Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v2.djvu/66

54

Yet I thought that thou had’st perished,

And wast lost to me for ever,

Perished underneath the sword-blades,

Or beneath the spears had’st fallen,

And I wept my pretty eyes out,

And my handsome cheeks were ruined.”

Then said Lemminkainen’s mother,

“True it is that I am living,

But was forced to fly my dwelling,

And to seek a place of hiding

In this dark and gloomy forest,

In the most concealed recesses,

When came Pohjola to battle,

Murderous hosts from distant countries,

Seeking but for thee, unhappy,

And our home they laid in ruins,

And they burned the house to ashes,

And they wasted all the holding.”

Said the lively Lemminkainen:

“O my mother who hast borne me,

Do not give thyself to sadness,

Be not sad, and be not troubled.

We will now erect fresh buildings,

Better buildings than the others,

And will wage a war with Pohja,

Overthrowing Lempo’s people.”

Then did Lemminkainen’s mother

Answer in the words which follow:

“Long hast thou, my son, been absent,

Long, my Kauko, hast been living

In a distant foreign country,

Always in the doors of strangers,

On a nameless promontory,

And upon an unknown island.”

Answered lively Lemminkainen,

Said the handsome Kaukomieli:

“There to dwell was very pleasant,

Charming was it there to wander.

There the trees are crimson-shining,

Red the trees, and blue the country,