And can sink the shaft-poles for me,
And can loose the horse's collar?"

From the floor a child made answer.
And a boy from out the doorway:
"There is no one in this threshold,
Who can loose your horse's harness,
Or can sink the shaft-poles for you.
Or can loose the horse's collar." 330

Little troubled Lemminkainen,
O'er the horse his whip he brandished,
With the beaded whip he smote him,
Drove the rattling sledge straight onward,
On the midmost of the pathways
To the midmost of the houses,
And he asked upon the threshold,
And beneath the eaves he shouted:
"Is there no one in this household
Who will hold the horse-reins for me, 340
And the chest-bands will unloosen,
That the foaming steed may rest him?"

From the stove a crone responded
From the stove-bench cried a gossip:
"There are plenty in this household
Who can hold the horse-reins for you,
And the chest-bands can unloosen,
And can sink the shaft-poles for you.
Perhaps ten men may be sufficient.
Or a hundred If you need them, 350
Who would raise their sticks against you,
Give you, too, a beast of burden,
And would drive you homeward, rascal,
To your country, wretched creature,
To the household of your father,
To the dwelling of your mother,
To the gateway of your brother,
To the threshold of your sister,
Ere this very day is ended,
Ere the sun has reached its setting." 360

Little heeded Lemminkainen,
And he spoke the words which follow:
"May they shoot the crone, and club her,
On her pointed chin, and kill her."
Then again he hurried onward,
Thundering on upon his journey,
On the highest of the pathways,
To the highest of the houses.

Then the lively Lemminkainen
Reached the house to which he journeyed, 370
And he spoke the words which follow,
And expressed himself in thiswise:
"Stop the barker's mouth, O Hiisi,
And the dog's jaws close, O Lempo,
And his mouth securely muzzle,
That his gagged teeth may be harmless,
That he may not bark a warning
When a man is passing by him."

As he came into the courtyard,
On the ground he slashed his whiplash, 380
From the spot a cloud rose upward,
In the cloud a dwarf was standing,
And he quickly loos