n troubled his head in vain as to how she came there, and
sallied forth to seek for his lost net. He had not proceeded far when he
found it cast up on the shore, and so full of fish that not a mesh was
visible.

'It is all very fine to possess a cow,' said Matte, as he cleaned the
fish; 'but what are we going to feed her on?'

'We shall find some means,' said his wife; and the cow found the means
herself. She went out and cropped the seaweed which grew in great
abundance near the shore, and always kept in good condition. Every one,
Prince alone excepted, thought she was a clever beast; but Prince barked
at her, for he had now got a rival.

From that day the red rock overflowed with milk and junkets, and every
net was filled with fish. Matte and Maie grew fat on this fine living,
and daily became richer. She churned quantities of butter, and he hired
two men to help him in his fishing. The sea lay before him like a big
fish tank, out of which he hauled as many as he required; and the cow
continued to fend for herself. In autumn, when Matte and Maie went
ashore, the cow went to sea, and in spring, when they returned to the
rock, there she stood awaiting them.

'We shall require a better house,' said Maie the following summer; 'the
old one is too small for ourselves and the men.'

'Yes,' said Matte. So he built a large cottage, with a real lock to the
door, and a store-house for fish as well; and he and his men caught such
quantities of fish that they sent tons of salmon, herring, and cod to
Russia and Sweden.

'I am quite overworked with so many folk,' said Maie; 'a girl to help me
would not come amiss.'

'Get one, then,' said her husband; and so they hired a girl.

Then Maie said: 'We have too little milk for all these folk. Now that I
have a servant, with the same amount of trouble she could look after
three cows.'

'All right, then,' said her husband, somewhat provoked, 'you can sing a
song to the fairies.'

This annoyed Maie, but nevertheless she rowed out to sea on Sunday night
and sang as before:

Oh, Ahti, with the long, long beard,
Who dwellest in the deep blue sea,
A thousand cows are in thy herd,
I pray thee give three unto me.

The following morning, instead of one, three cows stood on the island,
and they all ate seaweed and fended for themselves like the first one.

'Art thou satisfied now?' said Matte to his wife.

'I should be quite satisfied,' said his wife, 'if only