Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v1.djvu/129

Runo XI]

Little heeded Lemminkainen,

And in words like these he answered:

“I will check the women’s laughter,

And the giggling of their daughters.

Sons I’ll give unto their bosoms,

Children in their arms to carry;

Then they will no longer scorn me,

Thus I’ll stop their foolish jesting.”

Then his mother made him answer:

“Woe to me, my life is wretched.

If you mock the Saari women,

Bring to shame the modest maidens,

You will bring yourself in conflict,

And a dreadful fight will follow.

All the noble youths of Saari,

Full a hundred skilful swordsmen,

All shall rush on thee unhappy,

Standing all alone amidst them.”

Little heeded Lemminkainen

All the warnings of his mother;

Chose the best among his stallions,

And the steed he quickly harnessed,

And he drove away with clatter,

To the village famed of Saari,

There to woo the Flower of Saari,

She, the peerless maid of Saari.

But the women ridiculed him,

And the maidens laughed and jeered him.

In the lane he drove most strangely,

Strangely to the farm came driving,

Turned the sledge all topsy-turvy,

At the gate he overturned it.

Then the lively Lemminkainen

Mouth awry, and head downsunken,

While his black beard he was twisting,

Spoke aloud the words which follow:

“Never aught like this I witnessed,

Never saw I, never heard I,

That the women laughed about me,

And the maidens ridiculed me.”