the fair ones may behold them,
And the maidens be delighted. 400
Then provide me with a bearskin,
That I seat myself upon it,
And a second hide of walrus,
That the bright-hued sledge is covered."

Thereupon the skilful servant,
He the servant paid with wages,
Put the colt into the harness,
Yoked before the sledge the chestnut,
And provided six fine cuckoos,
Seven blue birds at once provided, 410
That upon the frame should perch them,
And should sing their cheerful music;
And a bearskin next provided,
That his lord should sit upon it,
And another hide of walrus,
And with this the sledge he covered.

Then the smith, e'en Ilmarinen,
He the great primeval craftsman,
Sent aloft his prayer to Ukko,
And he thus besought the Thunderer: 420
"Scatter forth thy snow, O Ukko,
Let the snowflakes soft be drifted,
That the sledge may glide o'er snowfields,
O'er the snow-drifts gliding swiftly."

Then the snow did Ukko scatter,
And the snowflakes soft were drifted,
Till the heath-stems all were covered,
On the ground the berry-bushes.

Then the smith, e'en Ilmarinen,
In his sledge of iron sat him, 430
And he spoke the words which follow,
And in words like these expressed him:
"On my reins attend good fortune,
Jumala my sledge protecting,
That my reins good fortune fail not,
Nor my sledge may break, O Jumala!"

In one hand the reins he gathered,
And the whip he grasped with other,
O'er the horse the whip he brandished,
And he spoke the words which follow: 440
"Whitebrow, speed thou quickly onward,
Haste away, O flaxen-maned one."

On the way the horse sprang forward,
On the water's sandy margin,
By the shores of Sound of Sima,
Past the hills with alders covered.
On the shore the sledge went rattling,
On the beach the shingle clattered.
In his eyes the sand was flying,
To his breast splashed up the water. 450
Thus he drove one day, a second,
Drove upon the third day likewise,
And at length upon the third day,
Overtook old Vainamoinen,
And he spoke the words which follow,
And in words like these expressed him:
"O thou aged Vainamoinen,
Let us make a friendly compact,
That although we both are seeking