Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v1.djvu/330

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And they gave them ale of barley,

Spicy drink, from wheat concocted.

Roast they gave them in abundance,

Food and drink in all abundance,

In the dishes red they brought it,

In the handsomest of dishes.

Cakes were there, in pieces broken,

Likewise there were lumps of butter,

Powans too, to be divided,

Salmon too, to cut to pieces,

With the knives composed of silver,

And with smaller knives all golden.

Ale unpurchased there was flowing,

Mead for which you could not bargain;

Ale flowed from the ends of rafters,

Honey from the taps was oozing,

Ale around the lips was foaming.

Mead the mood of all enlivened.

Who among them should be cuckoo,

Who should sing a strain most fitting?

Väinämöinen, old and steadfast,

He the great primeval minstrel,

He himself commenced his singing,

Set about composing verses,

And he spoke the words which follow.

And expressed himself in thiswise:

“O my own beloved brethren,

O most eloquent companions,

O my comrades, ready talkers,

Listen now to what I tell you,

Rarely kiss the geese each other,

Rarely sisters gaze on sisters,

Rarely side by side stand brothers,

Side by side stand mother’s children,

In these desert lands so barren,

In the wretched northern regions.

“Shall we give ourselves to singing,

Set about composing verses?

None can sing except the singer,

None can call save vernal cuckoo,