Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v2.djvu/36

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Others brought it by the spoonful,

Others poured it out by dishfuls,

But I poured it out in bushels,

By the half-ton out I poured it,

Of my own, the best of barley,

Corn which I had sown aforetime.

“’Tis not now that Lemminkainen,

Is a guest of great distinction,

For no ale is offered to me,

Nor the pot set on the fire.

In the pot is nothing cooking,

Not a pound of pork you give me,

Neither food nor drink you give me,

Now my weary journey’s ended.”

Ilpotar, the noble Mistress,

Uttered then the words which follow:

“O my little waiting-maiden,

O my ever-ready servant,

Put into the pot some dinner,

Bring some ale to give the stranger.”

Then the girl, the child so wretched,

Washed the worst of all the dishes,

And the spoons she then was wiping,

And the ladles she was scouring,

Then into the pot put dinner,

Bones of meat, and heads of fishes,

Very ancient stalks of turnips,

Crusts of bread of stony hardness,

And a pint of ale she brought him,

And a can of filthy victuals,

Gave it lively Lemminkainen

That he should drink out the refuse,

And she spoke the words which follow:

“If you are indeed a hero,

Can you drink the ale I bring you,

Nor upset the can that holds it?”

Lemminkainen, youth so lively,

Looked at once into the pint-pot,

And below a worm was creeping,

In the midst there crept a serpent,