Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v1.djvu/51

Runo III]

Said the youthful Joukahainen,

“O thou aged Väinämöinen,

Loose me from this place of terror,

And release me from my torment.

All my stacks at home I’ll give thee,

And my fields I likewise promise,

All to save my life I offer,

If you will accept my ransom.”

Said the aged Väinämöinen,

“No, your barns I do not covet,

And your fields are ’neath my notice.

I myself have plenty of them.

Fields are mine in all directions,

Stocks are reared on every fallow,

And my own fields please me better,

And my stacks of corn are finest.”

Then the youthful Joukahainen

In the swamp he sang yet deeper.

Then the youthful Joukahainen,

Felt at length the greatest anguish,

Chin-deep in the swamp while sinking,

In the mud his beard was draggled,

In the moss his mouth was sunken,

And his teeth among the tree-roots.

Said the youthful Joukahainen,

“O thou wisest Väinämöinen,

O thou oldest of magicians,

Sing once more thy songs of magic , Grant the life of one so wretched,

And release me from my prison.

In the stream my feet are sunken,

With the sand my eyes are smarting.

“Speak thy words of magic backwards,

Break the spell that overwhelms me!

You shall have my sister Aino,

I will give my mother’s daughter.

She shall dust your chamber for you,

Sweep the flooring with her besom,

Keep the milk-pots all in order;

And shall wash your garments for you.