Lá na gCuach
(Cuckoo Day)
One mornin' just as I was about to take me tea me grandkids came rushin' to me in all a panic.
'Granda, wee Beacha is bein' eaten by a bear!' shouted Darowva.
'Not just any bear', said Dooli, 'it's the biggest bear I've ever seen!'
'Aye, it's nearly as big as the barn!' shouted Diolun.
'It's in the garden!' cried Daibidh.
Quick as a flash I grabbed me cowbell from where it hung on the wall.
'I threw open the front door and ran towards the bear as quick as me spindly legs could carry me, bangin' on the cowbell all the while and shoutin', 'Hoo! Away with ye bear!'
Just then I saw Beacha tumble to the turf.
'No!' I cried. Me eyes began wellin' up with tears, and soon commenced to sobbin'. That is when I heard the wee lass gigglin' like a mad bean sí ("banshee"). I'd been had. Beacha wasn't writhin' on the ground with pain. She were laughin'!
I heard laughter behind me as well. There stood me three daughters with their children. They were all in this together. 'Happy Cuckoo Day!' they shouted. 'Cuckoo! Cuckoo!' they cried with a giggle and a laugh.
Thinkin' of how clever they'd been I couldn't help but smile. But what of the bear?
Before me very eyes the bear transformed into a giant of a man with long black hair and beard.
'Good mornin' to ye, Man-bear,' I says to him. 'Were ye a willin' participant in these shenanigans?'
'Ġēa,' he answered with a toothy grin, 'but it were the lad Dooli who were the chief instigator of this mischief.'
Dooli! I ought to have known. After this prank ye may be certain that I'll be keepin' an even closer eye on the lad.
