Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v1.djvu/154

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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.

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.

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:

“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,