Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v1.djvu/74

54

And my aged mother waking!

She would surely tell me truly

How to best support my trouble,

That my grief may not o’erwhelm me,

And my sorrow may not crush me,

In these weary days of evil,

In this time of deep depression.”

In her grave his mother wakened,

Answered from beneath the billows:

“Still thy mother lives and hears thee,

And thy aged mother wakens,

That she plainly may advise thee,

How to best support thy trouble,

That thy grief may not o’erwhelm thee,

And thy sorrow may not crush thee,

In these weary days of evil,

In these days of deep depression.

Seek thou out the maids of Pohja,

Where the daughters are more handsome,

And the maidens twice as lovely,

And are five or six times nimbler,

Not like lazy girls of Jouko,

Lapland’s fat and sluggish daughters.

“Thence a wife, O son, provide thee,

From the fairest maids of Pohja;

Choose a maid of fair complexion,

Lovely, too, in every feature,

One whose feet are always nimble,

Always active in her movements.”