"Go thou slouching through the meadow, Go in secret through the pasture, Slinking off when bells are ringing, Shun the talking of the shepherds.
If the herd is on the heathland, Then into the swamps retreat thou, 350 If the herd is in the marshes, Then conceal thee in the thickets, If the herd should climb the mountain, Quickly then descend the mountain, If the herd should wander downward, Wander then along the mountain, If they wander in the bushes, To the thicker woods retreat thou, If the thicker wood they enter, Wander then into the bushes, 360 Wander like the golden cuckoo, Like the dove of silver colour, Move aside as moves the powan, Glide away like fish in water, As a flock of wool drifts sideways, Or a roll of flax the lightest, In thy fur thy claws conceal thou, In thy gums thy teeth conceal thou, That the herd thou dost not frighten, Nor the little calves be injured. 370
"Let the cattle rest in quiet, Leave in peace the hoofed cattle, Let the herd securely wander, Let them march in perfect order Through the swamps and through the open, Through the tangle of the forest, Never do thou dare to touch them, Nor to wickedly molest them.
"Keep the former oath thou sworest, There by Tuonela"s deep river, 380 By the raging fall of water, At the knees of the Creator.
Thou hast been indeed permitted, Three times in the course of summer, To approach the bells when ringing, And the tinkling of the cow-bells, But "tis not permitted to thee, Nor permission has been given, To commence a work of evil, Or a deed of shame accomplish. 390
"Should thy frenzy come upon thee, And thy teeth be seized with longing, Cast thy frenzy in the bushes, On the heath thy evil longing, Then attack the trees all rotten, Overthrow the rotten birch-trees, Turn to trees in water standing, Growl in berry-bearing districts.
"If the need for food should seize thee, Or for food the wish thou feelest, 400 Eat the fungi in the forest, And do thou break down the ant-hills, And the red roots do thou delve for; These are Metsola"s sweet dainties.
Eat no gra.s.s reserved for fodder, Neither do thou hurt my pasture.
"When in Metsola the honey Is fermenting and is working, On the hills of golden colour, And upon the plains of silver, 410 There is food for those who hunger, There is drink for all the thirsty, There is food to eat that fails not, There is drink that never lessens.
"Let us make a league eternal, Make an endless peace between us, That we live in perfect quiet And in comfort all the summer, And to us the lands are common, And our provender delicious. 420
"If thou dost desire a combat, And wouldst live in hopes of battle, Let us combat in the winter, And contend in time of snowfall.
When the marshes thaw in summer, And the pools are all unfrozen, Never venture to approach thou, Where the golden herd is living.
"When thou comest to this country, And thou movest in this forest, 430 We at any time will shoot you, Though the gunners should be absent.
There are very skilful women, All of them accomplished housewives, And they will destroy your pathway, On your journey bring destruction, Lest you might work any evil, Or indulge in any mischief, Ill by Jumala not sanctioned, And against his blessed orders. 440
"Ukko, thou, of G.o.ds the highest, Shouldst thou hear that he is coming, Then do thou transform my cattle, Suddenly transform my cattle, Into stones convert my own ones, Change my fair ones into tree-trunks, When the monster roams the district, And the big one wanders through it.
"If I were myself a Bruin, Roamed about a honey-pawed one, 450 Never would I dare to venture To the feet of aged women.
There are many other regions, There are many other penfolds, Where a man may go to wander, Roaming aimless at his pleasure.
Therefore move thy paws across them, Do thou move thy paws across them, In the blue wood"s deep recesses, In the depths of murmuring forest. 460
"On the heath o"er pine-cones wander, Tramp thou through the sandy districts, Go thou where the way is level, Do thou bound along the lakesh.o.r.e, To the furthest bounds of Pohja, To the distant plains of Lapland.
There indeed mayst thou be happy, Good it is for thee to dwell there, Wandering shoeless in the summer, Wandering sockless in the autumn, 470 Through the wide expanse of marshland, And across the wide mora.s.ses.
"But if thou should not go thither, If thou canst not find the pathway, Hasten then to distant regions, Do thou wander, on thy pathway Unto Tuonela"s great forest, Or across the heaths of Kalma.
There are marshes to be traversed, There are heaths that thou mayst traverse, 480 There is Kirjos, there is Karjos, There are many other cattle, Fitted with their iron neck-chains, Ten among them altogether; There the lean kine quickly fatten, And their bones are soon flesh-covered.
"Be propitious, wood and forest, Be thou gracious, O thou blue wood, Give thou peace unto the cattle, And protection to the hoofed ones, 490 Through the whole length of the summer, Of the Lord the loveliest season.
"Kuippana, thou king of woodland, Active greybeard of the forest, Hold thy dogs in careful keeping, Watch thou well thy dogs and guard them; Thrust some fungus in one nostril, In the other thrust an apple, That they may not smell the cattle, And they may not scent their odour. 500 Bind their eyes with silken ribands, Likewise bind their ears with linen, That they may not hear them moving, And they may not see them walking.
"If this is not yet sufficient, And they do not much regard it, Then do thou forbid thy children, Do thou drive away thy offspring.
Lead them forth from out this forest, From this lakesh.o.r.e do thou drive them, 510 From the lands where roam the cattle, From among the spreading willows, Do thou hide thy dogs in caverns, Nor neglect to bind them firmly, Bind them with the golden fetters, With the slender silver fetters, That they may commit no evil, And be guilty of no outrage.
"If this is not yet sufficient, And they do not much regard it, 520 Ukko, then, O golden monarch, Ukko, O thou silver guardian, Hearken to my words so golden, Listen to my lovely sayings!
Take a snaffle made of rowan, Fix it on their stumpy muzzles, Or if rowan will not hold them, Cast thou then a copper muzzle, If too weak is found the copper, Forge thou then an iron muzzle, 530 If they break the iron muzzle, And it should itself be shattered, Drive thou then a stake all golden, Through the chin and through the jawbone, Do thou close their jaws securely, Fix them that they cannot move them, That they cannot move their jawbones, And their teeth can scarcely open, If the iron is not opened, If the steel should not be loosened, 540 If with knife it is not severed, If with hatchet "tis not broken."
Then did Ilmarinen"s housewife, Of the smith the wife so artful, Drive from out their stalls the cattle, Send the cattle forth to pasture, After them she sent the shepherd, That the slave should drive the cattle.
RUNO x.x.xIII.--THE DEATH OF ILMARINEN"S WIFE
_Argument_
While Kullervo is in the pasture in the afternoon he tries to cut the cake with his knife which he completely spoils, and this goes to his heart the more because the knife was the only remembrance left to him of his family (1-98). To revenge himself on the mistress, he drives the cattle into the marshes to be devoured by beasts of the forest, and gathers together a herd of wolves and bears, which he drives home in the evening (99-184). When the mistress goes to milk them she is torn to pieces by the wild beasts (185-296).
Kullervo, Kalervo"s offspring, Put his lunch into his wallet, Drove the cows along the marshes, While across the heath he wandered, And he spoke as he was going, And repeated on his journey, "Woe to me, a youth unhappy, And a youth of wretched fortune!
Wheresoe"er I turn my footsteps, Nought but idleness awaits me; 10 I must watch the tails of oxen, And must watch the calves I follow, Always tramping through the marshes, Through the worst of level country."
Then upon the ground he rested, On a sunny slope he sat him, And he then composed these verses, And expressed himself in singing: "Sun of Jumala, O shine thou, Of the Lord, thou wheel, shine warmly, 20 On the warder of the smith"s herd, And upon the wretched shepherd, Not on Ilmarinen"s household, Least of all upon the mistress, For the mistress lives luxurious, And the wheaten-bread she slices, And the finest cakes devours, And she spreads them o"er with b.u.t.ter, Gives the wretched shepherd dry bread, Dry crusts only for his chewing, 30 Only oaten-cake she gives me, Even this with chaff she mixes, Even straw she scatters through it, Gives for food the bark of fir-tree, Water in a birch-bark bucket, Upscooped "mid the gra.s.sy hillocks.
March, O sun, and wheat, O wander, Sink in Jumala"s own season, Hasten, sun, among the pine-trees, Wander, wheat, into the bushes, 40 "Mid the junipers, O hasten, Fly thou to the plains of alder, Lead thou then the herdsman homeward, Give him b.u.t.ter from the barrel, Let him eat the freshest b.u.t.ter, Over all the cakes extending."
But the wife of Ilmarinen While the shepherd was lamenting, And while Kullervo was singing, Ate the b.u.t.ter from the barrel, 50 And she ate the freshest b.u.t.ter, And upon the cakes she spread it, And hot soup had she made ready, But for Kullervo cold cabbage, Whence the dog the fat had eaten, And the black dog made a meal from, And the spotted dog been sated, And the brown dog had sufficient.
From the branch there sang a birdling, Sang a small bird from the bushes, 60 "Time "tis for the servant"s supper, O thou orphan boy, "tis evening."
Kullervo, Kalervo"s offspring, Looked, and saw the sun was sinking, And he said the words which follow: "Now the time has come for eating, Yes, the time has come for eating, Time it is to take refreshment."
So to rest he drove the cattle, On the heath he drove the cattle, 70 And he sat him on a hillock, And upon a green hill sat him.
From his back he took his wallet, Took the cake from out the wallet, And he turned it round and eyed it, And he spoke the words which follow: "Many a cake is outside handsome, And the crust looks smooth from outside, But within is only fir-bark, Only chaff beneath the surface." 80
From the sheath he took his knife out, And to cut the cake attempted.
On the stone the knife struck sharply, And against the stone was broken.
From the knife the point was broken; And the knife itself was broken.
Kullervo, Kalervo"s offspring, Looked, and saw the knife was broken, And at length he burst out weeping, And he said the words which follow: 90 "Save this knife I"d no companion, Nought to love except this iron, "Twas an heirloom from my father, And the aged man had used it.
Now against a stone "tis broken, "Gainst a piece of rock "tis shattered In the cake of that vile mistress, Baked there by that wicked woman.
"How shall I for this reward her, Woman"s prank, and damsel"s mockery, 100 And destroy the base old woman, And that wicked wench, the bakeress?"
Then a crow cawed from the bushes, Cawed the crow, and croaked the raven.
"O thou wretched golden buckle, Kalervo"s surviving offspring, Wherefore art thou so unhappy, Wherefore is thy heart so troubled?
Take a switch from out the bushes, And a birch from forest-valley, 110 Drive the foul beasts in the marshes, Chase the cows to the mora.s.ses, Half to largest wolves deliver, Half to bears amid the forest.
"Call thou all the wolves together, All the bears do thou a.s.semble, Change the wolves to little cattle, Make the bears the larger cattle, Lead them then like cattle homeward, Lead them home like brindled cattle; 120 Thus repay the woman"s jesting, And the wicked woman"s insult."
Kullervo, Kalervo"s offspring, Uttered then the words which follow: "Wait thou, wait thou, wh.o.r.e of Hiisi, For my father"s knife I"m weeping, Soon wilt thou thyself be weeping, And be weeping for thy milchkine."
From the bush a switch he gathered, Juniper as whip for cattle, 130 Drove the cows into the marshes, And the oxen in the thickets, Half of these the wolves devoured, To the bears he gave the others, And he sang the wolves to cattle, And he changed the bears to oxen, Made the first the little cattle, Made the last the larger cattle.
In the south the sun was sinking, In the west the sun descended, 140 Bending down towards the pine-trees At the time of cattle-milking.
Then the dusty wicked herd-boy, Kullervo, Kalervo"s offspring, Homeward drove the bears before him, And the wolf-flock to the farmyard, And the bears he thus commanded, And the wolves he thus instructed: "Tear the mistress" thighs asunder, See that through her calves you bite her, 150 When she comes to look around her, And she bends her down to milk you."
Then he made a pipe of cow-bone, And a whistle made of ox-horn, From Tuomikki"s leg a cow-horn, And a flute from heel of Kirjo, Then upon the horn blew loudly, And upon his pipe made music.
Thrice upon the hill he blew it, Six times at the pathway"s opening. 160
Then did Ilmarinen"s housewife, Wife of smith, an active woman, Who for milk had long been waiting, And expecting summer b.u.t.ter, Hear the music on the marshes, And upon the heath the cattle, And she spoke the words which follow, And expressed herself in thiswise: "Praise to Jumala be given, Sounds the pipe, the herd is coming, 170 Whence obtained the slave the cow-horn, That he made a horn to blow on?
Wherefore does he thus come playing, Blowing tunes upon the cow-horn, Blowing till he bursts the eardrums, And he gives me quite a headache?"