honey,
From the log if drips the nectar,
Then the strangers who are coming,
May be ranked as noble suitors."

Then did Pohja's aged Mistress,
Pohja's old dame, Pohja's daughter,
To the courtyard fencing hasten,
Hurry quick across the courtyard,
And they gazed across the water,
To the south their heads then turning, 590
And they saw from thence approaching,
Swift a ship of novel fashion,
Of a hundred planks constructed,
Out upon the Bay of Lempi.
Underneath the boat looked bluish,
But the sails of crimson colour.
In the stern there sat a hero,
At the copper rudder's handle,
And they saw a stallion trotting
With a red sledge strange of aspect, 600
And the gaudy sledge was speeding
On the shore of Sound of Sima,
And they saw six golden cuckoos,
Perching on the frame, and calling,
Seven blue birds were likewise perching
On the reins, and these were singing;
And a stalwart hero, sitting
In the sledge, the reins was holding.

Then said Pohjola's old Mistress,
And she spoke the words which follow: 610
"Whom will you accept as husband,
If they really come to woo you,
As a life-companion woo you,
Dove-like in his arms to nestle?

"He who in the boat is sailing,
In the red boat fast approaching,
Out upon the Bay of Lempi,
Is the aged Vainamoinen.
In the boat he brings provisions,
And of treasures brings a cargo. 620

"He who in the sledge is driving,
In the gaudy sledge is speeding,
On the shore of Sound of Sima,
Is the smith named Ilmarinen.
He with empty hands is coming;
Filled his sledge with spells of magic.

"Therefore if the room they enter,
Bring them then the mead in tankard,
In the two-eared tankard bring it,
And in his hands place the tankard 630
Whom thou dost desire to follow;
Choose thou Vainola's great hero,
He whose boat with wealth is loaded,
And of treasures brings a cargo."

But the lovely maid of Pohja,
Thus made answer to her mother:
"O my mother who hast borne me,
O my mother who hast reared me,
Nothing do I care for riches,
Nor a man profound in wisdom, 640
But a man of lofty forehead,
One whose every limb is handsome.
Never once in former ages,
Gave a maid her life