Kalevala, The Land Of The Heroes Volume I Part 29

"Then he perched upon the chimney, Then upon the floor descended, Pushed aside the castle's shutter, Sat him at the castle window, Near the wall, all green his feathers, In the room, his plumes a hundred.

"Then he scanned the braidless maidens, Gazing on the long-haired maiden, 390 On the best of all the maidens, Fairest maid with hair unbraided, And her head with beads was shining, And her head with beauteous blossoms.

"In his claws the eagle seized her, And the hawk with talons grasped her, Seized the best of all the party, Of the flock of ducks the fairest, She the sweetest-voiced and tenderest, She the rosiest and the whitest, 400 She the bird of air selected, In his talons far he bore her, She who held her head the highest, And her form of all the shapeliest, And her feathers of the finest, And her plumage of the softest."

Then did Pohjola's old Mistress Answer in the words that follow: "Wherefore dost thou know, my darling, Or hast heard, my golden apple, 410 How the maiden grew amongst us, And her flaxen hair waved round her?

Perhaps the maiden shone with silver, Or the maiden's gold was famous.

Has our sun been shining on you, Or the moon afar been shining?"

From the floor the child made answer, And the growing child responded: "Therefore did your darling know it, And your fostling learned to know it. 420 In the far-famed maidens' dwelling, In the home where dwells the fair one; Good report rejoiced the father, When he launched his largest vessel; But rejoices more the mother, When the largest loaf is baking, And the wheaten bread is baking, That the guests may feast profusely.

"Thus it was your darling knew it, Far around the strangers knew it, 430 How the young maid grew in stature, And how tall grew up the maiden.

Once I went into the courtyard, And I wandered to the storehouse, Very early in the morning, In the earliest morning hours, And the soot in streaks ascended, And the smoke in clouds rose upward, From the far-famed maiden's dwelling, From the blooming maiden's homestead, 440 And the maid herself was grinding, Busy working at the handmill; Rung the mill like call of cuckoo, And the pestle quacked like wild geese, And the sieve like bird was singing, And the stones like beads were rattling.

"Forth a second time I wandered, And into the field I wandered, In the meadow was the maiden, Stooping o'er the yellow heather; 450 Working at the red-stained dye-pots, Boiling up the yellow kettles.

"When I wandered forth a third time Sat the maid beneath the window, There I heard the maiden weaving, In her hands the comb was sounding, And I heard the shuttle flying, As in cleft of rock the ermine, And the comb-teeth heard I sounding, As the wooden shaft was moving, 460 And the weaver's beam was turning, Like a squirrel in the tree-tops."

Then did Pohjola's old Mistress Answer in the words which follow: "Bravo, bravo, dearest maiden, Have I not for ever told thee, Not to sing among the pine-trees, Not to sing amid the valleys, Not to arch thy neck too proudly, Nor thy white arms leave uncovered, 470 Nor thy young and beauteous bosom, Nor thy shape so round and graceful?

"I have warned thee all the autumn, And besought thee all the summer, Likewise in the spring have cautioned, At the second springtide sowing, To construct a secret dwelling, With the windows small and hidden, Where the maids may do their weaving, And may work their looms in safety, 480 All unheard by Suomi's gallants, Suomi's gallants, country lovers."

From the floor the child made answer, And the fortnight-old responded: "Easily a horse is hidden In the stall, with fine-tailed horses; Hard it is to hide a maiden, And to keep her long locks hidden.

Though you build of stone a castle, And amid the sea shall rear it, 490 Though you keep your maidens in it, And should rear your darlings in it, Still the girls cannot be hidden, Nor attain their perfect stature, Undisturbed by l.u.s.ty gallants, l.u.s.ty gallants, country lovers.

Mighty men, with lofty helmets, Men who shoe with steel their horses."

Then the aged Vainamoinen Head bowed down, and deeply grieving: 500 Wandered on his journey homeward, And he spoke the words which follow: "Woe is me, a wretched creature, That I did not learn it sooner, That In youthful days one weddeth, And must choose a life-companion.

All thing else a man may grieve for, Save indeed an early marriage, When in youth already children, And a household he must care for." 510

Thus did warn old Vainamoinen, Cautioned thus Suvantolainen, That old men against the younger, Should not struggle for a fair one: Warned them not to swim too proudly, Neither try to race in rowing, Nor to seek to woo a maiden, With a younger man contending.

RUNO XX.--THE GREAT OX, AND THE BREWING OF THE ALE

_Argument_

An enormous ox is slaughtered in Pohjola (1-118). They brew ale and prepare a feast (119-516). They dispatch messengers to invite the heroes to the wedding, but Lemminkainen is expressly pa.s.sed over (517-614).

How shall we our song continue, And what legends shall we tell you?

Thus will we pursue our story; These the legends we will tell you; How in Pohjola they feasted, And the drinking-bout was G.o.dlike.

Long prepared they for the wedding, For the feast provided all things, In the household famed of Pohja, Halls of Sariola the misty. 10

What provisions were provided, What did they collect together, For a lengthy feast at Pohja, For the mult.i.tude of drinkers, For the feasting of the people, For the mult.i.tude of feasters?

In Carelia grew a bullock, Fat the ox they reared in Suomi, Not a large one, not a small one, But a calf of middle stature. 20 While he switched his tail in Hame Stooped his head to Kemi's river, Long his horns one hundred fathoms, Muzzle broad as half a hundred, For a week there ran an ermine All along the yoke he carried, All day long there flew a swallow 'Twixt the mighty ox's horn-tips, Striving through the s.p.a.ce to hasten, Nor found resting-place between them; 30 Month-long ran a summer-squirrel From his neck unto his tail-end, Nor did he attain the tail-tip, Till a month had quite pa.s.sed over.

'Twas this calf of size stupendous, 'Twas this mighty bull of Suomi, Whom they led forth from Carelia Till they reached the fields of Pohja.

By his horns, a hundred led him, And a thousand dragged his muzzle, 40 And they led the ox still further, Till to Pohjola they brought him.

On his road the ox proceeded By the Sound of Sariola strayed; Browsed the gra.s.s in marshy places, While his back the clouds were touching; But they could not find a butcher, Who could fell the country's marvel On the list of Suomi's children, 'Mid the mighty host of people, 50 Not among the youthful people, Nor among the very aged.

From afar an old man journeyed Virokannas from Carelia; And he spoke the words which follow: "Wait thous wait, thou ox unhappy, While I go and fetch my mallet.

If I strike you with my mallet On the skull, unhappy creature, Never in another summer, 60 Would you turn about your muzzle, Or your tail would jerk around you, Here among the fields of Pohja, By the Sound of Sariola stray."

Then the old man went to strike him, Virokannas moved against him, Went to slay the ox unhappy; But his head the ox was turning, And his black eyes he was blinking.

To a pine-tree sprang the old man, 70 Virokannas in the bushes, In the scrubby willow-thicket.

After this they sought a butcher, Who the mighty ox could slaughter, From Carelia's lovely country, From the vast expanse of Suomi, From the peaceful land of Russia, From the hardy land of Sweden, From the regions wide of Lapland, From the mighty land of Turja, 80 And they sought through Tuoni's regions, In the depths of Mana's kingdom, And they sought, but no one found they, Long they searched; but vainly searched they.

Yet again they sought a butcher, Sought again to find a slaughterer, On the ocean's shining surface, On the wide-extending billows.

From the dark sea rose a hero, Rose a hero from the sea-swell, 90 From the shining surface rising, From the wide expanse of water.

He was not among the greatest, But in nowise of the smallest.

In a bowl would he lie sleeping, And beneath a sieve stand upright.

'Twas an old man, iron-fisted, Iron-coloured, too, to gaze on; On his head a stony helmet; Shoes of stone his feet protected; 100 In his hand a knife, gold-bladed, And the haft o'erlaid with copper.

Thus the people found a butcher, And at length they found a slaughterer, Who should fell the bull of Suomi, And should fell the country's marvel.

Scarce had he beheld the quarry, Than at once his neck he shattered, On his knees he forced the bullock, And upon his side he threw him. 110 Did he yield them much provisions?

Not so very much he yielded.

Of his flesh a hundred barrels, And a hundred fathoms sausage; Seven boat-loads of blood they gathered, Six large casks with fat were loaded, All for Pohjola's great banquet, Feast of Sariola the misty.

Then they built a house in Pohja, Built a house with hall enormous, 120 Fathoms nine its sides extended, And the breadth thereof was seven.

If a c.o.c.k crowed at the smoke-hole, Underneath they could not hear it, If a dog at end was barking, At the door they did not hear it.

Then did Pohjola's old Mistress Walk across the flooring's planking, To the middle of the chamber, And she pondered and reflected: 130 "How shall I get ale sufficient, And shall brew the beer most wisely, To prepare it for the wedding, When the beer will much be needed?

How to brew the beer I know not, Nor how ale was first concocted."

By the stove there sat an old man, From the stove spoke up the old man: "Ale of barley is concocted, And the drink with hops is flavoured, 140 Yet they brew not save with water, And the aid of furious fire.

"Hop is called the son of Revel; Planted in the ground when little, With a plough they ploughed the region, Like an ant, away they cast him Close to Kaleva's great well-spring, There where Osmo's field is sloping; There the tender plant sprang upward, And the green shoot mounted quickly. 150 Up a little tree it mounted, Rising to the leafy summit.

"Sowed, by chance, an old man barley, In the fresh-ploughed field of Osmo, And the barley sprouted bravely, And It grew and flourished greatly, On the new-ploughed field of Osmo, Kaleva's descendant's cornland.

"But a little time pa.s.sed over, When the hops exclaimed from tree-top, 160 And upon the field the barley, And in Kaleva's well-water, 'When shall we be yoked together, Each with other be united?

Life in solitude is weary; Better two or three together.'

"Osmotar, the ale-constructer She, the maid who beer concocted, Took, on this, the grains of barley, Gathered six of grains of barley, 170 Seven hop-ta.s.sels next she gathered, And eight ladles took of water, Then upon the fire she placed it, And allowed it there to simmer, And she boiled the ale of barley Through the fleeting days of summer, Out upon the cloudy headland, Cape upon the shady island; Poured it then in wooden barrels, And in tubs of birchwood stored it. 180

"Thus she brewed the ale and stored it, But the ale was not fermented, And she pondered and reflected, And she spoke the words which follow: 'What must now be added to it, What is needful to provide for, That the ale may be fermented, And the beer be brought to foaming?'

"Kalevatar, beauteous maiden, She the maid with slender fingers, 190 Which she ever moves so deftly, She whose feet are shod so lightly, Felt about the seams of staving, Groping all about the bottom, Trying one and then the other, In the midst of both the kettles; Found a splinter at the bottom, From the bottom took a splinter.

"Then she turned it and reflected: 'What might perhaps be fashioned from it, 200 In the hands of lovely maiden, In the n.o.ble damsel's fingers, Brought into the hands of maiden, To the n.o.ble damsel's fingers?'

"In her hands the maiden took it, In the n.o.ble damsel's fingers, And she clapped her hands together, Both her hands she rubbed together, Rubbed them on her thighs together, And a squirrel white created. 210