Kalevala, The Land Of The Heroes Volume I Part 24

Vainamoinen, old and steadfast, Looked for long within the tankard, And within it frogs were sp.a.w.ning, 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 Vainamoinen, Why to Ma.n.a.la dost travel, Why to Tuonela hast ventured, Though by Tuoni never summoned, To the land of Mana called not?"

Said the aged Vainamoinen, "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 Vaino 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.

Vainamoinen, 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 a.s.suming, 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 Vainamoinen, Not the old Uvantolainen.

Thus the aged Vainamoinen 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.--VaINaMoINEN AND ANTERO VIPUNEN

_Argument_

Vainamoinen goes to obtain magic words from Antero Vipunen, and wakes him from his long sleep under the earth (1-98). Vipunen swallows Vainamoinen, 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 Vainamoinen 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 Vainamoinen, who then leaves his body, returns to his boat-building, and finishes his boat (527-6:28).

Vainamoinen, 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."

Vainamoinen, 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 s.n.a.t.c.h 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."

Vainamoinen, 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 Vainamoinen, 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 Vainamoinen, 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 Vainamoinen.

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 Vainamoinen, 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 Vaino, 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 pa.s.sage.

Vipunen the old musician Was not thus much incommoded; 130 Then the aged Vainamoinen 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 a.s.sailed 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 gra.s.s 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?