train of clouds; and a voice came from the waters: 'Get thee hence with
thy harvest, for I will dwell beside thee.' Then they bade the lake
welcome, if it would only bedew their fields and meadows; and it sank
down and spread itself out in its home to the full limits. Then the
lake made all the neighborhood fruitful, and the fields became green,
and the people danced around it, so that the old men grew joyous as the
youth."


The chief water-god is Ahto, on the etymology of which the Finnish
language throws little light. It is curiously like Ahti, another name
for the reckless Lemminkainen. This water-god, or "Wave-host," as he
is called, lives with his "cold and cruel-hearted spouse," Wellamo, at
the bottom of the sea, in the chasms of the Salmon-rocks, where his
palace, Ahtola, is constructed. Besides the fish that swim in his
dominions, particularly the salmon, the trout, the whiting, the perch,
the herring, and the white-fish, he possesses a priceless treasure in
the Sampo, the talisman of success, which Louhi, the hostess of
Pohyola, dragged into the sea in her efforts to regain it from the
heroes of Kalevala. Ever eager for the treasures of others, and
generally unwilling to return any that come into his possession, Ahto
is not incapable of generosity. For example, once when a shepherd lad
was whittling a stick on the bank of a river, he dropped his knife into
the stream. Ahto, as in the fable, "Mercury and the Woodman," moved by
the tears of the unfortunate lad, swam to the scene, dived to the
bottom, brought up a knife of gold, and gave it to the young shepherd.
Innocent and honest, the herd-boy said the knife was not his. Then
Ahto dived again, and brought up a knife of silver, which he gave to
the lad, but this in turn was not accepted. Thereupon the Wave-host
dived again, and the third time brought the right knife to the boy who