` There is no fortune to be made here , ' he thought to himself ; ` it is a place for spending , and not earning . I see I must go further , ' and he walked on to Pont-aven , a pretty little town built on the bank of a river . He was sitting on a bench outside an inn , when he heard two men who were loading their mules talking about the Groac ' h of the island of Lok . ` What is a Groac ` h ? ' asked he . ' I have never come across one . ' And the men answered that it was the name given to the fairy that dwelt in the lake , and that she was rich -- oh ! richer than all the kings in the world put together . Many had gone to the island to try and get possession of her treasures , but no one had ever come back . As he listened Houarn 's mind was made up . ' I will go , and return too , ' he said to the muleteers . They stared at him in astonishment , and besought him not to be so mad and to throw away his life in such a foolish manner ; but he only laughed , and answered that if they could tell him of any other way in which to procure a cow and a pig to fatten , he would think no more about it . But the men did not know how this was to be done , and , shaking their heads over his obstinacy , left him to his fate . So Houarn went down to the sea , and found a boatman who engaged to take him to the isle of Lok . The island was large , and lying almost across it was a lake , with a narrow opening to the sea . Houarn paid the boatman and sent him away , and then proceeded to walk round the lake . At one end he perceived a small skiff , painted blue and shaped like a swan , lying under a clump of yellow broom . As far as he could see , the swan 's head was tucked under its wing , and Houarn , who had never beheld a boat of the sort , went quickly towards it and stepped in , so as to examine it the better . But no sooner was he on board than the swan woke suddenly up ; his head emerged from under his wing , his feet began to move in the water , and in another moment they were in the middle of the lake . As soon as the young man had recovered from his surprise , he prepared to jump into the lake and swim to shore .
But the bird had guessed his intentions , and plunged beneath the water , carrying Houarn with him XXXXX the palace of the Groac ` h. Now , unless you have been under the sea and beheld all the wonders that lie there , you can never have an idea what the Groac ` h 's palace was like .
across in of on outside over than to towards with