Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v2.djvu/200

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That my head may fear no evil,

Nor my hair may be disordered,

When the shining swords are clashing,

And the steely points are meeting.”

Said the aged Väinämöinen,

And he spoke the words which follow:

“Hail, O Pohjola’s great Mistress!

Wilt thou now divide the Sampo,

Out upon the jutting headland,

On the misty island’s summit?”

Then said Pohjola’s old Mistress,

“No, I’ll not divide the Sampo,

Not with thee, thou wretched creature,

Not with thee, O Väinämöinen!”

And she swooped to snatch the Sampo

From the boat of Väinämöinen.

Then the lively Lemminkainen

Drew his sword from out his swordbelt,

Firm he grasped the sharpened iron,

And from his left side he drew it,

Striking at the eagle’s talons,

At the claws of eagle striking.

Struck the lively Lemminkainen,

As he struck, these words he uttered:

“Down ye men, and down ye swordsmen,

Down with all the sleepy heroes!

From her wings, ye men a hundred,

Ten from ends of every feather.”

Answered then the crone of Pohja,

And she answered from the masthead:

“O thou lively son of Lempi,

Wretched Kauko, worthless fellow,

For thou hast deceived thy mother,

Lied unto thy aged mother!

Thou wast pledged to seek no battle

In the space of sixty summers,

Whether need of gold should tempt thee,

Or the love of silver urge thee.”

Väinämöinen, old and steadfast,

He the great primeval minstrel,