"And the ravens here are flocking,
And the evil birds are croaking,
And the flesh the birds are tearing,
And with blood the crows are sated,
And the ravens' beaks are moistened
In the wounds of us, the wretched,
To the rocks our bones they carry,
And upon the stones they cast them.
"Ah, my hapless mother knows not,
Never she, with pain who bore me, 390
Where her flesh may now be carried,
And her blood may now be flowing,
Whether in the furious battle,
In the equal strife of foemen,
Or upon a lake's broad surface,
On the far-extending billows,
Or on hills with pine-cones loaded,
Wandering 'mid the fallen branches.
"And my mother can know nothing
Of her son, the most unhappy, 400
Only know that he has perished,
Only know that he has fallen;
And my mother thus will weep me,
Thus lament, the aged woman:
"'Thus my hapless son has perished,
And the wretched one has fallen;
He has sown the seed of Tuoni,
Harrows now in Kalma's country.
Perhaps the son I love so dearly,
Perhaps my son, O me unhappy, 410
Leaves his bows untouched for ever,
Leaves his handsome bows to stiffen.
Now the birds may live securely,
In the leaves the grouse may flutter,
Bears may live their lives of rapine,
In the fields the reindeer roll them.'"
Answered lively Lemminkainen,
Said the handsome Kaukomieli:
"Thus it is, unhappy mother,
Thou unhappy, who hast borne me! 420
Thou a flight of doves hast nurtured,
Quite a flock of swans hast nurtured,
Rose the wind, and all were scattered,
Lempo came, and he dispersed them,
One in one place, one in other,
And a third in yet another.
"I remember times aforetime,
And the better days remember,
How like flowers we gathered round thee,
In one homeland, just like berries. 430
Many gazed upon our figures,
And admired our forms so handsome,
Otherwise than in the present,
In this time so full of evil.
Once the wind was our acquaintance,
And the sun was gazing on us:
Now the clouds are gathering round us,
And the rain has overwhelmed us.
But we let not trouble vex us,
Even in our greatest sorrow, 440
Though the girls were living happy,
And the braidless maids were jesting,
And the women all were laughing,
And the brides were sweet as honey,
Tearless, spite of all vexation,
And unshaken when in trouble.
"But we are not here enchanted,
Not bewitched, and not enchanted,
Here upon the paths to perish,
Sinking down upon our journey, 450
In our youth to sadly perish,
In our bloom to meet destruction.
"Let those whom the sorcerers harassed
And bewitched with eyes of evil,
Let them make their journey homeward,
And regain their native country.
Be the sorcerers' selves enchanted,
And with songs bewitched their children;
Let their race for ever perish,
And their race be brought to ruin. 460
"Ne'er in former times my father,
Never has my aged father
Yielded to a sorcerer's orders,
Or the wiles of Lapland's children.
Thus my father spoke aforetime,
And I now repeat his sayings:
'Guard me, O thou kind Creator,
Guard me, Jumala most gracious,
Aid me with thy hand of mercy,
With thy mighty power protect me, 470
From the plots of men of evil,
And the thoughts of aged women,
And the curses of the bearded,
And the curses of the beardless.
Grant us now thy aid eternal,
Be our ever-faithful guardian,
That no child be taken from us,
And no mother's child shall wander
From the path of the Creator,
Which by Jumala was fashioned.'" 480
Then the lively Lemminkainen,
He the handsome Kaukomieli,
From his care constructed horses,
Coursers black composed from trouble,
Reins from evil days he fashioned,
Saddles from his secret sorrows,
Then his horse's back he mounted,
On his white-front courser mounted,
And he rode upon his journey,
At his side his faithful Tiera, 490
And along the shores he journeyed,
On the sandy shores proceeded,
Till he reached his tender mother,
Reached the very aged woman.