Chapter 13

Brought the boat then, Tuoni's daughter. And the aged Väinämöinen 280 Quickly o'er the straight she ferried. And across the river rowed him, And she spoke the words which follow: "Woe to thee, O Väinämöinen, For thou com'st to Mana living, Com'st to Tuonela undying!"

Tuonetar the noble matron, Manalatar, aged woman, Fetched some beer within a tankard, And in both her hands she held it, 290 And she spoke the words which follow: "Drink, O aged Väinämöinen!"

Väinämöinen, old and steadfast, Looked for long within the tankard, And within it frogs were spawning, At the sides the worms were wriggling, And he spoke the words which follow: "Surely I have not come hither, Thus to drink from Mana's goblets, Or to drink from Tuoni's tankards. 300 Those who drink this beer are drunken, Drinking from such cans they perish."

Then said Tuonela's great mistress, "O thou aged Väinämöinen, Why to Manala dost travel, Why to Tuonela hast ventured, Though by Tuoni never summoned, To the land of Mana called not?"

Said the aged Väinämöinen, "At my boat as I was working, 310 While my new boat I was shaping, Then I found three words were wanting, Ere the stern could be completed, And the prow could be constructed, But as I could find them nowhere, In the world where'er I sought them, Then to Tuonela I travelled, Journeyed to the land of Mana, There to find the words I needed, There the magic words to study." 320

Then said Tuonela's great mistress, And she spoke the words which follow: "Ne'er the words will Tuoni give you, Nor his spells will Mana teach you. Never shall you leave these regions, Never while your life remaineth, Shall you ever journey homeward, To your country home returning."

Sank the weary man in slumber, And the traveller lay and slumbered, 330 On the bed prepared by Tuoni, There outstretched himself in slumber, And the hero thus was captured, Lay outstretched, but quickly wakened.

There's in Tuonela a witch-wife, Aged crone with chin projecting, And she spins her thread of iron, And she draws out wire of copper. And she spun of nets a hundred, And she wove herself a thousand, 340 In a single night of summer, On the rock amid the waters.

There's in Tuonela a wizard, And three fingers has the old man, And he weaves his nets of iron, And he makes his nets of copper, And a hundred nets he wove him, And a thousand nets he plaited, In the selfsame night of summer, On the same stone in the water. 350

Tuoni's son with crooked fingers. Crooked fingers hard as iron, Took the hundred nets, and spread them Right across the stream of Tuoni, Both across and also lengthwise, And in an oblique direction So that Väinö should not 'scape him, Nor should flee Uvantolainen, In the course of all his lifetime, While the golden moon is shining, 360 From the dread abode of Tuoni, From the eternal home of Mana.

Väinämöinen, old and steadfast, Uttered then the words which follow: "May not rain overtake me, And an evil fate await me. Here in Tuonela's dark dwellings, In the foul abode of Mana?"

Quickly then his shape transforming, And another shape assuming, 370 To the gloomy lake he hastened; Like an otter in the reed-beds, Like an iron snake he wriggled, Like a little adder hastened Straight across the stream of Tuoni, Safely through the nets of Tuoni.

Tuoni's son with crooked fingers, Crooked fingers, hard as iron, Wandered early in the morning To survey the nets extended, 380 Found of salmon-trout a hundred, Smaller fry he found by thousands, But he found not Väinämöinen, Not the old Uvantolainen.

Thus the aged Väinämöinen Made his way from Tuoni's kingdom, And he said the words which follow, And in words like these expressed him: "Never, Jumala the mighty, Never let another mortal, 390 Make his way to Mana's country, Penetrate to Tuoni's kingdom! Many there indeed have ventured. Few indeed have wandered homeward; From the dread abode of Tuoni, From the eternal home of Mana."

Afterwards these words he added, And expressed himself in thiswise. To the rising generation, And to the courageous people: 400 "Sons of men, O never venture In the course of all your lifetime, Wrong to work against the guiltless, Guilt to work against the sinless, Lest your just reward is paid you In the dismal realms of Tuoni! There's the dwelling of the guilty, And the resting-place of sinners, Under stones to redness heated, Under slabs of stone all glowing, 410 'Neath a coverlet of vipers, Of the loathsome snakes of Tuoni."

RUNO XVII.--VÄINÄMÖINEN AND ANTERO VIPUNEN

_Argument_

Väinämöinen goes to obtain magic words from Antero Vipunen, and wakes him from his long sleep under the earth (1-98). Vipunen swallows Väinämöinen, and the latter begins to torture him violently in his stomach (99-146). Vipunen tries every means that he can think of to get rid of him by promises, spells, conjurations and exorcisms, but Väinämöinen declares that he will never depart till he has obtained from Vipunen the words which he requires to finish his boat (147-526). Vipunen sings all his wisdom to Väinämöinen, who then leaves his body, returns to his boat-building, and finishes his boat (527-6:28).

Väinämöinen, old and steadfast, Had not found the words he wanted In the dark abode of Tuoni, In the eternal realms of Mana, And for evermore he pondered. In his head reflected ever. Where the words he might discover, And obtain the charms he needed.

Once a shepherd came to meet him, And he spoke the words which follow: 10 "You can find a hundred phrases, And a thousand words discover, Known to Antero Vipunen only, In his monstrous mouth and body. And there is a path which leads there, And a cross-road must be traversed, Not the best among the pathways, Nor the very worst of any. Firstly you must leap along it O'er the points of women's needles, 20 And another stage must traverse O'er the points of heroes' sword-blades, And a third course must be traversed O'er the blades of heroes' axes."

Väinämöinen, old and steadfast, Pondered deeply o'er the journey, To the smithy then he hastened, And he spoke the words which follow: "O thou smith, O Ilmarinen, Forge me straightway shoes of iron, 30 Forge me likewise iron gauntlets, Make me, too, a shirt of iron, And a mighty stake of iron, All of steel, which I will pay for, Lined within with steel the strongest, And o'erlaid with softer iron, For I go some words to seek for, And to snatch the words of power, From the giant's mighty body, Mouth of Antero Vipunen wisest." 40

Then the smith, e'en Ilmarinen, Answered in the words which follow: "Vipunen has long since perished, Long has Antero departed From the nets he has constructed, And the snares that he has fashioned. Words from him you cannot hope for; Half a word you could not look for."

Väinämöinen, old and steadfast, Started on his way, unheeding, 50 And the first day speeded lightly O'er the points of women's needles, And the second day sprang nimbly O'er the points of heroes' sword-blades, And upon the third day speeded O'er the blades of heroes' axes.

Vipunen in songs was famous, Full of craft the aged hero; With his songs he lay extended, Outstretched with his spells of magic. 60 On his shoulders grew a poplar, From his temples sprang a birch-tree, On his chin-tip grew an alder, On his beard a willow-thicket, On his brow were firs with squirrels, From his teeth sprang branching pine-trees. Then at once did Väinämöinen, Draw his sword and free the iron From the scabbard formed of leather, From his belt of lambskin fashioned; 70 Fell the poplar from his shoulders, Fell the birch-trees from his temples, From his chin the spreading alders, From his beard the willow-bushes, From his brow the firs with squirrels, From his teeth the branching pine-trees.

Then he thrust his stake of iron Into Vipunen's mouth he thrust it, In his gnashing gums he thrust it, In his clashing jaws he thrust it, 80 And he spoke the words which follow: "Rouse thyself, O slave of mortals, Where beneath the earth thou restest, In a sleep that long has lasted."

Vipunen, in songs most famous, Suddenly awoke from slumber, Feeling he was roughly treated, And with pain severe tormented. Then he bit the stake of iron, Bit the outer softer iron, 90 But the steel he could not sever, Could not eat the inner iron.

Then the aged Väinämöinen, Just above his mouth was standing, And his right foot slipped beneath him, And his left foot glided onward. Into Vipunen's mouth he stumbled, And within his jaws he glided.

Vipunen, in songs most famous, Opened then his mouth yet wider, 100 And his jaws he wide extended, Gulped the well-beloved hero, With a shout the hero swallowed, Him the aged Väinämöinen.

Vipunen, in songs most famous, Spoke the very words which follow: "I have eaten much already, And on ewes and goats have feasted, And have barren heifers eaten, And have also swine devoured, 110 But I ne'er had such a dinner, Such a morsel never tasted."

But the aged Väinämöinen, Uttered then the words which follow: "Now destruction falls upon me, And an evil day o'ertakes me, Prisoned here in Hiisi's stable, Here in Kalma's narrow dungeon."

So he pondered and reflected How to live and how to struggle. 120 In his belt a knife had Väinö, And the haft was formed of maple, And from this a boat he fashioned, And a boat he thus constructed, And he rowed the boat, and urged it Back and forth throughout the entrails, Rowing through the narrow channels, And exploring every passage.

Vipunen the old musician Was not thus much incommoded; 130 Then the aged Väinämöinen As a smith began to labour. And began to work with iron. With his shirt he made a smithy, With his shirt-sleeves made his bellows, With the fur he made the wind-bag, With his trousers made the air-pipe, And the opening with his stockings And he used his knee for anvil, And his elbow for a hammer. 140

Then he quick began to hammer, Actively he plied his hammer, Through the livelong night, unresting, Through the day without cessation In the stomach of the wise one, In the entrails of the mighty.

Vipunen, in songs most famous, Spoke aloud the words which follow: "Who among mankind can this be, Who among the roll of heroes? 150 I have gulped a hundred heroes, And a thousand men devoured, But his like I never swallowed. In my mouth the coals are rising, On my tongue are firebrands resting, In my throat is slag of iron.

"Go thou forth to wander, strange one, Pest of earth, at once depart thou, Ere I go to seek thy mother, Seek thy very aged mother. 160 If I told it to thy mother, Told the aged one the story, Great would be thy mother's trouble, Great the aged woman's sorrow, That her son should work such evil, And her child should act so basely.

"Still I hardly comprehend it, Do not comprehend the reason, How thou, Hiisi, here hast wandered, Why thou cam'st, thou evil creature, 170 Thus to bite, and thus to torture, Thus to eat, and thus to gnaw me. Art thou some disease-created Death that Jumala ordains me, Or art thou another creature, Fashioned and unloosed by others, Hired beforehand to torment me, Or hast thou been bribed with money?

"If thou art disease-created, Death by Jumala ordained me, 180 Then I trust in my Creator, And to Jumala resign me; For the good the Lord rejects not, Nor does he destroy the righteous.

"If thou art another creature, And an evil wrought by others, Then thy race would I discover, And the place where thou wast nurtured.

"Once before have ills assailed me, Plagues from somewhere have attacked me, 190 From the realms of mighty sorcerers, From the meadows of the soothsayers, And the homes of evil spirits, And the plains where dwell the wizards, From the dreary heaths of Kalma, From beneath the firm earth's surface, From the dwellings of the dead men, From the realms of the departed, From the loose earth heaped in hillocks, From the regions of the landslips, 200 From the loose and gravelly districts, From the shaking sandy regions, From the valleys deeply sunken, From the moss-grown swampy districts, From the marshes all unfrozen, From the billows ever tossing, From the stalls in Hiisi's forest, From five gorges in the mountains, From the slopes of copper mountains, From their summits all of copper, 210 From the ever-rustling pine-trees, And the rustling of the fir-trees, From the crowns of rotten pine-trees, And the tops of rotten fir-trees, From those spots where yelp the foxes, Heaths where elk are chased on snowshoes, From the bear's own rocky caverns, From the caves where bears are lurking, From the furthest bounds of Pohja, From the distant realms of Lapland, 220 From the wastes where grow no bushes, From the lands unploughed for ever, From the battle-fields extended, From the slaughter-place of heroes, From the fields where grass is rustling, From the blood that there is smoking, From the blue sea's watery surface, From the open sea's broad surface, From the black mud of the ocean, From the depth of thousand fathoms, 230 From the fiercely rushing torrents, From the seething of the whirlpool, And from Rutja's mighty cataract, Where the waters rush most wildly, From the further side of heaven, Where the rainless clouds stretch furthest, From the pathway of the spring-wind, From the cradle of the tempests.

"From such regions hast thou journeyed Thence hast thou proceeded, Torment, 240 To my heart of evil guiltless, To my belly likewise sinless, To devour and to torment me, And to bite me and to tear me?

"Pine away, O hound of Hiisi, Dog of Manala the vilest, O thou demon, quit my body, Pest of earth, O quit my liver, Let my heart be undevoured, Leave thou, too, my spleen uninjured, 250 Make no stoppage in my belly, And my lungs forbear to traverse, Do not pierce me through the navel, And my loins forbear to injure, And my backbone do not shatter, Nor upon my sides torment me.

"If my strength as man should fail me, Then will I invoke a greater, Which shall rid me of the evil, And shall drive away the horror. 260

"From the earth I call the Earth-Queen, From the fields, the Lord primeval, From the earth I call all swordsmen, From the sands the hero-horsemen, Call them to my aid and succour, To my help and aid I call them, In the tortures that o'erwhelm me, And amid this dreadful torment.

"If you do not heed their presence, And you will not shrink before them, 270 Come, O forest, with thy people, Junipers, bring all your army. Come, O pinewoods, with your household, And thou pond with all thy children, With their swords a hundred swordsmen, And a thousand mail-clad heroes, That they may assail this Hiisi, And may overwhelm this Juutas!

"If you do not heed their presence, And you will not shrink before them, 280 Rise thou up, O Water-Mother, Raise thy blue cap from the billows, And thy soft robe from the waters, From the ooze thy form of beauty, For a powerless hero's rescue, For a weakly man's protection, Lest I should be eaten guiltless, And without disease be slaughtered.

"If you will not heed their presence, And you will not shrink before them, 290 Ancient Daughter of Creation, Come in all thy golden beauty, Thou the oldest of all women, Thou the first of all the mothers, Come to see the pains that rack me, And the evil days drive from me, That thy strength may overcome them, And perchance may free me from them.

"But if this not yet should move you, And you will not yet draw backwards, 300 Ukko, in the vault of heaven, On the thundercloud's wide border, Come thou here, where thou art needed, Hasten here, where I implore thee, To dispel the works of evil, And destroy this vile enchantment, With thy sword of flame dispel it, With thy flashing sword-blade smite it.

"Go thou horror, forth to wander, Curse of earth depart thou quickly, 310 Here no more shall be thy dwelling, And if thou such dwelling needest, Elsewhere shalt thou seek thy dwellings, Far from here a home shalt find thee, In the household of thy master, In the footsteps of thy mistress.

"When you reach your destination, And your journey you have finished, In the realms of him who made you, In the country of your master, 320 Give a signal of your coming, Let a lightning flash announce it, Let them hear the roll of thunder, Let them see the lightning flashing, And the yard-gate kick to pieces, Pull a shutter from the window, Then the house thou soon canst enter, Rush into the room like whirlwind, Plant thy foot within it firmly, And thy heel where space is narrow, 330 Push the men into the corner, And the women to the doorposts, Scratch the eyes from out the masters, Smash the heads of all the women, Curve thou then to hooks thy fingers, Twist thou then their heads all crooked.

"Or if this is not sufficient, Fly as cock upon the pathway, Or as chicken in the farmyard, With thy breast upon the dunghill, 340 Drive the horses from the stable, From the stalls the horned cattle, Push their horns into the dungheap, On the ground their tails all scatter, Twist thou then their eyes all crooked, And their necks in haste then break thou.

"Art thou Sickness, tempest-carried, Tempest-carried, wind-conducted, And a gift from wind of springtime, By the frosty air led hither, 350 On the path of air conducted, On the sledgeway of the spring-wind, Then upon the trees repose not, Rest thou not upon the alders, Hasten to the copper mountain, Hasten to its copper summit, Let the wind convey thee thither, Guarded by the wind of springtide.

"But if thou from heaven descended, From the rainless clouds' broad margins, 360 Then again ascend to heaven, Once again in air arise thou, To the clouds where rain is falling, To the stars that ever twinkle, That thou there mayst burn like fire, And that thou mayst shine and sparkle On the sun's own path of splendour, And around the moon's bright circle.

"If thou art some pest of water, Hither drifted by the sea-waves, 370 Let the pest return to water, Journey back amid the sea-waves, To the walls of muddy castles, To the crests of waves like mountains, There amid the waves to welter, Rocking on the darkling billows.

"Cam'st thou from the heaths of Kalma, From the realms of the departed, To thy home return thou quickly, To the dark abodes of Kalma, 380 To the land upheaved in hillocks, To the land that quakes for ever, Where the people fall in battle, And a mighty host has perished.

"If thou foolishly hast wandered From the depths of Hiisi's forest, From the nest amid the pine-trees, From thy home among the fir-trees, Then I drive thee forth and ban thee, To the depths of Hiisi's forest, 390 To thy home among the fir-trees, To thy nest among the pine-trees. There thou mayst remain for ever, Till the flooring-planks have rotted, And the wooden walls are mildewed, And the roof shall fall upon you.

"I will drive thee forth and ban thee, Drive thee forth, O evil creature, Forth unto the old bear's dwelling, To the lair of aged she-bear, 400 To the deep and swampy valleys, To the ever-frozen marshes, To the swamps for ever quaking, Quaking underneath the footsteps, To the ponds where sport no fishes, Where no perch are ever noticed.

"But if there thou find'st no refuge, Further yet will I then ban thee, To the furthest bounds of Pohja, To the distant plains of Lapland, 410 To the barren treeless tundras, To the country where they plough not, Where is neither moon nor sunlight, Where the sun is never shining. There a charming life awaits thee, There to roam about at pleasure. In the woods the elks are lurking. In the woods men hunt the reindeer, That a man may still his hunger, And may satisfy his craving. 420

"Even further yet I ban thee, Banish thee, and drive thee onward, To the mighty falls of Rutja, To the fiercely raging whirlpool, Thither where the trees have fallen, And the fallen pines are rolling, Tossing trunks of mighty fir-trees, Wide-extended crowns of pine-trees. Swim thou there, thou wicked heathen, In the cataract's foaming torrent, 430 Round to drive 'mid boundless waters, Resting in the narrow waters.

"But if there you find no refuge, Further yet will I then ban you, To the river black of Tuoni, To the eternal stream of Mana, Never in thy life escaping, Never while thy life endureth, Should I not consent to free thee, Nor to ransom thee be able, 440 Come with nine sheep thee to ransom, Which a single ewe has farrowed, And with bullocks, nine in number, From a single cow proceeding, And with stallions, nine in number, From a single mare proceeding.