“And will you come there with me, Etain?” he said.  But Etain said she would not leave Eochaid the High King.  “Will you come if Eochaid gives you leave?” Midhir said then.  “I will do that,” said Etain.

One day, after that time, Eochaid the High King was looking out from his palace at Teamhair, and he saw a strange man coming across the plain.  Yellow hair he had, and eyes blue and shining like the flame of a candle, and a purple dress on him, and in his hand a five-pronged spear and a shield having gold knobs on it.

He came up to the king, and the king bade him welcome.  “Who are you yourself?” he said; “and what are you come for, for you are a stranger to me?” “If I am a stranger to you, you are no stranger to me, for I have known you this long time,” said the strange man.  “What is your name?” said the king.  “It is nothing very great,” said he; “I am called Midhir of Bri Leith.”  “What is it brings you here?” said Eochaid.  “I am come to play a game of chess with you,” said the stranger.  “Are you a good player?” said the king.  “A trial will tell you that,” said Midhir.  “The chessboard is in the queen’s house, and she is in her sleep at this time,” said Eochaid.  “That is no matter,” said Midhir, “for I have with me a chess-board as good as your own.”  And with that he brought out his chessboard, and it made of silver, and precious stones shining in every corner of it.  And then he brought out the chessmen, and they made of gold, from a bag that was of shining gold threads.

“Let us play now,” said Midhir.  “I will not play without a stake,” said the king.  “What stake shall We play for?” said Midhir.  “We can settle that after the game is over,” said the king.

They played together then, and Midhir was beaten, and it is what the king asked of him, fifty brown horses to be given to him.  And then they played the second time, and Midhir was beaten again, and this time the king gave him four hard things to do:  to make a road over Moin Lamraide, and to clear Midhe of stones, and to cover the district of Tethra with rushes, and the district of Darbrech with trees.

So Midhir brought his people from Bri Leith to do those things, and it is bard work they had doing them.  And Eochaid used to be out watching them, and he took notice that when the men of the Sidhe yoked their oxen, it was by the neck and the shoulder they used to yoke them, and not by the forehead and the head.  And it was after Eochaid taught his people to yoke them that way, he was given the name of Eochaid Airem, that is, of the Plough.

And when all was done, Midhir came to Eochaid again, looking thin and wasted enough with the dint of the hard work he had been doing, and he asked Eochaid to play the third game with him.  Eochaid agreed, and it was settled as before, the stake to be settled by the winner.  It was Midhir won the game that time, and when the king asked him what he wanted, “It is Etain, your wife, I want,” said he.  “I will not give her to you,” said the king.  “All I will ask then,” said Midhir, “is to put my arms about her and to kiss her once.”  “You may do that,” said the king, “if you will wait to the end of a month.”  So Midhir agreed to that, and went away for that time.