Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 3, 1892.djvu/57

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MAGIC SONGS OF THE FINNS.

IV.


XXXIV.—Origin of the Earth-Goblin (Skin Eruption).[1]


(a.)

A RASH (Maahinen) is from the earth by birth, a red spot upon the skin is from the courtyard, from the animosity of the earth or of the water, or from hidden poison of a frog. From this the cunning one has been brought forth, the deceitful one of the earth has been bred; although I do not the least know how it should have come here, how it should have broken out on a human skin, on the body of a woman's son; to burn it like fire, to scorch it like flame, or as a 'snail' or a 'worm', or as some other earth-goblin would do. A worm has short legs, an earth-goblin's are still shorter. If thou hast risen from the earth, then I conjure thee into the earth. If, feeble one, thou hast issued from water, then tumble into the water. If thou hast issued from fire, then plunge into the fire. When thou art departing carry away thine animosity, take away thine own mischief


(b.)

A water Hiisi rowed along, a young creature kept see-sawing in a copper boat with tin oars. He reached land

  1. Maahinen, see Castrén, Vorlesungen über d. Finn. Mythologie, p. 169. The remainder of these magic songs will be given in prose. Words in single inverted commas are epithets, and not to be taken quite literally.