Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v1.djvu/88

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And have come to doors I know not,

And to hedge-gates that I know not,

All the trees around me pain me,

All the pine-twigs seem to pierce me,

Every birch-tree seems to flog me,

Every alder seems to wound me,

But the wind is friendly to me,

And the sun still shines upon me,

In this unaccustomed country,

And within the doors I know not.”

Louhi, Pohjola’s old Mistress,

Answered in the words which follow:

“Do not weep, O Väinämöinen,

Nor lament, Uvantolainen.

Here ’tis good for thee to sojourn,

And to pass thy days in comfort.

Salmon you can eat at table,

And beside it pork is standing.”

But the aged Väinämöinen

Answered in the words which follow:

“Foreign food I do not relish,

In the best of strangers’ houses.

In his land a man is better,

In his home a man is greater.

Grant me, Jumala most gracious,

O compassionate Creator,

Once again to reach my country,

And the land I used to dwell in!

Better is a man’s own country,

Water from beneath the sabot,

Than in unfamiliar countries,

Mead to drink from golden goblets.”

Louhi, Pohjola’s old Mistress,

Answered in the words which follow:

“What are you prepared to give me,

If I send you to your country,

To the borders of your cornfields,

Or the bath-house of your dwelling?”

Said the aged Väinämöinen,

“Tell me then what I shall give you,