Finn MacCool - Irish

Hello there. My name is Finn MacCool, and I am an Irish giant. Long, long ago, I lived on the greenest, most beautiful coast of Ireland, where the waves crashed against the cliffs. The wind whistled in my giant ears, and the cool sea sprayed my giant toes as I walked along the shore each morning. I was happy and strong, but one day, I heard a booming voice from across the water. It came all the way from Scotland. It was another giant, a big loudmouth named Benandonner, shouting about how he was the strongest giant of all. He yelled that he could beat any giant in a fight, and he dared me to prove him wrong. Well, I couldn't just let him say that. This is the story of how I accepted his challenge and built the Giant's Causeway.

Benandonner's shouting made my ears ring, and I decided right then and there that I would build a path across the sea to meet this boastful giant. I stomped to the edge of the land and started pulling up huge, six-sided stones from the ground. They were heavy, even for me. I pushed them into the churning water, one by one, creating a stone road that we call a causeway. It stretched for miles and miles, all the way toward Scotland. As I got closer, I squinted my eyes to see the other side. And there he was. Benandonner. Oh my. He was enormous. He was much, much bigger and scarier than I had imagined. My courage, which was usually as big as a mountain, suddenly felt as small as a pebble. My giant heart started thumping like a drum, and I quickly turned around and raced back home to Ireland as fast as my giant legs could carry me.

I burst through the door of my house, out of breath and full of fear. 'Oonagh. Oonagh.' I called for my clever wife. I told her all about the huge giant waiting for me in Scotland. Oonagh wasn't scared at all. She just smiled and patted my arm. 'Don't you worry, my dear Finn,' she said, 'I have a plan.' She quickly found a giant baby's bonnet and tied it on my head. Then she tucked me into a giant cradle we had in the corner of the room. I felt very silly, but I trusted her. Just as I was settled, a huge shadow fell over our home. THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. The ground shook with each step. Benandonner had followed me across the causeway. Oonagh calmly opened the door and invited the Scottish giant inside, putting a finger to her lips. 'Shhh,' she whispered kindly, 'you'll wake the baby.'

Benandonner tiptoed inside, trying to be quiet. He peeked into the giant cradle to see my 'baby.' His eyes grew wide with fear when he saw me, all tucked in with my bonnet on. 'My goodness.' he whispered to Oonagh. 'That is the biggest baby I have ever seen.' He started to think. If Finn's baby was this big, how gigantic must Finn himself be? Without a second thought, Benandonner turned and ran for his life. He scrambled back across the causeway, smashing the stones behind him so I could never, ever follow him. The stones that are left today, on the coasts of Ireland and Scotland, are what we now call the Giant's Causeway. And that is how my clever wife Oonagh proved that being smart is sometimes more powerful than being strong.