There was a good welcome before Diarmuid for his own sake and the sake of his people, and he was put in a house of healing that was in the city, and good herbs were put to his hurts till he was smooth and sound again.

And a feast was made then, and the tables and the benches were set, and no high person was put in the place of the mean, or mean in the place of the high, but every one in his own place, according to his nobility, or his descent, or his art.  Plenty of good food was brought to them then, and well-tasting strong drinks, and they spent the first part of the night in drinking, and the second part with music and delight and rejoicing of the mind, and the third part in sound sleep that lasted till the sun rose over the heavy sodded earth on the morrow.

Three days and three nights Diarmuid stopped in that city, and the best feast he ever found was given to him all through.  And at the end of that time he asked what was the place he was in, and who was head of it.  And the champion that brought him there told him it was Land-Under-Wave, and that the man that had fought with him was its king.  “And he is an enemy of the Red Hand to me,” he said.  “And as to myself,” he said, “I was one time getting wages from Finn, son of Cumhal, in Ireland, and I never put a year over me that pleased me better.  And tell me now,” he said, “what is the journey or the work that is before you?”

And Diarmuid told him the story of the Hard Servant then from beginning to end.

Now, as to Finn and his people, when they thought Diarmuid was too long away from them, they made ladders of the cords of the ship and put them against the rock, looking for him.

And after a while they found the leavings of the meat he had eaten, for Diarmuid never ate meat without leaving some after him.

Finn looked then on every side, and he saw a rider coming towards him over the plain on a dark-coloured beautiful horse, having a bridle of red gold.  Finn saluted him when he came up, and the rider stooped his head and gave Finn three kisses, and asked him to go with him.  They went on a long way till they came to a wide, large dwelling-place full of arms, and a great troop of armed men on the green before the fort.  Three nights and three days Finn and his people stopped in the dun, and the best feast they ever got was served out to them.

At the end of that time Finn asked what country was he in, and the man that brought him there told him it was the land of Sorcha, and that he himself was its king.  “And I was with yourself one time, Finn, son of Cumhal,” he said, “taking your wages through the length of a year in Ireland.”