Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v2.djvu/198

186

Half its length to east directed,

And its breadth to north directed.

Onward sped the ship of Pohja,

Gliding swiftly through the lake-waves,

And upon the reef came rushing,

And upon the rocks wedged firmly.

Broke across the wooden vessel,

And to splinters it was broken;

In the lake the masts fell crashing,

And the sails fell drooping downward,

By the wind away were carried,

And the spring wind all dispersed them.

Louhi, Pohjola’s old Mistress,

Plunged her feet into the water,

And she tried to push the vessel,

And she tried to raise the vessel,

But no spear could lift the vessel,

And she could not even move it,

For the ribs had all been shattered,

All the rowlocks had been broken.

And she pondered and reflected,

And she spoke the words which follow:

“Who can aid me now with counsel?

Who can help me in this trouble?“

Then her form she quickly altered,

To another shape transformed her,

And she took five scythes the sharpest,

And six hoes, worn out completely;

These she fashioned into talons,

Into claws did she convert them;

Half the broken vessel’s fragments

Did she then arrange beneath her,

And the sides to wings she fashioned,

And to tail she turned the rudder,

’Neath her wings took men a hundred,

On her tail she took a thousand,

And the hundred men were swordsmen,

And the thousand men were archers.

Then she flew, her wings extending,

And she soared aloft as eagle,