Therefore thus did Ilmarinen
Hasten forward to the homestead,
To the house his father gave him,
Which his parents had constructed.30
Hazel-grouse were twittering blithely
On the collar formed of saplings,
And the cuckoos all were calling,
On the sledge's sides while sitting,
And the squirrels leaped and frolicked
On the shafts of maple fashioned.
Lokka then the kindest hostess,
Kaleva's most beauteous matron,
Uttered then the words which follow,
And in words like these expressed her:40
"For the new moon waits the village,
And the young await the sunrise,
Children search where grow the berries,
And the water waits the tarred boat;
For no half-moon have I waited,
Nor the sun have I awaited,
But I waited for my brother,
For my brother and step-daughter,
Gazed at morning, gazed at evening,
Knew not what had happened to them,50
If a child he had been rearing,
Or a lean one he had fattened,
That he came not any sooner,
Though he faithfully had promised
Soon to turn his footsteps homeward,
Ere defaced had been his footprints.
"Ever gazed I forth at morning,
And throughout the day I pondered,
If my brother was not coming,
Nor his sledge was speeding onward60
Swiftly to this little homestead,
To this very narrow dwelling.
Though the horse were but a straw one,
And the sledge were but two runners,
Yet a sledge I still would call it,
And a sledge would still esteem it,
If it homeward brought my brother,
And another fair one with him.
"Thus throughout my life I wished it,
This throughout the day I looked for,70
Till my head bowed down with gazing,
And my hair bulged up in ridges,
And my bright eyes were contracted,
Hoping for my brother's coming
Swiftly to this little household,
To this very narrow dwelling,
And at length my son is coming,
And in truth is coming swiftly,
With a lovely form beside him,
And a rose-cheeked girl beside him.80
"Bridegroom, O my dearest brother,
Now the white-front horse unharness,
Do thou lead the noble courser
To his own familiar pasture,
To the oats but lately garnered;
Then bestow thy greetings on us,
Greet us here, and greet the others,
All the people of the village.
"When thou hast bestowed thy greetings,
Thou must tell us all thy story.90
Did thy journey lack adventures,
Hadst thou health upon thy journey,
To thy mother-in-law when faring,
To thy father-in-law's dear homestead,
There to woo and win the maiden,
Beating down the gates of battle,
And the maiden's castle storming,
Breaking down the walls uplifted,
Stepping on her mother's threshold,
Sitting at her father's table?100
"But I see without my asking,
And perceive without inquiry,
He has prospered on his journey,
With his journey well contented.
He has wooed and won the gosling,
Beaten down the gates of battle,
Broken down the boarded castle,
And the walls of linden shattered,
When her mother's house he entered,
And her father's home he entered.110
In his care is now the duckling,
In his arms behold the dovekin,
At his side the modest damsel,
Shining in her radiant beauty.
"Who has brought the lie unto us,
And the ill report invented,
That the bridegroom came back lonely,
And his horse had sped for nothing?
For the bridegroom comes not lonely,
Nor his horse has sped for nothing;120
Perhaps the horse has brought back something,
For his white mane he is shaking,
For the noble horse is sweating,
And the foal with foam is whitened,
From his journey with the dovekin,
When he drew the blushing damsel.