1. Now the bride must be instructed, Who will teach the Maid of Beauty, Who instruct the Rainbow-daughter? Osmotar, the wisdom-maiden, Kalew's fair and lovely virgin, Osmotar will give instructions To the bride of Ilmarinen, To the orphaned bride of Pohya, Teach her how to live in pleasure, How to live and reign in glory, Win her second mother's praises, Joyful in her husband's dwelling.
2. Osmotar in modest accents Thus the anxious bride addresses; "Maid of Beauty, lovely sister, Tender plant of Louhi's gardens, Hear thou what thy sister teaches, Listen to her sage instructions: Go thou hence, my much beloved, Wander far away, my flower, Travel on enwrapped in colors, Glide away in silks and ribbons, From this house renowned and ancient, From thy father's halls and court-yards Haste thee to thy husband's village, Hasten to his mother's household; Strange, the rooms in other dwellings, Strange, the modes in other hamlets.
3. "Full of thought must be thy going, And thy work be well considered, Quite unlike thy home in Northland, On the meadows of thy father, On the high-lands of thy brother, Singing through thy mother's fenlands, Culling daisies with thy sister. "When thou goest from thy father Thou canst take whatever pleases, Only three things leave behind thee: Leave thy day-dreams to thy sister, Leave thou kindness for thy mother, To thy brother leave thy labors, Take all else that thou desirest. Throw away thine incantations, Cast thy sighing to the pine-trees, And thy maidenhood to zephyrs, Thy rejoicings to the couches, Cast thy trinkets to the children, And thy leisure to the gray-beards, Cast all pleasures to thy playmates, Let them take them to the woodlands, Bury them beneath the mountain.
4. "Thou must hence acquire new habits, Must forget thy former customs, Mother-love must be forsaken, Thou must love thy husband's mother, Lower must thy head be bended, Kind words only must thou utter.
5. "Thou must hence acquire new habits, Must forget thy former customs, Father-love must be forsaken, Thou must love thy husband's father, Lower must thy head be bended, Kind words only must thou utter.
6. "Thou must hence acquire new habits, Must forget thy former customs, Brother-love must be forsaken, Thou must love thy husband's brother, Lower must thy head be bended, Kind words only must thou utter.
7. "Thou must hence acquire new habits Must forget thy former customs, Sister-love must be forsaken, Thou must love thy husband's sister, Lower must thy head be bended, Kind words only must thou utter.
8. "Never in the course of ages, Never while the moonlight glimmers, Wickedly approach thy household, Nor unworthily, thy servants, Nor thy courts with indiscretion; Let thy dwellings sing good manners, And thy walls re-echo virtue. After mind the hero searches. And the best of men seek honor, Seek for honesty and wisdom; If thy home should be immoral, If thine inmates fail in virtue, Then thy gray-beards would be black-dogs In sheep's clothing at thy firesides; All thy women would be witches, Wicked witches in thy chambers, And thy brothers be as serpents Crawling through thy husband's mansion; All thy sisters would be famous For their evil thoughts and conduct.
9. "Equal honors must be given To thy husband's friends and kindred; Lower must thy head be bended, Than within thy mother's dwelling, Than within thy father's guest-room, When thou didst thy kindred honor. Ever strive to give good counsel, Wear a countenance of sunshine, Bear a head upon thy shoulders Filled with wise and ancient sayings; Open bright thine eyes at morning To behold the silver sunrise, Sharpen well thine ears at evening, Thus to hear the rooster crowing; When he makes his second calling, Straightway thou must rise from slumber, Let the aged sleep in quiet; Should the rooster fail to call thee, Let the moonbeams touch thine eyelids, Let the Great Bear be thy keeper Often go thou and consult them, Call upon the Moon for counsel, Ask the Bear for ancient wisdom, From the stars divine thy future; When the Great Bear faces southward, When his tail is pointing northward, This is time to break with slumber, Seek for fire within the ashes, Place a spark upon the tinder, Blow the fire through all the fuel. If no spark is in the ashes, Then go wake thy hero-husband, Speak these words to him on waking: 'Give me fire, O my beloved, Give a single spark, my husband, Strike a little fire from flintstone, Let it fall upon my tinder.' "From the spark, O Bride of Beauty, Light thy fires, and heat thine ovens, In the holder, place the torch-light, Find thy pathway to the stables, There to fill the empty mangers; If thy husband's cows be lowing, If thy brother's steeds be neighing, Then the cows await thy coming, And the steeds for thee are calling, Hasten, stooping through the hurdles, Hasten through the yards and stables, Feed thy husband's cows with pleasure, Feed with care the gentle lambkins, Give the cows the best of clover, Hay, and barley, to the horses, Feed the calves of lowing mothers, Feed the fowl that fly to meet thee.
10. "Never rest upon the haymow, Never sleep within the hurdles, When the kine are fed and tended, When the flocks have all been watered; Hasten thence, my pretty matron, Like the snow-flakes to thy dwelling, There a crying babe awaits thee, Weeping in his couch neglected, Cannot speak and tell his troubles, Speechless babe, and weeping infant, Cannot say that he is hungry, Whether pain or cold distresses, Greets with joy his mother's footsteps. Afterward repair in silence To thy husband's rooms and presence, Early visit thou his chambers, In thy hand a golden pitcher, On thine arm a broom of birch-wood, In thy teeth a lighted taper, And thyself the fourth in order. Sweep thou then thy hero's dwelling, Dust his benches and his tables, Wash the flooring well with water.
11. "If the baby of thy sister Play alone within his corner, Show the little child attention, Bathe his eyes and smoothe his ringlets, Give the infant needed comforts; Shouldst thou have no bread of barley, In his hand adjust some trinket.
12. "Lastly, when the week has ended, Give thy house a thorough cleansing, Benches, tables, walls, and ceilings; What of dust is on the windows, Sweep away with broom of birch-twigs, All thy rooms must first be sprinkled, at the dust may not be scattered, May not fill the halls and chambers. Sweep the dust from every crevice, Leave thou not a single atom; Also sweep the chimney-corners, Do not then forget the rafters, Lest thy home should seem untidy, Lest thy dwelling seem neglected.
13. "Hear, O maiden, what I tell thee, Learn the tenor of my teaching: Never dress in scanty raiment, Let thy robes be plain and comely, Ever wear the whitest linen, On thy feet wear tidy fur-shoes, For the glory of thy husband, For the honor of thy hero. Tend thou well the sacred sorb-tree, Guard the mountain-ashes planted In the court-yard, widely branching; Beautiful the mountain-ashes, Beautiful their leaves and flowers, Still more beautiful the berries. Thus the exiled one demonstrates That she lives to please her husband, Tries to make her hero happy.
14. "Like the mouse, have ears for hearing, Like the hare, have feet for running, Bend thy neck and turn thy visage Like the juniper and aspen, Thus to watch with care thy goings, Thus to guard thy feet from stumbling, That thou mayest walk in safety.
15. "When thy brother comes from plowing, And thy father from his garners, And thy husband from the woodlands, From his chopping, thy beloved, Give to each a water-basin, Give to each a linen-towel, Speak to each some pleasant greeting.
16. "When thy second mother hastens To thy husband's home and kindred, In her hand a corn-meal measure, Haste thou to the court to meet her, Happy-hearted, bow before her, Take the measure from her fingers, Happy, bear it to thy husband.
17. "If thou shouldst not see distinctly What demands thy next attention, Ask at once thy hero's mother: 'Second mother, my beloved, Name the task to be accomplished By thy willing second daughter, Tell me how to best perform it.' "This should be the mother's answer: 'This the manner of thy workings, Thus thy daily work accomplish: Stamp with diligence and courage, Grind with will and great endurance, Set the millstones well in order, Fill the barley-pans with water, Knead with strength the dough for baking, Place the fagots on the fire-place, That thy ovens may be heated, Bake in love the honey-biscuit, Bake the larger loaves of barley, Rinse to cleanliness thy platters, Polish well thy drinking-vessels.
18. "If thou hearest from the mother, From the mother of thy husband, That the cask for meal is empty, Take the barley from the garners, Hasten to the rooms for grinding. When thou grindest in the chambers, Do not sing in glee and joyance, Turn the grinding-stones in silence, To the mill give up thy singing, Let the side-holes furnish music; Do not sigh as if unhappy, Do not groan as if in trouble, Lest the father think thee weary, Lest thy husband's mother fancy That thy groans mean discontentment, That thy sighing means displeasure. Quickly sift the flour thou grindest, Take it to the casks in buckets, Bake thy hero's bread with pleasure, Knead the dough with care and patience, That thy biscuits may be worthy, That the dough be light and airy.
19. "Shouldst thou see a bucket empty, Take the bucket on thy shoulder, On thine arm a silver-dipper, Hasten off to fill with water From the crystal river flowing; Gracefully thy bucket carry, Bear it firmly by the handles, Hasten houseward like the zephyrs, Hasten like the air of autumn; Do not tarry near the streamlet, At the waters do not linger, That the father may not fancy, Nor the ancient dame imagine, That thou hast beheld thine image, Hast admired thy form and features, Hast admired thy grace and beauty In the mirror of the fountain, In the crystal streamlet's eddies.
20. "Shouldst thou journey to the woodlands, There to gather aspen-fagots, Do not go with noise and bustle, Gather all thy sticks in silence, Gather quietly the birch-wood, That the father may not fancy, And the mother not imagine, That thy calling came from anger, And thy noise from discontentment.
21. "If thou goest to the store-house To obtain the flour of barley, Do not tarry on thy journey, On the threshold do not linger, That the father may not fancy, And the mother not imagine, That the meal thou hast divided With the women of the village.
22. "If thou goest to the river, There to wash thy birchen platters, There to cleanse thy pans and buckets, Lest thy work be done in neatness, Rinse the sides, and rinse the handles, Rinse thy pitchers to perfection, Spoons, and forks, and knives, and goblets, Rinse with care thy cooking-vessels, Closely watch the food-utensils, That the dogs may not deface them, That the kittens may not mar them, That the eagles may not steal them, That the children may not break them; Many children in the village, Many little heads and fingers, That will need thy careful watching, Lest they steal the things of value.
23. "When thou goest to thy bathing, Have the brushes ready lying In the bath-room clean and smokeless; Do not, linger in the water, At thy bathing do not tarry, That the father may not fancy, And the mother not imagine, Thou art sleeping on the benches, Rolling in the laps of comfort.
24. "From thy bath, when thou returnest, To his bathing tempt the father, Speak to him the words that follow: 'Father of my hero-husband, Clean are all the bath-room benches, Everything in perfect order; Go and bathe for thine enjoyment, Pour the water all-sufficient, I will lend thee needed service.' "When the time has come for spinning, When the hours arrive for weaving, Do not ask the help of others, Look not in the stream for knowledge, For advice ask not the servants, Nor the spindle from the sisters, Nor the weaving-comb from strangers. Thou thyself must do the spinning, With thine own hand ply the shuttle, Loosely wind the skeins of wool-yarn, Tightly wind the balls of flax-thread, Wind them deftly in the shuttle Fit the warp upon the rollers, Beat the woof and warp together, Swiftly ply the weaver's shuttle, Weave good cloth for all thy vestments, Weave of woolen, webs for dresses From the finest wool of lambkins, One thread only in thy weaving.
25. "Hear thou what I now advise thee: Brew thy beer from early barley, From the barley's new-grown kernels, Brew it with the magic virtues, Malt it with the sweets of honey, Do not stir it with the birch-rod, Stir it with thy skilful fingers; When thou goest to the garners, Do not let the seed bring evil, Keep the dogs outside the brew-house, Have no fear of wolves in hunger, Nor the wild-beasts of the mountains, When thou goest to thy brewing, Shouldst thou wander forth at midnight.
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