A landholder and his servant were gathering sheep on the cliffs near Spanish Head when one of them, chased by the dog, jumped into the mouth of a dark pit among the Chasms. The young man of the family was fond of that sheep and said he would go down after it. His father tried to stop him, saying others who had gone down there had met strange things, but he would not listen.
They gathered every rope in the village, knotted them together and lowered him in a basket. As he reached the bottom he heard his sheep give one last cry, as if it had just been killed. He went forward into a large cavern and heard human voices, the rattle of knives and plates, corks being drawn and a great deal of merriment. Somebody down there was having a feast, and he guessed what was on the menu.
He did not wait to be next. He got back in the basket and was hauled up as fast as they could manage. As his foot touched the grass at the top, an angry roar came up from the pit, like a pack of hounds let loose, but he was out and away before whatever lived there could reach him.
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