Always give the half remaining,
  Give the worse half to another,
  To another more unworthy;
  In the lower half are serpents,
  Worms, and frogs, and hissing lizards,
  Feeding on the slimy bottom."
  Furthermore she tells her hero,
  Gives her son these sage directions,
  On the border of the court-yard,
  At the portals farthest distant:
  "If thou goest to the banquet,
  Shouldst thou reach the great carousal,
  Occupy but half the settle,
  Take but half a stride in walking,
  Give the second half to others,
  To another less deserving;
  Only thus thou'lt be a hero,
  Thus become a son immortal;
  In the guest-rooms look courageous,
  Bravely move about the chambers,
  In the gatherings of heroes,
  With the hosts of magic valor."
  Thereupon wild Lemminkainen
  Quickly leaped upon the cross-bench
  Of his battle-sledge of wonder,
  Raised his pearl-enamelled birch-rod,
  Snapped his whip above his charger,
  And the steed flew onward fleetly,
  Galloped on his distant journey.
  He had travelled little distance,
  When a flight of hazel-chickens
  Quick arose before his coming,
  Flew before the foaming racer.
  There were left some feathers lying,
  Feathers of the hazel-chickens,
  Lying in the hero's pathway.
  These the reckless Lemminkainen
  Gathered for their magic virtues,
  Put them in his pouch of leather,
  Did not know what things might happen
  On his journey to Pohyola;
  All things have some little value,
  In a strait all things are useful.
  Then he drove a little distance,
  Galloped farther on the highway,
  When his courser neighed in danger,
  And the fleet-foot ceased his running.
  Then the stout-heart, Lemminkainen,
  Handsome hero, Kaukomieli,
  Rose upon his seat in wonder,
  Craned his neck and looked about him
  Found it as his mother told him,
  Found a stream of fire opposing;
  Ran the fire-stream like a river,
  Ran across the hero's pathway.
  In the river was a fire-fall,
  In the cataract a fire-rock,
  On the rock a fiery hillock,
  On its summit perched an eagle,
  From his throat the fire was streaming
  To the crater far below him,
  Fire out-shooting from his feathers,
  Glowing with a fiery splendor;
  Long he looked upon the hero,
  Long he gazed on Lemminkainen,
  Then the eagle thus addressed him:
  "Whither art thou driving, Ahti,
  Whither going, Lemminkainen?"
  Kaukomieli spake in answer:
  "To the feastings of Pohyola,
  To the drinking-halls of Louhi,
  To the banquet of her people;
  Move aside and let me journey,
  Move a little from my pathway,
  Let this wanderer pass by thee,
  I am warlike Lemminkainen."
  This the answer of the eagle,
  Screaming from his throat of splendor:
  "Though thou art wild Lemminkainen,
  I shall let thee wander onward,
  Through my fire-throat let thee journey,
  Through these flames shall be thy passage
  To the banquet-halls of Louhi,
  To Pohyola's great carousal!"
  Little heeding, Kaukomieli
  Thinks himself in little trouble,
  Thrusts his fingers in his pockets,
  Searches in his pouch of leather,
  Quickly takes the magic feathers,
  Feathers from the hazel-chickens,
  Rubs them into finest powder,
  Rubs them with his magic fingers
  Whence a flight of birds arises,
  Hazel-chickens from the feathers,
  Large the bevy of the young birds.
  Quick the wizard, Lemminkainen,
  Drives them to the eagle's fire-mouth,
  Thus to satisfy his hunger,
  Thus to quench the fire out-streaming.
  Thus escapes the reckless hero,
  Thus escapes the first of dangers,
  Passes thus the first destroyer,
  On his journey to Pohyola.
  With his whip he strikes his courser,
  With his birch-whip, pearl-enamelled;
  Straightway speeds the fiery charger,
  Noiselessly upon his journey,
  Gallops fast and gallops faster,
  Till the flying steed in terror
  Neighs again and ceases running.
  Lemminkainen, quickly rising,
  Cranes his neck and looks about him,
  Sees his mother's words were truthful,
  Sees her augury well-taken.
  Lo! before him yawned a fire-gulf,
  Stretching crosswise through his pathway;
  Far to east the gulf extending,
  To the west an endless distance,
  Filled with stones and burning pebbles,
  Running streams of burning matter.
  Little heeding, Lemminkainen
  Cries aloud in prayer to Ukko:
  "Ukko, thou O God above me,
  Dear Creator, omnipresent,
  From the north-west send a storm-cloud,
  From the east, dispatch a second,
  From the south send forth a third one;
  Let them gather from the south-west,
  Sew their edges well together,
  Fill thou well the interspaces,
  Send a snow-fall high as heaven,
  Let it fall from upper ether,
  Fall upon the flaming fire-pit,
  On the cataract and whirlpool!"
  Mighty Ukko, the Creator,
  Ukko, father omnipresent,
  Dwelling in the courts of heaven,
  Sent a storm-cloud from the north-west,
  From the east he sent a second,
  From the south despatched a third one,
  Let them gather from the south-west,
  Sewed their edges well together,
  Filled their many interspaces,
  Sent a snow-fall high as heaven,
  From the giddy heights of ether,
  Sent it seething to the fire-pit,
  On the streams of burning matter;
  From the snow-fall in the fire-pond,
  Grows a lake with rolling billows.
  Quick the hero, Lemminkainen,
  Conjures there of ice a passage
  From one border to the other,
  Thus escapes his second danger,
  Thus his second trouble passes.
  Then the reckless Lemminkainen
  Raised his pearl-enamelled birch-rod,
  Snapped his whip above his racer,
  And the steed flew onward swiftly,
  Galloped on his distant journey
  O'er the highway to Pohyola;
  Galloped fast and galloped faster,
  Galloped on a greater distance,
  When the stallion loudly neighing,
  Stopped and trembled on the highway,
  Then the lively Lemminkainen
  Raised himself upon the cross-bench,
  Looked to see what else had happened;
  Lo I a wolf stands at the portals,
  in the passage-way a black-bear,
  At the high-gate of Pohyola,
  At the ending of the journey.
  Thereupon young Lemminkainen,
  Handsome hero, Kaukomieli,
  Thrusts his fingers in his pockets,
  Seeks his magic pouch of leather,
  Pulls therefrom a lock of ewe-wool,
  Rubs it firmly in his fingers,
  In his hands it falls to powder;
  Breathes the breath of life upon it,
  When a flock of sheep arises,
  Goats and sheep of sable color;
  On the flock the black-wolf pounces,
  And the wild-bear aids the slaughter,
  While the reckless Lemminkainen
  Rushes by them on his journey;
  Gallops on a little distance,
  To the court of Sariola,
  Finds the fence of molten iron,
  And of steel the rods and pickets,
  In the earth a hundred fathoms,
  To the azure sky, a thousand,
  Double-pointed spears projecting;
  On each spear were serpents twisted,
  Adders coiled in countless numbers,
  Lizards mingled with the serpents,
  Tails entangled pointing earthward,
  While their heads were skyward whirling,
  Writhing, hissing mass of evil.
  Then the stout-heart, Kaukomieli,
  Deeply thought and long considered:
  "It is as my mother told me,
  This the wall that she predicted,
  Stretching from the earth to heaven;
  Downward deep are serpents creeping,
  Deeper still the rails extending;
  High as highest flight of eagles,
  Higher still the wall shoots upward."
  But the hero, Lemminkainen,
  Little cares, nor feels disheartened,
  Draws his broadsword from its scabbard,
  Draws his mighty blade ancestral,
  Hews the wall with might of magic,
  Breaks the palisade in pieces,
  Hews to atoms seven pickets,
  Chops the serpent-wall to fragments;
  Through the breach he quickly passes
  To the portals of Pohyola.
  In the way, a serpent lying,
  Lying crosswise in the entry,
  Longer than the longest rafters,
  Larger than the posts of oak-wood;
  Hundred-eyed, the heinous serpent,
  And a thousand tongues, the monster,
  Eyes as large as sifting vessels,
  Tongues as long as shafts of javelins,
  Teeth as large as hatchet-handles,
  Back as broad as skiffs of ocean.
  Lemminkainen does not venture
  Straightway through this host opposing,
  Through the hundred heads of adders,
  Through the thousand tongues of serpents.
  Spake the magic Lemminkainen:
  "Venomed viper, thing of evil,
  Ancient adder of Tuoni,
  Thou that crawlest in the stubble,
  Through the flower-roots of Lempo,
  Who has sent thee from thy kingdom,
  Sent thee from thine evil coverts,
  Sent thee hither, crawling, writhing,
  In the pathway I would travel?
  Who bestowed thy mouth of venom,
  Who insisted, who commanded,
  Thou shouldst raise thy head toward heaven,
  Who thy tail has given action?
  Was this given by the father,
  Did the mother give this power,
  Or the eldest of the brothers,
  Or the youngest of the sisters,
  Or some other of thy kindred?
  "Close thy mouth, thou thing of evil,
  Hide thy pliant tongue of venom,
  In a circle wrap thy body,
  Coil thou like a shield in silence,
  Give to me one-half the pathway,
  Let this wanderer pass by thee,
  Or remove thyself entirely;
  Get thee hence to yonder heather,
  Quick retreat to bog and stubble,
  Hide thyself in reeds and rushes,
  In the brambles of the lowlands.
  Like a ball of flax enfolding,
  Like a sphere of aspen-branches,
  With thy head and tail together,
  Roll thyself to yonder mountain;
  In the heather is thy dwelling,
  Underneath the sod thy caverns.
  Shouldst thou raise thy head in anger,
  Mighty Ukko will destroy it,
  Pierce it with his steel-tipped arrows,
  With his death-balls made of iron!"
  Hardly had the hero ended,
  When the monster, little heeding,
  Hissing with his tongue in anger,
  Plying like the forked lightning,
  Pounces with his mouth of venom
  At the head of Lemminkainen;
  But the hero, quick recalling,
  Speaks the master-words of knowledge,
  Words that came from distant ages,
  Words his ancestors had taught him,
  Words his mother learned in childhood,
  These the words of Lemminkainen:
  "Since thou wilt not heed mine order,
  Since thou wilt not leave the highway,
  Puffed with pride of thine own greatness,
  Thou shall burst in triple pieces.
  Leave thy station for the borders,
  I will hunt thine ancient mother,
  Sing thine origin of evil,
  How arose thy head of horror;
  Suoyatar, thine ancient mother,
  Thing of evil, thy creator!"
  "Suoyatar once let her spittle
  Fall upon the waves of ocean;
  This was rocked by winds and waters,
  Shaken by the ocean-currents,
  Six years rocked upon the billows,
  Rocked in water seven summers,
  On the blue-back of the ocean,
  On the billows high as heaven;
  Lengthwise did the billows draw it,
  And the sunshine gave it softness,
  To the shore the billows washed it,
  On the coast the waters left it.
  "Then appeared Creation's daughters,
  Three the daughters thus appearing,
  On the roaring shore of ocean,
  There beheld the spittle lying,
  And the daughters spake as follows:
  'What would happen from this spittle,
  Should the breath of the Creator
  Fall upon the writhing matter,
  Breathe the breath of life upon it,
  Give the thing the sense of vision?
  "The Creator heard these measures,
  Spake himself the words that follow:
  'Evil only comes from evil,
  This is the expectoration
  Of fell Suoyatar, its mother;
  Therefore would the thing be evil,
  Should I breathe a soul within it,
  Should I give it sense of vision.'
  "Hisi heard this conversation,
  Ever ready with his mischief,
  Made himself to be creator,
  Breathed a soul into the spittle,
  To fell Suoyatar's fierce anger.
  Thus arose the poison-monster,
  Thus was born the evil serpent,
  This the origin of evil.
  "Whence the life that gave her action'?
  From the carbon-pile of Hisi.
  Whence then was her heart created?
  From the heart-throbs of her mother
  Whence arose her brain of evil?
  From the foam of rolling waters.
  Whence was consciousness awakened?
  From the waterfall's commotion.
  Whence arose her head of venom?
  From the seed-germs of the ivy.
  Whence then came her eyes of fury?
  From the flaxen seeds of Lempo.
  Whence the evil ears for hearing?
  From the foliage of Hisi.
  Whence then was her mouth created?
  This from Suoyatar's foam-currents
  Whence arose thy tongue of anger r
  From the spear of Keitolainen.
  Whence arose thy fangs of poison?
  From the teeth of Mana's daughter.
  Whence then was thy back created?
  From the carbon-posts of Piru.
  How then was thy tail created?
  From the brain of the hobgoblin.
  Whence arose thy writhing entrails?
  From the death-belt of Tuoni.
  "This thine origin, O Serpent,
  This thy charm of evil import,
  Vilest thing of God's creation,
  Writhing, hissing thing of evil,
  With the color of Tuoni,
  With the shade of earth and heaven,
  With the darkness of the storm-cloud.
  Get thee hence, thou loathsome monster,
  Clear the pathway of this hero.
  I am mighty Lemminkainen,
  On my journey to Pohyola,
  To the feastings and carousals,
  In the halls of darksome Northland."
  Thereupon the snake uncoiling,
  Hundred-eyed and heinous monster,
  Crawled away to other portals,
  That the hero, Kaukomieli,
  Might proceed upon his errand,
  To the dismal Sariola,
  To the feastings and carousals
  In the banquet-halls of Pohya.