The Child's Dream The Island of Innis-Shark was a holy and peaceful place in old times, and so quiet that the pigeons used to come and build in a great cave by the sea, and no one disturbed them. And the holy saints of God had a monastary there, to which many people resorted from the mainland, for the prayers of the monks were powerful against sickness or evil, or the malice of an enemy. Amongst others, there came a great and noble prince out of Munster, with his wife and children and their nurse, and they were so pleased with the island that they remained a year or more, for the prince loved fishing, and often brough his wife along with him. One day, while they were both away, the eldest child, a beautiful boy of ten years olf, begged his nurse to let him go amid see the pigeon's cave, but she refused."Your father would be angry," she cried, "if you went without leave. Wail till he comes home, and see if he will allow you." So when the prince returned, the boy told him how he longed to see the cave, and the father promised to bring him next day. The morning was beautiful and the wind fair when they set off. But the child soon fell asleep in the boat, and never wakened all the time his father was fishing. The sleep, however, was troubled, and many a time he started and cried aloud. So the prince thought it better to turn the boat and land, and then the boy awoke. After dinner the father called for the child. "Tell me now," he said, "why was your sleep troubled, so that you cried out bitterly in your dream.""I dreamed," said the boy, "that I stood upon a high rock, and at the bottom flowed the sea, but the waves made no noise, and as I looked down I saw fields and trees and beautiful flowers and bright birds in the branches, and I longed to go down and pluck the flowers. Then i heard a voice saying, 'Bless are the souls that come here, for this is heaven.""And in an instant I thought I was in the midst of the meadows amongst the birds and the flowers; and a lovely lady, bright as an angel, came up to me, and said, "What brings you here, dear child, for none but the dead come here.'"Then she left me, adn I wept her for going, when suddenly all teh sky grew black, and a great troop of wild wolves came round me, howling and opening their mouths wide as if to devour me. And I screamed and tried to run, but I could not move, as the wolves came closer, and I fell down like one dead with fright whe, just then, the beautiful lady came again and took my hand and kissed me.'Fear, not,' she said, 'take these flowers, they come from heaven. And I will bring you to the meadow where they grown.'"And she lifed me up into the air, but I know nothing more; for then the boat stopped and you lifted me on shore, but my beautiful flower must have fallen from my hands, for I never saw them more. And this is all my dream, but I would like to have my flowers again, for the lady told me they had secrets that would bring me to heaven." The prince thought no more of the child's dream, but went off to fish the next day as usual, leaving the boy in care of his nurse. And again the child beggan and prayed her so earnstly to bring him to the pigeons' cave, that at last she consented, but told him he must not go a step by himsef, and she would bring two of the boys of the island to take care of him. So they set off, the child adn his little sister with the nurse. And the boy gathered wild flowers for his sister, and ran down to the edge of teh cave where the cormorants were swimming, but there was no danger for the two young islanders were minding him. So the nurse was content, and being weary she fell asleep. And the little sister lay down beside her, and fell asleep likewise. Then the boy called to his companions, the two young islanders, and told him he must catch the cormorants. So away they ran, down the path to the sea, hand in hand, and laughing as they went. Just then a piece of rock loosend and fell beside them, and trying to avoid it they slipped over the edge of the narrow path down a steep place, where they was nothing to hold on by except a large bush, in the middle of the way. They got hold of this, and thought they were now quite safe, but the bush was not strong enough to bear their weight, and it torn up by the roots. And all three feel straight down into the sea and were drowned. Now, at the sound of the great cry up from the waves, the nurse awoke, but saw no one. Then she woke up the little sister. "It is late," she cried, "they must have gone home. We have slept too long, it is already evening, let us hasten and overtake them, before the prince is back from the fishing."But when they reached home the prince stood in the doorway. And he was very pale and weeping."Where is my brother?" cried the little girl."You will never see your brother more," answered the prince. And from that day he never went fishing any more, but grew silent and thoughtfil, and was never seen to smile. And in a short time he and his family quitted the island, never to return. But the nurse remained. And some say she became a saint, for she was always seen praying and weeping by the entrance to the great sea cave. And one day, when they came to look for her, she lay dead on the rocks. And in her hand she held some beautiful strange flowers freshly gathered, with the dew on them. And no one knew how the flowers came into her dead hands. Only some fishermen told the story of how the night before they had seen a bright fairy child seated on the rocks singing, and he had a red sash tied round his waist, and a golden circlet binding his long yellow hair. And they all knew that he was the prince's son, who had been drowned in that spot just a twelvemonth before. And the people believe that he had bought the flowers from the spirit land to the woman, and given them to her as a death sign, and a blessed token from God that her soul would be taken to heaven. Hope you all enjoyed tonight's tale :) Irish Lass You can join Unsolved Mysteries and post your own mysteries or interesting stories for the world to read and respond to Click hereScroll all the way down to read replies.Show all stories by Author: 64747 ( Click here )
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