“Come not nigh me, noble chief,
    Ferdiad, comrade, Daman’s son. 
    Worse for thee than ’tis for me;
    Thou’lt bring sorrow to a host!

    “Come not nigh me ’gainst all right;
    Thy last bed is made by me. 
    Why shouldst thou alone escape
    From the prowess of my arms?

    “Shall not great feats thee undo,
    Though thou’rt purple, horny-skinned? 
    And the maid thou boastest of,
    Shall not, Daman’s son, be thine!

    “Finnabair, Medb’s daughter fair,
    Great her charms though they may be,
    Fair as is the damsel’s form,
    She’s for thee not to enjoy!

    “Finnabair, the king’s own child,
    Is the lure, if truth be told;
    Many they whom she’s deceived
    And undone as she has thee!

    “Break not, weetless, oath with me;
    Break not friendship, break not bond;
    Break not promise, break not word;
    Come not nigh me, noble chief!

    “Fifty chiefs obtained in plight
    This same maid, a proffer vain. 
    Through me went they to their graves;
    Spear-right all they had from me!

    “Though for brave was held Ferbaeth,
    With whom was a warriors’ train,
    In short space I quelled his rage;
    Him I slew with one sole blow!

    “Srubdare—­sore sank his might—­
    Darling of the noblest dames,
    Time there was when great his fame—­
    Gold nor raiment saved him not!

    “Were she mine affianced wife,
    Smiled on me this fair land’s head,[a]
    I would not thy body hurt. 
    Right nor left, in front, behind!”

    [2-2] Stowe, and, similarly, Eg. 209 and Eg. 106.

    [3-3] Stowe, and, similarly, Eg. 209 and Eg. 106.

    [4-4] Stowe, and, similarly, Eg. 209 and Eg. 106.

    [5-5] Stowe, and, similarly, Eg. 209 and Eg. 106.

    [a] That is, Queen Medb.

[W.3527.] “Good, O Ferdiad!” cried Cuchulain. [1]A pity it is for thee to abandon my alliance and my friendship for the sake of a woman that has been trafficked to fifty other warriors before thee, and it would be long before I would forsake thee for that woman.[1] Therefore, it is not right for thee to come to fight and combat with me; for when we were with Scathach and with Uathach and with Aife, [2]we were together in practice of valour and arms of the world, and[2] it was together we were used to seek out every battle and every battle-field, every combat and every contest, every wood and every desert, every covert and every recess.”  And thus he spake and he uttered these words:—­

    Cuchulain:  “We were heart-companions once;
                We were comrades in the woods;
                We were men that shared a bed,
                When we slept the heavy sleep,