KALEVALA, XXXVI. 319-346.
Kullervo Kalervon poika
Tempasi[1] terävän[2] miekan[3], 320
Katselevi kääntelevi,
Kyselevi tietelevi[4];
Kysyi[5] mieltä[6] miekaltansa[3]
Tokko[7] tuon[8] tekisi[9] mieli[6]
Syöä[10] syyllistä[11] lihoa,[12] 325
Viallista[13] verta[14] juoa[15].
Miekka[3] mietti[16] miehen[17] mielen[6].
Arvasi[18] uron[19] pakinan[20],
Vastasi[21] sanalla[22] tuolla[8]:
‘Miks[23] en[24] söisi[24] mielelläni[25], 330
Söisi[24] syyllistä[11] lihoa[12],
Viallista[13] verta[14] joisi[26]?
Syön[10] lihoa[12] syyttömänki,[27]
Juon[15] verta[14] viattomanki[28].’
Kullervo Kalervon poika, 335
Sinisukka[29] äijön[30] lapsi[31]
Pään[32] on[33] peltohon[34] sysäsi[35],
Perä[36] painoi[37] kankahasen[38],
Kären[39] käänti[40] rintahansa[41],
Itse[42] iskihe[43] kärelle[44], 340
Siihen[45] surmansa[46] sukesi[47]
Se oli surma[45] nuoren[50] miehen[17],
Kuolo[51] kullervo-urohon[52],
Loppu[53] ainakin[54] urosta[55] 345
[Kullervo, the hero of Kalevala xxxi-xxxvi, is represented as a child of misfortune, who by no possible means could do good. After a series of crimes and disasters, rivalling the history of Oedipus, he determines to kill himself.]
Kullervo the son of Kalervo
Grasped the sharp sword, 320
Looked (at it), turned (it),
Asked, inquired:
Asked of his sword its mind,
If it were minded,
To eat guilty flesh, 325
To drink sinful blood.
The sword understood the mind of the man,
Followed the speech of the hero,
Answered with this word:
‘Why should I not eat to my pleasure, 330
Eat guilty flesh,
Drink sinful blood?
I eat the flesh of the guiltless,
I drink the blood of the sinless.’
Kullervo the son of Kalervo, 335
The old man’s child with blue stockings,
Drove the hilt into the ground,
Fixed the end in the plain,
Turned the point to his breast
Himself fell on the point. 340
Thus he sought his fate,
Met his death.
This was the fate of the young man,
The death of the hero Kullervo,
The end of the hero, 345
The death of the ill-fated one.
[1] 3rd sing. imperf. of stem tempata, 1st inf. temmata, conjugated like lupata, pp. [95] and [101].
[2] Acc. sing. of adj. terävä, sharp, formed from terä, edge, with affix va.
[3] Acc. sing. of miekka, sword; kk becomes k in closed syllable (rule [25]); in l. 323, occurs the ablative sing. with affix of 3rd pers. pron.
[4] These four verbs are all formed with the affix ele (v. p. [111]) from the simple forms katsoa, kääntää, kysyä, tietää. The vi is the termination of the 3rd. pers. sing. pres. (p. [62]).
[5] 3rd sing. imperf. of kysyä, followed by ablative, to ask of (p. [154]).
[6] Part. sing. of miele, nom. mieli, genitive mielen, etc.; e lost before tä by rule [17].
[7] Particle, whether.
[8] Acc. of demonstr. pron. tuo.
[9] 3rd pers. sing. conditional of root teke, inf. tehdä, of 3rd conjugation. The phrase mieli tekee followed by an accusative (here tuon) means his mind drives him to, or he has a mind to. Cf. the first lines of the Kalevala Mieleni minun tekevi ... lähteäni laulamahan, my mind incites me to begin singing.
[10] = syödä (p. [224]) 1st inf. of root syö (pres indic. syön), depending on phrase mieli tekisi (p. [188]).
[11] Part. sing. (object of syöä) of syyllinen, guilty, formed from syy, cause or guilt, with affix llise (p. [47]).
[12] = lihaa (p. [225]), part. sing. of liha, flesh.
[13] Part. sing. of viallinen, formed from vika, fault, like syyllinen, k lost by rule [28].
[14] Part. sing. of vere (nom. veri); cf. mieltä for form.
[15] = juoda (p. [224]), 1st inf. of juo, pres. juon.
[16] 3rd sing. imperf. of miettiä (2nd conj.) to think over, here meaning understand.
[17] Genitive sing. of stem miehe (nom. mies).
[18] 3rd sing. imperf. of arvata; pres. indic. arvaan, to think, understand, conjugated like root lupata, p. [101].
[19] Genitive sing. of uro, hero, which is more usual in the form uros (stem uroho, uroo).
[20] Accusative sing. (object of arvasi) of pakina, speech.
[21] Vastasi, 3rd sing. imperf. of vastata, conjugated like root lupata.
[22] Adessive sing. of sana, word, used here in instrum. signification (p. [152]).
[23] Transl. sing. of mikä, used adverbially to mean why (p. [159]).
[24] Negative conditional of syö, composed of 1st pers. sing. of neg. verb, and stem of conditional (p. [70]). By rule [4] syö + isi becomes söisi.
[25] Adessive sing. of mieli (v. No. [6]) with affix of 1st pers. sing. with my mind, i.e. with pleasure.
[26] Juo + isi becomes joisi (v. No. [15]).
[27] ki is an adverbial affix (p. [118]) meaning even; syyttömän is the genitive sing. of syytön, guiltless (stem syyttömä), a caritive adjective formed from syy, with suffix ttoma, just as syyllinen is formed with suffix llise (v. pp. [47] and [37]).
[28] Genitive sing. of caritive adjective viaton, formed from vika.
[29] Blue-stockinged, a compd. of sini, blue, and sukka, stocking.
[30] Gen. sing. of äijö (= äijä), an old man.
[31] Nom. sing. of stem lapse, child.
[32] Accusative sing. of pää, head, here the hilt of a sword.
[33] Particle of emphasis frequently used in Kalevala, and not the verb substantive.
[34] = peltoon (p. [225]), illative sing. of pelto, field or ground.
[35] 3rd pers. sing. of sysätä, to drive, conj. like luvata.
[36] Accusative sing. of perä, end.
[37] 3rd pers. sing. impf. of painaa, to force down or into.
[38] = kankaasen (p. [225]), illative sing. of stem kankaha, nom. kangas (p. [38] and rule [26]), a bare plain.
[39] Accusative sing. of stem kärke, nom. kärki, here the point of the sword.
[40] 3rd sing. impf. of kääntää, to turn, v. p. [16].
[41] = rintaansa, illative sing. of rinta, breast, with suffix of 3rd pers. pron.
[42] Nominative sing. of pronoun.
[43] 3rd pers. sing. reflex. impf. of iskeä, to strike. For form v. pp. [109] and [227].
[44] All. sing. of kärki (v. No. [38]).
[45] Illative sing. of pron. se, but here the force of the illative is lost; literally to this, up till now.
[46] Acc. sing. of surma, fate, with pron. aff. of 3rd pers.
[47] 3rd sing. imperf. of root suketa, 1st infin. sueta, to make, or prepare, conjugated like luvata.
[48] Accusative sing. of kuolema, death (pp. [45] and [190]).
[49] 3rd sing. imperf. of kohtaella, to meet (one’s fate); cf. kohtalo, fate.
[50] Genitive sing. of nuori (stem nuore), young.
[51] Nominative sing. = kuolema, but formed with suffix o (p. [45]).
[52] Compound of proper name Kullervo and uros, hero (stem uroho).
[53] Nominative sing. end, genitive lopun; cf. loppua, to end, intrans., lopettaa trans.
[54] Adv. aina, always, with suffix kin. Lönnrot explains this word as åtminstone, visst; it seems here almost pleonastic, and cannot be rendered for ever.
[55] Partitive sing. of uros (stem uroho), hero, used here as the genitive.
[56]Transcriber’s Note: note 56 was omitted.
[57] Partitive sing. of compound adj. formed from kova hard and osainen (stem -se) fated; adjective of osa, share.