Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v1.djvu/279

Runo XXII]

Nought awaits thee now but watching,

Nought awaits thee now save trouble,

Heavy thoughts will come upon thethee [sic],

Saddened thoughts will overwhelm thee.

“Long as thou didst wear no head-dress,

Wert thou also free from trouble;

When no linen veil waved round thee,

Thou wast also free from sorrow.

Now the head-dress brings thee trouble,

Heavy thoughts the linen fabric,

And the linen veil brings sorrow,

And the flax brings endless trouble.

“How may live at home a maiden?

Maid in father’s house abiding;

Like a monarch in his palace,

Only that the sword is wanting.

But a son’s wife’s fate is dismal!

With her husband she is living

As a prisoner lives in Russia,

Only that the jailor’s wanting.

“Work she must in working season,

And her shoulders stoop with weakness,

And her body faints with weakness,

And with sweat her face is shining.

Then there comes another hour

When there’s need to make the fire,

And to put the hearth in order,

She must force her hands to do it.

“Long must seek, this girl unhappy,

Long the hapless one must seek for,

Salmon’s mind, and tongue of perchling,

And her thoughts from perch in fishpond,

Mouth of bream, of chub the belly,

And from water-hen learn wisdom.

“’Tis beyond my comprehension,

Nine times can I not imagine,

To the mother’s much-loved daughters,

Best beloved of all her treasures,

Whence should come to them the spoiler,

Where the greedy one was nurtured,