On the ground the haft set firmly,
On the heath the hilt pressed tightly,
Turned the point against his bosom,
And upon the point he threw him,340
Thus he found the death he sought for,
Cast himself into destruction.
Even so the young man perished,
Thus died Kullervo the hero,
Thus the hero’s life was ended,
Perished thus the hapless hero.
Then the aged Väinämöinen,
When he heard that he had perished,
And that Kullervo had fallen,
Spoke his mind in words that follow:350
“Never, people, in the future,
Rear a child in crooked fashion,
Rocking them in stupid fashion,
Soothing them to sleep like strangers.
Children reared in crooked fashion,
Boys thus rocked in stupid fashion,
Grow not up with understanding,
Nor attain to man’s discretion,
Though they live till they are aged,
And in body well-developed.”360
Runo XXXVII.—The Gold and Silver Bride
Argument
Ilmarinen weeps long for his dead wife and then forges himself a wife of gold and silver with great labour and trouble (1-162). At night he rests by the golden bride, but finds in the morning that the side which he has turned towards her is quite cold (163-196). He offers his golden bride to Väinämöinen, who declines to receive her, and advises him to forge more useful things, or to send her to other countries where people wish for gold (197-250).
Afterwards smith Ilmarinen
Mourned his wife throughout the evenings,
And through sleepless nights was weeping,
All the days bewailed her fasting,
