All day, all night, the bellows roared; all day again, and again all night, the furnace glowed, white-hot, and furious. Then, just at sunrise, the Smith called to the bellows-men, “Halt!” He stooped down and gazed steadfastly, curiously, into the magic caldron. As the flames subsided and the furnace began to grow cool, behold a ship rose from the mixture—a ship complete with pointed beak and oars and sails, all ready to be launched upon the sea. Its hull was painted blue and yellow, its ribs were golden, its prow was of copper, and its sails were of white linen whereon were depicted most wonderful figures of dragons and savage beasts; and on its deck and within its hold were all manner of weapons of war—axes and spears, bows and arrows, sharp daggers and gleaming swords.
“Here I am, my master!” said the ship. “I am ready for your service, if you please. You see that I am well fitted for war, well fitted to [[82]]plunder and rob the seaports of other lands. Send me out, that I may help you slay your enemies and make your name a terror throughout the world.”
The wizard Smith drew the ship toward him. Beautiful and well-laden though it was, he was by no means pleased with it. “I like you not!” he cried. “You are a destroyer and not a builder. You love evil, and I will have no part nor parcel of you,” and he broke the ship into a thousand pieces, and threw the fragments back into the caldron. Then he bade the serving-men blow the bellows with all their might, while he heaped fresh fuel upon the flames and sang wild songs of wizardry and enchantment.
On the fourth morning Ilmarinen looked again into the caldron. “Surely something good has been formed by this time,” he said.
From the caldron a mist was slowly rising, hot, pungent, fog-like; within it, the magic mixture could be heard bubbling, seething, hissing. The Smith looked long ere he could see what was forming. Then suddenly the mist cleared away and a beautiful young heifer sprang out into the sunlight. Her color was golden, her neck and legs were like the wild deer’s, her horns [[83]]were ivory, her eyes were wondrous large, and on her forehead was a disc of steely sunshine.
The Smith was delighted, his heart was filled with admiration. “Beautiful, beautiful creature!” he cried. “Surely, she will be of use to mankind.”
Scarcely had he spoken when the heifer rushed out of the smithy, pausing not a moment to salute her master. She ran swiftly into the forest, bellowing, horning, fighting, spurning everything that came in her way.
“Ah, me!” sighed the Smith, “she, too, has an evil nature. Alas, that one so wickedly inclined should be blessed with so beautiful a form!”
Then he bade the serving-men bring her back to the smithy; and when, with infinite labor, they had done this, he cut her in pieces and threw her back into the caldron. And now the bellows was set to blowing again, and it roared like a tempest in a forest of pines; the smoke rolled darkly from the chimney; and the fire glowed hotter than before around the seething caldron. And all that day, and through the midsummer night, the master and his men toiled unceasingly.
At sunrise on the fifth day, Ilmarinen looked [[84]]again into the caldron. As he stooped and gazed, a plough rose suddenly from the magic mixture. Like a thing of life it glided softly through the furnace door, bowed low before the wizard Smith, and waited to receive his judgment. It had been shaped and put together with great skill, and every line was a line of beauty. The frame was of copper, the share was of gold, the handles were tipped with silver.