Reading Notes: The Shepherd of Myddvai

-a shepherd led his flock near a lake
-from the water, came 3 maidens most beautiful
-he offered one his bread
   -she said it was hard-baked
-the next day, he offered her another piece
   -she said it was unbaked
-the next day, he offered her a piece he found in the lake
   -she was pleased and said that she would marry him if he could tell her apart from her sisters the next day
-the next day, he recognized her by her sandals and they were married on the condition that he does not strike her 3 times without reason
-she gave 3 cows, 2 oxen, and one bull as her dowry
-they had 3 children
-one day, he lightly tapped her on the shoulder which she said was strike 1
-when she was crying another time, he tapped her on the shoulder to ask what was wrong which was strike 2
-at a funeral she began to laugh, so he nudged her on the shoulder which was strike 3
-she left taking her animals back into the lake
-she came back only one time when her sons were men to give them healing abilities

Shepherd with Sheep by Thomas Sidney Cooper (1868). 

Source: Wikimedia Commons

"The Shepherd of Myddvai" from Celtic Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1892).