Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v1.djvu/177

Runo XV]

Then she found his ribs in pieces,

Likewise many other fragments,

And her son she pieced together,

Shaped the lively Lemminkainen.

Then the flesh to flesh she fitted,

And the bones together fitted,

And the joints together jointed,

And the veins she pressed together.

Then she bound the veins together,

All their ends she knit together,

And with care their threads she counted,

And she spoke the words which follow:

“Fairest goddess of the bloodveins,

Suonetar, O fairest woman,

Lovely weaver of the veinlets,

Working with thy loom so slender,

With the spindle all of copper,

And the wheel composed of iron,

Come thou here, where thou art needed,

Hasten hither, where I call thee,

With a lapful of thy veinlets,

And beneath thy arm a bundle,

Thus to bind the veins together,

And to knit their ends together,

Where the wounds are gaping widely,

And where gashes still are open.

“If this is not yet sufficient,

In the air there sits a maiden,

In a boat adorned with copper,

In a boat with stern of scarlet.

From the air descend, O maiden,

Virgin from the midst of heaven,

Row thy boat throughout the veinlets,

Through the joints, both forth and backwards,

Through the broken bones, O steer thou,

And throughout the joints when broken.

“Bind the veins together firmly,

Lay them in the right position,

End to end the larger bloodveins,

And the arteries fit together,