And the sun knew all about it,
And the sun made answer plainly:
"There has gone your son unhappy,
He has fallen and has perished,
Down in Tuoni's murky river,
Manala's primeval river,190
There in the tremendous cataract,
Where the torrent rushes downward,
There on Tuonela's dark frontier,
There in Manala's deep valleys."
Then did Lemminkainen's mother,
Break out suddenly in weeping.
To the craftsman's forge she wended:
"O thou smith, O Ilmarinen,
Thou hast worked before, and yestreen.
On this very day O forge me,200
Forge a rake with copper handle,
Let the teeth of steel be fashioned,
Teeth in length a hundred fathoms,
And of fathoms five the handle."
Then the smith, e'en Ilmarinen,
He the great primeval craftsman,
Forged a rake with copper handle,
And the teeth of steel he fashioned,
Teeth in length a hundred fathoms,
And of fathoms five the handle.210
Then did Lemminkainen's mother
Take the mighty rake of iron,
And she rushed to Tuoni's river,
To the sun her prayer addressing:
"O thou sun whom God created,
Brilliant work of the Creator!
Shine an hour with heat excessive,
Shine again with sultry shimmering,
And again with utmost vigour.
Lull to sleep the race of evil,220
And in Manala the strong ones,
Weary out the power of Tuoni!"
Then the sun whom God created,
Shining work of the Creator,
Stooped upon a crooked birch-tree,
Sank upon a crooked alder,
Shone an hour with heat excessive,
Shone again with sultry shimmering,
And again with utmost vigour,
Lulled to sleep the race of evil,230
And in Manala the strong ones.
Slept the young on sword-hilt resting,
And the old folks staff-supported,
And the spear-men middle-aged.
Then again he hastened upward,
Sought again the heights of heaven,
Sought again his former station,
To his first abode soared upward.
Then did Lemminkainen's mother
Take the mighty rake of iron,240
And to seek her son was raking
All amid the raging cataract,
Through the fiercely rushing torrent,
And she raked, yet found she nothing.
Then she went and sought him deeper,
Ever deeper in the water,
Stocking-deep into the water,
Standing waist-deep in the water.
Thus she sought her son by raking
All the length of Tuoni's river,250
And she raked against the current,
Once and twice she raked the river,
And his shirt at length discovered,
Found the shirt of him unhappy,
And she raked again a third time,
And she found his hat and stockings,
Found his stockings, greatly sorrowing,
Found his hat, with heart-wrung anguish.
Then she waded ever deeper,
Down in Manala's abysses,260
Raked once more along the river,
Raked again across the river,
And obliquely through the water,
And at length upon the third time,
Up she drew a lifeless carcass,
With the mighty rake of iron.
Yet it was no lifeless carcass,
But the lively Lemminkainen,
He the handsome Kaukomieli,
Sticking fast upon the rake-prongs,270
Sticking by his nameless finger,
And the toes upon his left foot.