ods gave presents for the dwarfs in return for their
wonderful things, and Brok returned to his cave. As for Loki, it
was not long before he loosed his lips and returned to his
mischief-making.

THE PUNISHMENT OF LOKI

ADAPTED FROM A. AND E. KEARY'S VERSION

After the death of Baldur, Loki never again ventured to intrude
himself into the presence of the gods. He knew well enough that he had
now done what could never be forgiven him, and that, for the future,
he must bend all his cunning and vigilance to the task of hiding
himself from the gaze of those whom he had so injured, and escaping
the just punishment he had brought upon himself.

"The world is large, and I am very clever," said Loki to himself, as
he turned his back upon Asgard, and wandered out into Manheim; "there
is no end to the thick woods, and no measure for the deep waters;
neither is there any possibility of counting the various forms under
which I shall disguise myself. Odin will never be able to find me; I
have no cause to fear." But though Loki repeated this over and over
again to himself, he _was_ afraid.

He wandered far into the thick woods, and covered himself with the
deep waters; he climbed to the tops of misty hills, and crouched in
the dark of hollow caves; but above the wood, and through the water,
and down into the darkness, a single ray of calm, clear light seemed
always to follow him, and he knew that it came from the eye of Odin
who was watching him from Air Throne.

Then he tried to escape the watchful eye by disguising himself under
various shapes. Sometimes he was an eagle on a lonely mountain-crag;
sometimes he hid himself as one among a troop of timid reindeer;
sometimes he lay in the nest of a wood-pigeon; sometimes he swam, a
bright-spotted fish, in the sea; but, wherever he was, among living
creatures, or alone with dead nature, everything seemed to know him,
and to find a voice in which to say to him, "You are Loki, and you
have killed Baldur." Air, earth, or water, there was no rest for him
anywhere.

Tired at last of seeking what he could nowhere find, Loki built
himself a house near a narrow, glittering river which, lower down
flashed from a high rock into the sea below. He took care that his
house should have four doors in it, that he might look out on every
side and catch the first glimpse of the gods when they came, as he
knew they would come, to take him away. Here his wife, Siguna, and his
two sons, Ali