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

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       And his pouch he opened quickly,

       Took the feathers of the blackfowl,

       Leisurely he rubbed the feathers,

       And between his palms he rubbed them,

       'Twixt his fingers ten in number, 490

       And a flock of grouse created,

       And a flock of capercailzies,

       In the eagle's beak he thrust them,

       To his greedy throat he gave them,

       To the eagle's throat all fiery,

       In the fire-bird's beak he thrust them,

       Thus he freed himself from danger,

       And escaped the first day's danger.

      With his whip he struck the courser,

       With the beaded whip he struck him, 500

       And the horse sped quickly onward,

       And the steed sprang lightly forward.

      Then he drove a little further,

       But a little way had travelled,

       When the horse again was shying,

       And again the steed was neighing.

       From the sledge again he raised him,

       And he strove to gaze around him,

       And he saw, as said his mother,

       As his aged mother warned him, 510

       Right in front a trench of fire,

       Right across the path extending,

       Ever to the east extending,

       North-west endlessly extending,

       Full of stones to redness heated,

       Full of blocks of stone all glowing.

      Little troubled Lemminkainen,

       But he raised a prayer to Ukko.

       "Ukko, thou, of Gods the highest,

       Ukko, thou, our Heavenly Father, 520

       Send thou now a cloud from north-west,

       Send thou from the west a second,

       And a third to east establish.

      "In the north-east let them gather,

       Push their borders all together,

       Drive them edge to edge together,

       Let the snow fall staff-deep round me,

       Deep as is the length of spear-shaft,

       On these stones to redness heated,

       Blocks of stone all fiery glowing." 530

      Ukko, then, of Gods the highest,

       He the aged Heavenly Father,

       Sent a cloud from out the north-west,

       From the west he sent a second,

       In the east a cloud let gather,

       Let them gather in the north-east;

       And he heaped them all together,

       And he closed the gaps between them,

       Let the snow fall staff-deep downward,

       Deep as is the length of spear-shaft, 540

       On the stones to redness heated,

       Blocks of stone all fiery glowing.

       From the snow a pond was fashioned,

       And a lake with icy waters.

       Then the lively Lemminkainen

       Sang a bridge of ice together,

       Stretching right across the snow-pond,

       From the one bank to the other,

       O'er the fiery trench passed safely,

       Passed the second day in safety. 550

      With his whip he urged the courser,

       Cracked the whip all bead-embroidered,

       And began to travel quickly,

       As the courser trotted onward.

      Quick he ran a verst, a second, For a short space well proceeded, When he suddenly stopped standing, Would not stir from his position.

      Then the lively Lemminkainen

       Started up to gaze around him. 560

       In the gate the wolf was standing,

       And the bear before the passage,

       There in Pohjola's dread gateway,

       At the end of a long passage.

       Then the lively Lemminkainen,

       He the handsome Kaukomieli,

       Quickly felt into his pocket,

       What his pouch contained exploring,

       And he took some ewe's wool from it,

       And until 'twas soft he rubbed it, 570

       And between his palms he rubbed it,

       'Twixt his fingers ten in number.

      On his palms then gently breathing,

       Ewes ran bleating forth between them,

       Quite a flock of sheep he fashioned,

       And a flock of lambs among them,

       And the wolf rushed straight upon them,

       And the bear rushed after likewise,

       While the lively Lemminkainen,

       Further drove upon his journey. 580

      Yet a little space he journeyed,

       Unto Pohjola's enclosure.

       There a fence was raised of iron,

       Fenced with steel the whole enclosure,

       In the ground a hundred СКАЧАТЬ