r
answered: 'I would not tell thee even if I knew. For it is thy son who
hath made me and set me here in the bitter cold.' And next Mariatta
asked the Moon, and received the same answer as the North-star had
given. Then she went to the Sun and asked him. And the Sun said: 'I know
very well where thy son is hidden, for he made me and put me here to
shine with my silver light. He lies sleeping yonder in the Swampland.'
So Mariatta hastened to the spot that the Sun had pointed out and there
found her babe sleeping peacefully in the water among the rushes.

Then she returned with the babe to her father's house, and this time he
received her and allowed her to live there in peace. And the child grew
in beauty and wisdom, and his mother called him Flower, but others
called him Son-of-Sorrow. Then his mother called in an old man,
Wirokannas, to baptize the child, but Wirokannas said: 'First must some
one see if the child shall become an honest man, or a wicked wizard, for
if he be not honest I will not baptize him.'

So Wainamoinen was called to examine the child--it was only two weeks
old then--and see if it would grow up a noble man or not. Wainamoinen
came and saw the child, and then said: 'Since this child is only a poor
outcast, born in a manger, and having no father save a berry, let him be
cast out on to the hillsides or into the marshes to perish.'

But all at once the babe himself began to speak, saying: 'O aged
Wainamoinen, foolish hero, thou hast given a false decision. Thou
thyself hast done great wrongs, yet hast not been punished. Thou gavest
thine own brother Ilmarinen to ransom thy poor life. Thou persecuted the
lovely Aino so that she perished in the deep sea, yet thou wert not
killed for all this.'

Then Wirokannas saw that this was truly a magic babe, and he baptized
him to become a mighty hero, and a ruler and king over Kalevala.

Years passed by after this, and Wainamoinen felt his power gradually
leaving him and going over to Mariatta's child. So the ancient hero,
with a sad heart, sang his last magic spell in Kalevala, and made a
magic boat of copper to sail away in. Then he cast loose from the shore
and sailed off towards the west, singing as he went: 'Fare ye well, my
people. Many suns shall rise and set on Kalevala until the people shall
at length regret my absence and shall call upon me to come back with my
magic songs and wisdom. Fare ye well.'

Thus Wainamoinen, in his magic boat of copper, l