Finn ua Báiscne was seeking his son Oisin throughout Ireland. Oisin had been a year without anyone knowing his whereabouts. He was angry with his father. Then Finn found him in a great wilderness. Oisin was cooking a pig. Finn turns upon him and deals him a blow. Oisin seized his weapons and his accoutrements. He did not at once recognize him. Then Finn said it was foolish for a young warrior to fight against a grey-headed man. Thereupon they sing a lampoon.
Oisin dixit:
- 'Tis plain to me,
though the grey-head attacks (?) me,
the points of his spear are no sharper,
his shield is no broader.Finn:
- Though the points of his spear be no sharper,
though his shield be no broader,
at the hour of wielding (them) in combat
the grey-head will prevail.Oisin:
- 'Tis clear, though his wrist is stronger
and though the rim of his shield is broader,
he cannot ...
...Finn:
- I am not like
the ... stirk;
the grey-head knows how to deal wounds and to receive them,5
... so that he is riddled.Oisin:
- When he has been wounded three times
in battle where far-reaching strokes are dealt,
his scream of doom sounds ill
as he faces young warriors.Finn:
- I am well acquainted with young men
who carry ...6
when they are ...
streams of blood run upon ...Oisin:
- That is not what they do
when they are7 in the heat of the fight8
the youth (sings?) a paean,
the old warrior is struck to the ground.
Finn:
- The man who ... with his spear
to encounter the young man,
I know what will come of it:
the young man's nose will be split.Oisin:
- When palsy has consumed every bone,
the spear from his hand is not bitter.
The young man is in the heyday of his strength,9
the old man's spring-time is past.10Finn:
- When they are together
upon the stone-dyke of fierce slaughter,
he does not love to meet sword-edges,11
sips of milk ...Oisin:
- It is one of the habits of the grey-head
to talk from under the cover of his shield;
showers of sword-edges ...
his old legs cannot stir.Finn:
- I have not ... from a royal host
a maniac upon trees in a wilderness;
in the battle ...
young men are wont to be upon the point of a branch.Oisin:
- The maniac who is running here westward
is not a young man, it is a grey-head;
the ... which is upon such a one,
'tis that which is upon the old man.Finn:
- Verily, my son,12
what you utter is not good;
though you deceive me it does not hurt;
'tis time that we should be more trustful.Oisin:
- Oh ancient hero,
you are not wont to be among youths;
I had no desire to harm you
if you had not been boastful against warriors.Finn:
Then their own people came to Finn and Oisin.