One day while Cerridwen was out collecting additional herbs, a few drops of the bubbling liquid splattered onto the boys finger. He instinctively put his finger into his mouth to cool it.
Suddenly Gwion was able to hear everything in the world as well as understand the secrets of the past and the present. Knowing that Cerridwen would be very angry that he now possessed the inspiration that she had created for her son, he ran away.
The wise and all knowing Cerridwen knew what had happened and pursued him. He changed himself into a hare, and She into a greyhound and chased him. So on they ran as a fish and and otter, a bird and a hawk, and a grain of wheat and a hen. It was as a grain of wheat that Cerridwen caught him. She devoured him and bore him nine months later as a child. Cerridwen threw him into the water where he became the greatest poet of his time, Taliesan.
Through this story the Welsh expressed understanding that death and rebirth are necessary for inspiration to flourish.
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