This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
82
Kalevala
[Runo XXXII

Down into their teeming udders,
Down into their swelling udders,
That the veins may all be moving,
And the milk may flow in rivers,
And the streams of milk be loosened,
And may foam the milky torrents,150
And the milk-streams may be silent,
And the milk-streams may be swollen,
And the milk be always flowing,
And the stream be always dropping,
Down upon the greenest haycocks,
And no evil fingers guide it;
That no milk may flow to Mana,
Nor upon the ground be wasted.
“There are many who are wicked,
And who send the milk to Mana,160
And upon the ground who waste it,
Give the cattle’s yield to others.
They are few, but they are skilful
Who can bring the milk from Mana,
Sourest milk from village storage,
And when new from other quarters.
“Never has indeed my mother
Sought for counsel in the village,
Brought it from another household;
But she fetched her milk from Mana,170
Sour milk brought from those who stored it,
And fresh milk obtained from others;
Had the milk from distance carried,
Had it fetched from distant regions,
Fetched the milk from realms of Tuoni,
’Neath the earth in Mana’s kingdom.
Secretly at night they brought it,
And in murky places hid it,
That the wicked should not hear it,
Nor the worthless ones should know it,180
Nor bad hay should fall into it,
And it should be saved from spoiling.
“Thus my mother always told me
In the very words which follow: