ts bones and sinews fashions
the first harp, an instrument so wonderful that none but he can play
it, but, whenever he touches its strings, trees dance about him, wild
animals crouch at his feet, and the hearts of men are filled with
rapture.

All of Northland stopped and listened.
Every creature in the forest,
All the beasts that haunt the woodlands,
On their nimble feet came bounding,
Came to listen to his playing,
Came to hear his songs of joyance.

The music which he makes is so touching that it draws tears even from
the player's eyes, tears which drop down into the sea, where they are
transformed into pearls, which are brought to him by a duck.

Gathered Wainamoinen's tear-drops
From the blue sea's pebbly bottom,
From the deep, pellucid waters;
Brought them to the great magician,
Beautifully formed and colored,
Glistening in the silver sunshine,
Glimmering in the golden moonlight,
Many-colored as the rainbow,
Fitting ornaments for heroes,
Jewels for the maids of beauty.
This the origin of sea-pearls
And the blue-duck's beauteous plumage.

_Runes XLII and XLIII._ Having lulled the Spirits of Evil to sleep
with magic music, Wainamoinen and Ilmarinen go in quest of the Sampo,
which they find hidden in the bosom of a magic mountain and bear away
in triumph. The spell they have laid upon all living creatures is
broken only when Louhi discovers her loss and sets out in pursuit of
the robbers of her treasure.

In various guises she attacks them, finally transforming herself into
a huge eagle and pouncing down upon the Sampo, which she tries to bear
away in her talons. But Wainamoinen fights this aggressor to such good
purpose that it drops the Sampo into the sea, where it is dashed to
pieces! Not only has Wainamoinen lost the Sampo,--whose fragments he
collects and buries so that they may bring prosperity to his
people,--but his magic harp has also fallen overboard during his fight
with Louhi.

_Runes XLIV and XLV._ Wainamoinen therefore proceeds to construct a
second harp from the wood of the birch, while Louhi, who has returned
northward but who still owes him a grudge, sends down from the north
nine fell diseases,--colic, pleurisy, fever, ulcer, plague,
consumption, gout, sterility, and cancer,--all of which Wainamoinen
routs by means of the vapor baths which he discovers.

_Rune XLVI._ Hearing that Wainamoinen prospers in spite of all she can
do, Louhi is so disappo