Trí búada insci...
Trí búada insci: fosta, gáes, gairte.
(three * virtues * of speech * composure * wisdom * brevity)
Three virtues of speech: composure, wisdom, brevity.
Triad #177 from “Trecheng Breth Féne”. Praise of concise speech is common throughout Irish tradition. Another triad in this same collection, #93, says it this way:
Trí húathaid ata ferr sochaidi: úathad dagbríathar, úathad bó hi feór, úathad carat im chuirm.
Three fewnesses that are better than plenty: a fewness of fine words, a fewness of cows in grass, a fewness of friends around ale.
In “Tochmarc Ailbe” Finn asks “Cid as dech indsci?” (What is the best of speech?) The reply he gets is “gáes, gairde” (wisdom, brevity).
A song by Clannad says “an seanchas gearr, an seanchas is fearr” (the short tale is the best tale).
A Modern Irish quatrain quoted in “Dánfhocail” (221) gives the advice of brevity in the second couplet, after a proverb about a drink coming before a tale:
Is luaithe deoch ná sgéal,
is duine mé ar a mbíonn tart;
ní hé an sgéal fada is fearr,
acht an sgéal gearr ar a mbí blas.
Topics: Maxims & Wise Counsel