Tuesday, September 4, 2007

The Wild-Woman's Dream...


A beautiful, dark-haired Wild Irish Woman once dreamed that a certain Druid visited her in the night and made passionate love to her. When she woke up, she called her maids, described the Druid to them and asked them to demand recompense from him for his midnight sojourn. They seized the Druid as he was walking along a path into town, told him of the affair, and asked for 50 silver coins. The honorable scholar was flabberghasted. But the surly maids grabbed him and would not let go. A passerby saw the bitter argument and told the king of Tara, and so he summoned both the Wild Woman and the Druid to his court.


The Wild Woman said, "I am accustomed to being compensated for intimate alliances. This man visited me in a dream last night and enjoyed himself… He must pay me for this illicit pleasure."


The king said, "That seems fair enough, but wait a moment." Then he ordered a pole to be planted in the street, then he hung a bag of silver from the pole, and placed a mirror under it.
"Now," he said to the Wild Woman, "Put your hand into the mirror and take your money. It's all yours."


The Woman was baffled and said, "How can I put my hand into the mirror and take my money? Give me the real money in the bag."


"Oh no, no, no," said the king, "the money is not yours. The Druid visited you only in your dream. The proper payment is only the money that you can see in the mirror."


And so, the Wild Woman marched off in a huff whilst the Druid retired with a smile… dreaming!

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