Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v1.djvu/97

Runo VIII]

On the floor a child was playing,

By the stove a boy was sitting,

And he answered him in this wise:

“There is no one in this household

Who can heal the wounds of iron,

Who can soothe the hero’s anguish,

To the rock can fix it firmly,

And can heal the wound that pains him.

Such may dwell in other houses:

Drive away to other houses.”

Väinämöinen, old and steadfast,

O’er the horse his whip then brandished,

And the sledge went rattling onward.

Thus a little way he travelled,

On the midmost of the pathways,

To the midmost of the houses,

And he asked upon the threshold,

And beseeching at the window,

“Is there no one in this household,

Who can heal the wounds of iron,

Who can stanch the blood when flowing,

And can check the rushing bloodstream?”

’Neath the quilt a crone was resting,

By the stove there sat a gossip,

And she spoke and answered plainly,

As her three teeth gnashed together,

“There is no one in this household,

Who can heal the wounds of iron,

None who knows efficient blood-spells,

And can close the wound that pains you.

Such may dwell in other houses:

Drive away to other houses.”

Väinämöinen, old and steadfast,

O’er the horse his whip then brandished,

And the sledge went rattling onward.

Thus a little way he travelled,

On the highest of the pathways,

To the highest of the houses,

And he asked upon the threshold,

Calling from beside the doorpost,