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
With his hands the Frost then seized he,
Grasped him in his fists securely,
And he spoke the words which follow,
And in words like these expressed him:
"Pakkanen, Puhuri's offspring,
Thou, the son of cold of winter,
Do not make my fingers frozen,
Nor my little toes thus stiffen.
Let my ears remain unhandled,
Do not freeze my head upon me. 190
"There's enough that may be frozen,
Much is left you for your freezing,
Though the skins of men you freeze not,
Nor the forms of mother's children.
Be the plains and marshes frozen,
Freeze the stones to frozen coldness,
Freeze the willows near the water,
Grasp the aspen till it murmurs,
Peel the bark from off the birch-tree,
And the pine-trees break to pieces, 200
But the men you shall not trouble,
Nor the hair of mother's children.
"If this is not yet sufficient,
Other things remain for freezing.
Thou may'st freeze the stones when heated,
And the slabs of stone when glowing,
Thou may'st freeze the iron mountains,
And the rocks of steely hardness,
And the mighty river Vuoksi,
Or the Imatra terrific, 210
Stop the course of raging whirlpool,
Foaming in its utmost fury.
"Shall I tell you of your lineage,
And shall I make known your honours?
Surely do I know thy lineage,
All I know of thine uprearing;
For the Frost was born 'mid willows,
Nurtured in the sharpest weather,
Near to Pohjola's great homestead,
Near the hall of Pimentola, 220
Sprung from father, ever crime-stained,
And from a most wicked mother.
"Who was it the Frost who suckled,
Bathed him in the glowing weather?
Milkless wholly was his mother,
And his mother wholly breastless.
"Adders 'twas the Frost who suckled,
Adders suckled, serpents fed him,
Suckled with their pointless nipples,
Suckled with their dried-up udders, 230
And the Northwind rocked his cradle,
And to rest the cold air soothed him,
In the wretched willow-thicket,
In the midst of quaking marshes.
"And the boy was reared up vicious,
Led an evil life destructive,
But as yet no name was given,
To a boy so wholly worthless;
When at length a name was given,
Frost it was they called the scoundrel. 240
"Then he wandered by the hedges,
Always dancing in the bushes,
Wading through the swamps in summer
On the broadest of the marshes,
Roaring through the pines in winter,
Crying out among the fir-trees,
Crashing through the woods of birch-trees,
Sweeping through the alder-thickets,
Freezing all the trees and grasses,
Making level all the meadows. 250
From the trees he bit the foliage,
From the heather bit the blossoms,
Cracked the bark from off the pine-trees,
And the twigs from off the fir-trees.
"Now that thou hast grown to greatness,
And attained thy fullest stature,
Dar'st thou me with cold to threaten,
And to seize my ears attemptest,
To attack my feet beneath me,
And my finger-tips attacking? 260
"But I shall not let you freeze me.
Not to miserably freeze me,
Fire I'll thrust into my stockings,
In my boots thrust burning firebrands,
In the seams thrust burning embers,
Fire will thrust beneath my shoestrings,
That the Frost may never freeze me,
Nor the sharpest weather harm me.
"Thither will I now condemn thee,
To the furthest bounds of Pohja, 270
To the place from whence thou camest,
To the home from whence thou camest.
Freeze upon the fire the kettles,
And the coals upon the hearthstone,
In the dough the hands of women,
And the boy in young wife's bosom,
In the ewes the milk congeal thou,
And in mares let foals be frozen.
"If to this thou pay'st no heeding,
Then indeed will I condemn thee 280
To the midst of coals of Hiisi,
Even to the hearth of Lempo,
Thrust thee there into the furnace,
Lay thee down upon the anvil,
Unprotected from the hammer,
From the pounding of the hammer,
That the hammer beat thee helpless,
And the hammer beat thee sorely.
"If this will not overcome thee,
And my spells are insufficient, 290
Still I know another station,
Know a fitting station for thee.
I will lead thy mouth to summer,
And thy tongue to home of summer,
Whence thou never canst release thee,
In the course of all thy lifetime,
If I do not give thee freedom,
And I should myself release thee."
Then the Frost, the son of Northwind,
Felt that he was near destruction, 300
Whereupon he prayed for mercy,
And he spoke the words which follow:
"Let us understand each other,
Nor the one the other injure,
In the course of all our lifetime,
While the golden moon is shining.
"Should'st thou hear that I would freeze you,
Or again should misbehave me,
Thrust me then into the furnace,
Sink me in the blazing fire, 310
In the smith's coals do thou sink me,
Under Ilmarinen's anvil,
Or my mouth to summer turn thou,
And my tongue to home of summer,
Never more release to hope for,
In the course of all my lifetime."
Then the lively Lemminkainen
Left his vessel in the ice-floes,
Left his captured ship of battle,
And proceeded on his journey; 320
Tiera too, the other hero,
Followed in his comrade's footsteps.
O'er the level ice they wandered,
'Neath their feet the smooth ice crunching,
And they walked one day, a second,
And at length upon the third day,
Then they saw a cape of hunger,
And afar a wretched village.
'Neath the cape there stood a castle,
And they spoke the words which follow: 330
"Is there meat within the castle,
Is there fish within the household,
For the worn and weary heroes,
And the men who faint with hunger?"
Meat was none within the castle,
Nor was fish within the household.
Spoke the lively Lemminkainen,
Said the handsome Kaukomieli:
"Fire consume this wretched castle,
Water sweep away such castles!" 340
He himself pursued his journey,
Pushing onward through the forest,
On a path with houses nowhere,
On a pathway that he knew not.
Then the lively Lemminkainen,
He the handsome Kaukomieli,
Shore the wool from stones in passing,
From the rocks the hair he gathered,
And he wove it into stockings,
Into mittens quickly wrought it, 350
In the mighty cold's dominion,
Where the Frost was freezing all things.
On he went to seek a pathway,
Searching for the right direction.
Through the wood the pathway led him,
Led him in the right direction.
Spoke the lively Lemminkainen,
Said the handsome Kaukomieli,
"O my dearest brother Tiera,
Now at length we're coming somewhere, 360
Now that days and months we've wandered,
In the open air for ever."
Then did Tiera make him answer,
And he spoke the words which follow:
"We unhappy sought for vengeance,
Recklessly we sought for vengeance,
Rushing forth to mighty conflict
In the gloomy land of Pohja,
There our lives to bring in danger,
Rushing to our own destruction, 370
In this miserable country,
On a pathway that we knew not.
"Never is it known unto us,
Never known and never guessed at,
What the pathway is that leads us,
Or the road that may conduct us
To our death at edge of forest,
Or on heath to meet destruction,
Here in the abode of ravens,
In the fields by crows frequented. 380
"And the ravens here are flocking,
And the evil birds are croaking,
And the flesh the birds are tearing,
And with blood the crows are sated,
And the ravens' beaks are moistened
In the wounds of us, the wretched,
To the rocks our bones they carry,
And upon the stones they cast them.
"Ah, my hapless mother knows not,
Never she, with pain who bore me, 390
Where her flesh may now be carried,
And her blood may now be flowing,
Whether in the furious battle,
In the equal strife of foemen,
Or upon a lake's broad surface,
On the far-extending billows,
Or on hills with pine-cones loaded,
Wandering 'mid the fallen branches.
"And my mother can know nothing
Of her son, the most unhappy, 400
Only know that he has perished,
Only know that he has fallen;
And my mother thus will weep me,
Thus lament, the aged woman:
"'Thus my hapless son has perished,
And the wretched one has fallen;
He has sown the seed of Tuoni,
Harrows now in Kalma's country.
Perhaps the son I love so dearly,
Perhaps my son, O me unhappy, 410
Leaves his bows untouched for ever,
Leaves his handsome bows to stiffen.
Now the birds may live securely,
In the leaves the grouse may flutter,
Bears may live their lives of rapine,
In the fields the reindeer roll them.'"
Answered lively Lemminkainen,
Said the handsome Kaukomieli:
"Thus it is, unhappy mother,
Thou unhappy, who hast borne me! 420
Thou a flight of doves hast nurtured,
Quite a flock of swans hast nurtured,
Rose the wind, and all were scattered,
Lempo came, and he dispersed them,
One in one place, one in other,
And a third in yet another.
"I remember times aforetime,
And the better days remember,
How like flowers we gathered round thee,
In one homeland, just like berries. 430
Many gazed upon our figures,
And admired our forms so handsome,
Otherwise than in the present,
In this time so full of evil.
Once the wind was our acquaintance,
And the sun was gazing on us:
Now the clouds are gathering round us,
And the rain has overwhelmed us.
But we let not trouble vex us,
Even in our greatest sorrow, 440
Though the girls were living happy,
And the braidless maids were jesting,
And the women all were laughing,
And the brides were sweet as honey,
Tearless, spite of all vexation,
And unshaken when in trouble.
"But we are not here enchanted,
Not bewitched, and not enchanted,
Here upon the paths to perish,
Sinking down upon our journey, 450
In our youth to sadly perish,
In our bloom to meet destruction.
"Let those whom the sorcerers harassed
And bewitched with eyes of evil,
Let them make their journey homeward,
And regain their native country.
Be the sorcerers' selves enchanted,
And with songs bewitched their children;
Let their race for ever perish,
And their race be brought to ruin. 460
"Ne'er in former times my father,
Never has my aged father
Yielded to a sorcerer's orders,
Or the wiles of Lapland's children.
Thus my father spoke aforetime,
And I now repeat his sayings:
'Guard me, O thou kind Creator,
Guard me, Jumala most gracious,
Aid me with thy hand of mercy,
With thy mighty power protect me, 470
From the plots of men of evil,
And the thoughts of aged women,
And the curses of the bearded,
And the curses of the beardless.
Grant us now thy aid eternal,
Be our ever-faithful guardian,
That no child be taken from us,
And no mother's child shall wander
From the path of the Creator,
Which by Jumala was fashioned.'" 480
Then the lively Lemminkainen,
He the handsome Kaukomieli,
From his care constructed horses,
Coursers black composed from trouble,
Reins from evil days he fashioned,
Saddles from his secret sorrows,
Then his horse's back he mounted,
On his white-front courser mounted,
And he rode upon his journey,
At his side his faithful Tiera, 490
And along the shores he journeyed,
On the sandy shores proceeded,
Till he reached his tender mother,
Reached the very aged woman.
Now will I abandon Kauko,
Long from out my song will leave him;
But he showed the way to Tiera,
Sent him on his homeward journey.
Now my song aside will wander,
While I turn to other matters. 500
RUNO XXXI.--UNTAMO AND KULLERVO
_Argument_
Untamo wages war against his brother Kalervo, overthrows Kalervo and his
army, sparing only a single pregnant woman of the whole clan. She is
carried away to Untamo's people, and gives birth to her son Kullervo
(1-82). Kullervo resolves in his cradle to take revenge on Untamo, and
Untamo attempts several times to put him to death, but without success
(83-202). When Kullervo grows up, he spoils all his work, and therefore
Untamo sells him as a slave to Ilmarinen (203-374).
'Twas a mother reared her chickens,
Large the flock of swans she nurtured;
By the hedge she placed the chickens,
Sent the swans into the river,
And an eagle came and scared them,
And a hawk that came dispersed them,
And a flying bird dispersed them.
One he carried to Carelia,
Into Russia bore the second,
In its home he left the third one. 10
Whom the bird to Russia carried
Soon grew up into a merchant;
Whom he carried to Carelia,
Kalervo was called by others,
While the third at home remaining,
Bore the name of Untamoinen,
For his father's lifelong anguish,
And his mother's deep affliction.
Untamoinen laid his netting
Down in Kalervo's fish-waters: 20
Kalervoinen saw the netting,
In his bag he put the fishes.
Untamo of hasty temper
Then became both vexed and angry,
And his fingers turned to battle,
With his open palms he urged it,
Making strife for fishes' entrails,
And for perch-fry made a quarrel.
Thus they fought and thus contended,
Neither overcame the other, 30
And though one might smite the other,
He himself again was smitten.
At another time it happened,
On the next and third day after,
Kalervoinen oats was sowing,
Back of Untamoinen's dwelling.
Sheep of Untamo most reckless
Browsed the oats of Kalervoinen,
Whereupon his dog ferocious
Tore the sheep of Untamoinen. 40
Untamo began to threaten
Kalervo, his very brother;
Kalervo's race vowed to slaughter,
Smite the great, and smite the little,
And to fall on all the people,
And their houses burn to ashes.
Men with swords in belt he mustered,
Weapons for their hands provided,
Little boys with spears in girdle,
Handsome youths who shouldered axes, 50
And he marched to furious battle,
Thus to fight his very brother.
Kalervoinen's son's fair consort
Then was sitting near the window,
And she looked from out the window,
And she spoke the words which follow:
"Is it smoke I see arising,
Or a gloomy cloud that rises,
On the borders of the cornfields,
Just beyond the new-made pathway?" 60
But no dark cloud there was rising,
Nor was smoke ascending thickly,
But 'twas Untamo's assemblage
Marching onward to the battle.
On came Untamo's assemblage,
In their belts their swords were hanging,
Kalervo's folk overwhelming,
And his mighty race they slaughtered,
And they burned his house to ashes,
Like a level field they made it. 70
Left of Kalervo's folk only
But one girl, and she was pregnant;
Then did Untamo's assemblage
Lead her homeward on their journey,
That she there might sweep the chamber,
And the floor might sweep from litter.
But a little time passed over,
When a little boy was born her,
From a most unhappy mother,
So by what name should they call him? 80
Kullervo his mother called him,
Untamo, the Battle-hero.
Then the little boy they swaddled,
And the orphan child they rested
In the cradle made for rocking,
That it might be rocked to lull him.
So they rocked the child in cradle,
Rocked it till his hair was tossing,
Rocked him for one day, a second,
Rocked him on the third day likewise, 90
When the boy began his kicking,
And he kicked and pushed about him,
Tore his swaddling clothes to pieces,
Freed himself from all his clothing,
Then he broke the lime-wood cradle,
All his rags he tore from off him.
And it seemed that he would prosper,
And become a man of mettle.
Untamola thought already
That when he was grown to manhood, 100
He would grow both wise and mighty,
And become a famous hero,
As a servant worth a hundred,
Equal to a thousand servants.
Thus he grew for two and three months,
But already in the third month,
When a boy no more than knee-high,
He began to speak in thiswise:
"Presently when I am bigger,
And my body shall be stronger, 110
I'll avenge my father's slaughter,
And my mother's tears atone for."