And as they sat thus, behold a peal of
thunder, and with the violence of the thunder-storm, lo! there
came a fall of mist, so thick that not one of them could see the
other. And after the mist it became light all around. 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.
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