Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v1.djvu/187

Runo XVI]

So he went to fell the aspen,

With his axe the tree to sever,

And the aspen spoke and asked him,

With its tongue it spoke in thiswise:

“What, O man, desire you from me?

Tell your need, as far as may be.”

Youthful Sampsa Pellervoinen,

Answered in the words which follow:

“This is what I wish for from thee,

This I need, and this require I,

’Tis a boat for Väinämöinen;

For the minstrel’s boat the timber.”

And the aspen said astounded,

Answered with its hundred branches:

“As a boat I should be leaking,

And would only sink beneath you,

For my branches they are hollow.

Thrice already in this summer,

Has a grub my heart devoured,

In my roots a worm has nestled.”

Youthful Sampsa Pellervoinen

Wandered further on his journey,

And he wandered, deeply pondering,

In the region to the northward.

There he found a pine-tree standing,

And its height was full six fathoms,

And he struck it with his hatchet,

On the trunk with axe-blade smote it,

And he spoke the words which follow:

“O thou pine-tree, shall I take thee,

For the boat of Väinämöinen,

And as boatwood for the minstrel?”

But the pine-tree answered quickly,

And it cried in answer loudly,

“For a boat you cannot use me,

Nor a six-ribbed boat can fashion,

Full of knots you’ll find the pine-tree.

Thrice already in this summer,

In my summit croaked a raven,

Croaked a crow among my branches.”