ouhi grew more and more angry and envious when she heard how prosperous
and happy all the folk of Kalevala were, since the fragments of the
Sampo had floated to their shore. So she pondered long in her evil
heart, how she might send them sorrow and misfortune. Now just at that
time the old witch Lowjatar, Tuoni's daughter, came to Louhi and asked
for shelter from the storms and cold, and Louhi took her in and treated
her like an honoured guest. And while Lowjatar was there, nine children
were born to her, all horrible diseases, and she named them Colic,
Fever, Plague, Pleurisy, Ulcer, Consumption, Gout, Sterility, and
Cancer. And then Louhi's evil heart rejoiced, and she took the nine
diseases and sent them into Kalevala, there to harass and kill
Wainamoinen's people.

And when the diseases came, every one in Kalevala, both young and old,
fell ill of all sorts of illnesses, and Wainamoinen at first did not
know whence all this evil had come. But soon by his magic power he
learned that it came from the children of Tuoni's daughter, Lowjatar,
and then he set to work to drive them away. First he took all those that
were ill to the bath-houses, and then he brought buckets of water and
heated blocks of stone until he had filled the whole room with warm
steam. Then he prayed to Ukko to drive away all these diseases from
them, and to send these evil spirits to Tuoni's kingdom, where they
belonged.

After Wainamoinen had prayed thus to Ukko, he took a magic balsam and
rubbed it over all those that were ill, and sang magic spells over them,
and then prayed once more to Ukko for success, and at length he drove
out the nine diseases and saved his people from dying.

When the nine diseases had been driven out of Kalevala, the news of
Wainamoinen's victory over them came at length to the old witch Louhi,
and she grew angrier than ever that her revenge had failed. But she
pondered over what means of revenge she should try next, and at length
she hit upon another plan. She went out into the forest and cast a magic
spell upon the hugest bear in all the Northland--the great Otso[6]--and
he hastened from his Pohjola home and began to kill the flocks and herds
in Kalevala.

[6] _Otso_ = bear.

Then Wainamoinen hastened to Ilmarinen, and bade him make a
triple-pointed spear with which to kill Otso. And when the spear was
ready, Wainamoinen hastened off to the forest to find the bear, singing
as he went, and calling upon the forest-go