If too weak is found the copper,
Forge thou then an iron muzzle, 530
If they break the iron muzzle,
And it should itself be shattered,
Drive thou then a stake all golden,
Through the chin and through the jawbone,
Do thou close their jaws securely,
Fix them that they cannot move them,
That they cannot move their jawbones,
And their teeth can scarcely open,
If the iron is not opened,
If the steel should not be loosened, 540
If with knife it is not severed,
If with hatchet 'tis not broken."

Then did Ilmarinen's housewife,
Of the smith the wife so artful,
Drive from out their stalls the cattle,
Send the cattle forth to pasture,
After them she sent the shepherd,
That the slave should drive the cattle.

RUNO XXXIII.--THE DEATH OF ILMARINEN'S WIFE

_Argument_

While Kullervo is in the pasture in the afternoon he tries to cut the
cake with his knife which he completely spoils, and this goes to his
heart the more because the knife was the only remembrance left to him of
his family (1-98). To revenge himself on the mistress, he drives the
cattle into the marshes to be devoured by beasts of the forest, and
gathers together a herd of wolves and bears, which he drives home in the
evening (99-184). When the mistress goes to milk them she is torn to
pieces by the wild beasts (185-296).

Kullervo, Kalervo's offspring,
Put his lunch into his wallet,
Drove the cows along the marshes,
While across the heath he wandered,
And he spoke as he was going,
And repeated on his journey,
"Woe to me, a youth unhappy,
And a youth of wretched fortune!
Wheresoe'er I turn my footsteps,
Nought but idleness awaits me; 10
I must watch the tails of oxen,
And must watch the calves I follow,
Always tramping through the marshes,
Through the worst of level country."

Then upon the ground he rested,
On a sunny slope he sat him,
And he then composed these verses,
And expressed himself in singing:
"Sun of Jumala, O shine thou,
Of the Lord, thou wheel, shine warmly, 20
On the warder of the smith's herd,
And upon the wretched shepherd,
Not on Ilmarinen's household,
Least of all upon the mistress,
For the mistress lives luxurious,
And the wheaten-bread she slices,
And the finest cakes devours,
An