The Boys Who Did Not Get A Magic Cow

WHAT HAPPENED TO SOME LAPP CHILDREN

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THE BOYS WHO DID NOT GET A MAGIC COW

ONCE on a time in Lapland of the Northern Lights, where the rich Lapp Kings own great herds of reindeer--pack reindeer, mother reindeer, and pretty little fawns--once on a time on a summer's day when the sun was shining hot, a Lapp King with his whole company of Lapps drove a reindeer herd into a green valley to graze.

The men unharnessed the pack reindeer, took off their burdens, and set up tents close to a rock. The women hung cooking pots over the fire, and began to boil reindeer meat.

None of these Lapps knew that their camp was pitched near the place of sacrifice to a Seite. This Seite was a huge ugly stone, of strange and fearful shape.

The Seite belonged to a Lapland Wizard. Whenever he wanted to get magic power and have wicked spirits help him to put evil on someone, he chose a fine white reindeer-buck out of his herd, and decorated it. Every part he decorated--antlers, head, legs, back--with yellow, blue, green, red-brown, white, and black silk.

When the buck was ready it knew just where to go. It led the way to the Seite, and the Wizard followed. There the Wizard killed the buck, ate its flesh, and cast its bones and horns on a huge pile of reindeer bones and antlers near the Seite. In this way he got all the magic power he wanted, to bring revenge on his enemies.

So near this spot the Lapp company camped with their reindeer herd. Now in the Lapp King's tent were two Lapp boys. Night came on though the sun still shone, for it never set night or day at that time of the year. The two Lapp boys, for some strange cause, could not sleep. By and by they heard Voices in the rocks. They knew then, that those rocks were the home of some Ulda Fairy Folk.

The boys peeped out of the tent. They saw a whole herd of Ulda magic reindeer cows grazing. They were white and had no horns.

The boys knew that if they threw a piece of steel over the herd, they could keep a cow for themselves. That would bring good luck and riches! But before they could throw it, the reindeer vanished.