Kalevala, The Land of the Heroes, Volume Two. Anonymous

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СКАЧАТЬ Give me ale for cash directly,

       Reach me here some drink for money."

      Then did Pohjola's great Master,

       Angry grow and greatly furious,

       Very furious and indignant,

       Sang a pond upon the flooring, In the front of Lemminkainen, And he said the words which follow: 210 "Here's a river you may drink of, Here's a pond that you may splash in."

      Little troubled Lemminkainen,

       And he spoke the words which follow:

       "I'm no calf by women driven,

       Nor a bull with tail behind me,

       That I drink of river-water,

       Or from filthy ponds the water."

      Then himself began to conjure,

       And, himself commenced his singing, 220

       Sang upon the floor a bullock,

       Mighty ox with horns all golden,

       And he soon drank up the puddle,

       Drank the river up with pleasure.

      But the mighty son of Pohja,

       By his spells a wolf created,

       And upon the floor he sang him,

       To devour the fleshy bullock.

      Lemminkainen, youth so lively,

       Sang a white hare to his presence, 230

       And upon the floor 'twas leaping,

       Near the wolf-jaws widely opened.

      But the mighty son of Pohja,

       Sang a dog with pointed muzzle;

       And the dog the hare devoured,

       Rent the Squint-eye into fragments.

      Lemminkainen, youth so lively,

       On the rafters sang a squirrel,

       And it frolicked on the rafters,

       And the dog was barking at it. 240

      But the mighty son of Pohja,

       Sang a golden-breasted marten,

       And the marten seized the squirrel,

       On the rafter's end while sitting.

      Lemminkainen, youth so lively,

       Sang a fox of ruddy colour,

       And it killed the gold-breast marten,

       And destroyed the handsome-haired one.

      But the mighty son of Pohja

       By his spells a hen created, 250

       And upon the ground 'twas walking,

       Just before the fox's muzzle.

      Lemminkainen, youth so lively,

       Thereupon a hawk created,

       Quickly with its claws it seized it,

       And it tore the hen to pieces.

      Then said Pohjola's great Master,

       In the very words which follow:

       "Better will not be the banquet,

       Nor the guest-provision lessened. 260

       House for work, the road for strangers,

       Unrefreshed from the carousal!

       Quit this place, O scamp of Hiisi,

       Haste away from all folks' knowledge,

       To thy home, O toad the basest,

       Forth, O scoundrel, to thy country!"

      Answered lively Lemminkainen,

       Said the handsome Kaukomieli,

       "None would let himself be banished,

       Not a man, how bad soever, 270

       From this place be ever driven,

       Forced to fly from such a station."

      Then did Pohjola's great Master,

       Snatch his sword from wall where hanging,

       Grasped in haste the sharpened weapon,

       And he spoke the words which follow:

       "O thou Ahti Saarelainen,

       Or thou handsome Kaukomieli,

       Let us match our swords together,

       Match the glitter of the sword-blades, 280

       Whether my sword is the better,

       Or is Ahti Saarelainen's."

      Said the lively Lemminkainen,

       "Little of my sword is left me,

       For on bones it has been shattered,

       And on skulls completely broken!

       But let this be as it may be,

       If no better feast is ready,

       Let us struggle, and determine

       Which of our two swords is favoured. 290

       Ne'er in former times my father

       In a duel has been worsted,

       Why should then his son be different,

       Or his child be like a baby?"

      Sword he took, and bared his sword-blade,

       And he drew his sharp-edged weapon,

       Drew it from the leather scabbard,

       Hanging at his belt of lambskin.

       Then they measured and inspected

       Which of their two swords was longer, 300

       And a very little longer,

       Was the sword of Pohja's Master,

       As upon the nail the blackness,

       Or СКАЧАТЬ