大象传媒

鈥橲 e 脕rainn Mh贸r eilean beag ann an 脠irinn. Tha e far costa Th矛r Chonaill. Bha mi anns an eilean sin sna naochadan. Bha an teaghlach agam c貌mhla rium. Bha sinn air l脿ithean-saora samhraidh. Agus thach-air rud iongantach ann an 脕rainn Mh贸r.

听听听听听听听听听听听 Lorg sinn b脿gh br猫agha. Bha mol ann. Air c霉l a鈥� chladaich, bha 脿ite math ann airson teanta. Bha aon taigh shuas air cnoc. Bha bodach a鈥� fuireach ann. Chaidh sinn a bhruidhinn ris. Bha e toilichte gun robh sinn a鈥� dol a champachadh faisg air a鈥� chladach. Chuir sinn an teanta an-脿irde.

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听听听听听听听听听听听 Bha tuinn mh貌ra a鈥� briseadh air a鈥� chladach. Thachair rud iongantach. Th貌isich am b脿gh air l矛onadh le 猫isg. Agus tha mi a鈥� ciallachadh 鈥榣矛onadh鈥�! Bha e coltach gun robh am b脿gh l脿n 猫isg.

听听听听听听听听听听听 Bha feadhainn bheaga airgid ann 鈥� milleanan dhiubh. 鈥橲 e garbhagan a bha annta. 脌s an d猫idh, th脿inig sgaothan m貌ra m貌ra de rionnaich agus saoidheanan. Bha iad ag ithe nan garbhagan. Thug sinn ar slatan-iasgaich a-mach. Is toigh leam rionnaich.

听听听听听听听听听听听 Aig amannan, ge-t脿, chuir sinn ar slatan an d脿rna taobh. Oir bha an sealladh cho math. Gu dearbh, bha an sealladh m矛orbhaileach. Chunnaic sinn 猫isg a鈥� sn脿mh ann am bilean nan tonn. Ann an solas na gr猫ine, bha na dathan iongantach, gu h-脿raidh na rionnaich.

听听听听听听听听听听听 Bha sinn a鈥� glacadh 猫isg gu le貌r. Rionnaich an toiseach. An uair sin dh鈥檉halbh na rionnaich. 脌s d猫idh nan rionnach, 鈥檚 e saoidheanan a bha sinn a鈥� glacadh. Bha cus ann. Agus chan eil mi ro dh猫idheil air blas an t-saoidhein.

听听听听听听听听听听听 Smaoinich mi air a鈥� bhodach anns an taigh. 鈥橲 d貌cha gun robh esan ag iarraidh 猫isg. Dh鈥檌arr mi air a鈥� chloinn a dhol suas don taigh aige. Thuirt mi riutha, 鈥業nns dha gu bheil cus 猫isg againn. Bidh sinn toilichte feadhainn a thoirt dha. Inns dha gur e saoidhean a chanas sinn riutha anns a鈥� Gh脿idhlig againn fh猫in. Canaidh muinntir na h-Alba saithe riutha ann am Beurla. Canaidh na Sasannaich coalfish riutha.鈥� Bha mi an d霉il gun tuigeadh am bodach fear de na h-ainmean sin. Ach cha do thuig, mar a ch矛 sinn an-ath-sheachdain.听

脕rainn Mh贸r is a small island in Ireland. It鈥檚 off the coast of Donegal. I was on that island in the nineties. My family was with me. We were on summer holidays. And an amazing thing happened on 脕rainn Mh贸r.

听听听听听听听 We found a beautiful bay. It had a shingle beach. Behind the shore, there was a good place for a tent. There was one house up on the hill. An old man lived there. We went to speak to him. He was happy that we were going to camp near the shore. We erected the tent.

听听听听听听听 Big waves were breaking on the shore. An amazing thing happened. The bay began to fill with fish. And I mean 鈥榝ill鈥�! It was as if the bay were full of fish.

听听听听听听听 There were small silver ones 鈥� millions of them. They were sprats. After them came enormous shoals of mackerel and saithe. They were eating the sprats. We brought out our fishing rods. I like mackerel.

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听听听听听听听 At times, however, we put our rods aside. Because the view was so good. Indeed, the view was marvellous. We saw fish swimming in the crests of the waves. In the sunlight, the colours were amazing, particularly the mackerel.

听听听听听听听 We were catching plenty of fish. Mackerel to begin with. Then the mackerel left. After the mackerel, it鈥檚 saithe we were catching. There were too many. And I鈥檓 not too keen on the flavour of [the] saithe.

听听听听听听听 I thought of the old man in the house. Perhaps he was wanting fish. I asked the children to go up to his house. I said to them, 鈥楾ell him we have too many fish. We鈥檒l be pleased to give him some. Tell him that we call them saoidhean in our Gaelic. The people of Scotland call them saithe in English. The English call them coalfish.鈥� I was expecting that the old man would understand one of those names. But he didn鈥檛, as we鈥檒l see next week.