Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v2.djvu/250

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, old and steadfast,

He the great primeval minstrel,

Thereupon began to ponder,

And reflected on the method

How to make a net of linen,

How to make the hundred meshes.

Then he spoke the words which follow,

And expressed himself in thiswise:

“Is there one who flax can sow me,

Who can sow the flax and card it,

And of this a net can make me,

Weave for me its hundred meshes,

Thus this wretched fish to slaughter,

And destroy the fish unhappy?”

So a little spot they found him,

Found a place not yet burned over,

In the wide extent of marshes,

There between two stumps they found it.

Thereupon they dug the roots out,

And ’twas there they found the flaxseed,

Guarded by the worm of Tuoni,

There protected by the earthworm.

There they found a heap of ashes;

Dry the ashes that they found there,

Of a wooden burned-up vessel,

Of a boat that once had burned there.