Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v2.djvu/273

Runo L]

Sing thou from thy breast of silver!

Tell me true, O Saxon strawberry,

Shall I long remain unhooded,

Long among the flocks as herd-girl,

On the wide-extending heathlands,

And the far-extending woodlands,

For one summer, for two summers,

Or for five or six of summers,

Or perchance for ten long summers,

Or the time fulfilled already?”

Marjatta the petted damsel,

For a while lived on as herd-girl.

Evil is the life of shepherd,

Far too heavy for a maiden;

In the grass a snake is creeping,

In the grass the lizards wriggling.

But not there a snake was writhing,

Nor in grass the lizards wriggling.

From the hill there cried a berry,

From the heath there cried a cranberry,

“O thou maiden, come and pluck me,

Rosy-cheeked one, come and gather,

Come with breast of tin to pluck me,

With thy copper belt to choose me,

Ere the slug should come to eat me,

Or the black worm should disturb me.

“There are hundreds who have seen me,

Thousands more have sat beside me,

Girls by hundreds, wives by thousands,

Children, too, that none can number;

None among them yet has touched me,

None has gathered me, the wretched.”

Marjatta the petted damsel,

Went a very little distance,

Went to look upon the berry,

And the cranberry to gather,

With her skilful hands to pluck it,

With her beauteous hands to pluck it.

On the hill she found the berry,

On the heath she found the cranberry;