Then the lively Lemminkainen
Answered in the words which follow:
"Do not grieve about the hovel,
Sigh not for the hut before you.
We will build us other houses,
And establish better dwellings,340
Built of all the best of timber,
With the very best of planking."
Thus the lively Lemminkainen
Reached again his home in safety,
Finding there his dearest mother,
She, his old and much-loved mother.
And his mother spoke as follows,
And expressed herself in thiswise:
"Long, my son, have you been absent,
Long in foreign lands been roaming."350
Said the lively Lemminkainen,
And he spoke the words which follow:
"I have brought to shame the women,
With the modest girls have sported,
And have well repaid the laughter,
And the jests they heaped upon me.
To my sledge the best I carried,
And upon the rug I sat her,
And between the runners laid her,
And beneath the rug I hid her;360
Thus repaid the laughing women,
And the joking of the maidens.
"O my mother, who hast borne me,
O my mother, who hast reared me,
I have gained what I have sought for,
And have won what most I longed for.
Now prepare the best of bolsters,
And the softest of the cushions,
In my native land to rest me.
With the young and lovely maiden."370
Then his mother spoke as follows,
And in words like these expressed her:
"Now to Jumala be praises,
Praise to thee, O great Creator
For the daughter thou hast sent me,
Who can fan the flames up brightly,
Who can work at weaving deftly,
And is skilful, too, in spinning,
And accomplished, too, in washing,
And can bleach the clothes to whiteness.380
"For thy own weal thank him also;
Good is won, and good brought homeward:
Good decreed by the Creator,
Good that's granted by his mercy.
On the snow is fair the bunting,
Fairer yet is she beside thee;
White the foam upon the water,
Whiter yet this noble lady:
On the lake the duck is lovely,
Lovelier yet thy cherished darling;390
Brilliant is a star in heaven,
Brighter yet thy promised fair one.
"Let the floors be wide expanded,
And the windows widened greatly,
Let new walls be now erected,
All the house be greatly bettered,
And the threshold new-constructed,
Place new doors upon the threshold,
For the youthful bride beside you,
She, of all the very fairest,400
She, the best of all the maidens,
And the noblest in her lineage."