Kalevala : the Epic Poem of Finland — Complete eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 494 pages of information about Kalevala .

Kalevala : the Epic Poem of Finland — Complete eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 494 pages of information about Kalevala .
Swear to me an oath of honor,
That thou wilt not go to battle,
When for gold thou hast a longing,
When thou wishest gold and silver?”
This is Lemminkainen’s answer: 
I will swear an oath of honor,
That I’ll never go to battle,
When for gold I feel a longing,
When I wish for gold and silver. 
Swear thou also on thine honor,
Thou wilt go not to the village,
When desire for dance impels thee,
Wilt not visit village-dances.” 
Thus the two made oath together,
Registered their vows in heaven,
Vowed before omniscient Ukko,
Ne’er to go to war vowed Ahti,
Never to the dance, Kyllikki. 
Lemminkainen, full of joyance,
Snapped his whip above his courser,
Whipped his racer to a gallop,
And these words the hero uttered: 
“Fare ye well, ye Sahri-meadows,
Roots of firs, and stumps of birch-trees. 
That I wandered through in summer,
That I travelled o’er in winter,
Where ofttimes in rainy seasons,
At the evening hour I lingered,
When I sought to win the virgin,
Sought to win the Maid of Beauty,
Fairest of the Sahri-flowers. 
Fare ye well, ye Sahri-woodlands,
Seas and oceans, lakes and rivers,
Vales and mountains, isles and inlets,
Once the home of fair Kyllikki!”
Quick the racer galloped homeward,
Galloped on along the highway,
Toward the meadows of Wainola,
To the plains of Kalevala. 
As they neared the Ahti-dwellings,
Thus Kyllikki spake in sorrow: 
“Cold and drear is thy cottage,
Seeming like a place deserted;
Who may own this dismal cabin,
Who the one so little honored?”
Spake the hero, Lemminkainen,
These the words that Ahti uttered: 
“Do not grieve about my cottage,
Have no care about my chambers;
I shall build thee other dwellings,
I shall fashion them much better,
Beams, and posts, and sills, and rafters,
Fashioned from the sacred birch-wood.” 
Now they reach the home of Ahti,
Lemminkainen’s home and birthplace,
Enter they his mother’s cottage;
There they meet his aged mother,
These the words the mother uses: 
“Long indeed hast thou been absent,
Long in foreign lands hast wandered,
Long in Sahri thou hast lingered!”
This is Lemminkainen’s answer: 
“All the host of Sahri-women,
All the chaste and lovely maidens,
All the maids with braided tresses,
Well have paid for their derision,
For their scorn and for their laughter,
That they basely heaped upon me. 
I have brought the best among them
In my sledge to this thy cottage;
Well I wrapped her in my fur-robes,
Kept her warm enwrapped in bear-skin,
Brought her to my mother’s dwelling,
As my faithful life-companion;
Thus I paid the scornful maidens,
Paid them well for their derision. 
“Cherished mother of my being,
I have found the long-sought jewel,
I have won the Maid of Beauty. 
Spread our couch with finest linen,
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Kalevala : the Epic Poem of Finland — Complete from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.