Liam O'Flaherty（1896-1984）是愛爾蘭作家，他的小說深入地刻畫貧窮農村或漁村的生活。

太陽已落下，村莊一片靜寂。丈夫白天忙完農作後此刻又接著去捕魚，她獨自在屋裡等九歲大的獨子放學。已經晚了一個鐘頭，這孩子野到那兒去了？等他回來鐵定要狠狠地打罵他一頓。她心急如焚，稍有一點動靜就衝到門口，望著蜿蜒的小路籠罩在蒼茫暮色中。他還只是個小孩，任何不幸的事都可能發生。
 
He was now an hour late, and he was only nine years. She was very nervous about him, especially as he was her only child and he was a wild boy. She kept telling herself that she would give him a good scolding and beating when he came in, but at the same time her heart was thumping with anxiety and she started at every sound, rushing out to the door and looking down the winding road, that was now dim with the shadows of evening. So many things could happen to a little boy.

她將兒子的晚餐盒擺在泥煤灰中保溫。路那頭終於傳來孩童喊叫聲，「謝天謝地！」她鬆了一口氣但還是裝著怒氣沖沖，拿著柳條坐在椅子上。兒子低著頭害怕地走進門，她抓住他的肩膀，舉起柳條就要打。兒子緊靠在她胸懷全身顫抖，她放下鞭子把他擁入懷裡。「我捨不得打你，你又這麼壞，傷透我的心，到底要怎麼辦？」她推一下兒子說：「去吃飯吧！明早叫爸爸好好打你一頓。我平常都饒你還求爸爸不要打你，這次太讓我傷心，我絕不為你求情。」
 
"What's going to become of you  I haven't the courage to beat you and you're breaking my heart with your wickedness." The boy sobbed, hiding his head in his mother's bosom."Go away," she said, thrusting him away from her, "and eat your dinner. Your father will give to you a good thrashing in the morning. I've spared you often and begged him not to beat you, but this time I'm not going to say a word for you. You've my heart broken, so you have. "
 
看著兒子狼吞虎嚥的模樣，她的怒火已息，處罰的事就交給丈夫吧！「你到底去那兒？」「到峭壁玩。」「好危險！」「爸爸叫我要勇敢！」「你只聽爸爸的話也不想想媽媽，萬一在峭壁滑倒怎麼辦？」兒子依偎在她身旁。「媽媽，我告訴妳我在峭壁看到什麼，求求妳不要告訴爸爸今天的事，好嗎？」兒子的臉龐帶著神祕的驚喜，他說：「我看到一匹大黑馬奔馳過天際，牠有七條尾巴三個頭，大大的肚子裝得下我們的房子。我親眼看到哦！而且我沒有告訴任何人。牠一飛沖天又遠又高，這真是一件奇景，不是嗎？」母子二人就這麼靜靜地坐著，想像著這個奇景。

 "I saw a great big black horse," he said, "running in the sky over our heads, but none of the other boys saw it but me, and I didn't tell them about it. The horse had seven tails and three heads and his belly was so big that you could put our house into it. I saw it with my two eyes. I did, mother. And then it soared and galloped away, away, ever so far. Isn't that a great thing I saw, mother" They both sat in silence, dreaming, both of them.