foolish.'

Thus the old man ended his account of the origin of beer, and Louhi,
who had listened to him carefully, took all the tubs she had and put
hops and barley in them, and water on top, and then lit huge fires to
heat stones, that she might drop them in the mixture and make it boil.
She made such a great quantity of beer that the springs were emptied and
the forests grew small, and such a vast column of smoke went up as
filled half of Pohjola and was seen even in distant Karjala and
Lemminkainen's home. And all the people there thought it arose from some
mighty battle between great heroes. But Lemminkainen pondered over it,
and at last he found out that it was the fires for Louhi's beer-making
for the wedding feast, and he grew bitterly angry, for Louhi had refused
_him_ her daughter's hand, and now had given her to Ilmarinen.

But now the beer was ready and was stored away in casks hooped with
copper, and thousands of delicate dishes were made ready for the feast.
But when all was nearly ready the beer began to grow impatient in its
casks, and cried out for the guests to come that songs might be sung in
its honour. So Louhi sent first for a pike and a salmon to sing its
praises, but they could not do it. Next she sent for a boy, but the boy
was too ignorant to sing the praises of the beer, and all this time the
beer was calling out more and more loudly from its prison. Then Louhi
determined to invite the guests at once, lest the beer should break
forth from the casks.

So she called one of her servants and said to her: 'Go, my trusted
servant, and call together all the Pohjola people to the banquet. Go out
into the highways too, and bring in all the poor and blind and cripples,
the old and the young, that they may be merry at my daughter's wedding.
And ask all the people of Karjala and the ancient Wainamoinen, but be
sure thou dost not invite wild Lemminkainen.' At this the servant asked
why she was not to ask Lemminkainen, and Louhi answered: 'Lemminkainen
must not come, for he loves war and strife, and would bring disturbance
and sorrow to our feast, and scoff at our maidens.'

And the servant, having learned from Louhi how she should recognise
Lemminkainen, set off and invited rich and poor, old and young, the
deaf, the blind, and the cripples in all Pohjola and Karjala, but did
not ask Lemminkainen.

[Illustration]

ILMARINEN'S WEDDING FEAST

At length the guests began to arrive, and Ilmarinen