The Demi-Gods · Chapter
VI explained
The chapter opens with the donkey's raucous braying waking the group at dawn, followed by a vivid description of the birds and the morning landscape.
What happens
The chapter opens with the donkey's raucous braying waking the group at dawn, followed by a vivid description of the birds and the morning landscape. The angels, hungry, observe the donkey eating grass and ask Mary to explain food. Mary delivers a simple lecture on edibles, and her father Patsy Mac Cann returns across the fields with a basket of food.
Themes in this chapter
Nature and Survival
The chapter dwells on the natural world—the donkey's bray, birds' antics, the sun rising—and the immediate need for food, highlighting the characters' reliance on the environment for sustenance.
The Divine and the Mundane
The angels, divine beings, are shown in a mundane situation: waking, shaking themselves, feeling hungry, and learning about earthly food from Mary, blending the sacred with the ordinary.
Characters to notice
- Patsy Mac Cann
Mentioned as having gone down the road looking for food; returns across the fields with a basket under his arm.
- Mary Mac Cann
Beats the donkey affectionately, then gives the angels a lecture on food at their request, explaining what is edible and what is not.
- Caeltia Mac Dea
The eldest angel; observes the donkey, strokes his beard, and asks Mary about food, initiating the lecture.
- Finaun Mac Dea
The second eldest angel; rolls his coal-black chin, declares he is hungry, and tries eating grass but finds it not to his taste.
- Cuchulain
The youngest angel; suggests talking to Mary about food, and later sits hugging his knees while listening to her lecture.
Key passages
“Mary ran and beat the ass on the nose with her fist, but whatever Mary did to the ass was understood by him as a caress, and he willingly suffered it”
Mary struck the donkey's nose, but the donkey interpreted her action as affection and accepted it willingly.
Illustrates Mary's rough but loving interaction with the donkey, and the donkey's gentle, trusting nature.
“Everything that a body can eat is good to eat, but some things do taste nicer than others; potatoes and cabbage are very good to eat, and so is bacon; my father likes bacon when it's very salt, but I don't like it that way myself; bread is a good thing to eat, and so is cheese.”
Mary explains that all edible things are good, though some taste better; she lists potatoes, cabbage, bacon, bread, and cheese as examples, noting her father's preference for salty bacon.
Mary's simple, practical knowledge of food reflects her role as a guide to the angels in earthly matters.