Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v1.djvu/216

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Hailed the boat as it approached her:

“Whither goest thou, Väinämöinen,

Whither, hero of the waters,

Wherefore, pride of all the country?”

Then the aged Väinämöinen

From the boat made ready answer:

“I am going salmon-fishing,

Where the salmon-trout are spawning,

In the gloomy stream of Tuoni,

In the deep reed-bordered river.”

Annikki, the ever-famous,

Answered in the words which follow:

“Tell me not such idle falsehoods!

Well I know the spawning season,

For aforetime oft my father

And my grandsire, too, before him,

Often went a salmon-fishing,

And the salmon-trout to capture.

In the boats the nets were lying,

And the boats were full of tackle,

Here lay nets, here lines were resting,

And the beating-poles beside them;

And beneath the seats were tridents,

In the stern, long staves were lying.

Whither goest thou, Väinämöinen,

Wherefore, O Uvantolainen?”

Said the aged Väinämöinen,

“Forth in search of geese I wander,

Where the bright-winged birds are sporting,

And the slimy fish are catching,

In the deep sound of the Saxons,

Where the sea is wide and open.”

Annikki, the ever-famous,

Answered in the words which follow:

“Well I know who speaks me truly,

And can soon detect the liar,

For aforetime oft my father,

And my grandsire, too, before him,

Went abroad the geese to capture,

And to chase the red-beaked quarry,