THE MABINOGI TALE OF TALIESIN. THERE was a nobleman in former times, of Penllyn, who was called Tegid the Bald, and his patrimony was in the middle of the lake of Tegid ;* and his married wife was called Keridwen,t and of that wife a son was born named Morvran ab Tegid, and a daughter named Creirvyw, who was the fairest damsel in the world, and a brother of theirs was the ugliest person among men, and this was Avagddu. Then Keridwen, the mother of Avagddu, considered it as not likely that he should have reception among the nobility, from his being so ugly, unless he were endowed with some preeminent gifts or sciences; for this was at the commencement of the era of Arthur and the round table. And thereupon, by having recourse to books of chemistry, she prepared to concoct a cauldron of genius and sciences for her son, so that his reception might be more honourable, on account of his sciences, and his knowledge in respect to the future state of the world. GWR BONEDDIG oedd gynt yn Mhenllyn à elwid Tegid Voel, ac ei drevtad oedd yn nghanol Llyn Tegid: ac ei wraig briawd á elwid Ceridwen ; ac o'r wraig hòno y ganid mab à elwid Morvran ab Tegid, a merç à elwid Creirvyw, a thecav merç o'r byd oedd hòno, a brawd iddynt hwy oedd y dyn hacrav, sev Avagddu. Ac yna Ceridwen mam Avagddu á veddyliai nad oedd ev debyg o gael ei gynnwys yn mhlith boneddigion rhag ei hacred, oni byddai arno ryw gampau neu wybodau wrddasawl : canys yn neçreuad Arthur ac y bwrdd crwn oedd hyny. Ar hyny y trevnai hi, trwy gelvyddyd llyvrau feryllt, verwi pair o awen a gwybodau i'w mab, màl y byddai urddaseç ei gymeriad am ei wybodau ac ei gelvyddyd am y byd à ddelai rhag blaen. * This lake is near the town of Bala, in Meirion. The fair procreator: in the bardic mythology, an epithet for the first woman; and she was feigned to be the mother of Morvran ab Tegid, who escaped from the battle of Camlan, owing to his hideous form; and Sandde, of angel aspect, escaped by a way being made from his being taken for an angel; and Glewlwyd of the mighty grasp, escaped, as no foe dared to stand in his way. These three were the representatives of ugliness, beauty, and strength. So she began to boil the cauldron, the which, after it should be made to boil, could not be suffered to leave off boiling until the end of a year and a day, so that three blessed drops should be obtained through the grace of the spirit. And little Gwion, the son of a yeoman of Llanvair Caereinion, in Powys, was placed by her to attend the cauldron, and a blind man named Morda to keep up the fire under it, with a command not to suffer the boil to break until a year and a day should elapse; and she also, through the books of the astronomers, and by the hours of the planets, being daily collecting of such various herbs as had some peculiar virtue. And on a certain day, as Keridwen was collecting herbs, and the end of the year drawing near, three drops of the pure water flew out of the cauldron, and lighted upon the finger of little Gwion; and, from its being so hot, at the instant he put those three precious drops into his mouth, and no sooner had he done so, than he obtained a knowledge of every thing that might occur in future; and he was thus forewarned that his principal care must be to avoid the wiles of Keridwen, for her inventive powers were great, and out of extreme fear he fled towards his own country; and the cauldron was broken in two, because the whole of the steel was of a deleterious nature, except those three precious drops, and thus the steeds of Gwyddno Longshank were poisoned by drinking of the water from the brook into which the cauldron ran, and XVIII. " Yna y daçreuai hi verwi y pair, yr hwn wedi decreuid ei verwi nid ellid tòri y berw dàn ben undydd a blwyddyn, hyd oni gefid tri devnyn gwyrthvawr o rad yr Ysbryd. A Gwion baç, mab gwreang o Lanvair Caereinion yn Mhowys à osodes hi i ammodi y pair, a dall á elwid Morda i gynneu y tan dàn y pair, â gorçymyn na adawai y berw i dòri hyd pan ddelai undydd a blwyddyn; a hithau trwy lyvrau seryddiaeth ac wrth oriau y planedau yn llysieua beunydd o bob amryveilion lysiau rhinweddawl. Ac vàl yr oedd Ceridwen ddiwrnod yn llysieua, ac yn gorçvanu yn agaws i benç y vlwyddyn, y damweiniai neitiaw a disgyn o dri devnyn o'r dwvr rhinweddawl o'r pair àr vys Gwion baç; a rhag eu bryted ev á darewis y devnynau gwerthvawr hyny yn ei ben; ac yn gyttrym ag y gwnelai hyny eve á wyddai bob peth à ryddelai rhag llaw: ac eve a adnabu yn hysbys mai mwyav goval oedd iddo ystryw Ceridwen; canys mawr oedd ei gwybodau; a rhag dirvawr ovn eve á foes parth tua ei wlad. Ac y pair á dòres yn ddau hanner; herwydd y dur i gyd oedd wenwynig, eithr y tri devnyn rhinweddawl hyny, mal y gwenwynes veirę Gwyddno Garanhir am yved y dwvr o'r aber y rhedai y pair iddi; ac am hyny y gelwir yr aber o hyny allan Gwenwyn Meirç Gwyddno. Ac ar hyny Cer P therefore the brook thenceforth a run. was called the poison of Gwydd no's horses. And thereupon Keridwen was observed returning home, and seeing her labour for a twelvemonth lost, she snatched up a billet, and struck the blind Morda upon his head, so that one of his eyes fell down his cheek; whereupon he then said, "badly hast thou disfigured me, and I being innocent! thou hast suffered no loss on my account." "Thou hast spoken the truth," said Keridwen, "it was little Gwion that robbed me;' and so she followed him upon And thereupon he observed her, and so he changed himself into the form of a hare, and ran off; then she also appeared as a hound bitch, doubled him, and turned him towards a river; and then he appeared as a fish, and she also in the form of an otter bitch, and pursued him under the water; so that he was compelled to appear as a bird in the air, and she as a hawk to pursue him, and so gave him no quiet in the air; and as she was overtaking him, and he having the fear of death upon him, he observed a heap of winnowed wheat on a barn floor, and so alighted into the wheat, and appeared in the form of one of the grains, and thereupon she also appeared as a black crested hen, and into the wheat she went, which, scratching with her feet, she recognized him, and swallowed him; and, as said in the narrative, she was nine months pregnant of him; and, after her delivery, she could not in her heart kill him, so beautiful he seemed, but she wrapped him in a leathern bag, and cast him to idwen yn dawed i mewn ac yn gweled ei gwaith er ys blwyddyn yn golledig, ysglyvu rhodyl á orug a tharaw y dall Morda àr ei ben oni ai un o ei lygaid àr ei rudd; sev y dyweda yntau "Drwg ym anfurviaist, a minnau yn wirion! ni buost golledig o ym haçaws i." "Gwir á ddywedaist," ebai Ceridwen: "Ġwion bac ym hyspeiliodd :" a çyrçu àr ei ol dan redeg. Ac ei çanvod hithau á wnai yntau, ac ymrithiaw yn rhith ysgyvarnog a rhedeg; sev y rhithiai hithau yn vilast, ac ei ystumiaw ac ei ymçoelyd tuag avon, ac ymrithiaw yn bysgodyn, a hithau yn rhith dyvrast, ac ymgeisiaw ag ev dàn y dwvr, oni vu ddir iddo ymrithiaw yn aderyn yn yr wybr, a hithau yn llemysten er ei ymlid, ac ni adai iddo lonydd yn yr wybr, a phan oedd yn ei oddiwes,ac yntau ag ovn angeu arno á arganvu dwr o wenith nithiedig ar lawr ysgubawr, ac eve á ddisgynaiyn y gwenith ac ymrithiai yn rhith un o'r grawn; ac yno ymrithiai hithau yn iar ddu gopawg, ac i'r gwenith yr ai, ac a'i thraed ei gravu, ac ei adnabod ev ac ei lyncu: ac vàl y dyweda yr hanes, hi á vu nawmis yn veičiawg arno; a gwedi esgori o honi ni allai hi àr ei çalon ei ladd rhag teced oedd ; namyn ei wisgaw mewn boly o groen, ac ei vwrw ev yn ewyllys dyn yn y mor, y 29 ved o Ebrill. the will of man into the sea, on the 29th of April. And at that time Gwyddno had a wear on the sand between Dyvi and Aberystwyth, near to his own castle; and in that wear there was obtained to the value of a hundred pounds at every Mayeve. At that time, Gwyddno had one son, who was called Elphin, being one of the most untoward of youths, and suffering the greatest privation, which was a cause of grief to his father, fearing that he was born in an evil hour and through the advice of his counsellors, his father gave him the drought of the wear for that year, to see if ever any luck befel him, and to make a beginning of employment for him. The following morning, as Elphin was examining the wear, and finding there was nothing in it, was going away, he discovered a leathern bag suspended from a pole of the wear; then one of the wear men said to Elphin, "Thou hast never been unfortunate before this night, for thou hast broken the virtues of the wear, wherein there used to be obtained the value of a hundred pounds on every May eve." "Now," said Elphin, "what if there might be an equivalent to the hundred pounds in this?" The skin was untied, and the opener of it saw the forehead of a boy, and he exclaimed, "See, here is a fair front!" "Fair Front let his name be," said Elphin, raising him up between his hands, bewailing his Ac yn yr amser hwnw yr oedd gored i Wyddno yn y traeth rhwng Dyvi ac Aber Ystwyth, ger ei gastell ei hun; ac yn y gored hwnw y ceid cywerthydd cant punt bob nos calanmai; ac y pryd hyn yr oedd un mab i Wyddno, à elwid Elfin, yn un o'r rhai dyrysav o'r ieuaine, a mwyav o eisieu arno, ac yn orthrwm gan ei dad hyny, o dybiaw ei eni àr awr ddrwg: a thrwy annogiad ei gynghoriaid,rhoddai ei dad iddo dyniad y gored y vlwyddyn hòno, i edryc á ddamweiniai iddo fawd byth, ac i ddecreu gwaith iddo. Tranoeth, wrth edryç o Elfin, ac nad oedd dim yn y gored, ond wrth vyned i fordd, arganvu àr bawl y gored y boly croen; yna dywedai un o'r goredwyr wrth Elfin -" Ni buost ti' anfodiawg erioed cyn heno; canys ti á dòraist gynneddvau y gored, yn yr hon y ceid werth cant punt bob nos calanmai." "Pa yn awr," ebai Elfin, "os galla vod yna gywerthydd y cant punt o dda?" Dattodi y croen á wnelid, ac arganvu yr agorwr dál mab, ac y dyweda wrth Elfin "Llyma dàl iesin?" "Taliesin bydded ei enw," ebai Elfin, gan ei dderçavu rhwng ei ddwylaw, gàn gwyn misfortune, and pensively placed him in a pannier on one of his horses, and at the instant he made the horse canter that only trotted before, thus conducting him so softly as if he were sitting in the easiest chair that possibly could be, and thus carrying the boy, composed the verses called The Consolation of Elphin," with an eulogy, and a prophecy of honourable advancement to him; and the Consolation was the first song made by Taliesin, and which was to console Elphin on the way home as he sorrowed at the loss of the drought of the wear; and above all he was concerned that the fault and misfortune were attributed to him. The Consolation was to this effect: Fair Elphin cease to lament! aw anfawd iddo, ac ei cymerai yn brudd is ei gil; ac yr awr hòno y perai i'r març rygyngu, à duthiai o'r blaen, ac ei arweinai esinwythed â phe eisteddai mewn cader esmwythav o'r byd; ac àr ei daith y canai y mab yr englynion Dyhuddiant i Elfin, gyda moliant a darogan derchaviad iddo; ac y dyhuddiant oedd er dyhuddaw Elfin àr ei daith adrev, o golli tyniad y gored, am ei vod yn dristar yraçaws; a gwaethav oedd ganddo weled mai arno ev yr oedd y bai ac yr anfawd. Ac y dyhuddiant oedd và y canlyna: Elfin deg, taw a'th wylo! Ni thyr Duw a'r addawo: Elfin deg, syç dy ddeurudd! Cyd wyv byçan wyv gelvydd. wydd. |