Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v1.djvu/131

Runo XI]

Wore a hundred boats to tatters,

Rowed in twain a hundred oars,

As he strove to win the maiden,

Kyllikki herself to conquer.

Kyllikki the lovely maiden

Answered him in words that follow:

“Wherefore wander here, O weakling,

Racing round me like a plover,

Always seeking for a maiden,

With her tin-adorned girdle?

I myself will never heed you

Till the stone is ground to powder,

Till the pestle’s stamped to pieces,

And the mortar smashed to atoms.

“Nought I care for such a milksop,

Such a milksop, such a humbug;

I must have a graceful husband,

I myself am also graceful;

I must have a shapely husband,

I myself am also shapely;

And a well-proportioned husband,

I myself am also handsome.”

But a little time thereafter,

Scarce had half a month passed over,

On a certain day it happened,

As was usual in the evenings,

All the girls had met for pleasure,

And the beauteous maids were dancing,

In a grove near open country,

On a lovely space of heathland.

Kyllikki was first among them,

She the far-famed Flower of Saari.

Thither came the ruddy scoundrel,

There drove lively Lemminkainen,

With the best among his horses,

With the horse that he had chosen,

Right into the green arena

Where the beauteous maids were dancing.

Kyllikki he seized and lifted,

Then into the sledge he pushed her,