Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v2.djvu/47

Runo XXVIII]

Wherefore is thy heart so troubled,

As from Pohjola thou comest?

Have the women laughed about you,

Or the maidens ridiculed you?

If the women laughed about you,

Or the maidens ridiculed you,

There are maidens to be jeered at,

Other women to be laughed at.”

Said the lively Lemminkainen,

“O my mother who hast borne me,

If the women laughed about me,

Or the maidens ridiculed me,

I would laugh at all their menfolk,

And would wink at all the maidens,

I would shame a hundred women,

And a thousand brides would make them.”

Then said Lemminkainen’s mother,

“What has chanced, my son, my darling,

Hast thou perhaps encountered something

As to Pohjola thou wentest?

Have you eaten perhaps too freely,

Eaten much, too much have drunken,

Or at night perchance when resting

Have you seen a dream of evil?”

Then the lively Lemminkainen,

Answered in the words which follow:

“Perhaps old women may remember,

What in sleep they saw in vision!

Though my nightly dreams I think on,

Yet are those of daytime better.

O my mother, aged woman,

Fill my bag with fresh provisions,

With a good supply of flour,

And a lump of salt add likewise,

For thy son must travel further,

Journey to another country,

Journey from this house beloved,

Journey from this lovely dwelling,

For the men their swords are whetting,

And the lance-tips they are sharpening.”