Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v2.djvu/75

Runo XXX]

Unprotected from the hammer,

From the pounding of the hammer,

That the hammer beat thee helpless,

And the hammer beat thee sorely.

“If this will not overcome thee,

And my spells are insufficient,

Still I know another station,

Know a fitting station for thee.

I will lead thy mouth to summer,

And thy tongue to home of summer,

Whence thou never canst release thee,

In the course of all thy lifetime,

If I do not give thee freedom,

And I should myself release thee.”

Then the Frost, the son of Northwind,

Felt that he was near destruction,

Whereupon he prayed for mercy,

And he spoke the words which follow:

“Let us understand each other,

Nor the one the other injure,

In the course of all our lifetime,

While the golden moon is shining.

“Should’st thou hear that I would freeze you,

Or again should misbehave me,

Thrust me then into the furnace,

Sink me in the blazing fire,

In the smith’s coals do thou sink me,

Under Ilmarinen’s anvil,

Or my mouth to summer turn thou,

And my tongue to home of summer,

Never more release to hope for,

In the course of all my lifetime.”

Then the lively Lemminkainen

Left his vessel in the ice-floes,

Left his captured ship of battle,

And proceeded on his journey;

Tiera too, the other hero,

Followed in his comrade’s footsteps.

O’er the level ice they wandered,

’Neath their feet the smooth ice crunching,