here yesterday; it was not here at noon. I have hunted deer in these woods and have not seen the slot of natural or unnatural swine. No, it will not bear thinking of. I am caught in this valley like a wolf in a pit... [Pause]. Cormac, you sit there like a stone, why did you do this? You came here with a tale about the men of Lochland, but you were on the gods’ business.
CORMAC. I gave you this valley to be happy in.
DIARMUID. When we are about to die, the gods give us more than we ask. There has been too much happiness here for our hunger, and I would roll up the broken meats in a sack for you to carry them away.
GRANIA. That tale has shaken your mind.
DIARMUID. Then you do not believe in it.
GRANIA. We believe, we disbelieve, and there is a time when we do not know what we think.
DIARMUID. We are always on the gods’ business. Cormac in craftiness, you in lust; they put lust into women’s bodies that men may not defy the gods who made them. I, too, shall be on their business in this hunting.
GRANIA. YOU are not going to this hunting.
DIARMUID. I see many ornaments upon you. How long is it since you have worn them for me? You have not worn them... we are common to one another night and day.
GRANIA. Take your Broad Edge, your heavy spear. Take your heavy shield.
DIARMUID. NO man shall say Diarmuid went to this hunting with his battle gear upon him. [Exit].
GRANIA. He is gone to this hunting... he is gone that he may give me to Finn.
[She turns her face towards the wall and weeps].
CORMAC. Have you ceased to love him? [Grania walks a few steps towards her father as if she were going to speak but her emotion overpowers her, and she returns to the same place]. If you have not ceased to love him, follow him and bring him back.
GRANIA. I will follow him in the woods; he will take the path under the oak trees.
[Exit Grania].
CORMAC. [Coming down the stage]. Laban! Laban! [Going to the door at the side]. They have all followed the hunters... there is nobody in the house... but Laban must be here. Laban! Laban!
[He goes to the wheel and takes the distaff in his hand]. There is no more flax in the distaff.
[Exit].
Curtain
ACT III.
The wooded slopes of Ben Bulben. Diarmuid is sleeping under a tree. It is night but the dawn is beginning to break. Enter two peasants].
OLD MAN. There has been no such night as this these fifty years.
YOUNG MAN. HOW the wind rages, like the dragon or maybe it is the dragon himself. Listen, a tree has fallen.
OLD MAN. It is only the wind, I have seen wind like this before, and then the sheep were lost in the torrent.
YOUNG MAN. I met a herdsman whose cattle had broken out of their byres, and fifty drowned themselves in the lake.
OLD MAN. The Fianna frightened them... the Fianna came into the forest at midnight sounding their horns.
YOUNG MAN. And at midnight I saw two hosts fighting, one host flying and one following, and among them that were flying an old one armed man.
OLD MAN. That was Diarmuid’s grandfather; he has been dea
d this fifty years.
YOUNG MAN. But I saw something more.
OLD MAN. What did you see, boy?
YOUNG MAN. A gaunt grey ragged man, and he was driving this beast the Fianna are hunting. He drove it along the edge of the mountain prodding it before him with a spear.
OLD MAN. That was the god Aonghus. He watches over Diarmuid. The deaths of all these great men are foretold, and the end of the Fianna. They will perish as their forefathers did when Cairbre Cathead called the folk together and broke their power for two hundred years.
YOUNG MAN. Tell me about Cairbre Cathead.