Kalevala, The Land Of The Heroes Volume Ii Part 14

I will make me such a sister, Head of stone and mouth of sallow, 120 Eyes of cranberries I will make her, Make her hair of withered stubble, Ears of water-lily make her, And of maple make her body."

Then he said unto his mother, "O my mother, O my dearest, Thou the fair one who hast borne me, Thou the golden one who nursed me, Shalt thou weep for my destruction, Shouldst thou hear that I have perished, 130 And have vanished from the people, And have perished in the battle?"

Then his mother gave him answer, And she spoke the words which follow: "Not thou knowest a mother's feelings, Nor a mother's heart esteemest.

I shall weep for thy destruction, If I hear that thou hast perished, And from out the people vanished, And have perished in the battle; 140 Weep until the house is flooded, Weep until the floor is swimming, Weep until the paths are hidden, And with tears the cowsheds weighted, Weep until the snows are slippery, Till the ground is bare and slippery, Lands unfrozen teem with verdure, And my tears flow through the greenness.

"If I cannot keep on weeping, And no strength is left for grieving, 150 Weeping in the people's presence, I will weep in bath-room hidden, Till the seats with tears are flowing, And the flooring all is flooded."

Kullervo, Kalervo's offspring, With the very bluest stockings, Went with music forth to battle, Joyfully he sought the conflict, Playing tunes through plains and marshes, Shouting over all the heathland, 160 Crashing onwards through the meadows, Trampling down the fields of stubble.

And a messenger o'ertook him, In his ear these words he whispered: "At thy home has died thy father, And thy aged parent perished.

Now return to gaze upon him, And arrange for his interment."

Kullervo, Kalervo's offspring, Made him answer on the instant: 170 "Is he dead, so let him perish.

In the house there is a gelding, Which unto the grave can drag him, And can sink him down to Kalma."

Played he, as he pa.s.sed the marshes, And he shouted in the clearings, And a messenger o'ertook him, In his ear these words he whispered: "At thy home has died thy brother, And thy parent's child has perished. 180 Now return to gaze upon him, And arrange for his interment."

Kullervo, Kalervo's offspring, Made him answer on the instant: "Is he dead, so let him perish.

In the house there is a stallion, Which unto the grave can drag him, And can sink him down to Kalma."

Through the marshes pa.s.sed he, playing, Blew his horn amidst the fir-woods, 190 And a messenger o'ertook him, In his ear these words he whispered: "At thy home has died thy sister, And thy parent's child has perished.

Now return to gaze upon her, And arrange for her interment."

Kullervo, Kalervo's offspring, Made him answer on the instant: "Is she dead, so let her perish.

In the house a mare is waiting, 200 Which unto the grave can drag her, And can sink her down to Kalma."

Through the meadows marched he shouting, In the gra.s.sfields he was shouting, And a messenger o'ertook him, In his ear these words he whispered: "Now has died thy tender mother, And thy darling mother perished.

Now return to gaze upon her, And arrange for her interment." 210

Kullervo, Kalervo's offspring, Answered in the words which follow: "Woe to me, a youth unhappy, For my mother now has perished, Wearied as she made the curtains, And the counterpane embroidered.

With her long spool she was working, As she turned around her spindle.

I was not at her departure, Near her when her soul was parting. 220 Perhaps the cold was great and killed her, Or perchance was bread too scanty.

"In the house with care, O wash her, With the Saxon soap, the finest, Wind her then in silken wrappings, Wrap her in the finest linen, Thus unto the grave convey her, Sink her gently down to Kalma, Then upraise the songs of mourning, Let resound the songs of mourning, 230 For not yet can I turn homeward, Untamo is still unfallen, Yet unfelled the man of evil, Undestroyed is yet the villain."

Forth he went to battle, playing, Went to Untola rejoicing, And he said the words which follow: "Ukko, thou, of G.o.ds the highest, Give me now a sword befitting, Give me now a sword most splendid, 240 Which were worth an army to me, Though a hundred came against me."

Then the sword he asked was granted, And a sword of all most splendid, And he slaughtered all the people, Untamo's whole tribe he slaughtered, Burned the houses all to ashes, And with flame completely burned them, Leaving nothing but the hearthstones, Nought but in each yard the rowan. 250

Kullervo, Kalervo's offspring, Then to his own home retired, To his father's former dwelling, To the home-fields of his parents.

Empty did he find the homestead, Desolate the open places; No one forward came to greet him, No one came his hand to offer.

To the hearth he stretched his hand out, On the hearth the coals were frozen, 260 And he knew on his arrival, That his mother was not living.

To the stove he stretched his hand out, At the stove the stones were frozen, And he knew on his arrival, That his father was not living.

On the floor his eyes then casting, All he noticed in confusion, And he knew on his arrival, That his sister was not living. 270

To the mooring-place he hastened, But no boats were at their moorings, And he knew on his arrival, That his brother was not living.

Thereupon he broke out weeping, And he wept one day, a second, And he spoke the words which follow: "O my mother, O my dearest, Hast thou left me nought behind thee, When thou livedst in this country? 280

"But thou hearest not, O mother, Even though my eyes are sobbing, And my temples are lamenting, And my head is all complaining."

In the grave his mother wakened, And beneath the mould made answer: "Still there lives the black dog, Musti, Go with him into the forest, At thy side let him attend thee, Take him to the wooded country, 290 Where the forest rises thickest, Where reside the forest-maidens, Where the Blue Maids have their dwelling, And the birds frequent the pine-trees, There to seek for their a.s.sistance, And to seek to win their favour."

Kullervo, Kalervo's offspring, At his side the black dog taking, Tracked his path through trees of forest, Where the forest rose the thickest. 300 But a short way had he wandered, But a little way walked onward, When he reached the stretch of forest, Recognized the spot before him, Where he had seduced the maiden, And his mother's child dishonoured.

There the tender gra.s.s was weeping, And the lovely spot lamenting, And the young gra.s.s was deploring, And the flowers of heath were grieving, 310 For the ruin of the maiden, For the mother's child's destruction.

Neither was the young gra.s.s sprouting, Nor the flowers of heath expanding, Nor the spot had covered over, Where the evil thing had happened, Where he had seduced the maiden, And his mother's child dishonoured.

Kullervo, Kalervo's offspring, Grasped the sharpened sword he carried, 320 Looked upon the sword and turned it, And he questioned it and asked it, And he asked the sword's opinion, If it was disposed to slay him, To devour his guilty body, And his evil blood to swallow.

Understood the sword his meaning, Understood the hero's question, And it answered him as follows: "Wherefore at thy heart's desire 330 Should I not thy flesh devour, And drink up thy blood so evil?

I who guiltless flesh have eaten, Drank the blood of those who sinned not?"

Kullervo, Kalervo's offspring, With the very bluest stockings, On the ground the haft set firmly, On the heath the hilt pressed tightly, Turned the point against his bosom, And upon the point he threw him, 340 Thus he found the death he sought for, Cast himself into destruction.

Even so the young man perished, Thus died Kullervo the hero, Thus the hero's life was ended, Perished thus the hapless hero.

Then the aged Vainamoinen, When he heard that he had perished, And that Kullervo had fallen, Spoke his mind in words that follow: 350 "Never, people, in the future, Rear a child in crooked fashion, Rocking them in stupid fashion, Soothing them to sleep like strangers.

Children reared in crooked fashion, Boys thus rocked in stupid fashion, Grow not up with understanding, Nor attain to man's discretion, Though they live till they are aged, And in body well-developed." 360

RUNO x.x.xVII.--THE GOLD AND SILVER BRIDE

_Argument_

Ilmarinen weeps long for his dead wife and then forges himself a wife of gold and silver with great labour and trouble (1-162). At night he rests by the golden bride, but finds in the morning that the side which he has turned towards her is quite cold (163-196). He offers his golden bride to Vainamoinen, who declines to receive her, and advises him to forge more useful things, or to send her to other countries where people wish for gold (197-250).

Afterwards smith Ilmarinen Mourned his wife throughout the evenings, And through sleepless nights was weeping, All the days bewailed her fasting, And he mourned her all the mornings, In the morning hours lamented, Since the time his young wife perished, Death the fair one had o'ertaken.

In his hand he swung no longer, Copper handle of his hammer, 10 Nor his hammer's clang resounded, While a month its course was running.

Said the smith, said Ilmarinen, "Hapless youth, I know no longer, How to pa.s.s my sad existence, For at night I sit and sleep not, Always in the night comes sorrow, And my strength grows weak from trouble.

"All my evenings now are weary, Sorrowful are all my mornings, 20 And the nights indeed are dismal, Worst of all when I am waking.

Grieve I not because 'tis evening, Sorrow not because 'tis morning, Trouble not for other seasons; But I sorrow for my fair one, And I sorrow for my dear one, Grieve for her, the dark-browed beauty.

"Sometimes in these times so dismal, Often in my time of trouble, 30 Often in my dreams at midnight, Has my hand felt out at nothing, And my hand seized only trouble, As it strayed about in strangeness."

Thus the smith awhile lived wifeless, And without his wife grew older, Wept for two months and for three months, But upon the fourth month after, Gold from out the lake he gathered, Gathered silver from the billows, 40 And a pile of wood collected, Nothing short of thirty sledgeloads, Then he burned the wood to charcoal, Took the charcoal to the smithy.

Of the gold he took a portion, And he chose him out some silver, Even like a ewe of autumn, Even like a hare of winter, And the gold to redness heated, Cast the silver in the furnace, 50 Set his slaves to work the bellows, And his labourers pressed the bellows.

Toiled the slaves, and worked the bellows, And the labourers pressed the bellows, With their ungloved hands they pressed them, Worked them with their naked shoulders, While himself, smith Ilmarinen, Carefully the fire was tending, As he strove a bride to fashion Out of gold and out of silver. 60