Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v1.djvu/120

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Then did Pohjola’s old Mistress,

Lead the smith named Ilmarinen,

Into Pohjola’s great castle,

Rooms of Sariola the gloomy.

There she set a meal before him,

Gave the hero drink in plenty,

And she feasted him profusely,

And at length she spoke as follows:

“O thou smith, O Ilmarinen,

Thou the great primeval craftsman,

If you can but forge a Sampo,

With its many-coloured cover,

From the tips of swans’ white wing-plumes,

From the milk of barren heifer,

From a little grain of barley,

From the wool of sheep of summer,

Will you then accept this maiden,

As reward, my charming daughter?”

Then the smith named Ilmarinen

Answered in the words which follow:

“I will go to forge the Sampo,

Weld its many-coloured cover,

From the tips of swans’ white wing-plumes,

From the milk of barren heifer,

From a little grain of barley,

From the wool of sheep of summer,

For ’twas I who forged the heavens,

And the vault of air I hammered,

Ere the air had yet beginning,

Or a trace of aught was present.”

Then he went to forge the Sampo,

With its many-coloured cover,

Sought a station for a smithy,

And he needed tools for labour;

But no place he found for smithy,

Nor for smithy, nor for bellows,

Nor for furnace, nor for anvil,

Not a hammer, nor a mallet.

Then the smith, e’en Ilmarinen,

Spoke aloud the words which follow: