Salmon of Knowledge
Tobar Segais by hazel trees nine
Shed each a nut to the waters still
And a salmon hungry there was swimming
And of the nuts it ate its fill
The well of wisdom so to the fish gave
All the knowledge that it held within much yearned
And Finnegas sought the fish to catch
As who ate the fish, the knowledge learned
Now Fionn was young and Fionn was bold
And sought for Finnegas the fish to catch
And the fish being wily tried to slyly
Keep himself free: but he’d met his match.
And so on the fire the fish Fionn cooked
For his master Finnegas to eat
It nearly being done, he burned his thumb
As he told the old man to take a seat
And to numb the pain his thumb he sucked
And so was the first the fish to taste
And so gained all the knowledge within
The carcass was but food, and waste!!!
And Finnegas took the fish
And saw to his sorrow and surprise
The look of one who knowledge leaned
A scholars look was in Fionn’s eyes.
Of eating the fish Fionn denied
For he knew that not do he should
But told of the burn and sucking his thumb
And all at once Finnegas understood
And after that day should Fionn to know need
Into his thumb he had to bite
And the knowledge was his that dwelt within
So ends the tale of which I write…
