Kalevala (Kirby 1907)/Runo 29
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 shores 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-butter,
Butter 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 space 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 pinewood40
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 shore-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 space 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,
Grassland managed by the commune.”
Said the lively Lemminkainen,
Asked the handsome Kaukomieli,
“Is there room upon this island,
On the surface of the island,
Space where I my songs may carol,
Space where I may sing my ballads?140
Words within my mouth are melting,
And between my gums are sprouting.”
Said the girls upon the island,
And the island-maidens answered:
“There is room upon this island,
On the surface of the island,
Space where you may sing your ballads,
And intone your splendid verses,
While you sport amid the greenwood,
While you dance among the meadows.”150
Then the lively Lemminkainen
Hastened to commence his singing.
In the court sang mountain-ashtrees,
In the farmyard oaks grew upward.
On the oaks were equal branches,
And on every branch an acorn,
Golden globes within the acorns,
And upon the globes were cuckoos.
When the cuckoos all were calling,
From their mouths was gold distilling,160
From their beaks was copper flowing,
Likewise silver pouring onward
To the hills all golden-shining,
And among the silver mountains.
Once again sang Lemminkainen,
Once again he sang and chanted,
Gravel sang to pearls of beauty,
All the stones to gleaming lustre,
All the stones to glowing redness,
And the flowers to golden glory.170
Then again sang Lemminkainen;
In the yard a well created,
O’er the well a golden cover,
And on this a golden bucket,
That the lads might drink the water,
And their sisters wash their faces.
Ponds he sang upon the meadows,
In the ponds blue ducks were floating,
Temples golden, heads of silver,
And their claws were all of copper.180
Then the island-maidens wondered,
And the girls were all astounded
At the songs of Lemminkainen,
And the craft of that great hero.
Said the lively Lemminkainen,
Spoke the handsome Kaukomieli,
“I have sung a song most splendid,
But perchance might sing a better,
If beneath a roof I sang it,
At the end of the deal table.190
If a house you cannot give me,
There to rest upon the planking,
I will hum my tunes in forest,
Toss my songs among the bushes.”
Said the maidens of the island,
Answered after full reflection:
“There are houses you may enter,
Handsome halls that you may dwell in,
Safe from cold to sing your verses,
In the open speak your magic.”200
Then the lively Lemminkainen,
Entered in a house directly,
Where he sang a row of pint-pots,
At the end of the long table.
All the pots with ale were brimming,
And the cans with mead the finest,
Filled as full as one could fill them,
Dishes filled to overflowing.
In the pots was beer in plenty,
And the mead in covered tankards,210
Butter too, in great abundance,
Pork was likewise there in plenty,
For the feast of Lemminkainen,
And for Kaukomieli’s pleasure.
Kauko was of finest manners,
Nor to eat was he accustomed,
Only with a knife of silver,
Fitted with a golden handle.
So he sang a knife of silver,
And a golden-hafted knife-blade,220
And he ate till he was sated,
Drank the ale in full contentment.
Then the lively Lemminkainen,
Roamed about through every village,
For the island-maidens’ pleasure,
To delight the braidless damsels,
And where’er his head was turning,
There he found a mouth for kissing,
Wheresoe’er his hand was outstretched,
There he found a hand to clasp it.230
And at night he went to rest him,
Hiding in the darkest corner;
There was not a single village
Where he did not find ten homesteads,
There was not a single homestead
Where he did not find ten daughters,
There was none among the daughters,
None among the mother’s children,
By whose side he did not stretch him,
On whose arm he did not rest him.240
Thus a thousand brides he found there,
Rested by a hundred widows;
Two in half-a-score remained not,
Three in a completed hundred,
Whom he left untouched as maidens,
Or as widows unmolested.
Thus the lively Lemminkainen
Lived a life of great enjoyment,
For the course of three whole summers
In the island’s pleasant hamlets,250
To the island-maidens’ rapture,
The content of all the widows;
One alone he did not trouble,
’Twas a poor and aged maiden,
At the furthest promontory,
In the tenth among the hamlets.
As he pondered on his journey,
And resolved to wend him homeward,
Came the poor and aged maiden,
And she spoke the words which follow:260
“Handsome hero, wretched Kauko,
If you will not think upon me,
Then I wish that as you travel,
May your boat on rocks be stranded.”
Rose he not before the cockcrow,
Nor before the hen’s child rose he,
From his sporting with the maiden,
Laughing with the wretched woman.
Then upon a day it happened,
And upon a certain evening,270
He resolved to rise and wander,
Waiting not for morn or cockcrow.
Long before the time he rose up,
Sooner than the time intended,
And he went around to wander,
And to wander through the village,
For his sporting with the damsels,
To amuse the wretched women.
As alone by night he wandered,
Through the villages he sauntered280
To the isle’s extremest headland,
To the tenth among the hamlets,
He beheld not any homestead
Where three rooms he did not notice,
There was not a room among them
Where he did not see three heroes,
And he saw not any hero,
With a sword-blade left unwhetted,
Sharpened thus to bring destruction
On the head of Lemminkainen.290
Then the lively Lemminkainen
Spoke aloud the words which follow:
“Woe to me, the day is dawning,
And the pleasant sun is rising
O’er a youth, of all most wretched,
O’er the neck of me unhappy!
Lempo may perchance a hero
With his shirt protect and cover,
Perhaps will cover with his mantle,
Cast it round him for protection300
Though a hundred men attacked him,
And a thousand pressed upon him.”
Unembraced he left the maidens,
And he left them unmolested,
And he turned him to his vessel,
Luckless to his boat he hurried,
But he found it burned to ashes,
Utterly consumed to ashes.
Mischief now he saw approaching,
O’er his head ill days were brooding,310
So began to build a vessel,
And a new boat to construct him.
Wood was failing to the craftsman,
Boards with which a boat to fashion,
But he found of wood a little,
Begged some wretched bits of boarding,
Five small splinters of a spindle,
And six fragments of a bobbin.
So from these a boat he fashioned,
And a new boat he constructed,320
By his magic art he made it,
With his secret knowledge made it,
Hammered once, one side he fashioned,
Hammered twice, called up the other,
Hammered then a third time only,
And the boat was quite completed.
Then he pushed the boat in water,
On the waves he launched the vessel,
And he spoke the words which follow,
And expressed himself in thiswise:330
“Float like bladder on the water,
On the waves like water-lily.
Eagle, give me now three feathers,
Eagle, three, and two from raven,
For the wretched boat’s protection,
For the wretched vessel’s bulwarks.”
Then he stepped upon the planking,
At the stern he took his station,
Head bowed down, in deep depression,
And his cap awry adjusted,340
Since by night he dare not tarry,
Nor by day could linger longer,
For the island-maidens’ pleasure,
Sporting with unbraided damsels.
Spoke the lively Lemminkainen,
Said the handsome Kaukomieli:
“Now the youth must take departure,
And must travel from these dwellings,
Joyless leave behind these damsels,
Dance no longer with the fair ones.350
Surely when I have departed,
And have left this land behind me,
Never will rejoice these damsels,
Nor unbraided girls be jesting,
In their homes so full of sadness,
In the courtyards now so dreary.”
Wept the island girls already,
Damsels at the cape lamented:
“Wherefore goest thou, Lemminkainen,
And departest, hero-bridegroom?360
Dost thou go for maidens’ coyness,
Or for scarcity of women?”
Spoke the lively Lemminkainen,
Said the handsome Kaukomieli,
“’Tis not for the maidens’ coyness,
Nor the scarcity of women.
I have had a hundred women,
And embraced a thousand maidens;
Thus departeth Lemminkainen,
Quits you thus your hero-bridegroom,370
Since the great desire has seized me,
Longing for my native country,
Longing for my own land’s strawberries,
For the slopes where grow the raspberries,
For the maidens on the headland,
And the poultry of my farmyard.”
Then the lively Lemminkainen
Pushed into the waves the vessel,
Blew the wind, and then it blustered,
Rising waves drove on the vessel380
O’er the blue lake’s shining surface,
And across the open water.
On the beach there stood the sad ones,
On the shingles the unhappy,
And the island girls were weeping,
And the golden maids lamenting.
Wept for long the island-maidens,
Damsels on the cape lamented,
Long as they could see the masthead,
And the ironwork was gleaming,390
But they wept not for the masthead,
Nor bewailed the iron fittings,
By the mast they wept the steersman,
He who wrought the iron fittings.
Lemminkainen too was weeping,
Long he wept, and long was saddened,
Long as he could see the island,
Or the outline of its mountains;
But he wept not for the island,
Nor lamented for the mountains,400
But he wept the island-damsels,
For the mountain geese lamented.
Then the lively Lemminkainen
O’er the blue lake took his journey,
And he voyaged one day, a second,
And at length upon the third day
Rose a furious wind against him,
And the whole horizon thundered.
Rose a great wind from the north-west,
And a strong wind from the north-east,410
Struck one side and then the other,
Thus the vessel overturning.
Then the lively Lemminkainen
Plunged his hands into the water,
Rowing forward with his fingers,
While his feet he used for steering.
Thus he swam by night and daytime
And with greatest skill he steered him,
And a little cloud perceived he,
In the west a cloud projecting,420
Which to solid land was changing,
And became a promontory.
On the cape he found a homestead,
Where he found the mistress baking,
And her daughters dough were kneading.
“O thou very gracious mistress,
If you but perceived my hunger,
Thought upon my sad condition,
You would hurry to the storehouse,
To the alehouse like a snowstorm,430
And a can of ale would fetch me,
And a strip of pork would fetch me,
In the pan would broil it for me,
And would pour some butter on it,
That the weary man might eat it,
And the fainting hero drink it.
Nights and days have I been swimming
Out upon the broad lake’s billows,
With the wind as my protector,
At the mercy of the lake-waves.”440
Thereupon the gracious mistress
Hastened to the mountain storehouse,
Sliced some butter in the storehouse,
And a slice of pork provided,
In the pan thereafter broiled it,
That the hungry man might eat it.
Then she fetched of ale a canful,
For the fainting hero’s drinking,
And she gave him a new vessel,
And a boat completely finished,450
Which to other lands should take him,
And convey him to his birthplace.
Then the lively Lemminkainen
Started on his homeward journey,
Saw the lands and saw the beaches,
Here the islands, there the channels,
Saw the ancient landing-stages,
Saw the former dwelling-places,
And he saw the pine-clad mountains,
All the hills with fir-trees covered,460
But he found no more his homestead,
And the walls he found not standing;
Where the house before was standing,
Rustled now a cherry-thicket,
On the mound were pine-trees growing,
Juniper beside the well-spring.
Spoke the lively Lemminkainen,
Said the handsome Kaukomieli,
“I have roamed among these forests,
O’er the stones, and plunged in river,470
And have played about the meadows,
And have wandered through the cornfields.
Who has spoiled my well-known homestead,
And destroyed my charming dwelling?
They have burned the house to ashes,
And the wind’s dispersed the ashes.”
Thereupon he fell to weeping,
And he wept one day, a second,
But he wept not for the homestead,
Nor lamented for the storehouse,480
But he wept the house’s treasure,
Dearer to him than the storehouse.
Then he saw a bird was flying,
And a golden eagle hovering,
And he then began to ask it:
“O my dearest golden eagle,
Can you not perchance inform me,
What has happened to my mother,
To the fair one who has borne me,
To my dear and much-loved mother?”490
Nothing knew the eagle of her,
Nor the stupid bird could tell him,
Only knew that she had perished;
Said a raven she had fallen,
And had died beneath the sword-blades,
’Neath the battle-axes fallen.
Answered lively Lemminkainen,
Said the handsome Kaukomieli:
“O my fair one who hast borne me,
O my dear and much-loved mother!500
Hast thou perished, who hast borne me,
Hast thou gone, O tender mother?
Now thy flesh in earth has rotted,
Fir-trees o’er thy head are growing,
Juniper upon thy ankles,
On thy finger-tips are willows.
“Thus my wretched doom has found me,
And an ill reward has reached me,
That my sword I dared to measure,
And I dared to raise my weapons510
There in Pohjola’s great castle,
In the fields of Pimentola.
But my own race now has perished,
Perished now is she who bore me.”
Then he looked, and turned on all sides,
And he saw a trace of footsteps,
Where the grass was lightly trampled,
And the heath was slightly broken.
Then he went the way they led him,
And he found a little pathway;520
To the forest led the pathway,
And he went in that direction.
Thus he walked a verst, a second,
Hurried through a stretch of country,
And in darkest shades of forest,
In the most concealed recesses,
There he saw a hidden bath-house,
Saw a little cottage hidden,
In a cleft two rocks protected,
In a nook between three fir-trees;530
There he saw his tender mother,
There beheld the aged woman.
Then the lively Lemminkainen,
Felt rejoiced beyond all measure,
And he spoke the words which follow,
And in words like these expressed him:
“O my very dearest mother,
O my mother who hast nursed me,
Thou art living still, O mother,
Watchful still, my aged mother!540
Yet I thought that thou had’st perished,
And wast lost to me for ever,
Perished underneath the sword-blades,
Or beneath the spears had’st fallen,
And I wept my pretty eyes out,
And my handsome cheeks were ruined.”
Then said Lemminkainen’s mother,
“True it is that I am living,
But was forced to fly my dwelling,
And to seek a place of hiding550
In this dark and gloomy forest,
In the most concealed recesses,
When came Pohjola to battle,
Murderous hosts from distant countries,
Seeking but for thee, unhappy,
And our home they laid in ruins,
And they burned the house to ashes,
And they wasted all the holding.”
Said the lively Lemminkainen:
“O my mother who hast borne me,560
Do not give thyself to sadness,
Be not sad, and be not troubled.
We will now erect fresh buildings,
Better buildings than the others,
And will wage a war with Pohja,
Overthrowing Lempo’s people.”
Then did Lemminkainen’s mother
Answer in the words which follow:
“Long hast thou, my son, been absent,
Long, my Kauko, hast been living570
In a distant foreign country,
Always in the doors of strangers,
On a nameless promontory,
And upon an unknown island.”
Answered lively Lemminkainen,
Said the handsome Kaukomieli:
“There to dwell was very pleasant,
Charming was it there to wander.
There the trees are crimson-shining,
Red the trees, and blue the country,580
And the pine-boughs shine like silver,
And the flowers of heath all golden,
And the mountains are of honey,
And the rocks are made of hens’ eggs,
Flows the mead from withered pine-trees,
Milk flows from the barren fir-trees,
Butter flows from corner-fences,
From the posts the ale is flowing.
“There to dwell was very pleasant,
Lovely was it to reside there;590
Afterwards ’twas bad to live there,
And unfit for me to live there.
They were anxious for the maidens,
And suspicious of the women,
Lest the miserable wenches,
And the fat and wicked creatures,
Might by me be badly treated,
Visited too much at night time.
But I hid me from the maidens,
And the women’s daughters guarded600
Just as hides the wolf from porkers,
Or the hawks from village poultry.”