red pine-trees, 560
To the hills all clothed with forest,
To the lofty-rising mountains.
Here for thee to dwell is pleasant,
Charming is it to abide there,
Where the cattle-bells are ringing,
And the little bells are tinking."

Vaeinaemoeinen, old and steadfast,
After this his dwelling entered,
And the younger people asked him,
All the handsome people asked him, 570
"Where have you bestowed your booty,
Whither did you make your journey?
Have you left him in the icefield,
In the snow-slush have you sunk him,
Pushed him down in the morasses,
Buried him upon the heathland?"

Vaeinaemoeinen, old and steadfast,
Answered in the words which follow:
"In the ice I did not leave him,
Sunk him not among the snow-slush, 580
For the dogs from thence would drag him,
Likewise would the birds befoul him.
In the swamp I have not sunk him,
Nor upon the heath have buried,
For the worms would there destroy him
And the black ants would devour him.

"Thither have I brought my booty,
There bestowed my little captive,
On a golden mountain's summit,
On a copper mountain's summit. 590
In a splendid tree I laid him,
Pine-tree with a hundred needles,
In the very largest branches,
In the broad and leafy summit,
As a joy to men for ever,
And a pleasure to the travellers.

"Then I turned his gums to eastward,
And his eyes I turned to north-west,
Not too high upon the summit,
Lest if they were in the summit, 600
Then the wind might perhaps destroy them,
And the spring wind treat them badly.
Nor too near the ground I placed them,
Lest if I too low had laid them,
Then the pigs might perhaps disturb them,
And the snouted ones o'erturn them."

Then the aged Vaeinaemoeinen
Once again prepared for singing,
For a splendid evening's pleasure,
And a charm to day departing. 610

Said the aged Vaeinaemoeinen,
And in words like these expressed him:
"Keep thy light, O holder, shining,
So that I can see while singing,
For the time has come for singing,
And my mouth to sing is longing."

Played and sang old Vaeinaemoeinen,
Charming all throughout the evening,
And when he had ceased his singing,
Then a speech he made co