Page:Origin and Growth of Religion (Rhys).djvu/365

Kynon asked the Black Fellow what his power over the animals might be. "I will show it thee, little man," said he; while he took the iron staff in his hand and struck a great blow with it at a stag, so that he gave a loud bell. At that bell there flocked together so many animals that they were as numerous as the stars in the sky, and that it was hard for Kynon to find room to stand on the plain with them, including as they did among them serpents and vipers and various kinds of beasts. The Black Man looked at them and told them to go to graze: they lowered their heads and made obeisance to him, like men doing homage to their liege lord. Then the Black Fellow said to Kynon, "Seest thou, little man, the power I have over the animals?" Then Kynon asked him the way, and was treated rudely by him; nevertheless, he inquired about his business, and when he had been answered he said to him, "Take the road at the end, and proceed uphill until thou reachest the top; from there thou wilt behold a strath resembling a large valley, and in the middle of the strath thou wilt see a large tree whose foliage is greener than the greenest fir-tree. Beneath that tree there is a fountain; close to the fountain there is a marble slab; and on the marble there is a silver tankard fastened by a silver chain, so that they cannot be separated. Take the tankard and throw its full of the water over the slab. Then thou wilt hear a great thunder, and it will seem to thee to make earth and sky tremble. After the thunder will come a cold shower, and with difficulty wilt thou live through the shower; it will be one of hail, and afterwards the weather will be fair again; but thou wilt not find a single leaf left on the tree by the shower. Then a flight of birds will come and light on the tree: