more; let the ship proceed on her
course.[88]

Next they reached a country where the birds all fed on gold and silver
and copper, and where the herbage grew as high as the pine-trees. The
Kalevide sent some of the crew ashore, under the guidance of the
magician, to view the country, while he and the Sulevide lay down on
deck to sleep in the sun, leaving the Alevide to keep watch.

The ship's company, headed by the magician, wandered into the country,
and, when night came, lay down to rest under a bush. Next morning the
little daughter of a giant[89] found them asleep, and wondering what
they were, put them all into her apron, and carried them home to her
father, and scattered them before him, saying:

"Look at these, O dearest father,
I have brought them here to play with,
For I found them in the cabbage,
Where the six like fleas were lying,
Stiffened in the chilly dewdrops,
Sleeping 'neath a head of cabbage."

The giant[90] wished to test the wisdom of the strangers, so he
inquired, "What walks along the grass, steps on the edge of the fence,
and walks along the sides of the reeds?" "The bee," replied the
magician.[91] "What drinks from the brooks and wells, and from the
stones on the bank?" "The rainbow." "What comes hissing from the
meadow, and rushing from the blue forest?" "The rain." The giant was
pleased with the answers to his riddles, and told his daughter to carry
the men back to where she had found them, but the wise man asked her to
take them to the ship for fun. The maiden willingly obeyed; she leaned
over the ship like a vast cloud, shook the men out of her apron on deck,
and then blew the ship four miles out to sea, for which the Kalevide
shouted back his thanks to her.

Now they sailed farther north, and the cold became intense, while the
spirits of the Northern Lights began their combats in the air with
silver spears and golden shields. The sailors were frightened, but the
Kalevide was pleased that they should now be able to direct their course
when they had left the sun and moon behind them.

Next they reached an unknown shore, where the inhabitants were half men
and half dogs, and had long dog's tails.[92] They were armed with great
clubs, and the Kalevide sprang ashore to fight. A horse which he
mounted soon fell dead under him, but he tore up an oak by the roots and
began to lay the country waste. The wisest man of the country
expostulated with him, and he repented