Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v1.djvu/249

Runo XX]

And she boiled the ale of barley

Through the fleeting days of summer,

Out upon the cloudy headland,

Cape upon the shady island;

Poured it then in wooden barrels,

And in tubs of birchwood stored it.

“Thus she brewed the ale and stored it,

But the ale was not fermented,

And she pondered and reflected,

And she spoke the words which follow:

‘What must now be added to it,

What is needful to provide for,

That the ale may be fermented,

And the beer be brought to foaming? ’

“Kalevatar, beauteous maiden,

She the maid with slender fingers,

Which she ever moves so deftly,

She whose feet are shod so lightly,

Felt about the seams of staving,

Groping all about the bottom,

Trying one and then the other,

In the midst of both the kettles;

Found a splinter at the bottom,

From the bottom took a splinter.

“Then she turned it and reflected:

‘What might perhaps be fashioned from it,

In the hands of lovely maiden,

In the noble damsel’s fingers,

Brought into the hands of maiden,

To the noble damsel’s fingers?’

“In her hands the maiden took it,

In the noble damsel’s fingers,

And she clapped her hands together,

Both her hands she rubbed together,

Rubbed them on her thighs together,

And a squirrel white created.

“Then she gave her son directions,

And instructed thus the squirrel:

‘O thou squirrel, gold of woodlands,

Flower of woodlands, charm of country,