Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v2.djvu/132

120

I shall weep for thy destruction,

If I hear that thou hast perished,

And from out the people vanished,

And have perished in the battle;

Weep until the house is flooded,

Weep until the floor is swimming,

Weep until the paths are hidden,

And with tears the cowsheds weighted,

Weep until the snows are slippery,

Till the ground is bare and slippery,

Lands unfrozen teem with verdure,

And my tears flow through the greenness.

“If I cannot keep on weeping,

And no strength is left for grieving,

Weeping in the people’s presence,

I will weep in bath-room hidden,

Till the seats with tears are flowing,

And the flooring all is flooded.”

Kullervo, Kalervo’s offspring,

With the very bluest stockings,

Went with music forth to battle,

Joyfully he sought the conflict,

Playing tunes through plains and marshes,

Shouting over all the heathland,

Crashing onwards through the meadows,

Trampling down the fields of stubble.

And a messenger o’ertook him,

In his ear these words he whispered:

“At thy home has died thy father,

And thy aged parent perished.

Now return to gaze upon him,

And arrange for his interment.”

Kullervo, Kalervo’s offspring,

Made him answer on the instant:

“Is he dead, so let him perish.

In the house there is a gelding,

Which unto the grave can drag him,

And can sink him down to Kalma.”

Played he, as he passed the marshes,

And he shouted in the clearings,