And presently
the boy made a Consolation, and praise to Elphin; and the
Consolation was as you may here see:
"Fair Elphin, cease to lament!
Never in Gwyddno's weir
Was there such good luck as this night.
Being sad will not avail;
Better to trust in God than to forbode ill;
Weak and small as I am,
On the foaming beach of the ocean,
In the day of trouble I shall be
Of more service to thee than three hundred salmon."
This was the first poem that Taliesin ever sung, being to console
Elphin in his grief for that the produce of the weir was lost, and
what was worse, that all the world would consider that it was
through his fault and ill-luck. Then Elphin asked him what he
was, whether man or spirit. And he sung thus:
"I have been formed a comely person;
Although I am but little, I am highly gifted;
Into a dark leathern bag I was thrown,
And on a boundless sea I was sent adrift.
From seas and from mountains
God brings wealth to the fortunate man."
Then came Elphin to the house of Gwyddno, his father, and Taliesin
with him. Gwyddno asked him if he had had a good haul at the weir,
and he told him that he had got that which was better than fish.
"What was that?" said Gwyddno. "A bard," said Elphin. Then said
Gwyddno, "Alas! what will he profit thee?" And Taliesin himself
replied and said, "He will profit him more than the weir ever
profited thee.
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