and Hisi set
to work to make an enchanted reindeer, that Lemminkainen would never be
able to catch. So he took bare willow branches to make the horns, and
wood for the head, the feet and legs were made of reeds, and the veins
from withered grass, the eyes were made from daisies, the ears from
flowers, and the skin of the rough fir-bark, and the muscles from
strong, sappy wood. When this magic reindeer was completed it was the
swiftest and the finest-looking of all reindeer. And Hisi sent it off
to Pohjola, telling it to lure Lemminkainen into the snow-covered
mountains and there to wear him out with the cold and the fatigue of the
chase. So the reindeer went forth to dismal Pohjola, and there it ran
through the courtyards and the outhouses, overturning tubs of water,
throwing the kettles from their hooks, and upsetting the dishes that
were cooking before the fires. There was a frightful noise there, for
all the dogs began to bark, and the children to cry, and the women to
laugh, and the men to shout. And then the magic reindeer went on its
way.

Now Lemminkainen had set out, as soon as his snow-shoes were ready, and
had hunted the whole world over for a trace of the Hisi-reindeer,
rushing like the wind over mountains and valleys, until the fire shot
from his snow-shoes, and his snow-staff smoked. But after he had
wandered over the whole world and still had found no trace of the
Hisi-reindeer, he came at last to the corner of Northland where the
magic animal had just run through the courts upsetting everything, and
the children were still crying and the women laughing when he arrived.
Lemminkainen asked what the cause was of their uproar, and they told him
how the reindeer had been there.

No sooner had he heard this than off he flew over the snow, and as he
went he sang a spell, calling on the powers of Pohjola to enable him to
catch the Hisi-beast. After he had sung, he gave three huge strides with
his snow-shoes, and at the end of the third he caught up with the
Hisi-reindeer, and in another moment had it bound fast. Then he spoke to
the reindeer and patted it on the head, and bade it come with him to
Louhi. But suddenly the animal made a mighty rush, snapped his bonds in
two, and sprang away over the hills and valleys out of sight.

Lemminkainen started off after it, but at the first step his snow-shoes
broke right in two and threw him down, breaking his arrows and his
snow-staff in his fall. Then he arose and lo