h the same angry words. But
it is very different when he speaks to his mother.

For to his mother he said--"Oh my sweet mother, my beautiful nurse, my
loved protectress, wilt thou regret me bitterly when thou shalt learn that
I am dead, that I have disappeared from the multitude of the living, that
I am no longer one of the members of thy family?"

The mother made answer: "Thou does not comprehend the soul of the
mother--thou canst not understand the heart of the mother. Assuredly will
I regret thee most bitterly when I shall learn that thou art dead, that
thou hast disappeared, from among the multitude of the living, that thou
hast ceased to be one of the members of my family. Floods of tears shall I
weep in my chamber. The waves of tears will overflow on the floor. And
upon the stairway lamentably shall I weep; and in the stable loudly shall
I sorrow. Upon the icy ways the snow shall melt under my tears--under my
tears the earth of the roads shall melt away; under my tears new meadow
grass shall grow up, green sprouting, and through that grass little
streams shall murmur away." To this mother, naturally, Kullervo says no
unkind words. He goes away, able at least to feel that there is one person
in the world who loves him and one person in the world whom he loves. But
how much his mother really loves him he does not yet know; he will know
that later--it forms the most beautiful part of the poem.

"Kullervo directed his steps once more to the home of his fathers.
Desolate he found it, desolate and deserted; no person advanced to salute
him, no person came to press his hand, to give him welcome.

"He drew near to the hearth: the embers were extinguished. By that he knew
that his mother had ceased to be.

"He drew near to the fire-place, and the stones of the fire-place were
cold. By that he knew that his father had ceased to be.

"He turned his eyes upon the floor of his home; the planks of the floor
were covered with dirt and rubbish. By that he knew that his sister had
ceased to be.

"To the shore of the sea he went; the boat that used to be there was there
no longer. By that he knew that his brother had ceased to be.

"Then he began to weep. For a whole day he wept, for two whole days he
wept; then he cried aloud: 'O my mother, O my sweet mother, what didst
thou leave thy son yet in the world? Alas! now thou canst hear me no
longer; and it is in vain that I stand above thy tomb, that I sob over the
place of th