Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v2.djvu/70

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“Tiera cannot go to battle,

Nor may strike with spear in warfare.

Other duties call for Tiera,

He has made a lifelong compact,

For a young wife has he taken

As the mistress of his household,

But untouched is she at present,

Uncaressed is still her bosom.”

By the stove was Tiera resting,

By the stove-side Kuura rested,

At the stove one foot he booted,

And the other at the stove-bench,

At the gate his belt he tightened,

In the open girt it round him;

Then did Tiera grasp his spear-shaft,

Not the largest of the largest,

Nor the smallest of the smallest,

But a spear of mid dimensions.

On the blade a steed was standing,

On the side a foal was trotting,

At the joint a wolf was howling,

At the haft a bear was growling.

Thus his spear did Tiera brandish,

And he brandished it to whirring,

Hurled it then to fathom-deepness

In the stiff clay of the cornfield,

In a bare spot of the meadow,

In a flat spot free from hillocks.

Then his spear was placed by Tiera

With the other spears of Ahti,

And he went and made him ready

Swift to join in Ahti’s battle.

Then did Ahti Saarelainen

Push his boat into the water,

Like a snake in grass when creeping,

Even like a living serpent,

And he sailed away to north-west,

On the lake that borders Pohja.

Then did Pohjola’s old Mistress

Call the wicked Frost to aid her,