pagine elaborate da Matilde e Ottavia
Irish legends:
Finn
and the Giant
Finn
mac Cumhall, who was also called Finn mac Cool, was no ordinary giant. He was
the biggest and the strongest giant in all Ireland.
He was so tall that his head almost reached the clouds. His voice could be heard for miles around. He was so strong that he could lift a hundred men in one of his enormous hands. Finn lived with his wife in the hills of Country Oonagh. They lived togheter very happily in a castle by the sea. One day, a messenger came to finn’s castle. He had come all the way from Scotland with news for Finn.
The messenger told Finn that a Scottish giant called Angust wanted to fight him.Angus wanted to show that he was stronger than any giant in Ireland.
Finn
had never seen Angus before, but he knew that he was the biggest giant in
Scotland. Finn was not afraid. “ Am I not the strongest giant in Ireland?”
he said to his wife. “ I will fight any giant in the world.”
The
very next day, Finn began to build a path across the sea to Scotland. This path
was called a causeway. It was made of thousands of rocks of all different shapes
and size.
By
using his great hands, Finn built many miles of the causeway every day.
Soon
it stretched for miles across the water between Ireland and Scotland.
When
Angus heard about Finn’s causeway, he decided to build the Scottish end of the
causeway himself.
For
weeks and weeks the two giants worked on the causeway. Finn worked at the Irish
end and Angus worked at the Scottish end. After many weeks, the causeway was
built. The Scottish giant could come over to Ireland.
One
morning, Finn was walking in the forest near his castle. He saw his wife coming
towards him in the distance. He ran over to her. “Oh Finn, my dear,” she
cried, “I have just heard some terrible news!”
“What
is it Oonagh?” asked Finn gently. “What is this terrible news?”
“I
have just heard that Angus is the biggest and strongest giant in the world, he
is twice as big as you, and twice as strong!” Finn was very worried. “We
must think of a plan,” he said to Oonagh “I cannot fight a giant who is
twice my size.” They walked back to the castle. For hours and hours Finn sat
in his giant armchair. He was trying to think of a way to trick the Scottish
Giant. As the sun was setting, Finn heard a knock on the door. It was the
messenger. “Angus would like to fight you tomorrow at sunrise,” he told Finn
“Yes, of course, “ replied Finn with a smile on his face. “Tell Angus that
I welcome him to Ireland.” Finn had smiled because he had thought of a plan.
Finn’s plan was very clever and very simple. He went to his bedroom and took
the blankets from the bed. Finn and Oonagh worked all through the night. They
cut the blankets and made them into giant baby clothes. When they had finished,
Finn put on the baby clothes. He wore a lovely blue gown and a giant pair of
bootees. On his head was a blue bonnet. It was made from one of Oonagh’s
dresses. Finn got into a giant cradle. Oonagh covered him with a blanket. At
sunrise the next morning, Oonagh heard a knock at the door. It was Angus, the
Scottish giant. “Good morning, Mrs Mac Cumhall, “ said the giant. His voice
was as loud as thunder. “ I have come all the way from Scotland to fight your
husband. Is he here?”
“No,
“ said Oonagh. “ He has gone out for his morning walk, but he will be back
very soon. Would you like to come in and wait?” As Oonagh was speaking, the
Scottish Giant heard a cry from the cradle. “Who is that?” he asked,
pointing to the enormous baby in the cradle. “That’s Young Finn, our baby,
“ replied Oonagh. The giant was very frightened. He had never seen a baby as
big as Young Finn. “If this is the size of Finn’s baby, “ he said to
himself “what size can Finn be?” Then he ran out as fast as he could. He ran
across the causeway and did not stop until he had reached his own country. Angus
was afraid that Finn might follow him. He ripped up the stones of the causeway
and threw them into the sea.
Today,
if you go to Country Antrim, you can still see a small piece of the causeway. It
is called the Giant’s Causeway, because Finn Mac Cumhall, the most famous
giant in the history of Ireland, built it.