Complete Works of Bram Stoker (15 page)

Here an old man in the chimney corner struck in: “Thrue for ye, acushla; sure the bit lake is there still, though, more belike it’s dhry now, it is, and the threes is all gone.”

“Well,” went on Jerry, not ill-pleased with this corroboration of his story, “the King iv the Shnakes was mighty important, intirely. He was more nor tin times as big as any shnake as any man’s eyes had iver saw; an’ he had a goolden crown on to the top of his head, wid a big jool in it that tuk the colour iv the light, whether that same was from the sun or the moon; an’ all the shnakes had to take it in turns to bring food, and lave it for him in the cool iv the evenin’, whin he would come out and ate it up and go back to his own place. An’ they do say that whiniver two shnakes had a quarr’ll they had to come to the King, an’ he decided betune them; an’ he tould aich iv them where he was to live, and what he was to do. An’ wanst in ivery year there had to be brought to him a live baby; and they do say that he would wait until the moon was at the full, an’ thin would be heerd one wild wail that made every sowl widin miles shuddher, an’ thin there would be black silence, and clouds would come over the moon, and for three days it would never be seen agin.”

“Oh, glory be to God!” murmured one of the women, “but it was a terrible thing!” and she rocked herself to and fro, moaning, all the motherhood in her awake.

“But did none of the min do nothin’?” said a powerful- looking young fellow in the orange and green jersey of the Gaelic Athletic Club, with his eyes flashing; and he clinched his teeth.

“Musha! how could they? Sure, no man ever seen the King iv the Shnakes!”

“Thin how did they know about him?” he queried, doubtfully.

“Sure, wasn’t one of their childher tuk away iv’ ry year? But, anyhow, it’s all over now! an’ so it was that none iv the min iver wint. They do say that one woman what lost her child, run up to the top of the hill; but what she seen, none could tell, for whin they found her she was a ravin’ lunatic, wid white hair an’ eyes like a corpse  —  an’ the mornin’ afther they found her dead in her bed wid a black mark round her neck as if she had been choked, an’ the mark was in the shape iv a shnake. Well, there was much sorra and much fear, and whin St. Pathrick tuk the shnakes in hand the bonfires was lit all over the counthry. Never was such a flittin’ seen as whin the shnakes came from all parts wrigglin’ and crawlin’ an’ shkwirmin’.”

Here the narrator dramatically threw himself into an attitude, and with the skill of a true improvisatore, suggested in every pose and with every limb and in every motion the serpentine movements. “They all came away to the west, and seemed to come to this wan mountain. From the north and the south and the east they came be millions an’ thousands an’ hundhreds  —  for whin St. Pathrick ordhered them out he only tould them to go, but he didn’t name the place  —  an’ there was he up on top of Brandon Mountain, wid his vistments on to him an’ his crozier in his hand, and the shnakes movin’ below him, all goin’ up north, an’ sez he to himself: “‘I must see about this.’ An’ he got down from aff iv the mountain, and he folly’d the shnakes, and he see them move along to the hill beyant that they call Knockcalltecrore. An’ be this time they wor all come from all over Ireland, and they wor all round the mountain  —  exceptin’ on the say-side  —  an’ they all had their heads pointed up the hill, and their tails pointed to the Saint, so that they didn’t see him, an’ they all gave wan great hiss, an’ then another, an’ another, like wan, two, three! An’ at the third hiss the King iv the Shnakes rose up out of the wee fen at the top of the hill, wid his goold crown gleamin’; an’ more betoken it was harvest time, an’ the moon was up, an’ the sun was settin’, so the big jool in the crown had the light of both the sun an’ the moon, an’ it shone so bright that right away in Lensther the people thought the whole counthry was afire. But whin the Saint seen him, his whole forrum seemed to swell out an’ get bigger an’ bigger, an’ he lifted his crozier, an’ he pointed west, an’ sez he, in a voice like a shtorm, ‘To the say, all ye shnakes! At wanst! to the say!’

“An’ in the instant, wid wan movement, an’ wid a hiss that made the air seem full iv watherfalls, the whole iv the shnakes that was round the hill wriggled away into the say as if the fire was at their tails. There was so many iv them that they filled up the say out beyant to Cusheen Island, and them that was behind, had to shlide over their bodies. An’ the say piled up till it sent a wave mountains high rollin’ away across the Atlantic till it sthruck upon the shore iv America  —  though more betoken it wasn’t America thin, for it wasn’t discovered till long afther. An’ there was so many shnakes that they do say that all the white sand that dhrifts up on the coast from the Blaskets to Achill Head is made from their bones.” Here Andy cut in: “But, Jerry, you haven’t tould us if the King iv the Shnakes wint too.”

“Musha! but it’s in a hurry ye are. How can I tell ye the whole laygend at wanst; an’, moreover, when me mouth is that dhry I can hardly spake at all  —  an’ me punch is all dhrunk  —  ”

He turned his glass face down on the table, with an air of comic resignation. Mrs. Kelligan took the hint and refilled his glass while he went on:

“Well! whin the shnakes tuk to say-bathin’ an’ forgot to come in to dhry themselves, the ould King iv thim sunk down agin into the lake, an’ Saint Pathrick rowls his eyes, an’ sez he to himself: “‘Musha! is it dhramin’ I am, or what? or is it laughin’ at me he is? Does he mane to defy me?’ An’ seein’ that no notice was tuk iv him at all, he lifts his crozier, and calls out: “‘Hi! here! you! Come here! I want ye!’ As he spoke, Jerry went through all the pantomime of the occasion, exemplifying by every movement the speech of both the Saint and the Snake. “Well, thin the King iv the Shnakes puts up his head out iv the lake, an’ sez he: “‘Who calls?’ “‘I do,’ says St. Pathrick, an’ he was so much mulvathered at the Shnake presumin’ to sthay, afther he tould thim all to go that for a while he didn’t think it quare that he could sphake at all. “‘Well, what do ye want wid me?’ sez the Shnake. “‘I want to know why you didn’t lave Irish soil wid all th’ other Shnakes,’ sez the Saint. “‘Ye tould the Shnakes to go,’ sez the King, ‘an’ I am their King, so I am; and your wurrds didn’t apply to me!’ an’ with that he dhrops like a flash of lightnin’ into the lake again.

“Well! St. Pathrick was so tuk back wid his impidence that he had to think for a minit, an’ then he calls again: “‘Hi! here! you!’ “‘What do you want now?’ sez the King iv the Shnakes, again poppin’ up his head. “‘I want to know why you didn’t obey me ordhers?’ sez the Saint. An’ the King luked at him an’ laughed; and he looked mighty evil, I can tell ye, for be this time the sun was down and the moon up, an’ the jool in his crown threw out a pale cold light that would make you shuddher to see. ‘An’,’ says he, as slow an’ as hard as an attorney (saving your prisence) when he has a bad case: “‘I didn’t obey,’ sez he, ‘because I thraverse the jurisdiction.’ ‘“How do ye mane?’ asks St. Pathrick. “‘Because,’ sez he, ‘this is my own houldin’,’ sez he, ‘be perscriptive right,’ sez he. I’m the whole govermint here, and I put a nexeat on meself not to lave widout me own permission,’ and he ducks down agin into the pond. “Well, the Saint began to get mighty angry, an’ he raises his crozier, and he calls him agin: “‘Hi! here! you!’ and the Shnake pops up. ‘“Well! Saint, what do you want now? Amn’t I to be quit iv ye at all?’ “‘Are ye goin’, or are ye not?’ sez the Saint. “‘I’m King here, an’ I’m not goin’.’ “‘Thin,’ says the Saint, ‘I depose ye!’ “‘You can’t,’ sez the Shnake, ‘while I have me crown.’

“‘Then I’ll take it from ye,’ sez St. Pathrick. “‘Catch me first!’ sez the Shnake; an’ wid that he pops undher the wather, what began to bubble up and boil. Well, thin, the good Saint stood bewildhered, for as he was lukin’ the wather began to disappear out of the wee lake; and then the ground iv the hill began to be shaken as if the big Shnake was rushin’ round and round it down deep down undher the ground.

“So the Saint stood on the edge of the empty lake an’ held up his crozier, and called on the Shnake to come forth. And when he luked down, lo! an’ behold ye! there lay the King iv the Shnakes coiled round the bottom iv the lake, though how he had got there the Saint could niver tell, for he hadn’t been there when he began to summons him. Then the Shnake raised his head, and, lo! and behold ye! there was no crown onto it.

“‘Where is your crown?’ sez the Saint.

“‘It’s hid,’ sez the Shnake, leerin’ at him.

“‘Where is it hid?’ “‘It’s hid in the mountain! Buried where you nor the likes iv you can’t touch it in a thousand years!’ an’ he leered agin. “‘Tell me where it may be found?’ sez the Saint starnly. An’ thin the Shnake leers at him agin wid an eviller smile than before; an’ sez he: “‘Did ye see the wather what was in the lake?’ “‘I did,’ sez St. Pathrick.

“‘Thin, when ye find that wather ye may find me jool’d crown, too,’ sez he; an’ before the Saint could say a word, he wint on:

“‘An’ till ye git me crown I’m king here still, though ye banish me. An’ mayhap I’ll come in some forrum what ye don’t suspect, for I must watch me crown. An’ now I go away  —  iv me own accord.’ An’ widout one word more, good or bad, he shlid right away into the say, dhrivin’ through the rock an’ makin’ the clift that they call the Shleenanaher  —  an’ that’s Irish for the Shnake’s Pass  —  until this day.”

“An’ now, sir, if Mrs. Kelligan hasn’t dhrunk up the whole bar’l, I’d like a dhrop iv punch, for talkin’ is dhry wurrk,” and he buried his head in the steaming jorum, which the hostess had already prepared. The company then began to discuss the legend. Said one of the women: “I wondher what forrum he tuk when he kem back!” Jerry answered:

“Sure, they do say that the shiftin’ bog wor the forrum he tuk. The mountain wid the lake on top used to be the ferti lest shpot in the whole counthry; but iver since the bog began to shift this was niver the same.” Here a hard-faced man named McGlown, who had been silent, struck in with a question: “But who knows when the bog did begin to shift?” “Musha! sorra one of me knows; but it was whin th’ ould Shnake druv the wather iv the lake into the hill!” There was a twinkle in the eyes of the story-teller, which made one doubt his own belief in his story. “Well, for ma own part,” said McGlown, “A don’t believe a sengle word of it.” “An’ for why not?” said one of the women. “Isn’t the mountain called ‘Knockcalltecrore,’ or ‘The Hill of the Lost Crown iv Gold,’ till this day?” Said another: “Musha! how could Misther McGlown believe anythin’, an’ him a Protestan’.”

“A’ll tell ye that A much prefer the facs,” said McGlown. “Ef hestory es till be believed, A much prefer the story told till me by yon old man. Damn me! but A believe he’s old enough till remember the theng itself.”

He pointed as he spoke to old Moynahan, who, shrivelled up and white-haired, crouched in a corner of the inglenook, holding close to the fire his wrinkled, shaky hands.

“What is the story that Mr. Moynahan has, may I ask?” said I. “Pray oblige, me, won’t you? I am anxious to hear all I can of the mountain, for it has taken my fancy strangely.’’ The old man took the glass of punch, which Mrs.

Kelligan handed him as the necessary condition antecedent to a story, and began:

“Oh, sorra one of me knows anythin’ except what I’ve heerd from me father. But I oft heerd him say that he was tould that it was said that in the Frinch invasion that didn’t come off undher Gineral Humbert, whin the attimpt was over an’ all hope was gone, the English sodgers made sure of great prize-money whin they should git hould of the threasure-chist. For it was known that there was much money goin’ an’ that they had brought a lot more than iver they wanted for pay and expinses in ordher to help bribe some of the people that was houldin’ off to be bought by wan side or the other  —  if they couldn’t manage to git bought be both. But, sure enough, they wor all sould, bad cess to thim! and the divil a bit of money could they lay their hands on at all.”

Here the old man took a pull at his jug of punch, with so transparent a wish to be further interrogated that a smile flashed round the company. One of the old crones remarked, in an audible sotto voce: “Musha! but Bat is the cute story-teller intirely. Ye have to dhrag it out iv him! Go on, Bat, go on! Tell us what become iv the money.” “Oh, what become iv the money? So ye would like to hear? Well, I’ll tell ye  —  just one more fill of the jug, Mrs. Kelligan, as the gintleman wishes to know all about it  —  well, they did say that the officer what had charge of the money got well away with some five or six others. The chist was a heavy wan  —  an iron chist bang full up iv goold! Oh, my! but it was fine! A big chist  —  that high, an’ as long as the table, an’ full up to the led wid goolden money an’ paper money, an’ divil a piece of white money in it at all! All goold, every pound note iv it.” He paused, and glanced anxiously at Mrs. Kelligan, who was engaged in the new brew. “Not too much wather, if ye love me, Katty; you know me wakeness! Well, they do say that it tuk hard work to lift the chist into the boat; an’ thin they put in a gun-carriage to carry it on, an’ tuk out two horses, an’ whin the shmoke was all round an’ the darkness of night was on, they got on shore, an’ made away down south from where the landin’ was made at Killala. But, anyhow, they say that none of them was ever heerd of agin. But they was thraced through Ardnaree an’ Lough Conn, an’ through Castlebar Lake an’ Lough Carra, an’ through Lough Mask an’ Lough Corrib. But they niver kem out through Galway, for the river was watched for thim day an’ night be the sodgers; and how they got along God knows, for ‘twas said they suffered quare hardships. They tuk the chist an’ the gun-carriage an’ the horses in the boat, an’ whin they couldn’t go no farther they dhragged the boat over the land to the next lake, an’ so on. Sure, one dhry sayson, when the wathers iv Corrib was down feet lower nor they was iver known afore, a boat was found up at the Bealanabrack end that had lay there for years; but the min nor the horses nor the treasure was never heerd of from that day to this  —  so they say,” he added, in a mysterious way, and he renewed his attention to the punch, as if his tale was ended.

“But, man alive!” said McGlown, “that’s only a part. Go on, man dear! an’ fenesh the punch after.” “Oh, oh! Yes, of course, you want to know the end. Well, no wan knows the end. But they used to say that whin the min lift the boat they wint due west, till one night they sthruck the mountain beyant; an’ that there they buried the chist an’ killed the horses, or rode away on them. But anyhow, they wor niver seen again; an’, as sure as you’re alive, the money is there in the hill! For luk at the name iv it! Why did any wan iver call it ‘Knockcalltore’  —  an’ that’s Irish for ‘The Hill of the Lost Gold’  —  if the money isn’t there?” “Thrue for ye!” murmured an old woman with a cutty pipe. “For why, indeed? There’s some people what won’t believe nothin’ altho’ it’s undher their eyes!” and she puffed away in silent rebuke to the spirit of scepticism  —  which, by the way, had not been manifested by any person present.