From the floor a child made answer.
And a boy from out the doorway:
"There is no one in this threshold,
Who can loose your horse's harness,
Or can sink the shaft-poles for you.
Or can loose the horse's collar."330
Little troubled Lemminkainen,
O'er the horse his whip he brandished,
With the beaded whip he smote him,
Drove the rattling sledge straight onward,
On the midmost of the pathways
To the midmost of the houses,
And he asked upon the threshold,
And beneath the eaves he shouted:
"Is there no one in this household
Who will hold the horse-reins for me,340
And the chest-bands will unloosen,
That the foaming steed may rest him?"
From the stove a crone responded
From the stove-bench cried a gossip:
"There are plenty in this household
Who can hold the horse-reins for you,
And the chest-bands can unloosen,
And can sink the shaft-poles for you.
Perhaps ten men may be sufficient.
Or a hundred If you need them,350
Who would raise their sticks against you,
Give you, too, a beast of burden,
And would drive you homeward, rascal,
To your country, wretched creature,
To the household of your father,
To the dwelling of your mother,
To the gateway of your brother,
To the threshold of your sister,
Ere this very day is ended,
Ere the sun has reached its setting."360
Little heeded Lemminkainen,
And he spoke the words which follow:
"May they shoot the crone, and club her,
On her pointed chin, and kill her."
Then again he hurried onward,
Thundering on upon his journey,
On the highest of the pathways,
To the highest of the houses.
Then the lively Lemminkainen
Reached the house to which he journeyed,370
And he spoke the words which follow,
And expressed himself in thiswise:
"Stop the barker's mouth, O Hiisi,
And the dog's jaws close, O Lempo,
And his mouth securely muzzle,
That his gagged teeth may be harmless,
That he may not bark a warning
When a man is passing by him."
As he came into the courtyard,
On the ground he slashed his whiplash,380
From the spot a cloud rose upward,
In the cloud a dwarf was standing,
And he quickly loosed the chest-bands,
And the shafts he then let downward.
Then the lively Lemminkainen
Listened with his ears attentive
But no person there observed him,
So that no one present knew it.
Out of doors he heard a singing,
Through the moss he heard them speaking,390
Through the walls heard music playing,
Through the shutters heard a singing.
In the house he cast his glances,
Gazed into the room in secret,
And the house was full of wizards,
And the benches full of singers,
By the walls there sat musicians.
Seers were sitting in the doorway,
On the upper benches sorcerers,
By the hearth were soothsayers seated,400
There a Lapland bard was singing,
Hoarsely singing songs of Hiisi.
Then the lively Lemminkainen
Thought it wise to change his figure,
To another shape transformed him,
Left his hiding place, and entered,
Thrust himself into the chamber,
And he spoke the words which follow;
"Fine a song may be when ended,
Grandest are the shortest verses,410
Wisdom better when unspoken,
Than in midmost interrupted."
Then came Pohjola's old Mistress,
On the floor advancing swiftly,
Till she reached the chamber's middle,
And she spoke these words in answer:
"Once there was a dog among us,
And a shaggy iron-haired puppy,
Eating flesh, of bones a biter,
One who licked the blood when freshest.420
Who among mankind may you be,
Who among the list of heroes,
Boldly thus the house to enter,
Pushing right into the chamber,
Yet the dogs have never heard you,
Nor have warned us with their barking?"
Said the lively Lemminkainen,
"Surely I have not come hither,
Void of art and void of knowledge,
Void of strength and void of cunning,430
Taught not magic by my father.
And without my parents' counsel
That the dogs should now devour me,
And the barkers should attack me.