Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v1.djvu/256

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“Wherefore is the smoke arising,

In the air the vapour rising?

’Tis too small for smoke of battle,

’Tis too large for herdsman’s bonfire.”

Then rose Lemminkainen’s mother,

At the earliest dawn of morning,

And she went to fetch some water.

Clouds of smoke she saw arising,

Up from Pohjola’s dominions,

And she spoke the words which follow:

“Perhaps it is the smoke of combat,

Perhaps it is the fire of battle.”

Ahti, dweller on the island,

He the handsome Kaukomieli,

Wandered round and gazed about him,

And he pondered and reflected,

“I must go and look upon it,

From a nearer spot examine,

Whence the smoke is thus ascending

Filling all the air with vapour,

If it be the smoke of combat,

If it be the fire of battle.”

Kauko went to gaze about him,

And to learn whence smoke was rising,

But it was not fire of battle,

Neither was it fire of combat,

But ’twas fire where ale was brewing,

Likewise where the beer was brewing,

Near where Sound of Sariola spreads,

Out upon the jutting headland.

Then did Kauko gaze around him,

And one eye he rolled obliquely,

And he squinted with the other.

And his mouth he pursed up slowly,

And at last he spoke, while gazing,

And across the sound he shouted,

“O my dearest foster-mother,

Pohjola’s most gracious Mistress!

Brew thou ale of extra goodness,

Brew thou beer the best of any,