And when they looked towards the place where they were wont to see the cattle and herds and dwellings, they saw nothing now, neither house, nor beast, nor smoke, nor fire, nor man, nor dwelling, but the buildings of the court empty, and desert, and uninhabited, without either man or beast within them.  And truly all their companions were lost to them, without their knowing aught of what had befallen them, save those four only.

“In the name of Heaven,” said Manawyddan, “where are they of the court, and all my host beside?  Let us go and see.”

So they came to the castle, and saw no man, and into the hall, and to the sleeping-place, and there was none; and in the mead-cellar and in the kitchen there was naught but desolation.  Then they began to go through the land, and all the possessions that they had; and they visited the houses and dwellings, and found nothing but wild beasts.  And when they had consumed their feast and all their provisions, they fed upon the prey they killed in hunting, and the honey of the wild swans.

And one morning Pryderi and Manawyddan rose up to hunt, and they ranged their dogs and went forth.  And some of the dogs ran before them, and came to a bush which was near at hand; but as soon as they were come to the bush, they hastily drew back, and returned to the men, their hair bristling up greatly.  “Let us go near to the bush,” said Pryderi, “and see what is in it.”  And as they came near, behold, a wild boar of a pure white color rose up from the bush.  Then the dogs, being set on by the men, rushed towards him; but he left the bush, and fell back a little way from the men, and made a stand against the dogs, without retreating from them, until the men had come near.  And when the men came up, he fell back a second time, and betook him to flight.  Then they pursued the boar until they beheld a vast and lofty castle, all newly built, in a place where they had never before seen either stone or building.  And the boar ran swiftly into the castle, and the dogs after him.  Now when the boar and the dogs had gone into the castle, the men began to wonder at finding a castle in a place where they had never before seen any building whatsoever.  And from the top of the Gorsedd they looked and listened for the dogs.  But so long as they were there, they heard not one of the dogs, nor aught concerning them.

“Lord,” said Pryderi, “I will go into the castle to get tidings of the dogs.”  “Truly,” he replied, “thou wouldst be unwise to go into this castle, which thou hast never seen till now.  If thou wouldst follow my counsel, thou wouldst not enter therein.  Whosoever has cast a spell over this land, has caused this castle to be here.”  “Of a truth,” answered Pryderi, “I cannot thus give up my dogs.”  And for all the counsel that Manawyddan gave him, yet to the castle he went.

When he came within the castle, neither man nor beast, nor boar, nor dogs, nor house, nor dwelling, saw he within it.  But in the centre of the castle-floor he beheld a fountain with marble-work around it, and on the margin of the fountain a golden bowl upon a marble slab, and chains hanging from the air, to which he saw no end.