counsel with the men of Powys, and they determined to place an
hundred men in each of the three Commots of Powys to seek for him.
And thus did they in the plains of Powys from Aber Ceirawc, and in
Allictwn Ver, and in Rhyd Wilure, on the Vyrnwy, the three best
Commots of Powys. So he was none the better, he nor his household,
in Powys, nor in the plains thereof. And they spread these men over
the plains as far as Nillystwn Trevan.

Now one of the men who was upon this quest was called Rhonabwy. And
Rhonabwy and Kynwrig Vrychgoch, a man of Mawddwy, and Cadwgan Vras, a
man of Moelvre in Kynlleith, came together to the house of Heilyn
Goch the son of Cadwgan the son of Iddon. And when they came near to
the house, they saw an old hall, very black and having an upright
gable, whence issued a great smoke; and on entering, they found the
floor full of puddles and mounds; and it was difficult to stand
thereon, so slippery was it with the mire of cattle. And where the
puddles were, a man might go up to his ankles in water and dirt. And
there were boughs of holly spread over the floor, whereof the cattle
had browsed the sprigs. When they came to the hall of the house,
they beheld cells full of dust, and very gloomy, and on one side an
old hag making a fire. And whenever she felt cold, she cast a lapful
of chaff upon the fire, and raised such a smoke, that it was scarcely
to be borne, as it rose up the nostrils. And on the other side was a
yellow calf-skin on the floor; a main privilege was it to any one who
should get upon that hide.

And when they had sat down, they asked the hag where were the people
of the house. And the hag spoke not, but muttered. Thereupon behold
the people of the house entered; a ruddy, clownish, curly-headed man,
with a burthen of faggots on his back, and a pale slender woman, also