Washed the worst of all the dishes, 130
And the spoons she then was wiping,
And the ladles she was scouring,
Then into the pot put dinner,
Bones of meat, and heads of fishes,
Very ancient stalks of turnips,
Crusts of bread of stony hardness,
And a pint of ale she brought him,
And a can of filthy victuals,
Gave it lively Lemminkainen
That he should drink out the refuse, 140
And she spoke the words which follow:
"If you are indeed a hero,
Can you drink the ale I bring you,
Nor upset the can that holds it?"
Lemminkainen, youth so lively,
Looked at once into the pint-pot,
And below a worm was creeping,
In the midst there crept a serpent,
On the edge were serpents creeping,
Lizards also there were gliding. 150
Said the lively Lemminkainen,
Loudly grumbled Kaukomieli,
"Off to Tuonela the bearer,
Quick to Manala the handmaid,
Ere the moon again has risen,
Or this very day is ended!"
Afterwards these words he added,
"O thou beer, thou drink so nasty,
In an evil hour concocted,
Evil only lurks within thee! 160
Notwithstanding I will drink it,
On the ground will cast the refuse,
With my nameless finger lift it,
With my left thumb will I lift it."
Then he felt into his pocket,
And within his pouch was searching,
Took an angle from his pocket,
Iron hooks from out his satchel,
Dropped it down into the pint-pot,
In the ale began to angle, 170
Hooked the snakes upon his fish-hooks,
On his hooks the evil vipers,
Up he drew of toads a hundred,
And of dusky snakes a thousand.
Down upon the ground he threw them,
Threw them all upon the planking,
Thereupon a sharp knife taking,
From the sheath he quickly drew it,
Cut the heads from off the serpents,
Broke the necks of all the serpents. 180
Then he drank the ale with gusto,
Drank the black mead with enjoyment,
And he spoke the words which follow:
"As a guest I am not honoured,
Since no ale was brought unto me
Which was better worth my drinking,
Offered me by hands more careful,
In a larger vessel brought me;
Since no sheep was slaughtered for me,
No gigantic steer was slaughtered, 190
In the hall no ox they brought me,
From the house of hooféd cattle."
Then did Pohjola's great Master,
Answer in the words which follow:
"Wherefore have you then come hither,
Who invited you among us?"
Answered lively Lemminkainen,
Said the handsome Kaukomieli:
"Good is perhaps the guest invited,
Better still if uninvited. 200
Hearken then, thou son of Pohja,
Pohjola's illustrious Master,
Give me ale for cash directly,
Reach me here some drink for money."
Then did Pohjola's great Master,
Angry grow and greatly furious,
Very furious and indignant,
Sang a pond upon the flooring, In the front of Lemminkainen, And he said the words which follow: 210 "Here's a river you may drink of, Here's a pond that you may splash in."
Little troubled Lemminkainen,
And he spoke the words which follow:
"I'm no calf by women driven,
Nor a bull with tail behind me,
That I drink of river-water,
Or from filthy ponds the water."
Then himself began to conjure,
And, himself commenced his singing, 220
Sang upon the floor a bullock,
Mighty ox with horns all golden,
And he soon drank up the puddle,
Drank the river up with pleasure.
But the mighty son of Pohja,
By his spells a wolf created,
And upon the floor he sang him,
To devour the fleshy bullock.
Lemminkainen, youth so lively,
Sang a white hare to his presence, 230
And upon the floor 'twas leaping,
Near the wolf-jaws widely opened.
But the mighty son of Pohja,
Sang a dog with pointed muzzle;
And the dog the hare devoured,
Rent the Squint-eye into fragments.
Lemminkainen, youth so lively,
On the rafters sang a squirrel,
And it frolicked on the rafters,
And the dog was barking at it. 240
But the mighty son of Pohja,
Sang a golden-breasted marten,
And the marten seized the squirrel,
On the rafter's end while sitting.
Lemminkainen, youth so lively,
Sang a fox of ruddy colour,
And it killed the gold-breast marten,
And destroyed the handsome-haired one.
But the mighty son of Pohja
By his spells a hen created, 250
And upon the ground 'twas walking,
Just before the fox's muzzle.
Lemminkainen, youth so lively,
Thereupon a hawk created,
Quickly with its claws it seized it,
And it tore the hen to pieces.
Then said Pohjola's great Master,
In the very words which follow:
"Better will not be the banquet,
Nor the guest-provision lessened. 260
House for work,