Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v2.djvu/196

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Looked across to Pohja’s coast-line,

And he spoke the words which follow:

“Clear in front is the horizon,

Dark behind is the horizon,

Rises north a cloud, a small one,

Hangs a single cloud to north-west.”

Said the aged Väinämöinen,

“What you say is surely nonsense,

For no cloud is there ascending,

Nor a single cloud arising,

But perchance a sailing vessel;

Look again, and look more sharply.”

Then he looked again more sharply,

And he spoke the words which follow:

“Far away I see an island,

Dimly looming in the distance,

Aspens covered o’er with falcons,

Speckled grouse upon the birch-trees.”

Said the aged Väinämöinen,

“What you say is surely nonsense,

For no falcons do you see there,

And no speckled grouse you see there,

But perchance the sons of Pohja;

Look more sharply for the third time.”

Then the lively Lemminkainen

For the third time looked around him,

And he spoke the words which follow,

And in words like these expressed him:

“’Tis a ship from Pohja sailing,

With a hundred rowlocks fitted,

And I see a hundred oarsmen,

And a thousand men beside them.”

Then the aged Väinämöinen,

All the truth at once perceiving,

Spoke aloud the words which follow:

“Row, thou smith; row, Ilmarinen;

Row, O lively Lemminkainen;

Row ye also, all ye people,

That the boat be hurried forward,

And the vessel onward driven.”