Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v1.djvu/173

Runo XV]

And whene’er she crossed a pathway,

Then she bowed herself before it.

“O thou path whom God created,

Hast thou seen my son pass over;

Hast thou seen my golden apple,

Hast thou seen my staff of silver?”

But the path made answer wisely,

And it spoke and gave her answer:

“I myself have also sorrows,

For your son I cannot trouble,

For my lot’s indeed a hard one,

And an evil day awaits me.

All the dogs go leaping o’er me,

And the horsemen gallop o’er me,

And the shoes walk heavy on me,

And the heels press hardly on me.”

Long she vainly sought the strayed one,

Long she sought, but found him never.

Met the moon upon her pathway,

And before the moon she bowed her.

“Golden moon, whom God created,

Hast thou seen my son pass by you;

Hast thou seen my golden apple,

Hast thou seen my staff of silver?”

Then the moon whom God created,

Made a full and prudent answer:

“I myself have many sorrows,

For your son I cannot trouble,

For my lot’s indeed a hard one,

And an evil day awaits me,

Wandering lonely in the night-time,

In the frost for ever shining,

In the winter keeping vigil,

But in time of summer waning.”

Long she vainly sought the strayed one,

Long she sought, but found him never,

Met the sun upon her pathway,

And before the sun she bowed her.

“O thou sun, whom God created,

Hast thou seen my son pass by you,