Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v1.djvu/25

Runo I]

Swam to north-west and to south-west,

And around in all directions,

In the sharpness of her torment,

In her body’s fearful anguish;

Yet no child was fashioned from her,

And no offspring was perfected.

Then she fell to weeping gently,

And in words like these expressed her:

“O how wretched is my fortune,

Wandering thus, a child unhappy!

I have wandered far already,

And I dwell beneath the heaven,

By the tempest tossed for ever,

While the billows drive me onward,

O’er this wide expanse of water,

On the far-extending billows.

“Better were it had I tarried,

Virgin in aërial regions,

Then I should not drift for ever,

As the Mother of the Waters.

Here my life is cold and dreary,

Every moment now is painful,

Ever tossing on the billows,

Ever floating on the water.

“Ukko, thou of Gods the highest,

Ruler of the whole of heaven,

Hasten here, for thou art needed;

Hasten here at my entreaty.

Free the damsel from her burden,

And release her from her tortures.

Quickly haste, and yet more quickly,

Where I long for thee so sorely.”

Short the time that passed thereafter,

Scarce a moment had passed over,

Ere a beauteous teal came flying

Lightly hovering o’er the water,

Seeking for a spot to rest in,

Searching for a home to dwell in.

Eastward flew she, westward flew she,

Flew to north-west and to southward,