That in youthful days one weddeth,
And must choose a life-companion.
All thing else a man may grieve for,
Save indeed an early marriage,
When in youth already children,
And a household he must care for.”510
Thus did warn old Väinämöinen,
Cautioned thus Suvantolainen,
That old men against the younger,
Should not struggle for a fair one:
Warned them not to swim too proudly,
Neither try to race in rowing,
Nor to seek to woo a maiden,
With a younger man contending.
Runo XX.—The Great Ox, and the Brewing of the Ale
Argument
An enormous ox is slaughtered in Pohjola (1-118). They brew ale and prepare a feast (119-516). They dispatch messengers to invite the heroes to the wedding, but Lemminkainen is expressly passed over (517-614).
How shall we our song continue,
And what legends shall we tell you?
Thus will we pursue our story:
These the legends we will tell you;
How in Pohjola they feasted,
And the drinking-bout was Godlike.
Long prepared they for the wedding,
For the feast provided all things,
In the household famed of Pohja,
Halls of Sariola the misty.10
What provisions were provided,
What did they collect together,
For a lengthy feast at Pohja,
For the multitude of drinkers,
