Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v2.djvu/157

Runo XXXIX]

“Perhaps it is a girl complaining,

Or perchance a dove lamenting.

Shall we go to look about us,

Shall we nearer go to listen?”

Therefore to the spot they sauntered,

Nearer went to gaze around them,

But no maiden there was weeping,

And no dove was there lamenting,

But they found a vessel weeping,

And a boat was there lamenting.

Said the aged Väinämöinen

As he went towards the vessel,

“Wherefore weep, O wooden vessel,

Boat with rowlocks, why lamentest?

Dost thou weep that thou art clumsy,

And art dreaming at thy moorings?”

Then the wooden boat made answer,

Thus replied the boat with rowlocks:

“Know, a vessel longs for water,

And its tarry sides desire it,

As a maiden may be longing

For the fine home of a husband.

Therefore weeps the boat unhappy,

And the hapless boat lamenteth,

And I weep to speed through water,

And to float upon the billows.

“It was said when I was fashioned,

When my boards were sung together,

That I should become a warship,

And should be employed for warboat,

And should bear the plunder homeward,

In my hold should carry treasure,

But I have not been in battle,

Neither have been stored with plunder.

“Other boats, and even bad ones,

Always wander forth to battle,

And are led to battle-struggle

Three times in the course of summer,

And return with money loaded,

In their hold they carry treasure,

Rh