Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v2.djvu/39

Runo XXVII]

Lemminkainen, youth so lively,

Sang a white hare to his presence,

And upon the floor ’twas leaping,

Near the wolf-jaws widely opened.

But the mighty son of Pohja,

Sang a dog with pointed muzzle;

And the dog the hare devoured,

Rent the Squint-eye into fragments.

Lemminkainen, youth so lively,

On the rafters sang a squirrel,

And it frolicked on the rafters,

And the dog was barking at it.

But the mighty son of Pohja,

Sang a golden-breasted marten,

And the marten seized the squirrel,

On the rafter’s end while sitting.

Lemminkainen, youth so lively,

Sang a fox cf ruddy colour,

And it killed the gold-breast marten,

And destroyed the handsome-haired one.

But the mighty son of Pohja

By his spells a hen created,

And upon the ground ’twas walking,

Just before the fox’s muzzle.

Lemminkainen, youth so lively,

Thereupon a hawk created,

Quickly with its claws it seized it,

And it tore the hen to pieces.

Then said Pohjola’s great Master,

In the very words which follow:

“Better will not be the banquet,

Nor the guest-provision lessened.

House for work, the road for strangers,

Unrefreshed from the carousal!

Quit this place, O scamp of Hiisi,

Haste away from all folks’ knowledge,

To thy home, O toad the basest,

Forth, O scoundrel, to thy country!”

Answered lively Lemminkainen,

Said the handsome Kaukomieli,