E LOSS OF THE SWORD

Next morning the Kalevide arose at dawn, and hurried on towards Lake
Peipus, clearing and levelling the country as he went. When he arrived
at the lake, there was no boat to be seen; so he girded himself, and
plunged into it at a point where it was too wide to see the opposite
shore, while the fish fled before him as he waded through.

On the shore opposite, a hideous sorcerer was hiding in the bushes. He
was as bristly as a wild boar, with wide mouth and small oblique
eyes.[60] He was well skilled in all magic; he could make the wind blow
from any quarter, could remove ill from one man to cast it on another,
and could cause quarrels between the best friends. He had evil demons at
his beck and call; but for all that, he could cure all hurts and
diseases when he pleased. But to-day he was in a bad humour, and blew a
tremendous storm against the son of Kalev. Presently he saw a human form
struggling through the waters, which reached to his girdle. Even at four
or five miles' distance the figure seemed as large as a man, and he
appeared to be heavily laden. Sometimes the water hid him from view, but
as he came nearer the form became ever huger and more terrible.

The Kalevide laughed at the raging storm, and said to the lake, "You
nasty little puddle, you're wetting my girdle." He had taken scarcely an
hour in his passage, when he reached the firm ground, carrying a load of
planks which a horse or a pair of oxen could hardly have dragged along.
He had brought them from Pleskau to build a refuge for his people; over
twenty dozen planks, three inches thick, an ell broad, and ten yards
long. He drew his sword to trim the timber, and the sorcerer determined
to reward himself for his late exertions in raising the tempest by
possessing himself of it; but this was not the time for action, and he
slunk deeper into the shades of the forest.

The Kalevide was tired with his journey, and found a level place some
little distance from the shore, so he brought a lapful of shingle from
the beach and a quantity of sand, and made himself a comfortable bed in
a dry spot. Then he refreshed himself with bread and milk from his
wallet, loosed his girdle, laid his sword beside him, and soon fell
asleep, with his head to the west and his feet to the east, that the
first rays of the morning sun might shine in his eyes and awaken him.
Presently the ground shook, and the woods re-echoed, and the billows of
the lake rose in