Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v1.djvu/335

Runo XXV]

“Here we look on our inviter,

With his feet in silken stockings,

And with silk are bound his stockings,

And his garters are of satin,

And with gold are all embroidered,

And are all adorned with silver.

“Here we look on our inviter,

Best of Saxon shoes he’s wearing,

Like the swans upon the river,

Or the ducks that swim beside them,

Or the geese among the thickets,

Birds of passage in the forests.

“Here we look on our inviter,

With his golden locks all curling,

And his golden beard is plaited,

On his head a lofty helmet:

Up among the clouds it rises,

Through the forest’s glancing summit;

Such a one you could not purchase

For a hundred marks or thousand.

“Now that I have praised the inviter,

I will also praise the bridesmaid.

Whence has come to us the bridesmaid,

Whence was she, the happiest, chosen?

“Thence has come to us the bridesmaid,

Thence was she, the happiest, chosen,

Where is Tanikka’s strong fortress,

From without the new-built castle.

“No, she came from other regions,

Not at all from such a region;

Thence has come to us the bridesmaid,

Thence was she, the happiest, chosen,

Brought to us across the water,

And across the open ocean.

“No, she came from other regions,

Not at all from such a region,

Grew like strawberry in the country,

On the heaths where cranberries flourish,

On the field of beauteous herbage,

On the heath of golden flowerets,