Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v1.djvu/41

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How there dwelt another minstrel,

And that better songs were carolled,

Far in Väinölä’s sweet meadows,

Kalevala’s extended heathlands;

Better songs than he could compass;

Better than his father taught him.

This he heard with great displeasure,

And his heart was filled with envy

That the songs of Väinämöinen

Better than his own were reckoned.

Then he went to seek his mother;

Sought her out, the aged woman,

And declared that he would journey,

And was eager to betake him,

Unto Väinölä’s far dwellings,

That he might contend with Väinö.

But his father straight forbade him,

Both his father and his mother,

Thence to Väinölä to journey,

That he might contend with Väinö.

“He will surely sing against you,

Sing against you, and will ban you,

Sink your mouth and head in snow-drifts,

And your hands in bitter tempest:

Till your hands and feet are stiffened,

And incapable of motion.”

Said the youthful Joukahainen,

“Good the counsel of my father,

And my mother’s counsel better;

Best of all my own opinion.

I will set myself against him,

And defy him to a contest,

I myself my songs will sing him,

I myself will speak my mantras;

Sing until the best of minstrels

Shall become the worst of singers.

Shoes of stone will I provide him,

Wooden trousers on his haunches;

On his breast a stony burden,

And a rock upon his shoulders;