Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v2.djvu/255

Runo XLVIII]

Then the net was soon drawn upward,

And they drew it up and shook it

In the boat of Väinämöinen,

Finding mid the shoal of fishes,

That for which the net was fashioned,

And the hundred floats provided.

Väinämöinen, old and steadfast,

To the land then urged the vessel,

To the blue bridge-side he brought it,

To the red bridge-end he brought it,

There the shoal of fishes sorted,

Turned the heap of bony fishes,

And the grey pike found among them,

Which he long had sought to capture.

Then the aged Väinämöinen

Thus unto himself reflected:

“Is it wise with hands to seize it,

Save with gauntlets made of iron,

Save with gloves of stone constructed,

Save with mittens made of copper?”

And the Sun’s son heard him speaking,

And replied in words that follow:

“I myself would rip the pike up,

Venture in my hand to take him,

If I had my large knife only,

Which my noble father gave me.”

Then from heaven the knife descended,

From the clouds the knife fell downward,

Golden-hafted, silver-bladed,

To the Sun’s son’s belt dropped downward.

Thereupon the Sun’s son seized it,

Firmly in his hand he grasped it,

And with this the pike ripped open,

Cleft the body of the Broad-snout,

And within the grey pike’s belly

There the grey trout he discovered,

And within the grey trout’s belly

There he found the smooth-skinned powan.

Then he split the smooth-skinned powan,

And a blue clew he discovered,