style="font-size:15px;"> Labourers with one garment only;All folks else thou hast invited,
Me rejected uninvited.
"Wherefore should I thus be treated,
When I sent myself the barley?
Others brought it by the spoonful,
Others poured it out by dishfuls, 110
But I poured it out in bushels,
By the half-ton out I poured it,
Of my own, the best of barley,
Corn which I had sown aforetime.
"'Tis not now that Lemminkainen,
Is a guest of great distinction,
For no ale is offered to me,
Nor the pot set on the fire.
In the pot is nothing cooking,
Not a pound of pork you give me, 120
Neither food nor drink you give me,
Now my weary journey's ended."
Ilpotar, the noble Mistress,
Uttered then the words which follow:
"O my little waiting-maiden,
O my ever-ready servant,
Put into the pot some dinner,
Bring some ale to give the stranger."
Then the girl, the child so wretched,
Washed the worst of all the dishes, 130
And the spoons she then was wiping,
And the ladles she was scouring,
Then into the pot put dinner,
Bones of meat, and heads of fishes,
Very ancient stalks of turnips,
Crusts of bread of stony hardness,
And a pint of ale she brought him,
And a can of filthy victuals,
Gave it lively Lemminkainen
That he should drink out the refuse, 140
And she spoke the words which follow:
"If you are indeed a hero,
Can you drink the ale I bring you,
Nor upset the can that holds it?"
Lemminkainen, youth so lively,
Looked at once into the pint-pot,
And below a worm was creeping,
In the midst there crept a serpent,
On the edge were serpents creeping,
Lizards also there were gliding. 150
Said the lively Lemminkainen,
Loudly grumbled Kaukomieli,
"Off to Tuonela the bearer,
Quick to Manala the handmaid,
Ere the moon again has risen,
Or this very day is ended!"
Afterwards these words he added,
"O thou beer, thou drink so nasty,
In an evil hour concocted,
Evil only lurks within thee! 160
Notwithstanding I will drink it,
On the ground will cast the refuse,
With my nameless finger lift it,
With my left thumb will I lift it."
Then he felt into his pocket,
And within his pouch was searching,
Took an angle from his pocket,
Iron hooks from out his satchel,
Dropped it down into the pint-pot,
In the ale began to angle, 170
Hooked the snakes upon his fish-hooks,
On his hooks the evil vipers,
Up he drew of toads a hundred,
And of dusky snakes a thousand.
Down upon the ground he threw them,
Threw them all upon the planking,
Thereupon a sharp knife taking,
From the sheath he quickly drew it,
Cut the heads from off the serpents,
Broke the necks of all the serpents. 180
Then he drank the ale with gusto,
Drank the black mead with enjoyment,
And he spoke the words which follow:
"As a guest I am not honoured,
Since no ale was brought unto me
Which was better worth my drinking,
Offered me by hands more careful,
In a larger vessel brought me;
Since no sheep was slaughtered for me,
No gigantic steer was slaughtered, 190
In the hall no ox they brought me,
From the house of hooféd cattle."
Then did Pohjola's great Master,
Answer in the words which follow:
"Wherefore have you then come hither,
Who invited you among us?"
Answered lively Lemminkainen,
Said the handsome Kaukomieli:
"Good is perhaps the guest invited,
Better still if uninvited. 200
Hearken then, thou son of Pohja,
Pohjola's illustrious Master,
