"Oh, who can doubt," thought I, "that the word was originally intended for something monstrous and horrible? Is there not something horrible in the look and sound of the word afanc, something connected with the opening and shutting of immense jaws, and the swallowing of writhing prey? Is not the word a fitting brother of the Arabic timsah, denoting the dread horny lizard of the waters? Moreover, have we not the voice of tradition that the afanc was something monstrous? Does it not say that Hu the Mighty, the inventor of husbandry, who brought the Cumry from the summer-country, drew the old afanc out of the lake of lakes with his four gigantic oxen? Would he have had recourse to them to draw out the little harmless beaver? Oh, surely not. Yet have I no doubt that when the crocodile had disappeared from the lands, where the Cumric language was spoken, the name afanc was applied to the beaver, probably his successor in the pool, the beaver now called in Cumric Llostlydan, or the broad-tailed, for tradition's voice is strong that the beaver has at one time been called the afanc." Then Iwondered whether the pool before me had been the haunt of the afanc, considered both as crocodile and beaver. I saw no reason to suppose that it had not. "If crocodiles," thought I, "ever existed in Britain, and who shall say that they have not, seeing that there remains have been discovered, why should they not have haunted this pool? If beavers ever existed in Britain, and do not tradition and Giraldus say that they have, why should they not have existed in this pool?
"At a time almost inconceivably remote, when the hills around were covered with woods, through which the elk and the bison and the wild cow strolled, when men were rare throughout the lands and unlike in most things to the present race - at such a period - and such a period there has been - I can easily conceive that the afanc-crocodile haunted this pool, and that when the elk or bison or wild cow came to drink of its waters the grim beast would occasionally rush forth, and seizing his bellowing victim, would return with it to the deeps before me to luxuriate at his ease upon its flesh. And at a time less remote, when the crocodile was no more, and though the woods still covered the hills, and wild cattle strolled about, men were more numerous than before, and less unlike the present race, I can easily conceive this lake to have been the haunt of the afanc-beaver, that he here built cunningly his house of trees and clay, and that to this lake the native would come with his net and his spear to hunt the animal for his precious fur.
Probably if the depths of that pool were searched relics of the crocodile and the beaver might be found, along with other strange things connected with the periods in which they respectively lived.
Happy were I if for a brief space I could become a Cingalese that Imight swim out far into that pool, dive down into its deepest part and endeavour to discover any strange things which beneath its surface may lie." Much in this guise rolled my thoughts as I lay stretched on the margin of the lake.
Satiated with musing I at last got up and endeavoured to regain the road. I found it at last, though not without considerable difficulty. I passed over moors, black and barren, along a dusty road till I came to a valley; I was now almost choked with dust and thirst, and longed for nothing in the world so much as for water;suddenly I heard its blessed sound, and perceived a rivulet on my left hand. It was crossed by two bridges, one immensely old and terribly dilapidated, the other old enough, but in better repair -went and drank under the oldest bridge of the two. The water tasted of the peat of the moors, nevertheless I drank greedily of it, for one must not be over-delicate upon the moors.
Refreshed with my draught I proceeded briskly on my way, and in a little time saw a range of white buildings, diverging from the road on the right hand, the gable of the first abutting upon it. A kind of farm-yard was before them. A respectable-looking woman was standing in the yard. I went up to her and inquired the name of the place.
"These houses, sir," said she, "are called Tai Hirion Mignaint.
Look over that door and you will see T. H. which letters stand for Tai Hirion. Mignaint is the name of the place where they stand."I looked, and upon a stone which formed the lintel of the middlemost door I read "T. H 1630."The words Tai Hirion it will be as well to say signify the long houses.
I looked long and steadfastly at the inscription, my mind full of thoughts of the past.
"Many a year has rolled by since these houses were built," said I, as I sat down on a stepping-stone.
"Many indeed, sir," said the woman, "and many a strange thing has happened.""Did you ever hear of one Oliver Cromwell?" said I.
"Oh, yes, sir, and of King Charles too. The men of both have been in this yard and have baited their horses; aye, and have mounted their horses from the stone on which you sit.""I suppose they were hardly here together?" said I.
"No, no, sir," said the woman, "they were bloody enemies, and could never set their horses together.""Are these long houses," said I, "inhabited by different families?""Only by one, sir, they make now one farm-house.""Are you the mistress of it," said I.
"I am, sir, and my husband is the master. Can I bring you anything, sir?""Some water," said I, "for I am thirsty, though I drank under the old bridge."The good woman brought me a basin of delicious milk and water.
"What are the names of the two bridges," said I, "a little way from here?""They are called, sir, the old and new bridge of Tai Hirion; at least we call them so.""And what do you call the ffrwd that runs beneath them?""I believe, sir, it is called the river Twerin.""Do you know a lake far up there amidst the moors?""I have seen it, sir; they call it Llyn Twerin.""Does the river Twerin flow from it?"
"I believe it does, sir, but I do not know.""Is the lake deep?"
"I have heard that it is very deep, sir, so much so that nobody knows it's depth.""Are there fish in it?"