What beheld she in the ocean?
What beneath the sea was shining?
From the sea a sword shone golden,
In the waves a spear of silver,
From the sand a copper crossbow.
Then to grasp the sword she hastened,
And to seize the spear of silver,
And to lift the copper crossbow.
Then there came a man to meet her;
'Twas an aged man of copper; [40]
On his head a helm of copper;
Wearing, too, a shirt of copper;
Round his waist a belt of copper;
On his hands were copper gauntlets;
On his feet were boots of copper;
In his belt were copper buckles,
And the buckles chased with copper;
Copper was his neck and body,
And his face and eyes were copper.
And the copper man demanded:
"In the sea what seeks the maiden,
Singing thus amid the waters,
She, a dove [41] among the fishes?"
And the maiden heard and hearkened,
And the little duck made answer:
"To the sea I went to rock me,
And amid the waves to carol;
And I saw the sword that glittered,
And the spear of silver shining,
And the copper crossbow gleaming.
And to grasp the sword I hastened,
And to seize the spear of silver,
And to lift the copper crossbow."
Then the copper man made answer,
With his copper tongue he answered:
"'Tis the sword of son of Kalev,
And the spear is son of Alev's,
And the crossbow son of Sulev's.
On the bed of ocean guarded,
Here the man of copper keeps them,
Of the golden sword the guardian,
Guardian of the spear of silver,
Guardian of the copper crossbow."
Then the man of copper offered her the weapons if she would take him as her husband, but she refused, saying that she was the daughter of a landsman, and preferred a husband from the village on the land. He laughed scornfully; her foot slipped, and she sank into the sea. Her father and mother came to seek her, and found only her ornaments scattered on the beach. They called her by her name, and implored her to go home with them; but she answered that she could not, for she was weighed down by the water; and she related to them her adventure with the copper man. But she begged her parents not to weep for her, for she had a house at the bottom of the sea, and a soft resting-place in the ooze.
"Do not weep, my dearest mother,
Nor lament, my dearest father.
In the sea is now my dwelling,
On its bed a pleasant chamber,
In the depths a room to rest in,
In the ooze a nest of softness."