Part 4
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
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.