Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v2.djvu/197

Runo XLIII]

Rowed the smith, rowed Ilmarinen,

Rowed the lively Lemminkainen,

All the people joined in rowing.

Swayed about the pinewood oars,

Loudly rang the rowan rowlocks,

And the pinewood boat was swaying.

Like a seal the prow dashed onward,

Boiled the waves behind like cataract,

Like a bell uprose the water,

And the foam flew up in masses.

As for wager rowed the heroes,

As in race the heroes struggled,

But they rowed, and made no progress,

Nor could urge the wooden vessel

Further from the sailing vessel,

And the ship that came from Pohja.

Then the aged Väinämöinen

Saw misfortune fast approaching.

On his head was doomsday falling,

And he pondered and reflected,

How to act and how to save him,

And he spoke the words which follow:

“Still I know a plan of safety,

Still I see a little marvel.”

Then he took a piece of tinder,

In his tinder-box he found it,

And of pitch he took a little,

And a little piece of tinder,

And into the lake he threw it,

O’er his shoulder left he threw it,

And he spoke the words which follow,

And in words like these expressed him:

“Let a reef of this be fashioned,

And a cliff be fashioned from it,

Where may run the ship of Pohja,

Fitted with a hundred rowlocks,

And may strike in lake tempestuous,

And amid the waves be shattered.”

Thereupon a reef grew upward,

In the lake a cliff was fashioned,