Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v1.djvu/151

Runo XIII]

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.”

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;

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:

“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.