Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v2.djvu/23

Runo XXVI]

Started then in reckless fashion.

Then her son his mother counselled,

Warned her child, the aged woman,

At the door, beneath the rafters,

At the place where stand the kettles.

“O my only son, my dearest,

O my child, of all the strongest,

When thou com’st to the carousal,

And thou comest where thou wishest,

Drink thou half a goblet only,

Drink the measure to the middle,

And the other half return thou;

Give the worst half to a worse one.

In the goblet rests a serpent,

And a worm within the measure.”

Yet again her son she cautioned,

To her child again gave warning,

At the last field’s furthest limit,

At the last of all the gateways.

“When thou com’st to the carousal,

And thou comest where thou wishest,

Sit upon a half-seat only,

Step thou with a half-step only,

And the other half return thou;

Give the worst half to a worse one,

Thus wilt thou a man be reckoned,

And a most illustrious hero,

And through armies push thy pathway,

And will crush them down beneath thee,

In the press of mighty heroes,

In the throng of men of valour.”

Then departed Lemminkainen,

When the horse in sledge was harnessed.

With his ready whip he struck him,

With his beaded whip he smote him,

And the fiery steed sprang forward,

Onward sped the rapid courser.

When a short way he had journeyed,

For about an hour had travelled,

There he saw a flock of blackfowl,