Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v2.djvu/282

In the swamps her son discovered,
And she brought him home in triumph.
Then the son of our Marjatta
Grew into a youth most beauteous,
But they knew not what to call him,
Did not know what name to give him,
But his mother called him Floweret,
And the strangers called him Sluggard.430
And they sought a man to cross him,
And to sprinkle him with water;
And an old man came to cross him,
Virokannas to baptize him.
Then these words the old man uttered,
And in words like these expressed him:
“With the cross I will not sign him,
Nor will I baptize the infant,
Not till he has been examined,
And a judgment passed upon him.”440
Who shall dare to come to try him,
Test him, and pass sentence on him?
Väinämöinen, old and steadfast,
He the great primeval sorcerer,
He alone came forth to try him,
And to test him and pass sentence.
Väinämöinen, old and steadfast,
Sentence gave in words that follow:
“As the boy from marsh has risen,
From the ground, and from a berry,450
On the ground they now shall lay him,
Where the hills are thick with berries,
Or shall to the swamps conduct him,
On the trees his head to shatter.”
Then the half-month old spoke loudly,
And the fortnight-old cried loudly:
“O thou old and wretched creature,
Wretched old man, void of insight,
O how stupid is your judgment,
How contemptible thy sentence!460
Thou hast grievous crimes committed,
Likewise deeds of greatest folly,