Cape Breton's Magazine

chraoibh. Mo bheannachd bhlath leat agus turus math leat.' Sin a's coireach thusa a bhith seo. A nist, a' cheud rud a th'againn ri dheanamh; til- leadh dhachaidh gu duthaich m'athar. Tha ann an cearn iomallach dhe'n duthaich sin bana-bhuidseach eile ris an canadh iad Cailleach an t-Sloc • leth-phiuthar do Chailleach Poin nam Magan. Tha gamhlas mor aca dh'a cheile. Cha d'fhuair iad air adh- art riamh comhla agus 's e mo dhurachd *s mo ghuidhe gu cuidich i leinn." Thuirt mise gu falbhainn comhla rithe. Seo mar a bh'ann. Chaidh na siuil a thogail a'us fairge a ghearradh gus mu dheireadh ranaig sinn ar ceann-uidhe. Chuir sinn an t-acair' amach. Chaidh mi fhin agus Corra Chriostag ann am bata le dithis ghillean sgairteil air na raimh agus rinn sinn dir- each air geodh' beag a bha dol astaigh dha'n eilean agus chaidh sinn air tir. Bha beinn mhor air gach taobh dhuinn. Bha beinn mhor eile beagan mhiltean bhuainn m'ar coinneamh. Choisich sinn astaigh ead- ar an da bheinn. Bha coille mhor thom mun cuairt oirnn ach bha sinn a' deanamh ar rathad cho math 's a dh'fhaodamaid gus mu dheireadh fhuair sinn sinn-fhin ann an sloe mor, f'sachail. Thuirt Corra Chrios? tag, "Seo agad Sloe na Caillicheadh." Cha deachaidh sinn air adhart ach astar goirid gus am faca sinn bothan beag, dubh aig bonn creigeadh. Choisich sinn a null Chun an taighe agus bhuail Corra Chriostag aig an dorus. Dh*fhosgail an dorus. Bha sgrabach mhor de chailleach 'na seasamh mu'r coinneamh. Bha pait de dh'fhalt mor, glas sios air a druim, Bha beul mor, lea-, than oirre agus an uair a rinn i plaosg de ghaire cha tugadh e 'nad chuimhne ach crann-deilbhe: cnag de dh'fhiacail an siud 's an seo. "Tha thu ann, a Chorra Chriostag, ged nach ro mhaiseach do ghnuis. Chuir mo leth- phiuthar fo gheasaibh thu. Thigibh astaigh agus innsibh ceann-fath ur gnothaich do'n t-sloc." Dh'innis Corra Chriostag a h-uile car mar a dh'eirich dhi agus gu feumadh i anam an fhamhair a bha ann am meadhon na creig' uaine air sgeirean creagach' Silein an way as best we could until at 7' , we found ourselves in a large, de: , ate hol? low. "This is the Old Hag's Hollow," said Corra Chriostag, We only went on a short distance before we saw a little black hut at the foot of a cliff. We walked over to the dwelling and Corra Chriostag knocked on the door. The door opened and there was a big, scraggy old hag standing before us. There was a big, grey mat of hair down her back. She had a large, wide mouth and when she grinned in laughter, it reminded you of nothing as much as the pins on a warping- frame: a stump of a tooth here and there. "You're here, Corra Chriostag, though your face is not exactly fetching. My half-sis? ter has put you under spells. Come in and tell me your business in the hollow." Corra Chriostag related all the events that had befallen her and told her that she had to find the soul of the giant that was in the middle of the green rock on the rocky cliffs of the Island of the Giant, (and she asked her) how she would get hold of the wether containing the wild duck with the egg. "I will tell you," said the Old Hag of the Hollow. "At the end of every season the wether comes out of the rock and stays outside for three days wandering around it before he goes back inside. There is only one creature in the world that can catch him, and that's the Lean Hound of the Green Wood. He will go after the wether so fiercely that it will have to go back into the rock, and then you'll see how it did that. No one on earth knows how it manages to come out or to go in. When you see how it got in, you must follow it inside. There is a large expanse inside the rock with hollows and hiding-places. The wether cannot be caught there, but there is a pond of water inside the rock. The wether comes there once a day to drink because he must keep himself full of water in order to keep the duck alive. Now I'll give you three peas and you must put one of them in the pond. When the wether takes his drink, he will fall" into a de.ep sleep, and you D. GOLDMAN & SONS LTD. "Tilt HOME OF KINKSKAFOpO" • Galtaut Street Glace Bay • Terminal Bldg Sydney Airport "Tires Our Specialty" SYL'S SERVICE CENTRE 295-2911 295-2911 Located in Downtown Baddeck 24-Hour Towing Service