e at mouth of reed-fringed streamlet. 280
There's a bath upon the clearing,
And a stable in the pinewood,
Where the whore may bear her children,
And the vile one cast her offspring,
While the horses there are breathing,
Let her take a bath and welcome.'
This was all she said unto me,
This is truly what she answered."

Marjatta the hapless maiden
When she heard, burst forth in weeping, 290
And she spoke the words that follow:
"Thither must I then betake me,
Even like an outcast labourer,
Even like a hired servant,
I must go upon the clearing,
And must wander to the pinewood."

In her hands her skirt she lifted,
With her hands her skirt she twisted,
And she took the bath-whisks with her,
Of the softest leaves and branches, 300
And with hasty steps went onward,
In the greatest pain of body,
To the stable in the pinewood,
And the stall on hill of Tapio.

And she spoke the words which follow,
And in words like these expressed her:
"Come thou to my aid, Creator,
To my aid, O thou most gracious,
In this anxious time of labour,
In this time of hardest labour. 310
Free the damsel from her burden,
From her pains release the woman,
That she perish not in torment,
May not perish in her anguish."

When at length her journey ended,
Then she spoke the words which follow:
"O thou good horse, breathe upon me,
O thou draught-foal, snort upon me,
Breathe a vapour-bath around me,
Send thou warmth throughout the bathroom, 320
That relief may reach the sufferer,
For the need is very pressing."

Then the good horse breathed upon her,
And the draught-foal snorted on her,
Over all her suffering body.
When the horse desisted breathing,
Steam was spread throughout the stable,
Like the steam of boiling water.

Marjatta the hapless maiden,
She, the holy little maiden, 330
Bathed her in a bath sufficient,
Till she had relieved her suffering,
And a little boy was born her,
And a sinless child was given,
On the hay in horses' stable,
On the hay in horses' manger.

Then she washed the little infant,
And in swaddling-clothes she wrapped him,
On her knees she took the infant,
And she wrapped her garments round him. 340