Kalevala : the Epic Poem of Finland — Complete. Anonymous

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       Deck thy hair with golden braidlets,

       Bind it well with threads of silver;

       Trim with rings thy fairy fingers,

       And thy hands with dainty ruffles;

       Come bedecked then to thy chamber,

       Thus return to this thy household,

       To the greeting of thy kindred,

       To the joy of all that know thee,

       Flushed thy cheeks as ruddy berries,

       Coming as thy father's sunbeam,

       Walking beautiful and queenly,

       Far more beautiful than moonlight."

       Thus she spake to weeping Aino,

       Thus the mother to her daughter;

       But the maiden, little bearing,

       Does not heed her mother's wishes;

       Straightway hastens to the court-yard,

       There to weep in bitter sorrow,

       All alone to weep in anguish.

       Waiting long the wailing Aino

       Thus at last soliloquizes:

       "Unto what can I now liken

       Happy homes and joys of fortune?

       Like the waters in the river,

       Like the waves in yonder lakelet,

       Like the crystal waters flowing.

       Unto what, the biting sorrow

       Of the child of cold misfortune?

       Like the spirit of the sea-duck,

       Like the icicle in winter,

       Water in the well imprisoned.

       Often roamed my mind in childhood,

       When a maiden free and merry,

       Happily through fen and fallow,

       Gamboled on the meads with lambkins,

       Lingered with the ferns and flowers,

       Knowing neither pain nor trouble;

       Now my mind is filled with sorrow,

       Wanders though the bog and stubble,

       Wanders weary through the brambles,

       Roams throughout the dismal forest,

       Till my life is filled with darkness,

       And my spirit white with anguish.

       Better had it been for Aino

       Had she never seen the sunlight,

       Or if born had died an infant,

       Had not lived to be a maiden

       In these days of sin and sorrow,

       Underneath a star so luckless.

       Better had it been for Aino,

       Had she died upon the eighth day

       After seven nights had vanished;

       Needed then but little linen,

       Needed but a little coffin,

       And a grave of smallest measure;

       Mother would have mourned a little,

       Father too perhaps a trifle,

       Sister would have wept the day through,

       Brother might have shed a tear-drop,

       Thus had ended all the mourning."

       Thus poor Aino wept and murmured,

       Wept one day, and then a second,

       Wept a third from morn till even,

       When again her mother asked her:

       "Why this weeping, fairest daughter,

       Darling daughter, why this grieving?

       Thus the tearful maiden answered:

       Therefore do I weep and sorrow,

       Wretched maiden all my life long,

       Since poor Aino, thou hast given,

       Since thy daughter thou hast promised

       To the aged Wainamoinen,

       Comfort to his years declining

       Prop to stay him when he totters,

       In the storm a roof above him,

       In his home a cloak around him;

       Better far if thou hadst sent me

       Far below the salt-sea surges,

       To become the whiting's sister,

       And the friend of perch and salmon;

       Better far to ride the billows,

       Swim the sea-foam as a mermaid,

       And the friend of nimble fishes,

       Than to be an old man's solace,

       Prop to stay him when be totters,

       Hand to aid him when he trembles,

       Arm to guide him when he falters,

       Strength to give him when he weakens;

       Better be the whiting's sister

       And the friend of perch and salmon,

       Than an old man's slave and darling."

       Ending thus she left her mother,

       Straightway hastened to the mountain?

       To the store-house on the summit,

       Opened there the box the largest,

       From the box six lids she lifted,

       Found therein six golden girdles,

       Silken dresses seven in number.

       Choosing such as pleased her fancy,

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