Then said Lemminkainen"s mother, "Wherefore art thou then in trouble, Wherefore is thy heart so troubled, As from Pohjola thou comest?
Have the women laughed about you, Or the maidens ridiculed you? 110 If the women laughed about you, Or the maidens ridiculed you, There are maidens to be jeered at, Other women to be laughed at."
Said the lively Lemminkainen, "O my mother who hast borne me, If the women laughed about me, Or the maidens ridiculed me, I would laugh at all their menfolk, And would wink at all the maidens, 120 I would shame a hundred women, And a thousand brides would make them."
Then said Lemminkainen"s mother, "What has chanced, my son, my darling, Hast thou perhaps encountered something As to Pohjola thou wentest?
Have you eaten perhaps too freely, Eaten much, too much have drunken, Or at night perchance when resting Have you seen a dream of evil?" 130
Then the lively Lemminkainen, Answered in the words which follow: "Perhaps old women may remember, What in sleep they saw in vision!
Though my nightly dreams I think on, Yet are those of daytime better.
O my mother, aged woman, Fill my bag with fresh provisions, With a good supply of flour, And a lump of salt add likewise, 140 For thy son must travel further, Journey to another country, Journey from this house beloved, Journey from this lovely dwelling, For the men their swords are whetting, And the lance-tips they are sharpening."
Then his mother interrupted, Asking him his cause of trouble.
"Wherefore whet the men their sword-blades, Wherefore sharpen they the lance-tips?" 150
Answered lively Lemminkainen, Said the handsome Kaukomieli, "Therefore do they whet their sword-blades, Therefore they the lance-tips sharpen: On the head of me unhappy, On my neck to bring destruction.
From a quarrel rose a duel, There in Pohjola"s enclosure; I have slain the son of Pohja, Slain the very lord of Pohja, 160 Then rose Pohjola to battle, Close behind me comes the tumult, Raging all for my destruction, To surround a single warrior."
Then his mother gave him answer, To her child the old crone answered: "I myself already told you, And I had already warned you, And forbidden you most strictly Not to Pohjola to venture. 170 Had you stayed at home in quiet, Living in your mother"s dwelling, Safely in your parent"s homestead, In the home of her who bore thee, Then no war had ever risen, Nor appeared a cause of contest.
"Whither now, my son unhappy, Canst thou flee, unhappy creature, Go to hide thee from destruction, Flying from thy wicked action, 180 Lest thy wretched head be captured, And thy handsome neck be severed, That thy hair remain uninjured, Nor thy glossy hair downtrodden?"
Said the lively Lemminkainen, "No such refuge do I know of, Where a safe retreat awaits me, Where I from my crime can hide me.
O my mother who hast borne me, Where do you advise my hiding?" 190
Answered Lemminkainen"s mother, And she spoke the words which follow: "No, I know not where to hide you, Where to hide you or to send you.
As a pine upon the mountain, Juniper in distant places, There might still misfortune find thee, Evil fate might rise against thee.
Often is the mountain pine-tree Cut to pieces into torches, 200 And the juniper on heathland, Into posts is often cloven.
"As a birch-tree in the valley, Or an alder in the greenwood, There might still misfortune find thee, Evil fate might rise against thee.
Often is the valley birch-tree Chopped to pieces into f.a.ggots, Often is the alder-thicket Cut away to make a clearing. 210
"As a berry on the mountain, Or upon the heath a cranberry, Or upon the plain a strawberry, Or in other spots a bilberry, There might still misfortune find thee, Evil fate might rise against thee, For the girls might come to pluck thee, Tin-adorned ones might uproot thee.
"In the lake as pike when hiding, Powan in slow-flowing river, 220 There misfortune still might find thee, And at last destruction reach thee.
If there came a youthful fisher, He might cast his net in water, And the young in net might take thee, And the old with net might capture.
"Didst thou roam as wolf in forest, Or a bear in rugged country, There might still misfortune find thee, Evil fate might rise against thee; 230 If a sooty tramp was pa.s.sing, He perchance might spear the growler, Or the wolves bring to destruction, And the forest bears might slaughter."
Then the lively Lemminkainen Answered in the words which follow: "I myself know evil places, Worst of all do I esteem them, There where any death might seize me, And at last destruction reach me. 240 O my mother who hast reared me, Mother who thy milk hast given, Whither would"st thou bid me hide me, Whither should I now conceal me?
Death"s wide jaws are just before me, At my beard destruction"s standing, Every day for me it waiteth, Till my ruin is accomplished."
Then said Lemminkainen"s mother, And she spoke the words which follow: 250 "I can tell the best of places, Tell you one the best of any, Where to hide yourself completely, And your crime conceal for ever, For I know a little country, Know a very little refuge, Wasted not, and safe from battle, And untrodden by the swordsmen.
Swear me now by oaths eternal, Binding, free from all deception, 260 In the course of sixty summers, Nevermore to go to battle, Neither for the love of silver, Nor perchance if gold was needed."
Then said lively Lemminkainen, "Now I swear by oaths the strongest, Never in the first of summers, Nor in any other summer, Mix myself in mighty battles, In the clashing of the sword-blades. 270 Wounds are still upon my shoulders, In my breast deep wounds still rankle, From my former battle-pleasures, In the midst of all the tumult, In the midst of mighty battles, Where the heroes all contended."
Then did Lemminkainen"s mother Answer in the words which follow: "Take the boat your father left you, And betake yourself to hiding. 280 Traverse nine lakes in succession, Half the tenth one must thou traverse, To an island on its surface, Where the cliffs arise from water.
There in former times your father Hid, and kept himself in safety, In the furious fights of summer, In the hardest years of battle.
There you"ll find a pleasant dwelling, And a charming place to linger. 290 Hide thyself a year, a second, In the third year come thou homeward, To your father"s well-known homestead, To the dwelling of your parents."
RUNO XXIX.--LEMMINKAINEN"S ADVENTURES ON THE ISLAND
_Argument_
Lemminkainen sails across the lakes in his boat and comes safely to the island (1-180). There he lives pleasantly among the girls and women till the return of the men from warfare, who conspire against him (181-290).
Lemminkainen flies from the island, much to the grief both of the girls and himself (291-402). His boat is wrecked in a violent storm, but he escapes by swimming to land, makes a new boat, and arrives safely on the sh.o.r.es of his own country (403-452). He finds his old house burned, and the whole surroundings laid waste, when he begins to weep and lament, especially for the loss of his mother (453-514). His mother, however, is still alive, having taken refuge in a thick forest where Lemminkainen finds her to his great joy (515-546). She relates how the army of Pohjola came and burned down the house. Lemminkainen promises to build a finer house after he has revenged himself upon the people of Pohjola, and describes his pleasant life in the island of refuge (547-602).
Lemminkainen, youth so lively, He the handsome Kaukomieli, Took provisions in his satchel, In his wallet summer-b.u.t.ter, b.u.t.ter for a year to last him, For another, pork sufficient, Then he travelled off to hide him, Started in the greatest hurry, And he said the words which follow: "Now I go, and I"m escaping, 10 For the s.p.a.ce of three whole summers, And for five years in succession.
Be the land to snakes abandoned, Let the lynxes snarl in greenwood, In the fields the reindeer wander, In the brakes the geese conceal them.
"Fare thee well, my dearest mother, If the people come from Pohja, From Pimentola the army, And about my head they ask you, 20 Say that I have fled before them, And have taken my departure, And I have laid waste my clearing, That which I had reaped so lately."
Then he pushed his boat in water, On the waves he launched his vessel, From the rollers steel he launched it, From the haven lined with copper.
On the mast the sails he hoisted, And he spread the sails of linen, 30 At the stern himself he seated, And prepared him for his journey, Sitting by his birchwood rudder, With the stern-oar deftly steering.
Then he spoke the words which follow, And in words like these expressed him: "Wind, inflate the sails above me, Wind of spring drive on the vessel, Drive with speed the wooden vessel, Onward drive the boat of pinewood 40 Forward to the nameless island, And the nameless promontory."
So the wind the bark drove onward, O"er the foaming lake "twas driven, O"er the bright expanse of water, Speeding o"er the open water, Rocking while two moons were changing, Till a third was near its ending.
At the cape were maidens sitting, There upon the blue lake"s margin 50 They were gazing, and were casting Glances o"er the azure billows.
One was waiting for her brother, And another for her father, But the others all were waiting, Waiting each one for a lover.
In the distance spied they Kauko, Sooner still the boat of Kauko, Like a little cloud in distance, Just between the sky and water. 60
And the island-maids reflected, Said the maidens of the island: "What"s this strange thing in the water, What this wonder on the billows?
If a boat of our relations, Sailing vessel of our island, Hasten then, and speed thee homeward, To the harbour of the island, That we hear the tidings quickly, Hear the news from foreign countries, 70 If there"s peace among the sh.o.r.e-folks, Or if war is waged among them."
Still the wind the sail inflated, And the billows drove the vessel.
Then the lively Lemminkainen Guided to the isle the vessel, To the island"s end he drove it, Where it ends in jutting headland.
And he said on his arrival, To the cape as he was coming, 80 "Is there room upon this island, On the surface of the island, Where the boat may land upon it, And to dry land I may bring it?"
Said the girls upon the island, And the island-maidens answered: "There is room upon this island, On the surface of the island, Where the boat may land upon it, And to dry land you may bring it. 90 There are harbours for the vessel, On the beach sufficient rollers, To receive a hundred vessels, Though the boats should come by thousands."
Then the lively Lemminkainen On the land drew up his vessel, On the wooden rollers laid it, And he spoke the words which follow: "Is there room upon this island, On the surface of the island, 100 Where a little man may hide him, And a weak man may take refuge From the din of furious battle, And the clash of steely sword-blades?"
Said the girls upon the island, And the island-maidens answered: "There is room upon this island, On the surface of the island, Where a little man may hide him, And a weak man may conceal him. 110 Here are very many castles, Stately castles to reside in, Though there came a hundred heroes, And a thousand men of valour."
Said the lively Lemminkainen, And he spoke the words which follow: "Is there room upon this island, On the surface of the island, Where there stands a birch-tree forest, And a stretch of other country, 120 Where I perhaps may make a clearing, Work upon my goodly clearing?"
Said the girls upon the island, And the island-maidens answered: "There is not upon this island, On the surface of the island, Not the s.p.a.ce your back could rest on, Land not of a bushel"s measure, Where you perhaps might make a clearing, Work upon your goodly clearing. 130 All the land is now divided, And the fields in plots are measured, And allotted are the fallows, Gra.s.sland managed by the commune."
Said the lively Lemminkainen, Asked the handsome Kaukomieli, "Is there room upon this island, On the surface of the island, s.p.a.ce where I my songs may carol, s.p.a.ce where I may sing my ballads? 140 Words within my mouth are melting, And between my gums are sprouting."