Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v1.djvu/247

Runo XX]

In a bowl would he lie sleeping,

And beneath a sieve stand upright.

’Twas an old man, iron-fisted,

Iron-coloured, too, to gaze on;

On his head a stony helmet;

Shoes of stone his feet protected;

In his hand a knife, gold-bladed,

And the haft o’erlaid with copper.

Thus the people found a butcher,

And at length they found a slaughterer,

Who should fell the bull of Suomi,

And should fell the country’s marvel.

Scarce had he beheld the quarry,

Than at once his neck he shattered,

On his knees he forced the bullock,

And upon his side he threw him.

Did he yield them much provisions?

Not so very much he yielded.

Of his flesh a hundred barrels,

And a hundred fathoms sausage;

Seven boat-loads of blood they gathered,

Six large casks with fat were loaded,

All for Pohjola’s great banquet,

Feast of Sariola the misty.

Then they built a house in Pohja,

Built a house with hall enormous,

Fathoms nine its sides extended,

And the breadth thereof was seven.

If a cock crowed at the smoke-hole,

Underneath they could not hear it,

If a dog at end was barking,

At the door they did not hear it.

Then did Pohjola’s old Mistress

Walk across the flooring’s planking,

To the middle of the chamber,

And she pondered and reflected:

“How shall I get ale sufficient,

And shall brew the beer most wisely,

To prepare it for the wedding,

When the beer will much be needed?