have
gone well had not Maie been possessed with a secret longing which never
let her rest; and this was, how she could manage to become the owner of
a cow.

'What would you do with a cow?' asked Matte. 'She could not swim so far,
and our boat is not large enough to bring her over here; and even if we
had her, we have nothing to feed her on.'

'We have four alder bushes and sixteen tufts of grass,' rejoined Maie.

'Yes, of course,' laughed Matte, 'and we have also three plants of
garlic. Garlic would be fine feeding for her.'

'Every cow likes salt herring,' rejoined his wife. 'Even Prince is fond
of fish.'

'That may be,' said her husband. 'Methinks she would soon be a dear cow
if we had to feed her on salt herring. All very well for Prince, who
fights with the gulls over the last morsel. Put the cow out of your
head, mother, we are very well off as we are.'

Maie sighed. She knew well that her husband was right, but she could not
give up the idea of a cow. The buttermilk no longer tasted as good as
usual in the coffee; she thought of sweet cream and fresh butter, and of
how there was nothing in the world to be compared with them.

One day as Matte and his wife were cleaning herring on the shore they
heard Prince barking, and soon there appeared a gaily painted boat with
three young men in it, steering towards the rock. They were students, on
a boating excursion, and wanted to get something to eat.

'Bring us a junket, good mother,' cried they to Maie.

'Ah! if only I had such a thing!' sighed Maie.

'A can of fresh milk, then,' said the students; 'but it must not be
skim.'

'Yes, if only I had it!' sighed the old woman, still more deeply.

'What! haven't you got a cow?'

Maie was silent. This question so struck her to the heart that she could
not reply.

'We have no cow,' Matte answered; 'but we have good smoked herring, and
can cook them in a couple of hours.'

'All right, then, that will do,' said the students, as they flung
themselves down on the rock, while fifty silvery-white herring were
turning on the spit in front of the fire.

'What's the name of this little stone in the middle of the ocean?' asked
one of them.

'Ahtola,' answered the old man.

'Well, you should want for nothing when you live in the Sea King's
dominion.'

Matte did not understand. He had never read Kalevala and knew nothing of
the sea gods of old, but the students proceeded to explain to him.[2]

[Footnote 2: Kal