Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v1.djvu/157

Runo XIV]

the lively Lemminkainen

Deeply pondered and reflected,

On the path that he should follow,

Whither he should turn his footsteps,

Should he leave the elk of Hiisi,

And direct his journey homewards,

Should he make another effort,

And pursue the chase on snowshoes,

With the Forest-Queen’s permission,

And the favour of the wood-nymphs?

Then he spoke the words which follow,

And in words like these expressed him:

“Ukko, thou of Gods the highest,

Gracious Father in the heavens,

Make me now two better snowshoes,

Leather snowshoes fit for sliding,

That I glide upon them swiftly

Over land and over marshes,

Glide throughout the land of Hiisi,

And across the heaths of Pohja,

There to chase the elk of Hiisi,

And to catch the nimble reindeer.

“In the wood alone I wander,

Toil without another hero,

Through the pathways of Tapiola,

And beside the home of Tapio.