Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v2.djvu/193

Runo XLII]

Thereupon smith Ilmarinen

Felt the very greatest sadness,

And he spoke the words which follow:

“Woe to me, this day unhappy,

That upon the lake I travel,

On this wide expanse of water,

That I tread on wood that’s rolling,

And on planks that shake beneath me.

Now my hair has seen the tempest,

And my hair begins to shudder,

And my beard ill days has witnessed,

Which it saw upon the water,

Yet have we but seldom witnessed,

Such a storm as rages round us,

Witnessed such tremendous breakers,

Or have seen such foam-capped billows.

Let the wind be now my refuge,

And the waves have mercy on me.”

Väinämöinen, old and steadfast,

Heard his words, and thus responded:

“In the boat’s no place for weeping,

Room is none for lamentation,

Weeping helps not in misfortune,

Howling, not when days are evil.”

Then he spoke the words which follow,

And he sang and thus expressed him:

“Water, now restrain thy children,

And, O wave, do thou restrain them.

Ahto, do thou calm the billows,

Vellamo, o’ercome the waters,

That they splash not on our timbers,

Nor may overwhelm my boat-ribs.

“Rise, O wind, aloft to heaven,

And among the clouds disport thee,

To thy race, where thou wast nurtured,

To thy family and kindred.

Do not harm this wooden vessel,

Sink thou not this boat of pinewood.

Rather fell burnt trees in clearings,

On the slopes o’erthrow the pine-trees.”