And as to Finn and his men, they stopped in the House of the Two Birds till they had taken hostages for Donn, son of Midhir, from the Tuatha de Danaan.  And on the last day of the Feast of Teamhair they came back to their people again.

And from that time out the Fianna of Ireland had not more dealings with the people living in houses than they had with the People of the Gods of Dana.

CHAPTER IV.  THE HOSPITALITY OF CUANNA’S HOUSE

It happened one day Finn and Oisin and Caoilte and Diarmuid and Lugaidh’s Son went up on the top of Cairn Feargall, and their five hounds with them, Bran and Sceolan, Sear Dubh, Luath Luachar and Adhnuall.  And they were not long there till they saw a giant coming towards them, very tall and rough and having an iron fork on his back and a squealing pig between the prongs of the fork.  And there was a beautiful eager young girl behind the giant, shoving him on before her.  “Let some one go speak with those people,” said Finn.  So Diarmuid went towards them, but they turned away before he came to them.  Then Finn and the rest rose up and went after them, but before they came to the giant and the girl, a dark Druid mist rose up that hid the road.  And when the mist cleared away, Finn and the rest looked about them, and they saw a good light-roofed house at the edge of a ford near at hand.  They went on to the house, and there was a green lawn before it, and in the lawn two wells, and on the edge of one well there was a rough iron vessel, and on the edge of the other a copper vessel.  They went into the house then, and they found there a very old white-haired man, standing to the right hand of the door, and the beautiful young girl they saw before, sitting near him, and the great rough giant beside the fire, and he boiling a pig.  And on the other side of the fire there was an old countryman, having dark-grey hair and twelve eyes in his head, and his twelve eyes were twelve sons of battle.  And there was a ram in the house having a white belly and a very black head, and dark-blue horns and green feet.  And there was a hag in the end of the house and a worn grey gown on her, and there was no one in the house but those.

And the man at the door gave them a welcome, and then the five of them sat down on the floor of the house, and their hounds along with them.

“Let great respect be shown to Finn, son of Cumhal, and to his people,” said the man at the door.  “It is the way I am,” said the giant, “to be asking always and getting nothing.”  But for all that he rose up and showed respect to Finn.