Humbled and ashamed , Ian Direach left the house , and sat by the side of the sea , and soon Gille Mairtean the fox came to him . ` Plainly I see that you have taken no heed to my words , Ian Direach , ' spoke the fox . ` But eat first , and yet once more will I help you . ' At these words the heart returned again to Ian Direach , and he gathered sticks and made a fire and ate with Gille Mairtean the fox , and slept on the sand . At dawn next morning Gille Mairtean said to Ian Direach : ' I will change myself into a ship , and will bear you across the seas to Erin , to the land where dwells the king . And you shall offer yourself to serve in his stable , and to tend his horses , till at length so well content is he , that he gives you the bay colt to wash and brush . But when you run away with her see that nought except the soles of her hoofs touch anything within the palace gates , or it will go ill with you . ' After he had thus counselled Ian Direach , the fox changed himself into a ship , and set sail for Erin . And the king of that country gave into Ian Direach 's hands the care of his horses , and never before did their skins shine so brightly or was their pace so swift . And the king was well pleased , and at the end of a month he sent for Ian and said to him : ` You have given me faithful service , and now I will entrust you with the most precious thing that my kingdom holds . ' And when he had spoken , he led Ian Direach to the stable where stood the bay colt . And Ian rubbed her and fed her , and galloped with her all round the country , till he could leave one wind behind him and catch the other which was in front . ' I am going away to hunt , ' said the king one morning while he was watching Ian tend the bay colt in her stable . ` The deer have come down from the hill , and it is time for me to give them chase . ' Then he went away ; and when he was no longer in sight , Ian Direach led the bay colt out of the stable , and sprang on her back . But as they rode through the gate , which stood between the palace and the outer world , the colt swished her tail against the post , which shrieked loudly . In a moment the king came running up , and he seized the colt 's bridle . ` If you want my bay colt , you must first bring me the daughter of the king of the Franks . ' With slow steps went Ian Direach down to the shore where Gille Mairtean the fox awaited him . ` Plainly I see that you have not done as I bid you , nor will you ever do it , ' spoke Gille Mairtean the fox ; ` but I will help you yet again for a third time I will change myself into a ship , and we will sail to France . '
And to France they sailed , and , as he was the ship , the Gille Mairtean sailed where he would , and ran himself XXXXX the cleft of a rock , high on to the land .
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