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

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

        Lemminkainen, full of joyance,

        Handsome hero, Kaukomieli,

        Took provisions in abundance,

        Fish and butter, bread and bacon,

        Hastened to the Isle of Refuge,

        Sailed away across the oceans,

        Spake these measures on departing:

        "Fare thee well, mine Island-dwelling,

        I must sail to other borders,

        To an island more protective,

        Till the second summer passes;

        Let the serpents keep the island,

        Lynxes rest within the glen-wood,

        Let the blue-moose roam the mountains,

        Let the wild-geese cat the barley.

        Fare thee well, my helpful mother!

        When the warriors of the Northland,

        From the dismal Sariola,

        Come with swords, and spears, and cross-bows,

        Asking for my head in vengeance,

        Say that I have long departed,

        Left my mother's Island-dwelling,

        When the barley had been garnered."

        Then he launched his boat of copper,

        Threw the vessel to the waters,

        From the iron-banded rollers,

        From