Kalevala, The Land Of The Heroes Volume Ii Part 11

Kullervo, Kalervo's offspring, Answered in the words which follow: "In the swamp the horn was lying, From the sand I brought the cow-horn, 180 To the lane I brought your cattle, In the shed the cows are standing; Come you forth to smoke the cattle, And come out to milk the cattle."

Then did Ilmarinen's housewife Bid the mother milk the cattle.

"Mother, go and milk the cattle, Do thou go to tend the cattle, For I think I cannot finish Kneading dough as I would have it." 190

Kullervo, Kalervo's offspring, Answered in the words which follow: "Ever do the thrifty housewives, Ever do the careful housewives Go the first to milk the cattle, Set themselves to milk the cattle."

Then did Ilmarinen's housewife Hasten forth to smoke the cattle, And she went to milk the cattle, And surveyed the herd before her, 200 Gazed upon the horned cattle, And she spoke the words which follow: "Beauteous is the herd to gaze on, Very sleek the horned cattle, They have all been rubbed with lynx-skin And the wool of sheep of forest, Well-filled, too, are all their udders, And expanded with their fulness."

So she stooped her down to milk them, And she sat her down for milking, 210 Pulled a first time and a second, And attempted it a third time, And the wolf sprang fiercely at her, And the bear came fiercely after.

At her mouth the wolf was tearing, And the bear tore through her tendons, Halfway through her calves they bit her, And they broke across her s.h.i.+nbones.

Kullervo, Kalervo's offspring Thus repaid the damsel's jesting, 220 Damsel's jesting, woman's mocking, Thus repaid the wicked woman.

Ilmarinen's wife ill.u.s.trious Then herself was brought to weeping, And she spoke the words which follow: "Ill thou dost, O wicked herdsman, Driving bears unto the homestead, To the yard these wolves gigantic."

Kullervo, Kalervo's offspring Heard, and thus he made her answer: 230 "Ill I did, a wicked herd-boy, Not so great as wicked mistress.

In my cake a stone she baked me, Baked a lump of rock within it, On the stone my knife struck sharply, 'Gainst the rock my knife was shattered; 'Twas the knife of mine own father, Of our race a cherished heirloom."

Then said Ilmarinen's housewife, "O thou herd-boy, dearest herd-boy, 240 Wilt thou alter thy intention, And recall thy words of magic, And release me from the wolf's jaws, From the bear's claws now release me?

Better s.h.i.+rts will I then give you, And will give you handsome ap.r.o.ns, Give you wheaten-bread, and b.u.t.ter, And the sweetest milk for drinking, For a year no work will give you, Give you light work in the second. 250

"If you haste not to release me, Come not quickly to my rescue, Death will quickly fall upon me, And to earth shall I be altered."

Kullervo, Kalervo's offspring, Answered in the words which follow: "If you die, so may you perish, If you perish, may you peris.h.!.+

Room there is in earth to hold you, Room in Kalma's home for lost ones, 260 For the mightiest there to slumber, For the proudest to repose them."

Then said Ilmarinen's housewife, "Ukko, thou, of G.o.ds the highest, Haste to bend thy mighty crossbow, Of thy bows the best select thou, Take thou then a bolt of copper, And adjust it to the crossbow, Shoot thou then a flaming arrow, Shoot thou forth the bolt of copper, 270 Shoot it quickly through the arm-pits, Shoot it that it split the shoulders.

Thus let Kalervo's son perish, Shoot thou dead this wicked creature, Shoot him with the steel-tipped arrow, Shoot him with thy bolt of copper."

Kullervo, Kalervo's offspring, Uttered then the words which follow: "Ukko, thou, of G.o.ds the highest, Shoot me not as she has prayed thee, 280 Shoot the wife of Ilmarinen, Do thou kill this wicked woman, Ere from off this spot she riseth, Or can move herself from off it."

Then did Ilmarinen's housewife, Wife of that most skilful craftsman, On the spot at once fall dying, Fell, as falls the soot from kettle, In the yard before her homestead, In the narrow yard she perished. 290

Thus it was the young wife perished, Thus the fairest housewife perished, Whom the smith so long had yearned for, And for six long years was sought for, As the joy of Ilmarinen, Pride of him, the smith so famous.

RUNO x.x.xIV.--KULLERVO AND HIS PARENTS

_Argument_

Kullervo escapes from the homestead of Ilmarinen, and wanders sorrowfully through the forest, where he meets with the Old Woman of the Forest, who informs him that his father, mother, brothers and sisters are still living (1-128). Following her directions he finds them on the borders of Lapland (129-188). His mother tells him that she had long supposed him to be dead, and also that her elder daughter had been lost when gathering berries (189-246).

Kullervo, Kalervo's offspring, He, the youth with blue-dyed stockings, And with yellow hair the finest, And with shoes of finest leather, Hurried quickly on his journey From the home of Ilmarinen, Ere report could reach the master Of the death his wife had suffered, And might harm him in his anger, And he might at once destroy him. 10

From the smith he hurried piping, Joyful left the lands of Ilma, On the heath his horn blew loudly, Shouted loudly in the clearing, And he dashed through plains and marshes, While the heath re-echoed loudly, And his horn kept loudly blowing, And made horrible rejoicing.

In the smithy did they hear it, At the forge the smith was standing, 20 To the lane he went to listen, To the yard to look around him, Who was playing in the forest, And upon the heath was piping.

Then he saw what just had happened, Saw the truth without deception, There he saw his wife was resting, Saw the fair one who had perished, Where she in the yard had fallen, On the gra.s.s where she had fallen. 30

Even while the smith was standing, All his heart was dark with sorrow; Many nights he spent in weeping, Many weeks his tears were flowing, And his soul like tar was darkened, And his heart than soot no lighter.

Kullervo still wandered onwards, Aimlessly he hurried forward, For a day through thickest forest, Through the timber-grounds of Hiisi, 40 And at evening, when it darkened, Down upon the ground he threw him.

There the orphan boy was sitting, And the friendless one reflected: "Wherefore have I been created, Who has made me, and has doomed me, Thus 'neath moon and sun to wander 'Neath the open sky for ever?

"Others to their homes may journey, And may travel to their dwellings, 50 But my home is in the forest, And upon the heath my homestead.

In the wind I find my fire-place, In the rain I find my bathroom.

"Never, Jumala most gracious, Never in the course of ages, Form a child thus mis-created, Doomed to be for ever friendless, Fatherless beneath the heavens, From the first without a mother, 60 As thou, Jumala, hast made me, And hast formed me to be wretched, Formed me like a wandering seagull, Like a seagull on the lake-cliffs.

s.h.i.+nes the sun upon the swallow, Brightly s.h.i.+nes upon the sparrow, In the air the birds are joyous, I myself am never happy, On my life the sun s.h.i.+nes never, And my life is always joyless. 70

"Now I know not who has nursed me, And I know not who has borne me, For, as water-hens are used to, Or as ducks among the marshes, Like the teal on sh.o.r.e she left me, Or in hollow stone, merganser.

"I was small, and lost my father, I was weak, and lost my mother, Dead is father, dead is mother, All my mighty race has perished, 80 Shoes of ice to wear they left me, Filled with snow they left my stockings, On the ice they left me lying, Rolling on the platform left me, Thus I fell into the marshes, And amid the mud was swallowed.

"But in all my life I never, Never in my life I hastened, Through the swamp to make a platform, Or a bridge in marshy places; 90 But I sank not in the marshes, For I had two hands to help me, And I had five nimble fingers, And ten nails to lift me from it."

Then into his mind it entered In his brain he fixed the notion Unto Untamo to journey, There his father's wrongs avenging, Father's wrongs, and tears of mother, And the wrongs himself had suffered. 100

Then he spoke the words which follow: "Wait thou, wait thou, Untamoinen, Watch thou, of my race destroyer!

If I seek thee out in battle, I will quickly burn thy dwelling, And thy farms to flame deliver."

Then an old dame came to meet him, Blue-robed Lady of the Forest, And she spoke the words which follow, And in words like these expressed her: 110 "Whither goeth Kullervoinen, Where will Kalervo's son hasten?"

Kullervo, Kalervo's offspring, Answered in the words which follow: "In my mind the thought has entered, In my brain has fixed the notion Hence to other lands to wander, Unto Untamo's own village, There my father's death avenging, Father's wrongs, and tears of mother, 120 There with fire to burn the houses, And to burn them up completely."

But the old wife made him answer, And she spoke the words which follow: "No, your race has not yet perished, Nor has Kalervo been murdered; For your father still is living, And on earth in health your mother."

"O my dearest of old women, Tell me, O my dear old woman, 130 Where I yet may find my father, Where the fair one who has borne me?"

"Thither is thy father living, There the fair one who has borne thee, Far away on Lapland's borders, On the borders of a fishpond."

"O my dearest of old women, Tell me, O my dear old woman, How I best can journey to them, And the road I may discover?" 140

"Easy 'tis for thee to journey, Though to thee unknown the pathway.

Through the forest must thou journey, By the river thou must travel, Thou must march one day, a second, And must march upon the third day, Then must turn thee to the north-west, Till you reach a wooded mountain, Then march on beneath the mountain, Go the left side of the mountain, 150 Till thou comest to a river, (On the right side thou wilt find it,) By the riverside go further, Till three waterfalls rush foaming, When thou comest to a headland, With a narrow tongue projecting, And a house at point of headland, And beyond a hut for fis.h.i.+ng.

There thy father still is living, There the fair one who has borne thee, 160 There thou'lt also find thy sisters, Two among the fairest maidens."

Kullervo, Kalervo's offspring, Started then upon his journey, And he marched one day, a second, Likewise marched upon the third day, Then he turned him to the north-west, Till he reached a wooded mountain, Then he marched halfway below it, Turning westward from the mountain, 170 Till at length he found the river, And he marched along the river, On the west bank of the river, Past three water-falls he journeyed, Till at length he reached a headland With a narrow tongue projecting, And a house at point of headland, And beyond, a hut for fis.h.i.+ng.

Thereupon the house he entered, In the room they did not know him. 180 "From what lake has come the stranger, From what country is the wanderer?"

"Is your son then all forgotten, Know you not your child, your offspring, Who by Untamo's marauders, With them to their home was carried, Greater not than span of father, Longer not than mother's spindle?"