Duinnín in Áth na Lachan (tuilleadh)

Dineen in Duckford (continued)

• ‘Go bhfóire Dia orainn,’ ar seisean, agus ba phaidir óna chroí amach é. ‘A Mhary, a chroí … Bhí snáth dearg chun cliath a chur ar gheansai, nó a leithéid, a bhí ar ordú ón mangaire aici, ‘Bhfuil ball éadaigh dearg ag éinne agaibh?’

  ‘Nil, a Athair.’

  ‘Agus cogar, a thaisce, ‘mbionn an clog cruinn de ghnáth?’

  D’fhéach Mary ar an gclog, seanchlog a raibh aghaidh bhán bhricneach air.
  

  ‘God save us,’ he said, and it was a prayer from his heart. ‘Mary, my heart, There was red yarn to darn a sweater, or the like, which she had on order from the peddler, Do any of you have a red garment?’

  ‘No, Father.’

  ‘And whisper, treasure, is the clock accurate as a rule?’

  Mary looked at the clock, an old clock with a speckled white face.

  fóir	Help, succour, relieve, save	v
  cliath	Wattled, latticed, frame; hurdle; patch of darning	f
  mangaire	Hawker, peddler; Small dealer, monger; Huckster, haggler	m
  ball	organ; spot, place; member	m
  cruinn	round; exact, accurate
  gnáth	Custom, usage; customary thing	m
  De ghnáth	as a rule
  bricíneach	freckled

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Duinnín in Áth na Lachan (tuilleadh)

Dineen in Duckford (continued)

• ‘Thuig Toole nárbh fhiú aon ní a cheilt. Tá marc an dúnmharfóra ar a chlár éadain ón uair gur rugadh é,’ arsa Nell.

  ‘Seafoid,’ arsa an gabha. ‘Nil ansin ach ball dearg, faoi mar a bheadh gead ar chapall.’

  ‘Cá raibh Fayley Toole sular fhill sé abhaile an lá úd?’ arsa an Duinníneach.
  

  ‘Toole realized that there was no point in hiding anything. The mark of the murderer has been on his forehead since the time he was born,’ said Nell.

  ‘Nonsense,’ said the smith, ‘Nothing there but a red mark, about like a patch on a horse.’

  ‘Where was Fayley Toole before he returned home that day?’ said Dineen.

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Duinnín in Áth na Lachan (tuilleadh)

Dineen in Duckford (continued)

• Chuir sí an leanbh ina sheasamh, ainneoin gur chaoin sé. Rug sí ar shlaitín a bhí ag tabhairt taca do chlumpa dahlia agus thosaigh sí ag greadadh tóin muice a bhí ag cogaint ar sciorta Nell agus Nell féin ag eascaine. ‘Ní baol duit,’ ar sise le Nell. ‘Tá Huirris macánta. Faigheann sí boladh beorach uait, sin uile.’
  Rug sí greim ar sciorta Nell agus tharraing sí amach as craos na muice é. Strac an sciorta.
  

  She made the child stand up, even though he was crying. She took a little rod that was supporting a clump of dahlias and she began beating the rear of a pig that was chewing on Nell’s skirt and Nell herself was cursing.

  ‘You are not in danger,’ she said to Nell. ‘Huirris is gentle. She smells beer on you, that’s all.’

  She grabbed Nell’s skirt and pulled it out of the pig’s mouth. The skirt was torn.

  slaitín	little rod, stick	f
  taca	prop, support	m
  greadadh	Beating, trouncing
  muc	pig	f gs muice
  cogaint	chewing	f
  sciorta	skirt	m
  eascaine	curse	f
  macánta	Childlike; gentle, meek, mild
  boladh	smell, scent	m
  craos	Gullet; maw	m
  strac = srac	pull, tear
  strac = stróic	tear, rend

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Duinnín in Áth na Lachan (tuilleadh)

Dineen in Duckford (continued)

• Niorbh fhada go raibh an Duinníneach agus an Constábla de Brún ar a mbealach go teach Fayley Toole in Áth na Lachan mar ar tharla an marú coicís roimhe sin. Lár mhí Iúil a bhí ann. Bhí an lá ag scarbháil i ndiaidh báisti, rith maith uisce sna claiseanna ar thaobh an bhóthair agus na loganna lán báistí. Talamh cothrom, feirmeacha beaga, bó ag féachaint thar chlaí anseo, asal ag grágaíl ansiúd. ‘Dein cur síos dom ar do chara Fayley Toole, a Bhill,’ arsa an Duinníneach.

  
  Bhí a ghairm maite aige do Bhill agus é éirithe cairdiúil leis.[d.l. 153]
  

  It wasn’t long before Dineen and Constable de Brún were on their way to Fayley Toole’s house in Duckford where the killing had taken place a fortnight before. It was the middle of July. The day was drying after rain, there was a good run of water in the gullies on the side of the road and the hollows were full of rain. Flat land, small farms, a cow looking over a fence here, a donkey braying there.

  ‘Describe your friend Fayley Toole to me, Bill’ said Dineen.

  He had forgiven Bill his profession and had become friendly with him.

  scarbháil	Hardening, drying, crustation	f
  clais	channel; gully, ditch.	f pl claiseanna
  log	place, hollow	m
  cothrom	Level; balance; Equal, equable, measure.	m
  claí	Dike, wall; fence	m
  grágaíl	(Act of) cawing, croaking; braying; cackling; squawking	f
  gairm	call	f

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Duinnín in Áth na Lachan

Dineen in Duckford

leannán, áin, pl id, m., a lover, paramour, concubine, favourite, leman ; also fig. a chronic ailment or infirmity . . . L. peacaidh, an habitual sin… L. sidhe, an endearing phantom, a phantom lover, al. fig. of a delicate person: an bás, death, is a L. sidhe for all (SR): L. sidhe is used smt. like musa as a source of poet. inspiration.

• ‘Mo nia, Bill,’ arsa Penelope de Brún leis an Athair Padraig, ‘tá sé cráite. bhí air a chara, Fayley Toole, a ghabháil, é a chúisiú i ndúnmharú, ar orduithe óna Sháirsint.
  ‘Do nia, Bill de Brún atá san R.I.C.?’ arsa an Duinníneach agus amhras an Náisiúintóra ina ghlor.
  

  ‘My nephew, Bill,’ said Penelope de Brún to Father Patrick, ‘he is tormented. He had to arrest his friend, Fayley Toole, who is accused of murder, on the orders of his Sergeant.’

  ‘Your nephew, Bill de Brún is in the R.I.C.?’ said Dineen with the suspicion of the Nationalist in his voice.

  nia	nephew	m
  cráite	Agonized, tormented, grieved
  cúisigh	Accuse; charge, prosecute

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Duinnín agus Professor Moriarty (tuilleadh)

Dineen and Professor Moriarty (continued)

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