uths in starry regions,
Youths of starry birth or other,
Who might dwell among the maidens,
And amuse the curly-headed?"
Ukko heard her words, and answered,
"Soar away, my dearest daughter,
Steer thy flight again to southward,
Sailing far away till evening,
Turning then unto the northward,
Come before the doors of Ukko,
To the western mother's threshold,
To the northern mother's region;
Seek thou there the youths to woo them,
Youths that may release the maidens."

[Footnote 80: _Kalevipoeg_, xix. 493-583.]

THE BLUE BIRD (II.).

This totally different ballad is from Neus, _Ehstnische Volkslieder_, p.
42. Neus quotes Ganander as saying that one of the names of the Finnish
Wood-goddess (the spouse of Tapio) is Blue Bird. The present poem is
_possibly_ a fragment of a creation-myth.

Lo, the bird with azure plumage,
Feathers blue and eyes all lustrous,
Took her flight, and hovered, soaring,
Over forests four in number,
Over four woods in succession;
One a wood of golden pine-trees,
One a wood of beauteous apples,
One a wood of silver birch-trees,
One a swampy wood of lime-trees.

Lo, the bird with azure plumage,
Feathers blue and eyes all lustrous,
Took her flight, and hovered, soaring,
Over lakelets three in number;
Three the lakes all close together,
And the first with wine was brimming,
And with ale the second foaming,
And the third with mead was frothing.

Lo, the bird with azure plumage,
Feathers blue and eyes all lustrous,
Took her flight, and hovered, soaring,
Over three fields in succession,
Over three fields close together;
In the first the oats were growing,
In the second rye was waving,
In the third the wheat was springing.

And the wood of golden pine-trees
Was a wood of youthful striplings,
And the wood of beauteous apples
Was a wood of youthful maidens,
And the wood of silver birch-trees
Was a wood of youthful matrons,
And the swampy wood of lime-trees
Was a wood of men all aged.

And the lake with wine o'erbrimming
Was the lake of youthful striplings,
And the lake with ale up-foaming
Was the lake of youthful matrons,
And the lake where mead was frothing
Was the lake of youthful maidens.

And the field where oats were growing
Was the field of youthful stri