Kalevala (Kirby 1907)/Runo 13
Runo XIII.—Hiisi’s Elk
Argument
Lemminkainen asks the old woman of Pohja for her daughter, but she demands that he should first capture the Elk of Hiisi on snowshoes (1-30). Lemminkainen starts off in high spirits to hunt the elk, but it escapes, and he breaks his snowshoes and spear (31-270).
Then the lively Lemminkainen
Said to Pohjola’s old Mistress,
“Give me, old one, now your maiden,
Bring me here your lovely daughter,
She the best of all among them,
She the tallest of the maidens.”
Then did Pohjola’s old Mistress
Answer in the words which follow:
“Nay, I will not give my maiden,
And you shall not have my daughter,10
Not the best or worst among them,
Not the tallest, not the shortest,
For you have a wife already,
Long the mistress of your household.”
Said the lively Lemminkainen,
“Kylli in the town lies fettered,
At the steps before the village,
By the gate where strangers enter,
So a better wife I wish for,
Therefore give me now your daughter,20
She the fairest of your daughters,
Lovely with unbraided tresses.”
Then said Pohjola’s old Mistress,
“Never will I give my daughter
To a vain and worthless fellow,
To a hero good for nothing.
Therefore you may woo my daughter,
Win the far-famed flower-crowned maiden,
If you hunt the elk on snowshoes,
In the distant field of Hiisi.”30
Then the lively Lemminkainen
Fixed the point upon his javelin,
And his bowstring made of sinew,
And with bone he tipped his arrows,
And he said the words which follow:
“Now my javelin I have pointed,
All my shafts with bone have pointed,
And have strung my bow with sinew,
Not the snowshoe left put forward,
Nor the right one stamped behind it.”40
Then the lively Lemminkainen
Pondered deeply and reflected
How he should procure his snowshoes,
How they best should be constructed.
Then to Kauppi’s house he hastened,
And to Lyylikki’s forge hurried.
“O thou wisest Vuojalainen,
Thou the handsome Lapland Kauppi,
Make me snowshoes that will suit me,
Fitted with the finest leather;50
I must chase the elk of Hiisi,
In the distant field of Hiisi.”
Lyylikki then spoke as follows,
Kauppi gave him ready answer:
“Vainly goest thou, Lemminkainen,
Forth to hunt the elk of Hiisi;
For a piece of rotten timber,
Only will reward your labour.”
Little troubled Lemminkainen,
And he spoke the words which follow:60
“Make a snowshoe left to run with,
And a right one to put forward!
I must chase the elk on snowshoes,
In the distant field of Hiisi.”
Lyylikki, the smith of snowshoes,
Kauppi, maker of the snowshoes,
In the autumn shaped the left one,
In the winter carved the right one,
And he fixed the frames on one day,
Fixed the rings upon another.70
Now the left was fit to run with,
And the right for wearing ready,
And the frames were now completed,
And the rings were also fitted.
Frames he lined with skins of otter,
And the rings with ruddy foxskin.
Then he smeared with grease the snowshoes,
Smeared them with the fat of reindeer,
And himself reflected deeply,
And he spoke the words which follow:80
“Can you, in this youthful frolic,
You, a young and untried hero,
Forward glide upon the left shoe,
And push forward with the right one?”
Said the lively Lemminkainen,
Answered him the ruddy rascal:
“Yes, upon this youthful frolic
Of a young and untried hero,
I can glide upon the left shoe,
And push forward with the right one.”90
On his back he bound his quiver,
And his new bow on his shoulder,
In his hands his pole grasped firmly,
On the left shoe glided forward,
And pushed onward with the right one,
And he spoke the words which follow:
“In God’s world may there be nothing,
Underneath the arch of heaven,
In the forest to be hunted,
Not a single four-foot runner,100
Which may not be overtaken,
And can easily be captured
Thus by Kaleva’s son with snowshoes,
And with Lemminkainen’s snowshoes.”
But the boast was heard by Hiisi,
And by Juutas comprehended;
And an elk was formed by Hiisi,
And a reindeer formed by Juutas,
With a head of rotten timber,
Horns composed of willow-branches,110
Feet of ropes the swamps which border,
Shins of sticks from out the marshes;
And his back was formed of fence-stakes,
Sinews formed of dryest grass-stalks,
Eyes of water-lily flowers,
Ears of leaves of water-lily,
And his hide was formed of pine-bark,
And his flesh of rotten timber.
Hiisi now the elk instructed,
Thus he spoke unto the reindeer:120
“Now rush forth thou elk of Hiisi,
On thy legs, O noble creature,
To the breeding-place of reindeer,
Grassy plains of Lapland’s children,
Till the snowshoe-men are sweating;
Most of all, this Lemminkainen!”
Then rushed forth the elk of Hiisi,
Sped away the fleeing reindeer,
Rushing past the barns of Pohja,
To the plains of Lapland’s children,130
In the house the tubs kicked over,
On the fire upset the kettles,
Threw the meat among the ashes,
Spilt the soup among the cinders.
Then arose a great commotion,
On the plains of Lapland’s children,
For the Lapland dogs were barking,
And the Lapland children crying,
And the Lapland women laughing,
And the other people grumbling.140
He, the lively Lemminkainen,
Chased the elk upon his snowshoes,
Glided o’er the land and marshes,
O’er the open wastes he glided.
Fire was crackling from his snowshoes,
From his staffs end smoke ascending,
But as yet the elk he saw not;
Could not see it; could not hear it.
O’er the hills and dales he glided,
Through the lands beyond the ocean,150
Over all the wastes of Hiisi,
Over all the heaths of Kalma,
And before the mouth of Surma,
And behind the house of Kalma.
Surma’s mouth was quickly opened,
Down was bowed the head of Kalma,
That he thus might seize the hero,
And might swallow Lemminkainen;
But he tried, and failed to reach him,
Failed completely in his effort.160
O’er all lands he had not skated,
Nor had reached the desert’s borders,
In the furthest bounds of Pohja,
In the distant realms of Lapland,
So he skated further onward,
Till he reached the desert’s borders.
When he reached this distant region,
Then he heard a great commotion,
In the furthest bounds of Pohja,
On the plains of Lapland’s children.170
And he heard the dogs were barking,
And the Lapland children crying,
And the Lapland women laughing,
And the other Lapps were grumbling.
Then the lively Lemminkainen
Skated on in that direction,
Where he heard the dogs were barking
On the plains of Lapland’s children;
And he said on his arrival,
And he asked them on his coming:180
“Wherefore are the women laughing,
Women laughing, children crying,
And the older folks lamenting,
And the grey dogs all are barking?”
“Therefore are the women laughing,
Women laughing, children crying,
And the older folks lamenting,
And the grey dogs all are barking.
Here has charged the elk of Hiisi,
With its hoofs all cleft and polished,190
In the house the tubs kicked over,
On the fire upset the kettles,
Shaken out the soup within them,
Spilt it all among the ashes.”
Thereupon the ruddy rascal,
He the lively Lemminkainen,
Struck his left shoe in the snowdrift,
Like an adder in the meadow,
Pushed his staff of pinewood forward,
As it were a living serpent,200
And he said as he was gliding,
Grasping firm the pole he carried:
“Let the men who live in Lapland,
Help me all to bring the elk home;
And let all the Lapland women
Set to work to wash the kettles;
And let all the Lapland children
Hasten forth to gather splinters;
And let all the Lapland kettles
Help to cook the elk when captured.”210
Then he poised himself and balanced,
Forward pushed, his strength exerting,
And the first time he shot forward,
From before their eyes he vanished.
Once again he speeded onward,
And they could no longer hear him,
But the third time he rushed onward,
Then he reached the elk of Hiisi.
Then he took a pole of maple,
And he made a birchen collar;220
Hiisi’s elk he tethered with it,
In a pen of oak he placed it.
“Stand thou there, O elk of Hiisi,
Here remain, O nimble reindeer!”
Then upon the back he stroked it,
Patted it upon the belly.
“Would that I awhile might tarry,
And might sleep awhile and rest me,
Here beside a youthful maiden,
With a dove of blooming beauty.”230
Then did Hiisi’s elk grow furious,
And the reindeer kicked out wildly,
And it spoke the words which follow:
“Lempo’s self shall reckon with you,
If you sleep beside a maiden,
And beside a girl should tarry.”
Then it gave a mighty struggle,
And it snapped the birchen collar,
And it broke the pole of maple,
And the pen of oak burst open,240
And began to hurry forwards,
And the elk rushed wildly onwards,
Over land and over marshes,
Over slopes o’ergrown with bushes,
Till the eyes no more could see it,
And the ears no longer hear it.
Thereupon the ruddy rascal
Grew both sorrowful and angry,
Very vexed and very angry,
And would chase the elk of Hiisi,250
But as he was rushing forward,
In a hole he broke his left shoe,
And his snowshoe fell to pieces,
On the ground he broke the right one,
Broke the tips from off his snowshoes,
And the frames across the joinings.
While rushed on the elk of Hiisi,
Till its head he saw no longer.
Then the lively Lemminkainen,
Bowed his head in deep depression,260
Gazed upon the broken snowshoes,
And he spoke the words which follow:
“Nevermore in all his lifetime
May another hunter venture
Confidently to the forest,
Chasing Hiisi’s elk on snowshoes!
Since I went, O me unhappy,
And have spoilt the best of snowshoes,
And the splendid frames have shattered,
And my spearpoint likewise broken.”270