e would fetch me,
And a strip of pork would fetch me,
In the pan would broil it for me,
And would pour some butter on it,
That the weary man might eat it,
And the fainting hero drink it.
Nights and days have I been swimming
Out upon the broad lake's billows,
With the wind as my protector,
At the mercy of the lake-waves." 440

Thereupon the gracious mistress
Hastened to the mountain storehouse,
Sliced some butter in the storehouse,
And a slice of pork provided,
In the pan thereafter broiled it,
That the hungry man might eat it.
Then she fetched of ale a canful,
For the fainting hero's drinking,
And she gave him a new vessel,
And a boat completely finished, 450
Which to other lands should take him,
And convey him to his birthplace.

Then the lively Lemminkainen
Started on his homeward journey,
Saw the lands and saw the beaches,
Here the islands, there the channels,
Saw the ancient landing-stages,
Saw the former dwelling-places,
And he saw the pine-clad mountains,
All the hills with fir-trees covered, 460
But he found no more his homestead,
And the walls he found not standing;
Where the house before was standing,
Rustled now a cherry-thicket,
On the mound were pine-trees growing,
Juniper beside the well-spring.

Spoke the lively Lemminkainen,
Said the handsome Kaukomieli,
"I have roamed among these forests,
O'er the stones, and plunged in river, 470
And have played about the meadows,
And have wandered through the cornfields.
Who has spoiled my well-known homestead,
And destroyed my charming dwelling?
They have burned the house to ashes,
And the wind's dispersed the ashes."

Thereupon he fell to weeping,
And he wept one day, a second,
But he wept not for the homestead,
Nor lamented for the storehouse, 480
But he wept the house's treasure,
Dearer to him than the storehouse.

Then he saw a bird was flying,
And a golden eagle hovering,
And he then began to ask it:
"O my dearest golden eagle,
Can you not perchance inform me,
What has happened to my mother,
To the fair one who has borne me,
To my dear and much-loved mother?" 490

Nothing knew the eagle of her,
Nor the stupid bird could tel