it with all gentleness. Then he led it to the courts of Sariola.

"Now kill for me the swan that swims in Tuoni, the black death-river. One
shot only canst thou have. If thou succeed, then mayst thou claim thy
bride."

When Lemminkainen entered Pohyola he had slain all his opponents but one
blind shepherd, whom he spared because he despised his helplessness. This
object of his scorn was waiting for him, and when Lemminkainen approached
the river he fell by a shot from the enemy, regretting, as he died, that
he had not asked his mother's advice before attempting to reach Tuoni.

Nasshut, the shepherd, threw the hero's body into the river, where it was
seized and cut in pieces by the son of Tuoni.

At home the mother and wife awaited anxiously tidings of their hero. When
they saw blood trickling from the brush, the mother could wait no longer,
but at once set out for the dreary Northland. After repeated threats, she
wrested from Louhi the fact that her son had gone to Tuoni; from the Sun
she learned his fate.

Quickly seeking Ilmarinen, the mother bade him forge for her a mighty
rake. With this she raked the deep death-river, collected the pieces of
the hero, bound them together with the aid of the goddess Suonetar, and
making a balsam, the materials for which were brought her by the bee, she
healed her hero son, comforted him, and led him back to Kalevala.

In the mean time, Wainamoinen, who was building his boat for the Rainbow
Maid, found that he had forgotten three magic words with which to fasten
in the ledges and complete the boat's forecastle.