eauteous birch-trees,
In the crown of every birch-tree,
Golden cuckoos three were perching.

All at once they called together,
And the first cried, "Sweetheart, sweetheart!" 490
And the second, "Lover, lover!"
And the third cried, "Gladness, gladness!"

He who cried out, "Sweetheart, sweetheart!"
Sang his song for three months running,
For the young and loveless maiden,
Resting now beneath the water.

He who cried out, "Lover, lover!"
Sang his song for six months running,
Sang to the unhappy suitor,
Who must sorrow through his lifetime. 500

He who cried out, "Gladness, gladness!"
Sang his song for all a lifetime;
Sang to the unhappy mother,
Who must daily weep for ever.

And the mother spoke as follows!
As she listened to the cuckoo:
"Never may a hapless mother
Listen to the cuckoo crying!
When I hear the cuckoo calling.
Heavy beats my heart within me. 510
From my eyes the tears are falling
O'er my cheeks are waters rolling.
And the drops like peas are swelling.
Than the largest broad-beans larger.
By an ell my life is shortened,
By a span-length I am older,
And my strength has wholly failed me,
Since I heard the cuckoo calling,"

RUNO V.--VaINaMoINEN'S FISHING

_Argument_

Vainamoinen fishes for Joukahainen's sister in the lake, and draws her
into his boat in the form of a fish (1-72). He is about to cut her to
pieces when she slips from his hand into the lake, and tells him who she
is (73-133). Vainamoinen tries to persuade her to return to him, and
then fishes for her, but in vain (134-163). He returns home
disconsolate, and his dead mother advises him to woo the Maiden of Pohja
(164-241).

Now the tidings were repeated,
And the news was widely rumoured,
How the youthful maid had perished,
And the fair one had departed.

Vainamoinen, old and steadfast,
Deeply sorrowed at the tidings;
Wept at evening, wept at morning,
Spent the livelong night in weeping,
For the fair one who had perished,
For the maiden who had slumbered, 10
In the muddy lake downsunken
To the depths below the billows.

Then he went, in sorrow sighing,
While his heart was filled with anguish,
To the blue lake's rocky margin,
And he spoke the words which follow:
"Tell me, Untamo, thou sleeper,
Tel