Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v1.djvu/310

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If there comes an hour of evil,

And the damsel should be dreary

Yoke thou in the sledge the chestnut,

Or the white horse do thou harness,

Drive her to her father’s dwelling,

To her mother’s home familiar.

“Never may’st thou treat this dovekin,

Never may this darling linnet,

Ever be like slave-girl treated,

Neither like a hired servant,

Neither be forbid the cellar,

Nor the storehouse closed against her

Never in her father’s dwelling,

In her tender mother’s household,

Was she treated like a slave-girl,

Neither like a hired servant,

Neither was forbid the cellar,

Nor the storehouse closed against her.

Always did she cut the wheatbread,

And the hens’ eggs also looked to,

And she looked to all the milk-tubs,

Looked within the ale-casks likewise,

In the morn the storehouse opened,

Locked it also in the evening.

“O thou loved and youthful bridegroom,

Handsomest of all the people,

If thou treatest well the damsel,

Thou wilt meet a good reception

When thou seek’st her father’s dwelling,

Visiting her much loved mother.

Thou thyself wilt well be feasted,

Food and drink be set before thee,

And thy horse will be unharnessed,

And be led into the stable,

Drink and fodder set before him,

And a bowl of oats provided.

“Never surely, may our damsel,

May our well-beloved linnet,

Be in hissing tones upbraided,

That from no high race she springeth;