"Come ye to the feast of cattle,
Where the shaggy beast is eaten;
Here is plenty to be eaten,
Here is food and drink abundant,
Here there is enough for storage,
Plenty too, to give the village."
And the people then responded,
Answered thus the handsome people:
"Where was Otso born and nurtured,
Whence was formed his hide so shaggy, 350
Was he born perchance in straw-bed,
Was he born near stove in bathroom?"
Then the aged Väinämöinen
Answered in the words which follow:
"Otso was not born in straw-bed.
Nor was born on chaff in malt-house;
There was Otso brought to being,
There was born the honey-pawed one,
Near the moon, in gleams of sunshine,
And upon the Great Bear's shoulders, 360
There beside the Air's fair maiden,
Near the daughter of Creation.
"On Air's borders walked a maiden,
Through mid heaven there walked a damsel,
Through the rifted clouds she wandered,
On the borders of the heavens,
Clad in stockings, blue in colour,
And with shoes most gaily coloured,
In her hand a wool-filled satchel,
'Neath her arm a hair-filled basket. 370
Wool she cast upon the waters,
Hair she threw among the billows,
And the wind arose and tossed it,
And the air unceasing rocked it,
And the breeze on water rocked it,
To the shore the waves impelled it,
To the edge of honeyed forest,
To the end of honeyed headland.
"Mielikki, the forest's Mistress,
Tapiola's accomplished matron, 380
Took the wool from out the water,
Took the soft wool from the billows.
Then she wrapped it all together,
With a handsome band she wrapped it,
Put it in her maple basket,
In a beauteous cradle laid it,
Then she lifted up the bundle,
And the golden chains she carried
Where the branches were the thickest
And the leaves were most abundant. 390
"Then she rocked the charming object,
And she rocked the lovely creature
Underneath a spreading fir-tree,
Underneath a blooming pine-tree.
Thus it was the bear was nurtured,
And the furry beast was fostered,
There beside a bush of honey,
In a forest dripping honey.
"Now the bear grew up most handsome,
And attained his perfect stature. 400
Short his legs, his knees were crooked,
Broad his nose, both thick and stumpy,
Broad his head and short his muzzle,
And his handsome hair was shaggy,
But as yet the bear was tailless,
And with claws was unprovided.
"Mielikki, the forest's Mistress,
Uttered then the words which follow:
'Now let claws be granted to him,
And let teeth be also sought for, 410
If he does no mischief with them,
Nor to evil purpose turns them.'
"Then the bear by oath engaged him,
Kneeling by the forest's Mistress,
And in Jumala's high presence,
'Fore the face of Him Almighty,
Never would he work a mischief,
And would work no evil with them.
"Mielikki, the forest's Mistress,
Tapiola's accomplished matron, 420
Went to seek the teeth he needed,
And to seek the claws he wanted,
From the wood of mountain ash-tree,
And from juniper the hardest,
From the hardest roots of any,
From the hardest resinous tree-stumps,
But she found no claws among them,
Neither found she teeth among them.