Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v1.djvu/254

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“Then he soaked his wings with honey,

Plunged his plumes in liquid honey,

From the brightest of the herbage,

From the tips of golden flowerets;

To the maiden’s hands he brought it,

To the noble damsel’s fingers.

“In the ale the maiden cast it,

In the beer she poured it likewise,

And the beer at length fermented,

And the fresh drink now foamed upward,

From within the new-made barrels,

From within the tubs of birchwood,

Foaming upward to the handles,

Rushing over all the edges;

To the ground it wished to trickle,

And upon the floor ran downward.

“But a little time passed over,

Very little time passed over,

When the heroes flocked to drink it,

Chief among them Lemminkainen.

Drunk was Ahti, drunk was Kauko,

Drunken was the ruddy rascal,

With the ale of Osmo’s daughter,

And the beer of Kalevatar.

“Osmotar, the ale-preparer,

She, the maid who beer concocted,

Uttered then the words which follow:

‘Woe is me, my day is wretched,

For I brewed the ale so badly

And the beer so ill concocted,

That from out the tubs ’tis flowing,

And upon the floor is gushing.’

“From a tree there sang a bullfinch.

From the roof-tree sang a throstle,

‘No, the ale is not so worthless;

’Tis the best of ale for drinking;

If into the casks you pour it,

And should store it in the cellar,

Store it in the casks of oakwood,

And within the hoops of copper.