journey, 480
To the banquet thou art seeking,
Where thou all thy life may'st rest thee."

Little troubled Lemminkainen,
And he let it not concern him,
But he felt into his pocket,
And his pouch he opened quickly,
Took the feathers of the blackfowl,
Leisurely he rubbed the feathers,
And between his palms he rubbed them,
'Twixt his fingers ten in number, 490
And a flock of grouse created,
And a flock of capercailzies,
In the eagle's beak he thrust them,
To his greedy throat he gave them,
To the eagle's throat all fiery,
In the fire-bird's beak he thrust them,
Thus he freed himself from danger,
And escaped the first day's danger.

With his whip he struck the courser,
With the beaded whip he struck him, 500
And the horse sped quickly onward,
And the steed sprang lightly forward.

Then he drove a little further,
But a little way had travelled,
When the horse again was shying,
And again the steed was neighing.
From the sledge again he raised him,
And he strove to gaze around him,
And he saw, as said his mother,
As his aged mother warned him, 510
Right in front a trench of fire,
Right across the path extending,
Ever to the east extending,
North-west endlessly extending,
Full of stones to redness heated,
Full of blocks of stone all glowing.

Little troubled Lemminkainen,
But he raised a prayer to Ukko.
"Ukko, thou, of Gods the highest,
Ukko, thou, our Heavenly Father, 520
Send thou now a cloud from north-west,
Send thou from the west a second,
And a third to east establish.

"In the north-east let them gather,
Push their borders all together,
Drive them edge to edge together,
Let the snow fall staff-deep round me,
Deep as is the length of spear-shaft,
On these stones to redness heated,
Blocks of stone all fiery glowing." 530

Ukko, then, of Gods the highest,
He the aged Heavenly Father,
Sent a cloud from out the north-west,
From the west he sent a second,
In the east a cloud let gather,
Let them gather in the north-east;
And he heaped them all together,
And he closed the gaps between them,
Let the snow fall staff-deep downward,
Deep as is the length of spear-shaft, 540
On