ys felt happy and
contented, though his lot was still a hard one.

[Footnote 61: This reminds us of the help given to Hiawatha by the
woodpecker during his fight with Megissogwun; but the one incident can
hardly be copied from the other. _Hiawatha_ was published some years
before the _Kalevipoeg_.]

[Footnote 62: This is the only passage in the _Kalevipoeg_ in which one
of the heroes of the _Kalevala_ is personally introduced.]

[Footnote 63: Emptiness; probably the Contemptible One; a name often
used for one of the principal demons.]

[Footnote 64: The rock is still shown, bearing the imprints of the
hero's fingers, each cleft large enough to hold a man.]

[Footnote 65: This was the fate of Kullervo himself in the _Kalevala_.
Orphans, for whom much sympathy is expressed, constantly appear in
Esthonian tales. Compare p. 236 of the present volume.]

[Footnote 66: We have a similar series of transformations (mouse, cat,
dog, ass, buffalo) in the story of Noor Ed-Deen and Shes Ed-Deen in the
_Thousand and One Nights_.]

CANTO XIII

THE KALEVIDE'S FIRST JOURNEY TO HADES

On the Kalevide's homeward journey he slept for a night at the place
where his sword had been stolen, and set out early next morning, making
his way through bush and brake. He walked on till sunset with his load
of planks without stopping to rest, and then ate his supper and prepared
himself a bed of sand as usual. When he awoke in the morning, a magpie
informed him for the first time that the sorcerer had kept him in a
magic sleep for seven weeks, and he quickened his pace. But when he
reached Lake Ilma he found it, to his disgust, too deep to wade through,
and he was compelled to go round it.

Presently he encountered an old witch, a relative of the sorcerer who
had done him so much harm already, sitting among the bushes and singing
magic songs. The hero stopped to rest himself, for the day was very
warm, and listened to her song, which was a long charm against
snake-bites. Then he walked on till noon, when he took a siesta,
breaking down trees of all kinds to make himself a couch. Afterwards he
turned to the left in the direction of Lake Endla, and towards evening
he came to the entrance of a cavern, before which a great fire was
burning. A huge caldron hung over it by heavy iron chains, just opposite
the entrance to the cavern, and three fellows were standing round, who
grinned and whispered to each other as the stranger approached.