CHAPTER III

The Secret of Labra


In very ancient days there was a King in Ireland named Labra, who was
called Labra the Sailor for a certain voyage that he made. Now Labra
was never seen save by one man, once a year, without a hood that
covered his head and ears. But once a year it was his habit to let his
hair be cropped, and the person to do this was chosen by lot, for the
King was accustomed to put to death instantly the man who had cropped
him. And so it happened that on a certain year the lot fell on a young
man who was the only son of a poor widow, who dwelt near by the palace
of the King. When she heard that her son had been chosen she fell on
her knees before the King and besought him, with tears, that her son,
who was her only support and all she had in the world, might not
suffer death as was customary. The King was moved by her grief and her
entreaties, and at last he consented that the young man should not be
slain provided that he vowed to keep secret to the day of his death
what he should see. The youth agreed to this and he vowed by the Sun
and the Wind that he would never, so long as he lived, reveal to man
what he should learn when he cropped the King's hair.

So he did what was appointed for him and went home. But when he did so
he had no peace for the wonder of the secret that he had learned
preyed upon his mind so that he could not rest for thinking of it and
longing to reveal it, and at last he fell into a wasting sickness from
it, and was near to die. Then there was brought to see him a wise
druid, who was skilled in all maladies of the mind and body, and after