Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v2.djvu/147

Runo XXXVIII]

For your first wife you have murdered,

And my sister you have slaughtered.

You perchance would also slay me,

Murder me, as her you murdered.

Such a maiden is deserving

Of a man of greater standing,

And whose form is far more handsome,

In a finer sledge to take me,

To a larger, finer dwelling,

To a better home than thou hast,

Not unto a smith’s black coalhouse,

To a stupid husband’s homestead.”

Thereupon smith Ilmarinen,

He the great primeval craftsman,

Mouth and head both turning sideways,

And his black hair in disorder,

Seized without ado the maiden,

In his grasp he seized the maiden,

From the room he rushed like snowstorm,

Dragged her where his sledge was standing,

In the sledge he pushed the maiden,

And within the sledge he cast her,

Started quickly on his journey,

And prepared him for his journey,

With one hand the horse he guided,

On the girl’s breast laid the other.

Wept the maiden and lamented,

And she spoke the words which follow:

“Now I come where grow the cranberries,

To the swamps where grow the arums,

Now the dove approaches ruin,

And the bird is near destruction.

“Hear me now, smith Ilmarinen,

If you will not now release me,

I will smash your sledge to pieces,

And will break it into fragments,

Break it with my knees asunder,

Break it with my legs to fragments.”

Thereupon smith Ilmarinen

Answered in the words that follow: