Hero-Myths & Legends of the British Race
half-satisfied life when they may live well and merrily at the cost of
a soul, which is no good but to cause fear and pain? We take men's
souls and liberate them from all pain and care and remorse, and we
give in exchange money, much money, to procure comforts and ease; we
enrol men as vassals of our great lord, and he is no hard taskmaster
to those who own his sway."
Slow Trade at First
When the poor widow heard these dreadful words she knew that the
strangers were demons come to tempt men's souls and to lure them to
Hell. She crossed herself, and fled from them in fear, praying to be
kept from temptation; and she would not return to her little cottage
in the forest, but stayed in the village warning men against the evil
demons who were tempting the starving people, till she too died of the
famine, and her house was left wholly to the strangers. Yet the
merchants fared ever well, better than before her departure, and those
who ventured to the forest dwelling found good food and rich wine,
which the strangers sometimes gave to their visitors, with crafty
hints of abundance to be easily obtained. Then when timid individuals
asked the way to win these comforts the strangers began their
tempting, and represented the case to be gained by the sale of men's
souls. One man, bolder than the rest, made a bargain with the demons
and gave them his soul for three hundred crowns of gold, and from that
time he in his turn became a tempter. He boasted of his wealth, of the
rich food the merchants gave him at times, of the potent wine he drank
from their generously opened bottles, and, best of all, he vaunted
his freedom from pity, conscience, or remorse.
Trade Increases
Gradually many people came to the forest dwelling and trafficked with
the demon merchants. The purchase of souls went on busily, and the
demons paid prices varying according to the worth of the soul and the
record of its former sins; but to all who sold they gave food and
wine, and in gloating over their gold and satisfying hunger and
thirst, men forgot to ask whence came this food and wine and the
endless stores of coin. Now many people ventured into the forest to
deal with the demons, and the narrow track grew into a broad beaten
way with the numbers of those who came, and all returned fed and
warmed, and bearing bags heavy with coin, and the promise of abundant
food and easy service. Those who had sold their souls rioted with the
money, for the demons gave them food, and they bought wine from the
inexhaustible stores of the evil merchants. The poor, lost people knew
that there was no hope for them after death, and they tried by all
means to keep themselves alive and to enjoy what was yet left to them;
but their mirth was fearful and they durst not stop to think.
Cathleen Hears of the Demon Traders
At first the Countess Cathleen knew nothing of the terrible doings of
the demons, for she never passed beyond her castle gates, but spent
her time in prayer for her people's safety and for the speedy return
of her messengers; but when the starving throng of pensioners at her
gates grew daily less, and there were fewer claimants for the pitiful
allowance which was all she had to give, she wondered if some other
mightier helper had come to Ireland. But she could hear of none,
and soon the shameless rioting and drunkenness in the village came to
her knowledge, and she wondered yet more whence her clansmen obtained
the means for their excesses, for she felt instinctively that the
origin of all this rioting must be evil. Cathleen therefore called to
her an old peasant, whose wife had died of hunger in the early days of
the famine, so that he himself had longed to die and join her; but
when he came to her she was horror-struck by the change in him. Now he
came flushed with wine, with defiant look and insolent bearing, and
his face was full of evil mirth as he tried to answer soberly the
Countess's questions.
"Why do the villagers and strangers no longer come to me for food? I
have but little now to give, but all are welcome to share it with me
and my household."
The Peasant's Story
"They do not come, O Countess, because they are no longer starving.
They have better food and wine, and abundance of money to buy more."
"Whence then have they obtained the money, the food, and the wine for
the drinking-bouts, the tumult of which reaches me even in my
oratory?"
"Lady, they have received all from the generous merchants who are in
the forest dwelling where old Mairi formerly lived; she is dead now,
and these noble strangers keep open house in her cottage night and
day; they are so wealthy that they need not stint their bounty, and so
powerful that they can find good food, enough for all who go to them.
Since Brigit died (your old servant, lady) her husband and son work no
more, but serve the strange merchants, and urge men to join them; and
I, and many others, have done so, and we are now wealthy" (here he
showed the Countess a handful of gold) "and well fed, and have wine as
much as heart can desire."
"But do you give them nothing in return for all their generosity? Are
they so noble that they ask nothing in requital of their bounty?"
"Good Gold for Souls"
"Oh, yes, we give them something, but nothing of importance, nothing
we cannot spare. They are merchants of souls, and buy them for their
king, and they pay good red gold for the useless, painful things. I
have sold my soul to them, and now I weep no more for my wife; I am
gay, and have wine enough and gold enough to help me through this
dearth!"
"Alas!" sighed the Countess, "and what when you too die?" The old
peasant laughed at her grief as he said: "Then, as now, I shall have
no soul to trouble me with remorse or conscience"; and the Countess
covered her eyes with her hand and beckoned silently that he should
go. In her oratory, whither she betook herself immediately, she prayed
with all her spirit that the Virgin and all the saints would inspire
her to defeat the demons and to save her people's souls.
Cathleen Tries to Check the Traffic
Next day Cathleen called together all the people in the village, her
own tribesmen and strangers. She offered them again a share of all she
had, and the daily rations she could distribute, but told them that
all must share alike and that she had nothing but the barest
necessaries to give--scanty portions of corn and meal, with milk from
one or two famine-stricken cows her servants had managed to keep
alive. To this she added that she had sent two trusty messengers for
help, one to Ulster for cattle, and Fergus to England for corn and
wine; they must return soon, she felt sure, with abundant supplies, if
men would patiently await their return.
In Vain
But all was useless. Her messengers had sent no word of their return,
and the abundant supplies at the forest cottage were more easily
obtained, and were less carefully regulated, than those of the
Countess Cathleen. The merchants, too, were ever at hand with their
cunning wiles, and their active, persuasive dupes, who would gladly
bring all others into their own soulless condition. The wine given by
the demons warmed the hearts of all who drank, and the deceived
peasants dreamed of happiness when the famine was over, and so the
passionate appeal of the Countess failed, and the sale of souls
continued merrily. The noise of revelry grew daily louder and more
riotous, and the drinkers cared nothing for the death or departure of
their dearest friends; while those who died, died drunken and utterly
reckless, or full of horror and despair, reviling the crafty merchants
who had deceived them with promises of life and happiness. The evil
influence clung all about the country-side, and seemed in league with
the pitiless powers of Nature against the souls of men, till at last
the stricken Countess, putting her trust in God, sought out the forest
lodge where the demon merchants dwelt, trafficking for souls. The way
was easy to find now, for a broad beaten track led to the dwelling,
and as the evil spirits saw Cathleen coming slowly along the path
their wicked eyes gleamed and their clawlike hands worked convulsively
in their jewelled gloves, for they hoped she had come to sell her pure
soul.
She Visits the Demons
"What does the Countess Cathleen wish to obtain from two poor stranger
merchants?" said the elder with an evil smile; and the younger, bowing
deeply said: "Lady, you may command us in all things, save what
touches our allegiance to our king." Cathleen replied: "I have no
merchandise to barter, nothing for trade with you, for you buy such
things as I will never sell: you buy men's souls for Hell. I come only
to beg that you will release the poor souls whom you have bought for
Satan's kingdom, and will have mercy on my ignorant people and deceive
them no more. I have yet some gold unspent and jewels unsold: take all
there is but let my people go free." Then the merchants laughed aloud
scornfully, and rejected her offer. "Would you have us undo our work?
Have we toiled, then, for naught to extend our master's sway? Have we
won for him so many souls to dwell for ever in his kingdom and do his
work, and shall we give them back for your entreaties? We have gold
enough, and food and wine enough, fair lady. The souls we have bought
we keep, for our master gives us honour and rank proportioned to the
number of souls we win for him, and you may see by the golden circlets
round our brows that we are princes of his kingdom, and have brought
him countless souls. Nevertheless, there is one most rare and precious
thing which could redeem these bartered souls of Ireland's peasants,
things of little worth."
They Make a Proposal
"Oh, what is that?" said the Countess. "If I have it, or can in any
way procure it, tell me, that I may redeem these deluded people's
souls."
"You have it now, fair saint. It is one pure soul, precious as
multitudes of more sin-stained souls. Our master would far rather have
a perfect and flawless pearl for his diadem than myriads of these
cracked and flawed crystals. Your soul, most saintly Countess, would
redeem the souls of all your tribe, if you would sell it to our king;
it would be the fairest jewel in his crown. But think not to save your
people otherwise, and beguile them no longer with false promises of
help: your messenger to Ulster lies sick of ague in the Bog of Allen,
and no food comes from England."
False Tidings
"We saw a man
Heavy with sickness in the Bog of Allen
Whom you had bid buy cattle. Near Fair Head
We saw your grain ships lying all becalmed
In the dark night, and not less still than they
Burned all their mirrored lanterns in the sea."
When Cathleen heard of the failure of her messengers to bring food it
seemed as if all hope were indeed over, and the demons smiled craftily
upon her as she turned silently to go, and laughed joyously to each
other when she had left their presence. Now they had good hope to win
her for their master; but they knew that their time was short, since
help was not far away.
"Last night, closed in the image of an owl,
I hurried to the cliffs of Donegal,
And saw, creeping on the uneasy surge,
Those ships that bring the woman grain and meal;
They are five days from us.
I hurried east,
A grey owl flitting, flitting in the dew,
And saw nine hundred oxen toil through Meath,
Driven on by goads of iron; they too, brother,
Are full five days from us. Five days for traffic."
Cathleen's Despair
The Countess then went back in bitter grief to her desolate castle,
where only faithful old servants now waited in the halls, and