Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v2.djvu/24

12

In the air the grouse flew upward,

And the flock ascended rushing

From before the speeding courser.

On the ice there lay some feathers

Cast by grouse upon the roadway;

These collected Lemminkainen,

And he put them in his pocket,

For he knew not what might happen,

Or might chance upon his journey.

In a house are all things useful,

Can at need be turned to something.

Then he drove a little further,

On his road a little further,

When to neigh began the courser,

Pricked his long ears up in terror.

Then the lively Lemminkainen,

He the handsome Kaukomieli,

In the sledge at once leaned forward,

Bending down to gaze about him.

There he saw, as said his mother,

As his own old mother warned him,

How there flowed a fiery river,

Right across the horse’s pathway,

In the stream a cataract fiery,

In the fall a fiery island,

On the isle a peak all fiery,

On the peak a fiery eagle.

In his throat the fire was seething,

And his mouth with flame was glowing,

And his plumage fire was flashing,

And the sparks around were scattering.

Kauko from afar he noticed,

From afar saw Lemminkainen.

“Whither wilt thou go, O Kauko,

Whither goes the son of Lempi?”

Answered lively Lemminkainen,

Said the handsome Kaukomieli,

“Unto Pohja’s feast I journey,

The carousal held in secret.

Turn thee on one side a little,