from typing import List


def _format_table(table: List[List[str]]) -> str:
    """
    Format the table as equal-spaced columns.

    :param table: rows of cells
    :return: table as string
    """
    cols = len(table[0])

    col_widths = [max(len(row[i]) for row in table) for i in range(cols)]

    lines = []  # type: List[str]
    for i, row in enumerate(table):
        parts = []  # type: List[str]

        for cell, width in zip(row, col_widths):
            parts.append(cell.ljust(width))

        line = " | ".join(parts)
        lines.append(line)

        if i == 0:
            border = []  # type: List[str]

            for width in col_widths:
                border.append("-" * width)

            lines.append("-+-".join(border))

    result = "\n".join(lines)

    return result