Corpus of Electronic Texts Edition
The Second Battle of Moytura (Author: [unknown])

section 29

‘Put’, says the Mac Óc, ‘these three crowns into the three bits which thou givest at close of day to Cridenbél. These bits will then be the goodliest on thy dish; and the gold will turn in his belly so that he will die thereof, and the judgment of Bres thereon will be wrong. Men will say to the king: ‘The Dagdae has killed Cridenbél by means of a deadly herb which he gave him.’ Then the king will order thee to be slain. But thou shalt say to him: ‘What thou utterest, O king of the warriors of the Féne, is not a prince's truth. For I was watched by Cridenbél when I was at my work, and he used to say to me ‘Give me, O Dagdae, the three best bits of thy portion. Bad is my housekeeping tonight’.

p.67

So I should have perished thereby had not the three shillings which I found today helped me. I put them on my ration. I then gave it to Cridenbél, for the gold is the best thing that was before me. Hence, then, the gold is inside Cridenbél, and he died of it’’.

‘It is clear’, says the king. ‘Let the lampooner's belly be cut open to know if the gold be found therein. If it be not found, thou shalt die. If, however, it be found, thou shalt have life’.