to Ireland with his people, and there was a great battle between
his men and the children of Semion. Long I hung over that combat,
seeing every spear that hurtled, every stone that whizzed from a
sling, every sword that flashed up and down, and the endless
glittering of the shields. And at the end I saw that the victory
was with Iarbonel. And from his people the Tuatha De' and the
Ande' came, although their origin is forgotten, and learned
people, because of their excellent wisdom and intelligence, say
that they came from heaven.

"These are the people of Faery. All these are the gods.

"For long, long years I was a hawk. I knew every hill and stream;
every field and glen of Ireland. I knew the shape of cliffs and
coasts, and how all places looked under the sun or moon. And I
was still a hawk when the sons of Mil drove the Tuatha De' Danann
under the ground, and held Ireland against arms or wizardry; and
this was the coming of men and the beginning of genealogies.

"Then I grew old, and in my Ulster cave close to the sea I
dreamed my dream, and in it I became a salmon. The green tides of
ocean rose over me and my dream, so that I drowned in the sea and
did not die, for I awoke in deep waters, and I was that which I
dreamed. "I had been a man, a stag, a boar, a bird, and now I was
a fish. In all my changes I had joy and fulness of life. But in
the water joy lay deeper, life pulsed deeper. For on land or air
there is always something excessive and hindering; as arms that
swing at the sides of a man, and which the mind must remember.
The stag has legs to be tucked away for sleep, and untucked for
movement; and the bird has wings that must be folded and pecked