Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v2.djvu/168

156

But the sword in pieces shivered,

And the pike was injured nothing.

Väinämöinen, old and steadfast,

Uttered then the words which follow:

“Not the half of manhood have you,

Not the third part of a hero,

But a man is now required,

And a man’s sense now is needed,

All the sense of the unskilful,

All the efforts of the others.”

Then himself he drew his sword-blade,

Firmly grasped the keen-edged weapon,

In the lake his sword then thrust he,

Underneath the boat he struck it,

At the pike’s great shoulders striking

At the water-dog’s great backbone.

But the sword was fixed securely,

In the fish’s jaws fixed firmly;

Then the aged Väinämöinen

Presently the fish uplifted,

Dragged it up from out the water,

And the pike in twain he severed.

To the bottom sank the fish-tail,

In the boat the head he hoisted.

Now again moved on the vessel,

And the boat-prow now was loosened.

Väinämöinen, old and steadfast

To the shoals steered on the vessel,

To the shore the boat he guided,

And he turned and looked about him,

And the pike’s great head examined,

And he spoke the words which follow:

“Let the eldest of the yeomen,

Come and cleave the pike to pieces,

Let him carve it into slices,

Let him hew the head to pieces.”

From the boat the men made answer,

From the boat replied the women,

“But the captor’s hands are finer,

And the speaker’s fingers better.”