Part 4

Said the lively Lemminkainen, Spoke the handsome Kaukomieli, "I have sung a song most splendid, But perchance might sing a better, If beneath a roof I sang it, At the end of the deal table. 190 If a house you cannot give me, There to rest upon the planking, I will hum my tunes in forest, Toss my songs among the bushes."

Said the maidens of the island, Answered after full reflection: "There are houses you may enter, Handsome halls that you may dwell in, Safe from cold to sing your verses, In the open speak your magic." 200

Then the lively Lemminkainen, Entered in a house directly, Where he sang a row of pint-pots, At the end of the long table. All the pots with ale were brimming, And the cans with mead the finest, Filled as full as one could fill them, Dishes filled to overflowing. In the pots was beer in plenty, And the mead in covered tankards, 210 Butter too, in great abundance, Pork was likewise there in plenty, For the feast of Lemminkainen, And for Kaukomieli's pleasure.

Kauko was of finest manners, Nor to eat was he accustomed, Only with a knife of silver, Fitted with a golden handle.

So he sang a knife of silver, And a golden-hafted knife-blade, 220 And he ate till he was sated, Drank the ale in full contentment.

Then the lively Lemminkainen, Roamed about through every village, For the island-maidens' pleasure, To delight the braidless damsels, And where'er his head was turning, There he found a mouth for kissing, Wheresoe'er his hand was outstretched, There he found a hand to clasp it. 230

And at night he went to rest him, Hiding in the darkest corner; There was not a single village Where he did not find ten homesteads, There was not a single homestead Where he did not find ten daughters, There was none among the daughters, None among the mother's children, By whose side he did not stretch him, On whose arm he did not rest him. 240

Thus a thousand brides he found there, Rested by a hundred widows; Two in half-a-score remained not, Three in a completed hundred, Whom he left untouched as maidens, Or as widows unmolested.

Thus the lively Lemminkainen Lived a life of great enjoyment, For the course of three whole summers In the island's pleasant hamlets, 250 To the island-maidens' rapture, The content of all the widows; One alone he did not trouble, 'Twas a poor and aged maiden, At the furthest promontory, In the tenth among the hamlets.

As he pondered on his journey, And resolved to wend him homeward, Came the poor and aged maiden, And she spoke the words which follow: 260 "Handsome hero, wretched Kauko, If you will not think upon me, Then I wish that as you travel, May your boat on rocks be stranded."

Rose he not before the cockcrow, Nor before the hen's child rose he, From his sporting with the maiden, Laughing with the wretched woman.

Then upon a day it happened, And upon a certain evening, 270 He resolved to rise and wander, Waiting not for morn or cockcrow.

Long before the time he rose up, Sooner than the time intended, And he went around to wander, And to wander through the village, For his sporting with the damsels, To amuse the wretched women.

As alone by night he wandered, Through the villages he sauntered 280 To the isle's extremest headland, To the tenth among the hamlets, He beheld not any homestead Where three rooms he did not notice, There was not a room among them Where he did not see three heroes, And he saw not any hero, With a sword-blade left unwhetted, Sharpened thus to bring destruction On the head of Lemminkainen. 290

Then the lively Lemminkainen Spoke aloud the words which follow: "Woe to me, the day is dawning, And the pleasant sun is rising O'er a youth, of all most wretched, O'er the neck of me unhappy! Lempo may perchance a hero With his shirt protect and cover, Perhaps will cover with his mantle, Cast it round him for protection 300 Though a hundred men attacked him, And a thousand pressed upon him."

Unembraced he left the maidens, And he left them unmolested, And he turned him to his vessel, Luckless to his boat he hurried, But he found it burned to ashes, Utterly consumed to ashes.

Mischief now he saw approaching, O'er his head ill days were brooding, 310 So began to build a vessel, And a new boat to construct him.

Wood was failing to the craftsman, Boards with which a boat to fashion, But he found of wood a little, Begged some wretched bits of boarding, Five small splinters of a spindle, And six fragments of a bobbin.

So from these a boat he fashioned, And a new boat he constructed, 320 By his magic art he made it, With his secret knowledge made it, Hammered once, one side he fashioned, Hammered twice, called up the other, Hammered then a third time only, And the boat was quite completed. Then he pushed the boat in water, On the waves he launched the vessel, And he spoke the words which follow, And expressed himself in thiswise: 330 "Float like bladder on the water, On the waves like water-lily. Eagle, give me now three feathers, Eagle, three, and two from raven, For the wretched boat's protection, For the wretched vessel's bulwarks."

Then he stepped upon the planking, At the stern he took his station, Head bowed down, in deep depression, And his cap awry adjusted, 340 Since by night he dare not tarry, Nor by day could linger longer, For the island-maidens' pleasure, Sporting with unbraided damsels.

Spoke the lively Lemminkainen, Said the handsome Kaukomieli: "Now the youth must take departure, And must travel from these dwellings, Joyless leave behind these damsels, Dance no longer with the fair ones. 350 Surely when I have departed, And have left this land behind me, Never will rejoice these damsels, Nor unbraided girls be jesting, In their homes so full of sadness, In the courtyards now so dreary."

Wept the island girls already, Damsels at the cape lamented: "Wherefore goest thou, Lemminkainen, And departest, hero-bridegroom? 360 Dost thou go for maidens' coyness, Or for scarcity of women?"

Spoke the lively Lemminkainen, Said the handsome Kaukomieli, "'Tis not for the maidens' coyness, Nor the scarcity of women. I have had a hundred women, And embraced a thousand maidens; Thus departeth Lemminkainen, Quits you thus your hero-bridegroom, 370 Since the great desire has seized me, Longing for my native country, Longing for my own land's strawberries, For the slopes where grow the raspberries, For the maidens on the headland, And the poultry of my farmyard."

Then the lively Lemminkainen Pushed into the waves the vessel, Blew the wind, and then it blustered, Rising waves drove on the vessel 380 O'er the blue lake's shining surface, And across the open water.

On the beach there stood the sad ones, On the shingles the unhappy, And the island girls were weeping, And the golden maids lamenting. Wept for long the island-maidens, Damsels on the cape lamented, Long as they could see the masthead, And the ironwork was gleaming, 390 But they wept not for the masthead, Nor bewailed the iron fittings, By the mast they wept the steersman, He who wrought the iron fittings.

Lemminkainen too was weeping, Long he wept, and long was saddened, Long as he could see the island, Or the outline of its mountains; But he wept not for the island, Nor lamented for the mountains, 400 But he wept the island-damsels, For the mountain geese lamented.

Then the lively Lemminkainen O'er the blue lake took his journey, And he voyaged one day, a second, And at length upon the third day Rose a furious wind against him, And the whole horizon thundered. Rose a great wind from the north-west, And a strong wind from the north-east, 410 Struck one side and then the other, Thus the vessel overturning.

Then the lively Lemminkainen Plunged his hands into the water, Rowing forward with his fingers, While his feet he used for steering.

Thus he swam by night and daytime And with greatest skill he steered him, And a little cloud perceived he, In the west a cloud projecting, 420 Which to solid land was changing, And became a promontory.

On the cape he found a homestead, Where he found the mistress baking, And her daughters dough were kneading. "O thou very gracious mistress, If you but perceived my hunger, Thought upon my sad condition, You would hurry to the storehouse, To the alehouse like a snowstorm, 430 And a can of ale would fetch me, And a strip of pork would fetch me, In the pan would broil it for me, And would pour some butter on it, That the weary man might eat it, And the fainting hero drink it. Nights and days have I been swimming Out upon the broad lake's billows, With the wind as my protector, At the mercy of the lake-waves." 440

Thereupon the gracious mistress Hastened to the mountain storehouse, Sliced some butter in the storehouse, And a slice of pork provided, In the pan thereafter broiled it, That the hungry man might eat it. Then she fetched of ale a canful, For the fainting hero's drinking, And she gave him a new vessel, And a boat completely finished, 450 Which to other lands should take him, And convey him to his birthplace.

Then the lively Lemminkainen Started on his homeward journey, Saw the lands and saw the beaches, Here the islands, there the channels, Saw the ancient landing-stages, Saw the former dwelling-places, And he saw the pine-clad mountains, All the hills with fir-trees covered, 460 But he found no more his homestead, And the walls he found not standing; Where the house before was standing, Rustled now a cherry-thicket, On the mound were pine-trees growing, Juniper beside the well-spring.

Spoke the lively Lemminkainen, Said the handsome Kaukomieli, "I have roamed among these forests, O'er the stones, and plunged in river, 470 And have played about the meadows, And have wandered through the cornfields. Who has spoiled my well-known homestead, And destroyed my charming dwelling? They have burned the house to ashes, And the wind's dispersed the ashes."

Thereupon he fell to weeping, And he wept one day, a second, But he wept not for the homestead, Nor lamented for the storehouse, 480 But he wept the house's treasure, Dearer to him than the storehouse.

Then he saw a bird was flying, And a golden eagle hovering, And he then began to ask it: "O my dearest golden eagle, Can you not perchance inform me, What has happened to my mother, To the fair one who has borne me, To my dear and much-loved mother?" 490

Nothing knew the eagle of her, Nor the stupid bird could tell him, Only knew that she had perished; Said a raven she had fallen, And had died beneath the sword-blades, 'Neath the battle-axes fallen.

Answered lively Lemminkainen, Said the handsome Kaukomieli: "O my fair one who hast borne me, O my dear and much-loved mother! 500 Hast thou perished, who hast borne me, Hast thou gone, O tender mother? Now thy flesh in earth has rotted, Fir-trees o'er thy head are growing, Juniper upon thy ankles, On thy finger-tips are willows.

"Thus my wretched doom has found me, And an ill reward has reached me, That my sword I dared to measure, And I dared to raise my weapons 510 There in Pohjola's great castle, In the fields of Pimentola. But my own race now has perished, Perished now is she who bore me."

Then he looked, and turned on all sides, And he saw a trace of footsteps, Where the grass was lightly trampled, And the heath was slightly broken. Then he went the way they led him, And he found a little pathway; 520 To the forest led the pathway, And he went in that direction.

Thus he walked a verst, a second, Hurried through a stretch of country, And in darkest shades of forest, In the most concealed recesses, There he saw a hidden bath-house, Saw a little cottage hidden, In a cleft two rocks protected, In a nook between three fir-trees; 530 There he saw his tender mother, There beheld the aged woman.

Then the lively Lemminkainen, Felt rejoiced beyond all measure, And he spoke the words which follow, And in words like these expressed him: "O my very dearest mother, O my mother who hast nursed me, Thou art living still, O mother, Watchful still, my aged mother! 540 Yet I thought that thou had'st perished, And wast lost to me for ever, Perished underneath the sword-blades, Or beneath the spears had'st fallen, And I wept my pretty eyes out, And my handsome cheeks were ruined."

Then said Lemminkainen's mother, "True it is that I am living, But was forced to fly my dwelling, And to seek a place of hiding 550 In this dark and gloomy forest, In the most concealed recesses, When came Pohjola to battle, Murderous hosts from distant countries, Seeking but for thee, unhappy, And our home they laid in ruins, And they burned the house to ashes, And they wasted all the holding."

Said the lively Lemminkainen: "O my mother who hast borne me, 560 Do not give thyself to sadness, Be not sad, and be not troubled. We will now erect fresh buildings, Better buildings than the others, And will wage a war with Pohja, Overthrowing Lempo's people."

Then did Lemminkainen's mother Answer in the words which follow: "Long hast thou, my son, been absent, Long, my Kauko, hast been living 570 In a distant foreign country, Always in the doors of strangers, On a nameless promontory, And upon an unknown island."

Answered lively Lemminkainen, Said the handsome Kaukomieli: "There to dwell was very pleasant, Charming was it there to wander. There the trees are crimson-shining, Red the trees, and blue the country, 580 And the pine-boughs shine like silver, And the flowers of heath all golden, And the mountains are of honey, And the rocks are made of hens' eggs, Flows the mead from withered pine-trees, Milk flows from the barren fir-trees, Butter flows from corner-fences, From the posts the ale is flowing.

"There to dwell was very pleasant, Lovely was it to reside there; 590 Afterwards 'twas bad to live there, And unfit for me to live there. They were anxious for the maidens, And suspicious of the women, Lest the miserable wenches, And the fat and wicked creatures, Might by me be badly treated, Visited too much at night-time. But I hid me from the maidens, And the women's daughters guarded 600 Just as hides the wolf from porkers, Or the hawks from village poultry."

RUNO XXX.--LEMMINKAINEN AND TIERA

_Argument_

Lemminkainen goes to ask his former comrade-in-arms, Tiera, to join him in an expedition against Pohjola (1-122). The Mistress of Pohjola sends the Frost against them, who freezes the boat in the sea, and almost freezes the heroes themselves in the boat, but that Lemminkainen restrains it by powerful charms and invocations (123-316). Lemminkainen and his companion walk across the ice to the shore, wander about in the waste for a long time in a miserable plight, and at last make their way home (317-500).

Ahti, youth for ever youthful, Lemminkainen young and lively, Very early in the morning, In the very earliest morning, Sauntered downward to the boathouse, To the landing-stage he wandered.

There a wooden boat was weeping, Boat with iron rowlocks grieving; "Here am I, for sailing ready, But, O wretched one, rejected. 10 Ahti rows not forth to battle, For the space of sixty summers, Neither for the lust of silver, Or if need of gold should drive him."

Then the lively Lemminkainen Struck his glove upon the vessel, With his coloured glove he struck it, And he said the words which follow: "Care thou not, O deck of pinewood, Nor lament, O timber-sided. 20 Thou once more shalt go to battle, And shalt mingle in the combat, Shalt again be filled with warriors, Ere to-morrow shall be ended."

Then he went to seek his mother, And he said the words which follow: "Do not weep for me, O mother, Nor lament, thou aged woman, If I once again must wander, And again must go to battle; 30 For my mind resolve has taken, And a plan my brain has seized on, To destroy the folk of Pohja, And revenge me on the scoundrels."

To restrain him sought his mother, And the aged woman warned him: "Do not go, my son, my dearest, Thus 'gainst Pohjola to combat! There perchance might death o'ercome thee, And destruction fall upon thee." 40

Little troubled Lemminkainen, But he thought on his departure, And he started on his journey, And he spoke the words which follow: "Can I find another hero, Find a man, and find a swordsman, Who will join in Ahti's battle, And with all his strength will aid me?

"Well is Tiera known unto me, Well with Kuura I'm acquainted, 50 He will be a second hero, He's a hero and a swordsman, He will join in Ahti's battle, And with all his strength will aid me."

Through the villages he wandered, Found his way to Tiera's homestead, And he said on his arrival, Spoke the object of his coming: "O my Tiera, faithful comrade, Of my friends most loved and dearest, 60 Thinkest thou on days departed, On the life we lived aforetime, When we wandered forth together, To the fields of mighty battles? There was not a single village Where ten houses were not numbered, There was none among the houses, Where ten heroes were not living, There was none among the heroes, Not a man, however valiant, 70 None who did not fall before us, By us twain who was not slaughtered."

At the window worked the father, And a spear-shaft he was carving; By the threshold stood the mother, Busy as she churned the butter; At the door the ruddy brothers, And they wrought a sledge's framework; At the bridge-end stood the sisters, And the clothes they there were wringing. 80

From the window spoke the father, And the mother from the threshold, From the door the ruddy brothers, From the bridge-end spoke the sisters, "Tiera cannot go to battle, Nor may strike with spear in warfare. Other duties call for Tiera, He has made a lifelong compact, For a young wife has he taken As the mistress of his household, 90 But untouched is she at present, Uncaressed is still her bosom."

By the stove was Tiera resting, By the stove-side Kuura rested, At the stove one foot he booted, And the other at the stove-bench, At the gate his belt he tightened, In the open girt it round him; Then did Tiera grasp his spear-shaft, Not the largest of the largest, 100 Nor the smallest of the smallest, But a spear of mid dimensions. On the blade a steed was standing, On the side a foal was trotting, At the joint a wolf was howling, At the haft a bear was growling.

Thus his spear did Tiera brandish, And he brandished it to whirring, Hurled it then to fathom-deepness In the stiff clay of the cornfield, 110 In a bare spot of the meadow, In a flat spot free from hillocks.

Then his spear was placed by Tiera With the other spears of Ahti, And he went and made him ready Swift to join in Ahti's battle.

Then did Ahti Saarelainen Push his boat into the water, Like a snake in grass when creeping, Even like a living serpent, 120 And he sailed away to north-west, On the lake that borders Pohja.

Then did Pohjola's old Mistress Call the wicked Frost to aid her, On the lake that borders Pohja, On the deep and open water, And she said the words which follow, Thus she spoke and thus commanded: "O my Frost, my boy so little, O thou foster-child I nurtured! 130 Go thou forth where I shall bid thee, Where I bid thee, and I send thee. Freeze the boat of that great scoundrel, Boat of lively Lemminkainen, On the lake's extended surface, On the deep and open water, Freeze thou too the master in it, Freeze thou in the boat the rascal, That he nevermore escape thee, In the course of all his lifetime, 140 If myself I do not loose him, If myself I do not free him."

Then the Frost, that wicked fellow, And a youth the most malicious, Went upon the lake to freeze it, And upon the waves he brooded. Forth he went, as he was ordered, And upon the land he wandered, Bit the leaves from off the branches, Grass from off the flowerless meadows. 150

Then he came upon his journey To the lake that borders Pohja, To the endless waste of water, And upon the first night only Froze the bays and froze the lakelets, Hurried forward on the seashore, But the lake was still unfrozen, And the waves were still unstiffened. If a small finch swam the water, On the waves a water-wagtail, 160 Still its claws remained unfrozen, And its little head unstiffened.

On the second night, however, He began to work more strongly, Growing insolent extremely, And he now grew most terrific, Then the ice on ice he loaded, And the great Frost still was freezing, And with ice he clothed the mountains, Scattered snow to height of spear-shaft, 170 Froze the boat upon the water, Ahti's vessel on the billows; Then he would have frozen Ahti, And in ice his feet would fasten, And he seized upon his fingers, And beneath his toes attacked him. Angry then was Lemminkainen, Very angry and indignant, Pushed the Frost into the fire, Pushed him in an iron furnace. 180