There's in Tuonela a witch-wife,
Aged crone with chin projecting,
And she spins her thread of iron,
And she draws out wire of copper.
And she spun of nets a hundred,
And she wove herself a thousand,340
In a single night of summer,
On the rock amid the waters.
There's in Tuonela a wizard,
And three fingers has the old man,
And he weaves his nets of iron,
And he makes his nets of copper,
And a hundred nets he wove him,
And a thousand nets he plaited,
In the selfsame night of summer,
On the same stone in the water.350
Tuoni's son with crooked fingers.
Crooked fingers hard as iron,
Took the hundred nets, and spread them
Right across the stream of Tuoni,
Both across and also lengthwise,
And in an oblique direction
So that Väinö should not 'scape him,
Nor should flee Uvantolainen,
In the course of all his lifetime,
While the golden moon is shining,360
From the dread abode of Tuoni,
From the eternal home of Mana.
Väinämöinen, old and steadfast,
Uttered then the words which follow:
"May not rain overtake me,
And an evil fate await me.
Here in Tuonela's dark dwellings,
In the foul abode of Mana?"
Quickly then his shape transforming,
And another shape assuming,370
To the gloomy lake he hastened;
Like an otter in the reed-beds,
Like an iron snake he wriggled,
Like a little adder hastened
Straight across the stream of Tuoni,
Safely through the nets of Tuoni.
Tuoni's son with crooked fingers,
Crooked fingers, hard as iron,
Wandered early in the morning
To survey the nets extended,380
Found of salmon-trout a hundred,
Smaller fry he found by thousands,
But he found not Väinämöinen,
Not the old Uvantolainen.
Thus the aged Väinämöinen
Made his way from Tuoni's kingdom,
And he said the words which follow,
And in words like these expressed him:
"Never, Jumala the mighty,
Never let another mortal,390
Make his way to Mana's country,
Penetrate to Tuoni's kingdom!
Many there indeed have ventured.
Few indeed have wandered homeward;
From the dread abode of Tuoni,
From the eternal home of Mana."
Afterwards these words he added,
And expressed himself in thiswise.
To the rising generation,
And to the courageous people:400
"Sons of men, O never venture
In the course of all your lifetime,
Wrong to work against the guiltless,
Guilt to work against the sinless,
Lest your just reward is paid you
In the dismal realms of Tuoni!
There's the dwelling of the guilty,
And the resting-place of sinners,
Under stones to redness heated,
Under slabs of stone all glowing,410
'Neath a coverlet of vipers,
Of the loathsome snakes of Tuoni."