fathoms,In the sky a thousand fathoms,
Spears they were which formed the hedgestakes,
And for wattles creeping serpents,
Thus the fence with snakes was wattled
And among them there were lizards, 590
And their tails were always waving,
And their thick heads always swelling,
Rows of heads erected always,
Heads turned out and tails turned inwards.
Then the lively Lemminkainen
Gave himself to his reflections.
"This is what my mother told me,
This is what my mother dreaded;
Here I find a fence tremendous
Reared aloft from earth to heaven, 600
Down below there creeps a viper,
Deeper yet the fence is sunken,
Up aloft a bird is flying,
But the fence is builded higher."
Natheless was not Lemminkainen
Greatly troubled or uneasy;
From the sheath he drew his knife out,
From the sheath an iron weapon,
And he hewed the fence to pieces,
And in twain he clove the hedgestakes; 610
Thus he breached the fence of iron,
And he drove away the serpents
From the space between five hedgestakes,
Likewise from the space 'twixt seven,
And himself pursued his journey,
On to Pohjola's dark portal.
In the path a snake was twisting, Just in front across the doorway, Even longer than the roof-tree, Thicker than the hall's great pillars, 620 And the snake had eyes a hundred, And the snake had tongues a thousand, And his eyes than sieves were larger, And his tongues were long as spear-shafts, And his fangs were like rake-handles; Seven boats' length his back extended. Then the lively Lemminkainen Would not instantly move onward To the snake with eyes a hundred, And the snake with tongues a thousand. 630
Spoke the lively Lemminkainen,
Said the handsome Kaukomieli:
"Serpent black and subterranean,
Worm whose hue is that of Tuoni,
Thou amidst the grass who lurkest,
At the roots of Lempo's foliage,
Gliding all among the hillocks,
Creeping all among the tree-roots,
Who has brought thee from the stubble,
From the grass-roots has aroused thee, 640
Creeping here on ground all open,
Creeping there upon the pathway?
Who has sent thee from thy nettles,
Who has ordered and provoked thee
That thy head thou liftest threatening,
And thy neck thou stiffly raisest?
Was't thy father or thy mother,
Or the eldest of thy brothers,
Or the youngest of thy sisters,
Or some other near relation? 650
"Close thy mouth, thy head conceal thou,
Hide thou quick thy tongue within it,
Coil thyself together tightly,
Roll thyself into a circle,
Give me way, though but a half-way,
Let the traveller make his journey,
Or begone from out the pathway.
Creep, thou vile one, in the bushes,
In the holes among the heathland,
And among the moss conceal thee, 660
Glide away, like ball of worsted,
Like a withered stick of aspen.
Hide thy head among the grass-roots,
Hide thyself among the hillocks,
'Neath the turf thy mouth conceal thou,
Make thy dwelling in a hillock.
If you lift your head from out it,
Ukko surely will destroy it,
With his nails, all steely-pointed,
With a mighty hail of iron." 670
Thus was Lemminkainen talking,
But the serpent heeded nothing,
And continued always hissing,
Darting out its tongue for ever,
And its mouth was always hissing
At the head of Lemminkainen.
Then the lively Lemminkainen
Of an ancient spell bethought him,
Which the old crone once had taught him,
Which his mother once had taught him. 680
Said the lively Lemminkainen,
Spoke the handsome Kaukomieli,
"If you do not heed my singing,
And it is not quite sufficient,
Still you will swell up with anguish
When an ill day comes upon you.
Thou wilt burst in two, O vile one,
O thou toad, in three will burst thou,
If I should seek out your mother,
And should search for your ancestress. 690
Well I know thy birth, vile creature,
