Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v2.djvu/262

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From his head the sweat was streaming,

From his forehead sweat was falling,

With the greatness of his efforts,

And the weight that he was lifting.

Thus the moon was now uplifted,

In his place the sun was stationed,

Moon amid the crown of fir-tree,

Sun upon a pine-tree’s summit,

But the moon shed forth no lustre,

And the sun was likewise rayless.

Then the aged Väinämöinen

Spoke aloud the words which follow:

“Time it is the lots to shuffle,

And the signs with care to question

Where the sun is hidden from us,

And the moon has vanished from us.”

Then the aged Väinämöinen,

He the great primeval sorcerer,

Hastened alder-sticks to cut him,

And arranged the sticks in order,

And began the lots to shuffle,

With his fingers to arrange them,

And he spoke the words which follow,

And in words like these expressed him:

“Leave I ask of the Creator,

Seek an answer that misleads not.

Tell me, signs of the Creator,

Lots of Jumala, instruct me,

Where the sun is hidden from us,

And the moon has vanished from us,

Since no more as time elapses,

In the sky do we behold them?

“Speak, O lot, and tell me truly

With man’s reason speak unto me,

Speak thou faithful words unto us,

Make thou faithful compacts with us!

If the lot should lie unto me,

Then its worth I hold as nothing,

And upon the fire will cast it,

And will burn the signs upon it.”