pper hammers, the handles of which were of silver, and one of
their company turned it on the fire or laid it on the anvil with tongs
of the purest silver, while Ilmarine himself watched every stroke of the
hammers.

Presently a young man entered, pale and covered with blood, and he only
touched his cap without further salutation, and cried out to the workmen
not to waste the sword on the murderous son of Kalev, who could slay his
best friends in his rage. The Kalevide tried to cry out that it was
false, but the son of the old Tuehja[63] oppressed him with a nightmare,
and he could not utter a word; he felt as if a mountain lay upon his
breast, and the sweat ran from his face.

On the following morning the Kalevide awoke from his sleep. He knew that
the vision of the smithy was a dream, but he was not aware that he had
slept for seven weeks without intermission. He found that his planks
were nearly all destroyed, and determined to fetch a fresh load from
Pleskau.

When he came to the lake, he heard a boy shouting for help. It was a
herd-boy, whose favourite lamb was being carried off by a wolf. He
killed the wolf with a stone,[64] and then stood by the lake considering
what to do next. Presently he decided to build a bridge across the
"puddle;" and built it out into the lake for perhaps a couple of miles,
when a great storm arose and swept away the unfinished structure. When
he saw his work destroyed, he said, "Why didn't I wade straight through,
as I did before, instead of wasting my time like this?" So he caught a
supply of crayfish, which he roasted and ate, and then set out on his
journey through the water.

On the shores of Lake Peipus lived a poor orphan boy, who had lost all
dear to him by famine, pestilence, and war, and who was now compelled to
slave as herd-boy for a hard mistress,[65] and to mind the children as
well as to look after the sheep and goats. He sang sad songs, till at
length the wood-nymph took compassion on him, and sang to him one
evening from the summit of an oak-tree, telling him that good luck would
be his in the morning. Next morning he found a lark's egg hidden among
leaves, which he hid in his bosom next his heart wrapped in wool and a
strip of linen. A mouse was hatched from it, which he fostered in the
same way till it became a kitten, a puppy, a lamb, and at length a
sheep[66] with fine white wool, and the sheep was so dear to the boy
that he left off weeping and lamenting, and alwa