Blackest trouble rests upon me, 170 Black as coal my heart within me, Coal-black trouble weighs upon me.
"Such the feelings of the blessed, Such the feelings of the happy; As the spring day at its dawning, Or the sunny spring-day morning; But what thoughts do now torment me, And what thoughts arise within me?
Like unto a pond"s flat margin, Or of clouds the murky border; 180 Like the gloomy nights of autumn, Or the dusky day of winter, Or, as I might better say it, Darker than the nights of autumn!"
Then an old crone of the household, In the house for long abiding, Answered in the words which follow: "Quiet, quiet, youthful maiden!
Dost remember, how I told thee, And a hundred times repeated, 190 Take no pleasure in a lover, In a lover"s mouth rejoice not, Do not let his eyes bewitch thee, Nor his handsome feet admire?
Though his mouth speaks charming converse, And his eyes are fair to gaze on, Yet upon his chin is Lempo; In his mouth there lurks destruction.
"Thus I always counsel maidens, And to all their kind I counsel, 200 Though great people come as suitors, Mighty men should come as wooers, Yet return them all this answer; And on thy side speak unto them, In such words as these address them, And in thiswise speak unto them: "Not the least would it beseem me, Not beseem me, or become me, As a daughter-in-law to yield me, As a slave to yield my freedom. 210 Such a pretty girl as I am, Suits it not to live as slave-girl, To depart consent I never, To submit to rule of others.
If another word you utter, I will give you two in answer, If you by my hair would pull me, And you by my locks would drag me, From my hair I"d quickly shake you, From my locks dishevelled drive you." 220
"But to this thou hast not hearkened, To my words thou hast not listened, Wilfully thou sought"st the fire, In the boiling tar hast cast thee.
Now the fox"s sledge awaits thee, To the bear"s hug art thou going, And the fox"s sledge will take thee, Far away the bear convey thee, Ever slave to other masters, Ever slave of husband"s mother. 230
"From thy home to school thou goest, From thy father"s house to suffering.
Hard the school to which thou goest, Long the pain to which thou goest.
Reins for thee are bought already, Iron fetters all in order, Not for others are they destined, But alas, for thee, unhappy.
"Shortly wilt thou feel their harshness, Helpless feel, and unprotected, 240 For the father"s chin is wagging, And the mother"s tongue is stormy; And the brother"s words are coldness, And the sister"s harsh reproaches.
"Hear, O maiden, what I tell thee, What I speak, and what I tell thee, In thy home thou wast a floweret, And the joy of father"s household, And thy father called thee Moonlight, And thy mother called thee Sunshine, 250 And thy brother Sparkling Water, And thy sister called thee Blue-cloth.
To another home thou goest, There to find a stranger mother.
Never is a stranger mother Like the mother who has borne thee: Seldom does she give good counsel, Seldom gives the right instructions.
Sprig the father shouts against thee, s.l.u.t the mother calls unto thee, 260 And the brother calls thee Doorstep, And the sister, Nasty Creature.
"Now the best that could await thee, Best the fate that could await thee, If as fog thou wert dispersing, From the house like smoke departing, Blown like leaf away that flutters, As a spark away is drifted.
"But a bird that flies thou art not, Nor a leaf away that flutters, 270 Nor a spark in drafts that"s drifting, Nor the smoke from house ascending.
"Lack-a-day, O maid, my sister!
Changed hast thou, and what art changing!
Thou hast changed thy much-loved father For a father-in-law, a bad one; Thou hast changed thy tender mother For a mother-in-law most stringent; Thou hast changed thy n.o.ble brother For a brother-in-law so crook-necked, 280 And exchanged thy gentle sister For a sister-in-law all cross-eyed; And hast changed thy couch of linen For a sooty hearth to rest on; And exchanged the clearest water For the muddy margin-water, And the sandy sh.o.r.e hast bartered For the black mud at the bottom; And thy pleasant meadow bartered For a dreary waste of heathland; 290 And thy hills of berries bartered For the hard stumps of a clearing.
"Didst thou think, O youthful maiden, Think, O dove, full-fledged at present, Care would end and toil be lessened, With the party of this evening, When to rest thou shalt betake thee, And to sleep thou art conducted?
"But to rest they will not lead thee, Nor to sleep will they conduct thee; 300 Nought awaits thee now but watching, Nought awaits thee now save trouble, Heavy thoughts will come upon thee, Saddened thoughts will overwhelm thee.
"Long as thou didst wear no head-dress, Wert thou also free from trouble; When no linen veil waved round thee, Thou wast also free from sorrow.
Now the head-dress brings thee trouble, Heavy thoughts the linen fabric, 310 And the linen veil brings sorrow, And the flax brings endless trouble.
"How may live at home a maiden?
Maid in father"s house abiding; Like a monarch in his palace, Only that the sword is wanting, But a son"s wife"s fate is dismal!
With her husband she is living As a prisoner lives in Russia, Only that the jailor"s wanting. 320
"Work she must in working season, And her shoulders stoop with weakness, And her body faints with weakness, And with sweat her face is shining.
Then there comes another hour When there"s need to make the fire, And to put the hearth in order, She must force her hands to do it.
"Long must seek, this girl unhappy, Long the hapless one must seek for, 330 Salmon"s mind, and tongue of perchling, And her thoughts from perch in fishpond, Mouth of bream, of chub the belly, And from water-hen learn wisdom.
""Tis beyond my comprehension, Nine times can I not imagine, To the mother"s much-loved daughters, Best beloved of all her treasures, Whence should come to them the spoiler, Where the greedy one was nurtured, 340 Eating flesh, and bones devouring, To the wind their hair abandoning, And their tresses wildly tossing, To the wind of springtime gives them.
"Weep thou, weep thou, youthful maiden, When thou weepest, weep thou sorely.
Weep thyself of tears a handful, Fill thy fists with tears of longing, Drop them in thy father"s dwelling, Pools of tears upon the flooring, 350 Till the room itself is flooded, And above the floor in billows!
If thou weepest yet not freely Thou shalt weep when thou returnest, When to father"s house thou comest, And shalt find thy aged father Suffocated in the bathroom, "Neath his arm a dried-up bath-whisk.
"Weep thou, weep thou, youthful maiden, When thou weepest, weep thou sorely; 360 If thou weepest not yet freely, Thou shalt weep when thou returnest, When to mother"s house thou comest, And thou find"st thy aged mother Suffocated in the cowshed, In her dying lap a straw-sheaf.
"Weep thou, weep thou, youthful maiden, When thou weepest, weep thou sorely.
If thou weepest yet not freely, Thou shalt weep when thou returnest, 370 When to this same house thou comest, And thou find"st thy rosy brother Fallen in the porch before it, In the courtyard helpless fallen.
"Weep thou, weep thou, youthful maiden, When thou weepest, weep thou sorely.
If thou weepest yet not freely, Thou shalt weep when thou returnest, When to this same house thou comest, And thou find"st thy gentle sister 380 Fallen down upon the pathway, And beneath her arm a mallet."
Then the poor girl broke out sobbing, And awhile she sobbed and panted, And she soon commenced her weeping, Pouring forth her tears in torrents.
Then she wept of tears a handful, Filled her fists with tears of longing, Wet she wept her father"s dwelling, Pools of tears upon the flooring, 390 And she spoke the words which follow, And expressed herself in thiswise: "O my sisters, dearest to me, Of my life the dear companions, All companions of my childhood, Listen now to what I tell you.
"Tis beyond my comprehension Why I feel such deep oppression, Making now my life so heavy, Why this trouble weighs upon me, 400 Why this darkness rests upon me; How I should express my sorrow.
"Otherwise I thought and fancied, Wished it different, all my lifetime, Thought to go as goes the cuckoo, Crying "Cuckoo" from the hill-tops, Now the day I have attained to, Come the time that I had wished for; But I go not like the cuckoo, Crying "Cuckoo" from the hill-tops, 410 More as duck amid the billows, On the wide bay"s open waters, Swimming in the freezing water, Shivering in the icy water.
"Woe, my father and my mother, Woe, alas, my aged parents!
Whither would you now dismiss me, Drive a wretched maid to sorrow, Make me thus to weep for sorrow, Overburdened thus with trouble, 420 With distress so heavy-burdened, And with care so overloaded?
"Better, O unhappy mother, Better, dearest who hast borne me.
O thou dear one, who hast suckled, Nurtured me throughout my lifetime, Hadst thou swaddled up a tree-stump, And hadst bathed a little pebble, Rather than have washed thy daughter, And have swaddled up thy darling, 430 For this time of great affliction, And of this so grievous sorrow.
"Many speak unto me elsewise, Many counsel me in thiswise: "Do not, fool, give way to sorrow, Let not gloomy thoughts oppress thee."
Do not, O ye n.o.ble people, Do not speak to me in thiswise!
Far more troubles weigh upon me, Than in a cascade are pebbles, 440 Than in swampy ground the willows, Or the heath upon the marshland.
Never can a horse pull forward, And a shod horse struggle onward, And the sledge sway not behind him, And the collar shall not tremble.
Even thus I feel my trouble, And oppressed by dark forebodings."
From the floor there sang an infant, From the hearth a growing infant. 450 "Wherefore dost thou weep, O maiden, Yielding to such grievous sorrow?
Cast thy troubles to the horses, Sorrow to the sable gelding.
Leave complaints to mouths of iron, Lamentations to the thick-heads, Better heads indeed have horses, Better heads, and bones much harder, For their arching necks are firmer, All their frame is greatly stronger. 460
"No, thou hast no cause for weeping, Nor to yield to grievous sorrow; To the marsh they do not lead thee, Push thee not into the ditches.
Leavest thou these fertile cornfields, Yet to richer fields thou goest, Though they take thee from the brewery, "Tis to where the ale"s abundant.
"If around thee now thou gazest, Just beside thee where thou standest, 470 There thy bridegroom stands to guard thee, By thy side thy ruddy husband.
Good thy husband, good his horses, All things needful fill his cellars, And the grouse are loudly chirping, On the sledge, as glides it onwards, And the thrushes make rejoicing, As they sing upon the traces, And six golden cuckoos likewise Flutter on the horse"s collar, 480 Seven blue birds are also perching, On the sledge"s frame, and singing.
"Do not yield thee thus to trouble, O thou darling of thy mother!
For no evil fate awaits thee, But in better case thou comest, Sitting by thy farmer husband, Underneath the ploughman"s mantle, "Neath the chin of the bread-winner, In the arms of skilful fisher, 490 Warm from chasing elk on snowshoes, And from bathing after bear-hunt.
"Thou hast found the best of husbands, And hast won a mighty hero, For his bow is never idle, Neither on the pegs his quivers; And the dogs in house he leaves not, Nor in hay lets rest the puppies.
"Three times in this spring already, In the earliest hours of morning, 500 Has he stood before the fire, Rising from his couch of bushes; Three times in this spring already On his eyes the dew has fallen, And the shoots of pine-trees combed him, And the branches brushed against him.