Katoma remained sitting on the stump one day, two days, three days, without anything to eat or drink. To get down was utterly impossible, it seemed as if he must die of starvation. But not far away from that place there was a dense forest. In that forest was living a mighty hero who was quite blind. The only way by which he could get himself food was this: whenever he perceived by the sense of smell that any animal was running past him, whether a hare, or a fox, or a bear, he immediately started in chase of it, caught it—and dinner was ready for him. The hero was exceedingly swift-footed, and there was not a single wild beast which could run away from him. Well, one day it fell out thus. A fox slunk past; the hero heard it, and was after it directly. It ran up to the tall stump, and turned sharp off on one-side; but the blind hero hurried on, took a spring, and thumped his forehead against the stump so hard that he knocked the stump out by the roots. Katoma fell to the ground, and asked:
“Who are you?”
“I’m a blind hero. I’ve been living in the forest for thirty years. The only way I can get my food is this: to catch some game or other, and cook it at a wood fire. If it had not been for that, I should have been starved to death long ago!”
“You haven’t been blind all your life?”
“No, not all my life; but Princess Anna the Fair put my eyes out!”
“There now, brother!” says Katoma; “and it’s thanks to her, too, that I’m left here without any feet. She cut them both off, the accursed one!”
The two heroes had a talk, and agreed to live together, and join in getting their food. The blind man says to the lame:
“Sit on my back and show me the way; I will serve you with my feet, and you me with your eyes.”
So he took the cripple and carried him home, and Katoma sat on his back, kept a look out all round, and cried out from time to time: “Right! Left! Straight on!” and so forth.
Well, they lived some time in the forest in that way, and caught hares, foxes, and bears for their dinner. One day the cripple says—