Kalevala : the Epic Poem of Finland – Volume 02. Неизвестный автор

        From the crimes by me committed.

        Helpful mother of my being,

        Where to flee wilt thou advise me?"

        This the answer of the mother:

        "I do not know where I can send thee;

        Be a pine-tree on the mountain,

        Or a juniper in lowlands?

        Then misfortune may befall thee;

        Often is the mountain pine-tree

        Cut in splints for candle-lighters;

        And the juniper is often

        Peeled for fence-posts for the pastures.

        Go a birch-tree to the valleys,

        Or an elm-tree to the glenwood?

        Even then may trouble find thee,

        Misery may overtake thee;

        Often is the lowland birch-tree

        Cut to pieces in the ware-house;

        Often is the elm-wood forest

        Cleared away for other plantings.

        Be a berry on the highlands,

        Cranberry upon the heather,

        Strawberry upon the mountains,

        Blackberry along the fences?

        Even there will trouble find thee,

        There misfortune overtake thee,

        For the berry-maids would pluck thee,

        Silver-tinselled girls would get thee.

        Be a pike then in the ocean,

        Or a troutlet in the rivers?

        Then would trouble overtake thee,

        Would become thy life-companion;

        Then the fisherman would catch thee,

        Catch thee in his net of flax-thread,

        Catch thee with his cruel fish-hook.

        Be a wolf then in the forest,

        Or a black-bear in the thickets?

        Even then would trouble find thee,

        And disaster cross thy pathway;

        Sable hunters of the Northland

        Have their spears and cross-bows ready

        To destroy the wolf and black-bear."

        Spake the reckless Lemminkainen:

        "Know I well the worst of places,

        Know where Death will surely follow,

        Where misfortune's eye would find me;

        Since thou gavest me existence,

        Gavest nourishment in childhood,

        Whither shall I flee for safety,

        Whither hide from death and danger?

        In my view is fell destruction,

        Dire misfortune hovers o'er me;

        On the morrow come the spearmen,

        Countless warriors from Pohya,

        Ahti's head their satisfaction."

        This the answer of the mother:

        "I can name a goodly refuge,

        Name a land of small dimensions,

        Name a distant ocean-island,

        Where my son may live in safety.

        Thither archers never wander,

        There thy head cannot be severed;

        But an oath as strong as heaven,

        Thou must swear before thy mother;

        Thou wilt not for sixty summers

        Join in war or deadly combat,

        Even though thou wishest silver,

        Wishest gold and silver treasures."

        Spake the grateful Lemminkainen:

        "I will swear an oath of honor,

        That I'll not in sixty summers

        Draw my sword in the arena,

        Test the warrior in battle;

        I have wounds upon my shoulders,

        On my breast two scars of broadsword,

        Of my former battles, relies,

        Relies of my last encounters,

        On the battle-fields of Northland,

        In the wars with men and heroes."

        Lemminkainen's mother answered:

        "Go thou, take thy father's vessel,

        Go and bide thyself in safety,

        Travel far across nine oceans;

        In the tenth, sail to the centre,

        To the island, forest-covered,

        To the cliffs above the waters,

        Where thy father went before thee,

        Where he hid from his pursuers,

        In the times of summer conquests,

        In the darksome days of battle;

        Good the isle for thee to dwell in,

        Goodly place to live and linger;

        Hide one year, and then a second,

        In the third return in safety

        To thy mother's island dwelling,

        To thy father's ancient mansion,

        To my hero's place of resting."

      RUNE XXIX

      THE ISLE OF REFUGE