the swords of all the keenest;Better men their songs have vanquished,
Mighty ones been overpowered."
Answered lively Lemminkainen,
Said the handsome Kaukomieli: 290
"Well, but I have dwelt already
There in Pohjola's dread fortress.
Not a Lapp with spells shall chain me,
Forth no son of Turja drive me.
I'll enchant the Lapp by singing,
Drive away the son of Turja,
And in twain will sing his shoulders,
From his chin his speech I'll sever,
Tear his shirt apart by singing,
And I'll break in two his breastbone." 300
Then said Lemminkainen's mother,
"O alas, my son unhappy,
Dost thou think of former exploits,
Brag'st thou of thy former journey?
True it is thou hast resided
There in Pohjola's dread fortress,
But they sent thee all a-swimming,
Floating overgrown with pond-weed,
O'er the raging cataract driven,
Down the stream in rushing waters. 310
Thou hast known the Falls of Tuoni,
Manala's dread stream hast measured,
There would'st thou to-day be swimming,
But for thine unhappy mother!
"Listen now to what I tell thee.
When to Pohjola thou comest,
All the slope with stakes is bristling,
And the yard with poles is bristling,
All with heads of men surmounted,
And one stake alone is vacant, 320
And to fill the stake remaining,
Will they cut thy head from off thee."
Answered lively Lemminkainen,
Said the handsome Kaukomieli:
"Let a weakling ponder o'er it,
Let the worthless find such ending!
After five or six years' warfare,
Seven long summers spent in battle,
Not a hero would concern him,
Nor retire a step before it. 330
Therefore bring me now my mail-shirt,
And my well-tried battle armour;
I my father's sword will fetch me,
And my father's sword-blade look to.
In the cold it long was lying,
In a dark place long was hidden;
There has it been ever weeping,
For a hero who should wield it."
Thereupon he took his mail-shirt,
Took his well-tried battle armour, 340
And his father's trusty weapon,
Sword his father always wielded,
And against the ground he thrust it,
On the floor the point he rested,
With his hand the sword he bended
Like the fresh crown of the cherry,
Or the juniper when growing.
Said the lively Lemminkainen,
"Hard 'twill be in Pohja's castle,
Rooms of Sariola the misty, 350
Such a sword as this to gaze on,
Such a sword-blade to encounter."
From the wall his bow he lifted,
From the peg he took a strong bow,
And he spoke the words which follow,
And expressed himself in thiswise:
"I would hold the man deserving,
And regard him as a hero,
Who to bend this bow was able,
And could bend it and could string it, 360
There in Pohjola's great castle,
Rooms of Sariola the misty."
Then the lively Lemminkainen,
He the handsome Kaukomieli,
Put his shirt of mail upon him,
Clad himself in arms of battle,
And his slave he thus commanded,
And he spoke the words which follow:
"O my servant, bought with money,
Workman, whom I got for money, 370
Harness now my horse of battle,
Harness me my fiery war-horse,
That unto the feast I journey,
Drinking-bout at house of Lempo."
Then the prudent slave, obedient,
Hastened quickly to the courtyard,
And the foal at once he harnessed,
And prepared the fiery red one,
And he said on his returning,
"I have done what you commanded, 380
And the horse have harnessed for you,
And the best of foals have harnessed."
Then the lively Lemminkainen,
Thought him ready for his journey,
