"Forth a second time I wandered,
And into the field I wandered,
In the meadow was the maiden,
Stooping o'er the yellow heather;450
Working at the red-stained dye-pots,
Boiling up the yellow kettles.
"When I wandered forth a third time
Sat the maid beneath the window,
There I heard the maiden weaving,
In her hands the comb was sounding,
And I heard the shuttle flying,
As in cleft of rock the ermine,
And the comb-teeth heard I sounding,
As the wooden shaft was moving,460
And the weaver's beam was turning,
Like a squirrel in the tree-tops."
Then did Pohjola's old Mistress
Answer in the words which follow:
"Bravo, bravo, dearest maiden,
Have I not for ever told thee,
Not to sing among the pine-trees,
Not to sing amid the valleys,
Not to arch thy neck too proudly,
Nor thy white arms leave uncovered,470
Nor thy young and beauteous bosom,
Nor thy shape so round and graceful?
"I have warned thee all the autumn,
And besought thee all the summer,
Likewise in the spring have cautioned,
At the second springtide sowing,
To construct a secret dwelling,
With the windows small and hidden,
Where the maids may do their weaving,
And may work their looms in safety,480
All unheard by Suomi's gallants,
Suomi's gallants, country lovers."
From the floor the child made answer,
And the fortnight-old responded:
"Easily a horse is hidden
In the stall, with fine-tailed horses;
Hard it is to hide a maiden,
And to keep her long locks hidden.
Though you build of stone a castle,
And amid the sea shall rear it,490
Though you keep your maidens in it,
And should rear your darlings in it,
Still the girls cannot be hidden,
Nor attain their perfect stature,
Undisturbed by lusty gallants,
Lusty gallants, country lovers.
Mighty men, with lofty helmets,
Men who shoe with steel their horses."
Then the aged Väinämöinen
Head bowed down, and deeply grieving:500
Wandered on his journey homeward,
And he spoke the words which follow:
"Woe is me, a wretched creature,
That I did not learn it sooner,
That In youthful days one weddeth,
And must choose a life-companion.
All thing else a man may grieve for,
Save indeed an early marriage,
When in youth already children,
And a household he must care for."510
Thus did warn old Väinämöinen,
Cautioned thus Suvantolainen,
That old men against the younger,
Should not struggle for a fair one:
Warned them not to swim too proudly,
Neither try to race in rowing,
Nor to seek to woo a maiden,
With a younger man contending.