Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v1.djvu/79

Runo VI]

Then upon the groove he laid it,

On the hempen cord he fixed it,

Then his mighty bow he lifted,

And he placed it to his shoulder,

Ready now to shoot the arrow,

And to shoot at Väinämöinen.

And he spoke the words which follow:

“Do thou strike, O birch wood arrow,

Strike thou in the back, O pinewood.

Twang thy best, O hempen bowstring!

If my hand is leaning downward,

Let the arrow then strike higher,

If my hand is bending upward,

Let the arrow then strike downward!”

Quickly then he drew the trigger,

Shot the first among his arrows.

Far too high the shaft flew upward,

High above his head to skyward,

And it whizzed among the cloudlets,

Through the scattered clouds it wandered.

Thus he shot, in reckless fashion,

Shot the second of his arrows.

Far too low the shot flew downwards,

Deep in Mother Earth ’twas sunken.

Earth was almost sunk to Mana,

And the hills of sand were cloven.

Then he shot again, a third time,

And the third shaft, straighter flying,

In the blue elk’s spleen was buried,

Under aged Väinämöinen.

Thus he shot the straw-hued courser,

Like a pea-stalk in his colour;

Through the flesh beneath his shoulder,

In the left side deep he pierced him.

Then the aged Väinämöinen

Plunged his fingers in the water,

With his hands the waves he parted,

Grasping at the foaming billows,

From the blue elk’s back he tumbled,

From the steed of pea-stalk colour.