Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v1.djvu/305

Runo XXIII]

‘Bring some food to give my sister!’

But with mocking eyes she brought me

Cabbage-stalks from out the kitchen,

Whence the whelp the fat had eaten,

And the dog had licked the salt from,

And the black dog had his meal of.

“To his wife then said my brother,

And he whispered to his darling,

‘Fetch some ale to give the stranger!’

But with mocking eyes she carried

Water only for the stranger,

But, instead of drinking water,

Water she had washed her face in,

And her sister washed her hands in.

“From my brother’s house I wandered,

Left the house that I was born in,

Hurried forth, O me unhappy,

Wandered on, O me unhappy,

Wretched on the shores to wander,

Toiling on, for ever wretched,

Always to the doors of strangers,

Always to the gates of strangers,

On the beach, with poorest children,

Sufferers of the village poorhouse.

“There were many of the people,

Many were there who abused me,

And with evil words attacked me,

And with sharpest words repulsed me.

Few there are among the people

Who have spoken to me kindly,

And with kindly words received me,

And before the stove who led me,

When I came from out the rainstorm,

Or from out the cold came shrinking,

With my dress with rime all covered,

While the snow my fur cloak covered.

“In my youthful days I never,

I could never have believed it,

Though a hundred told me of it,

And a thousand tongues repeated