The Black Cauldron

'I must say we did quite handsomely by him,' Orddu continued. 'We gave him his choice of a harp, a sword, or The Book of Three. Had he chosen the harp, he could have been the greatest bard in the world; the sword and the dear duckling could have ruled all Prydain. But,' Orddu said, 'he chose The Book of Three. And to tell the truth, we were just as happy that he did, for it was heavy and moldy and did nothing but gather dust. And so he left to make his way in the world. And that was the last we saw of him.'

'A good thing sweet, dear Dallben isn't here,' Fflewddur chuckled to Taran. 'Their description hardly matches. I fear they might be rather startled.'

Taran had been silent throughout Orddu's account, wondering how he dared bring up the matter of the cauldron. 'Dallben has been my master as long as I can remember,' he said at last, deciding frankness was the best way to go about it especially since the enchantresses seemed able to guess when he was not telling the truth. 'If you are as fond of him as I…'

'We love him dearly, the sweet thing,' said Orddu, 'you can be sure of that.'

'Then I beg you to help us carry out his wishes and the wishes of Gwydion Prince of Don,' Taran went on. He explained what had taken place at the council, what they had learned at Dark Gate and from Gwystyl. He spoke of the urgency of bringing the cauldron to Caer Dallben, and asked, too, whether the enchantresses had seen Ellidyr.

Orddu shook her head. 'A Son of Pen-Llarcau? No, my duck, there's been no such person anywhere near. If he'd come across the Marshes, we'd have been bound to see him.'

'We have a lovely view of the fens from the hilltop,' Orwen put in with such enthusiasm that her necklace bounced and rattled. 'You must come and enjoy it. Indeed, you're perfectly welcome to stay as long as you want,' she added eagerly. 'Now that little Dallben's gone, and found himself a beard, too, the place isn't half as cheery as it used to be. We wouldn't change you into a toad? unless you insisted on it.'

'Stay, by all means,' croaked Orgoch with a leer.

'Our task is to regain the cauldron,' Taran pressed, preferring to overlook Orgoch's remark. 'From what Gwystyl told us…'

'You said his crow told you, my lamb,' interrupted Orddu. 'Don't believe everything you hear from a crow.'

'Doli of the Fair Folk believed him,' Taran said. 'Do you tell me now that you have no cauldron? I ask you this in the name of Dallben himself.'

'Cauldron?' answered Orddu. 'Why, goodness, we have dozens! Cauldrons, kettles, cook pots? we can hardly keep track of them all.'

'I speak of the cauldron of Annuvin,' Taran said firmly, 'the cauldron of Arawn and his deathless warriors.'

'Oh,' said Orddu, laughing cheerfully, 'you must mean the Black Crochan.'

'I do not know its name,' Taran said, 'but that may be the one we seek.'

'Are you sure you wouldn't prefer one of the others?' asked Orwen. 'They're much more attractive than that old thing. And much more practical. What use have you for Cauldron-Born? They would only be a nuisance. We can give you a kettle to brew the most marvelous sleeping potions, or one you can sprinkle on daffodils to take away that bilious yellow.'

'Our concern is with the Black Crochan,' Taran insisted, deciding this was indeed the name of Arawn's cauldron. 'Will you not tell me the truth? Is the cauldron here?'

'Of course it's here,' replied Orddu. 'Why not, since it was ours to begin with? And always has been!'

'Yours?' cried Taran. 'Then Arawn stole it from you?'

'Stole?' Orddu answered. 'Not exactly. No, we couldn't say it was stolen.'

'But you couldn't have given it to Arawn,' Eilonwy cried, 'knowing what he meant to use it for!'

'Even Arawn had to be allowed to have his chance,' said Orddu tolerantly. 'One day you'll understand why. For there is a destiny laid on everything; on big, ugly Crochans as well as poor little ducklings, and a destiny laid even on us. Besides, Arawn paid dearly for the use of it, very dearly indeed, you can be sure. The details, my duckling, are of a private nature which does not concern you. In any case, the Crochan was not to be his forever.'

'Arawn swore to return it after a time,' said Orwen. 'But when the time came, he broke his oath to us, as might be expected.'

'Ill-advised,' murmured Orgoch.

'And since he wouldn't give it back,' Orddu said, 'what else could we do? We went and took it.'

'Great Belin!' cried the bard. 'You three ladies ventured into the heart of Annuvin and carried the thing out? How did you ever manage?'

Orddu smiled. 'There are a number of ways, my curious sparrow. We could have flooded Annuvin with darkness and floated the cauldron out. We could have put all the guards to sleep. Or we could have turned ourselves into? well, no matter? let us say we could have used a variety of methods. In any case, the cauldron is here again.

'And,' the enchantress added, 'here it will stay. No, no,' she said, raising a hand to Taran. 'I can see you'd like to have it, but that's out of the question. Much too dangerous for wandering chicks like you. My goodness, we shouldn't sleep at night. No, no, not even for the sake of little Dallben.

'In fact,' Orddu went on, 'you'd be much safer being toads than having anything to do with the Black Crochan.' She shook her head. 'Better yet, we could change you into birds and have you fly back to Caer Dallben immediately.

'No indeed,' she continued, rising from the table and taking hold of Taran's shoulders. 'Off you ducklings must go and never give a second thought to the Crochan. Tell dear little Dallben and Prince Gwydion we're terribly sorry, and if there's anything else we can possibly do…But not that. Oh, my no.'

Taran started to protest, but Orddu cut him short and guided him rapidly to the door, while the other enchantresses hustled the companions after him.

'You may sleep in the shed tonight, my chickens,' said Orddu. 'Then, first thing in the morning, away with you to little Dallben. And you shall decide whether you'd rather go on your legs. Or,' she added, this time without a smile, 'on a pair of your own wings.'

'Or,' muttered Orgoch, 'hopping all the way.'

Chapter 13 The Plan

THE DOOR SLAMMED SHUT behind them and once again the companions found themselves outside the cottage.

'Well, I like that!' Eilonwy cried indignantly. 'After all their talk of dear little Dallben and sweet little Dallben, they've turned us out!'

'Better turned out than into, if you take my meaning,' said the bard. 'A Fflam is always kind to animals, but somehow I can't bring myself to feel I should like to actually become one!'

'No, oh, no!' Gurgi cried fervently. 'Gurgi, too, wants to stay as he is? bold and clever!'

Taran turned back to the cottage and began pounding on the door. 'They must listen to us!' he declared. 'They didn't even take time to think it over.' But the door did not open, and though he ran to the window and rapped long and loud, the enchantresses did not show themselves again.

'I'm afraid that's your answer,' said Fflewddur. 'They've said all they intend to say? and perhaps it's for the best. And I have the uneasy feeling all that knocking and thumping might? well, you don't know but what those, ah, ladies get upset at noises.'

'We can't just go away,' Taran replied. 'The cauldron is in their hands and, friends of Dallben or not, there's no telling what they'll do with it. I fear them and I distrust them. You heard the way the one called Orgoch was talking. Yes, I can well imagine what she'd have done to Dallben.' He shook his head gravely. 'This is what Gwydion warned against. Whoever has the cauldron can be a mortal threat to Prydain, if they choose to be.'

'At least Ellidyr hasn't found it,' Eilonwy said. 'That's something to be grateful for.'