Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v1.djvu/327

Runo XXV]

Lokka, most accomplished hostess,

Kaleva’s most handsome matron,

Heard these wondrous observations,

And replied in words which follow:

“Wretched child, what art thou saying?

To thy own disgrace thou speakest!

Thou may’st wonders hear of others,

Others may’st perchance disparage,

But thou may’st not shame this damsel,

Nor the people of this household.

“Bad the words that thou hast uttered,

Bad the words that thou hast spoken,

With the mouth of calf of night-time,

With the head of day-old puppy.

Handsome is this noble damsel,

Noblest she of all the country,

Even like a ripening cranberry,

Or a strawberry on the mountain,

Like the cuckoo in the tree-top,

Little bird in mountain-ashtree,

In the birch a feathered songster,

White-breast bird upon the maple.

“Ne’er from Saxony came ever,

Nor in Viro could they fashion

Such a girl of perfect beauty,

Such a duck without an equal,

With a countenance so lovely,

And so noble in her stature,

And with arms of such a whiteness,

And with slender neck so graceful.

“Neither comes the damsel dowerless,

Furs enough she brought us hither,

Blankets, too, as gifts she brought us,

Cloths as well she carried with her.

“Much already has this damsel

Wrought by working with her spindle,

On her own reel has she wound it,

With her ringers much has finished.

Cloths of very brilliant lustre

Has she folded up in winter,