Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v1.djvu/217

Runo XVIII]

And his bow was great, and tight-strung,

And the bow he drew was splendid,

And a black dog leashed securely,

In the stern was tightly tethered,

On the strand the hounds were running,

And the whelps across the shingle;

Speak the truth, O Väinämöinen,

Whither do you take your journey?”

Said the aged Väinämöinen,

“Wherefore take I not my journey,

Where a mighty fight is raging,

There to fight among my equals,

Where the greaves with blood are spattered,

Even to the knees all crimsoned?”

Annikki again insisted,

Loudly cried the tin-adorned one:

“Well I know the ways of battle,

For aforetime went my father

Where a mighty fight was raging,

There to fight among his equals,

And a hundred men were rowing,

And a thousand men were standing.

In the prow their bows were lying,

And beneath the seats their sword-blades.

Speak the truth, and tell me truly,

Cease to lie, and speak sincerely.

Whither goest thou, Väinämöinen,

Wherefore, O Suvantolainen?“

Then the aged Väinämöinen

Answered in the words which follow:

“Come thou in my boat, O maiden,

In my boat, O maiden seat thee,

And the truth I then will tell thee,

Cease to lie, and speak sincerely.”

Annikki, the tin-adorned one,

Cried aloud in indignation:

“May the wind assail thy vessel,

And the east wind fall upon it,

May thy boat capsize beneath thee,

And the prow sink down beneath thee,