Kalevala : the Epic Poem of Finland — Complete. Anonymous

When was plowed the salt-sea's bosom,

       When were raked the sea-girt islands,

       When were dug the salmon-grottoes,

       When were hollowed out the caverns,

       When the lakes were all created,

       When were heaped the mountains round them,

       When the rocks were piled about them.

       Thou wert never seen or heard of

       When the earth was first created,

       When were made the ether-spaces,

       When the air was crystal-pillared,

       When the Moon was placed in orbit,

       When the silver Sun was planted,

       When the Bear was firmly stationed,

       When the skies with stars were sprinkled."

       Then in anger Youkahainen

       Answered ancient Wainamoinen:

       "Then, sir, since I fail in wisdom,

       With the sword I offer battle;

       Come thou, famous bard and minstrel,

       Thou the ancient wonder-singer,

       Let us try our strength with broadswords,

       let our blades be fully tested."

       Spake the ancient Wainamoinen:

       "Not thy sword and not thy wisdom,

       Not thy prudence, nor thy cunning,

       Do I fear a single moment.

       Let who may accept thy challenge,

       Not with thee, a puny braggart,

       Not with one so vain and paltry,

       Will I ever measure broadswords."

       Then the youthful Youkahainen,

       Mouth awry and visage sneering,

       Shook his golden locks and answered:

       "Whoso fears his blade to measure,

       Fears to test his strength at broadswords,

       Into wild-boar of the forest,

       Swine at heart and swine in visage,

       Singing I will thus transform him;

       I will hurl such hero-cowards,

       This one hither, that one thither,

       Stamp him in the mire and bedding,

       In the rubbish of the stable."

       Angry then grew Wainamoinen,

       Wrathful waxed, and fiercely frowning,

       Self-composed he broke his silence,

       And began his wondrous singing.

       Sang he not the tales of childhood,

       Children's nonsense, wit of women,

       Sang he rather bearded heroes,

       That the children never heard of,

       That the boys and maidens knew not

       Known but half by bride and bridegroom,

       Known in part by many heroes,

       In these mournful days of evil,

       Evil times our race befallen.

       Grandly sang wise Wainamoinen,

       Till the copper-bearing mountains,

       And the flinty rocks and ledges

       Heard his magic tones and trembled;

       Mountain cliffs were torn to pieces,

       All the ocean heaved and tumbled;

       And the distant hills re-echoed.

       Lo! the boastful Youkahainen

       Is transfixed in silent wonder,

       And his sledge with golden trimmings

       Floats like brushwood on the billows;

       Sings his braces into reed-grass,

       Sings his reins to twigs of willow,

       And to shrubs his golden cross-bench.

       Lo! his birch-whip, pearl-enameled,

       Floats a reed upon the border;

       Lo! his steed with golden forehead,

       Stands a statue on the waters;

       Hames and traces are as fir-boughs,

       And his collar, straw and sea-grass.

       Still the minstrel sings enchantment,

       Sings his sword with golden handle,

       Sings it into gleam of lightning,

       Hangs it in the sky above him;

       Sings his cross-bow, gaily painted,

       To a rainbow o'er the ocean;

       Sings his quick and feathered arrows

       Into hawks and screaming eagles;

       Sings his dog with bended muzzle,

       Into block of stone beside him;

       Sings his cap from off his forehead,

       Sings it into wreaths of vapor;

       From his hands he sings his gauntlets

       Into rushes on the waters;

       Sings his vesture, purple-colored,

       Into white clouds in the heavens;

       Sings his girdle, set with jewels,

       Into twinkling stars around him;

       And alas! for Youkahainen,

       Sings him into deeps of quick-sand;

       Ever deeper, deeper, deeper,

       In his torture, sinks the wizard,

       To his belt in mud and water.

       Now it was that Youkahainen

       Comprehended but too clearly

       What his folly, what the end was,

       Of the journey he had ventured,

       Vainly he had undertaken

       For the glory of a contest

       With the grand, old Wainamoinen.

       When at last young Youkahainen,

       Pohyola's old and sorry stripling,

       Strives his best to move his right foot,

       But alas! the foot obeys not;

       When he strives to move his left foot,

       Lo! he finds it turned to flint-stone.

       Thereupon sad Youkahainen,

       In the deeps of desperation,

       And in earnest supplication,

       Thus addresses Wainamoinen:

       "O thou wise and worthy minstrel,

       Thou the only true, magician,

       Cease I pray thee thine enchantment,.

       Only turn away thy magic,

       Let me leave this slough of horror,

       Loose me from this stony prison,

       Free me from this killing torment,

       I will pay a golden ransom."

       Spake the ancient Wainamoinen:

       "What the ransom thou wilt give me

       If I cease from mine enchantment,

       If I turn away my magic,

       Lift thee from thy slough of horror,

       Loose thee from thy stony prison,

       Free thee