“The Sampo, the Sampo!” said the Minstrel, feebly as in a dream. “If only we might bring it to our own country, how quickly we could save our people!”
“It was I that forged the wonderful mill, I, the prince of smiths and wizards,” said Ilmarinen with a far-off look in his eyes. “Never can another be made that is like it.”
“And if you forged it, why is it not your own?” queried Wainamoinen, wise though feeble.
“I forged it for another,” answered Ilmarinen. “I made it for wise old Louhi, the Mistress of Pohyola; and the reward which she ought to have given me, I obtained by other means. Neither gold nor silver nor aught else have I ever received for my labor.”
“Then surely you have a valid claim upon the Sampo,” said Wainamoinen. “O my friend and brother, we must hasten to Pohyola and seize that mill of plenty, that we may bring it to our own sweet land. We must save our starving people.”
“Nay, nay, it cannot be,” returned the Smith. “The mill is securely stored away in a stony cavern beneath a hill of copper. Nine heavy doors shut it in, and nine locks of strongest [[297]]metal make each door fast and safe. No man nor men can seize the mighty Sampo.”
But the Minstrel persisted. All that night he held the Smith’s strong hand and talked of naught but the Sampo and how, by it, they might save the lives of their famishing friends and neighbors. At length Ilmarinen ceased objecting. “You are wise, my elder brother,” he said, “much wiser than I. The task is a mighty one, but for the sake of our people and our country I will not shrink from it. None but women say, ‘I cannot,’ none but cowards say, ‘I dare not.’ ” [[298]]