e water.
Next he asked them if he might take refuge and conceal himself there,
and they granted this too; but when he asked for a little ground to
cultivate, and a place in the forest to cut down the trees, they told
him that the whole island had long ago been divided up amongst them, and
that he must live in one of their houses if he wished to stay on the
island.

But Lemminkainen was not satisfied with this, and told them that he only
wished to be allowed to go into the forest and sing some few magic songs
there, and this they willingly allowed him to do. So he went into the
forest and began to sing the most wondrous spells, making oak-trees to
grow up around him, and on each branch an acorn, and on each acorn sat
a cuckoo. Then the cuckoos began to sing, and gold fell from every beak,
and silver from their wings, and copper from their feathers, until the
isle was abundantly supplied with precious metals. Then Lemminkainen
sang again, and turned the sand to gems and the pebbles into pearls, and
he covered the whole island with flowers, and made little lakes with
gold and silver ducks swimming in them, until every one was delighted,
and the maidens most of all.

Then Ahti said: 'If I were in a fine castle I would conjure up the most
wonderful feasts and sing the grandest songs you have ever heard.' No
sooner had he said this than they led him to their finest castle, and
there he conjured up a splendid feast, with knives and forks and all the
dishes made of gold and silver. From this time on Ahti was treated as an
honoured guest, and spent his time most delightfully. In every village
on the island were seven castles, and in each castle were seven
daughters, and all of these made Lemminkainen welcome as he went from
one to another according to his fancy. Thus he spent the whole of his
years of exile; but there was one maid, old and ugly, and living in a
remote village, whom he neglected.

At length the time of his return was come, and he made up his mind to
leave. But just as he had decided to go, the maid whom he had neglected
came to him and bade him beware, for she was going to take revenge for
his slighting her; but Lemminkainen scarcely heard her, for he was so
busy thinking about his journey home. But the maiden went around to all
the men of the island, and told them evil stories about Lemminkainen,
and then she went and burned his boat.

The next morning Lemminkainen started off to bid his friends the maidens