Has he stood before the fire,
Rising from his couch of bushes;
Three times in this spring already
On his eyes the dew has fallen,
And the shoots of pine-trees combed him,
And the branches brushed against him.
“All his people he exhorted,
To increase his flocks in number,
For indeed the bridegroom owneth
Flocks that wander through the birchwoods,510
Tramp their way among the sand-hills,
Seek for pasture in the valleys;
Hundreds of the horned cattle,
Thousands with their well-filled udders;
On the plains are stacks in plenty,
In the valley crops abundant,
Alder-woods for cornland suited,
Meadows where the barley’s springing,
Stony land for oats that’s suited,
Watered regions, fit for wheatfields.520
All rich gifts in peace await thee,
Pennies plentiful as pebbles.”
Runo XXIII.—The Instructing of the Bride
Argument
The bride is instructed and directed how to conduct herself in her husband’s house (1-478). An old vagrant woman relates the experiences of her life as a daughter, as a wife, and after her separation from her husband (479-850).
Now the girl must be instructed,
And the bride be taught her duty,
Who shall now instruct the maiden,
And shall teach the girl her duty?
Osmotar, experienced woman,
Kaleva’s most beauteous maiden;
