Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v1.djvu/323

Runo XXV]

Broken down the boarded castle,

And the walls of linden shattered,

When her mother’s house he entered,

And her father’s home he entered.

In his care is now the duckling,

In his arms behold the dovekin,

At his side the modest damsel,

Shining in her radiant beauty.

“Who has brought the lie unto us,

And the ill report invented,

That the bridegroom came back lonely,

And his horse had sped for nothing?

For the bridegroom comes not lonely,

Nor his horse has sped for nothing;

Perhaps the horse has brought back something,

For his white mane he is shaking,

For the noble horse is sweating,

And the foal with foam is whitened,

From his journey with the dovekin.

When he drew the blushing damsel.

“In the sledge stand up, O fair one,

On its floor, O gift most noble,

Do thou raise thyself unaided,

And do thou arise unlifted,

If the young man tries to lift thee,

And the proud one seeks to raise thee.

“From the sledge do thou upraise thee,

From the sledge do thou release thee,

Walk upon this flowery pathway,

On the path of liver-colour,

Which the swine have trod quite even,

And the hogs have trampled level,

Over which have passed the lambkins,

And the horses’ manes swept over.

“Step thou with the step of gosling,

Strut thou with the feet of duckling,

In the yard that’s washed so cleanly,

On the smooth and level grassplot,

Where the father rules the household,

And the mother holds dominion,