Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v2.djvu/185

Runo XLII]

There in safety can we keep it,

There it can remain for ever.

There’s a little spot remaining,

Yet a little plot left over,

Where they eat not and they fight not,

Whither swordsmen never wander.”

Then the aged Väinämöinen

Steered away from Pohja’s borders,

Sailed away in great contentment,

Joyous to his native country,

And he spoke the words which follow:

“Speed from Pohjola, O vessel,

Make thy way directly homeward,

Leave behind the foreign country.

“Blow, thou wind, and sway the vessel,

Urge the boat upon the water,

Lend assistance to the rowers,

To the rudder give thou lightness,

On the wide expanse of water,

Out upon the open water.

“If the oars should be too little,

And too weak should be the oarsmen,

In the stern too small the steerer,

And the vessel’s master’s children,

Ahto, give thyself thy oars,

To the boat, O Water-Master,

Give the best and newest oars,

Give us, too, a stronger rudder.

Do thou seat thee at the oars,

Do thou undertake the rowing,

Speed thou on this wooden vessel,

Urge the iron-rowlocked forward,

Drive it through the foaming billows,

Through the foam-capped billows drive it.”

Then the aged Väinämöinen

Steered the vessel swiftly forward,

While the smith named Ilmarinen,

And the lively Lemminkainen,

Set themselves to work the oars,

And they rowed, and speeded onward