wizards, and his officers who had the care of the roads, and the
couriers of the boundaries went out; and they searched all Ireland
south and north; and near to the Bay of Cichmany they found a wife
worthy of the king; and her name was Etain the daughter of Etar, who
was the king of Echrad. And his messengers returned to Eochaid, and
they told him of the maiden, of her form, and her grace, and her
countenance. And Eochaid came to that place to take the maiden thence,
and this was the way that he took; for as he crossed over the ground
where men hold the assembly of Bri Leith, he saw the maiden at the
brink of the spring. A clear comb of silver was held in her hand, the
comb was adorned with gold; and near her, as for washing, was a bason
of silver whereon four birds had been chased, and there were little
bright gems of carbuncle on the rims of the bason. A bright purple
mantle waved round her; and beneath it was another mantle, ornamented
with silver fringes: the outer mantle was clasped over her bosom with a
golden brooch. A tunic she wore, with a long hood that might cover her
head attached to it; it was stiff and glossy with green silk beneath
red embroidery of gold, and was clasped over her breasts with
marvellously wrought clasps of silver and gold; so that men saw the
bright gold and the green silk flashing against the sun. On her head
were two tresses of golden hair, and each tress had been plaited into
four strands; at the end of each strand was a little ball of gold. And
there was that maiden, undoing her hair that she might wash it, her two
arms out through the armholes of her smock. Each of her two arms was
as white as the snow of a single night, and each of her cheeks was as
rosy as the foxglove. Even and small were the teeth in her head, and
they shone like pearls. Her eyes were as blue as a hyacinth, her lips
delicate and crimson; very high, soft, and white were her shoulders.
Tender, polished, and white were her wrists; her fingers long, and of
great whiteness; her nails were beautiful and pink. White as the snow,