Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v2.djvu/267

Runo XLVIX]

Off he cut the heads of serpents,

Broke the necks of all the serpents,

And he spoke the words which follow,

And in words like these expressed him:

“Never while the world existeth,

From this very day henceforward,

Let our ale by snakes be drunken,

And our malt-drink by the serpents.”

Then the aged Väinämöinen,

He the great primeval sorcerer,

Sought with hands the doors to open,

And the bolts by spells to loosen,

But to hands the doors would yield not,

By his spells the bolts were moved not.

Then the aged Väinämöinen

Spoke his thoughts in words that follow:

“Man unarmed is weak as woman;

Weak as frog, without a hatchet.”

And at once he wended homeward,

Head bowed down, in great vexation,

For the moon was not recovered,

Neither had the sun been captured.

Said the lively Lemminkainen,

“O thou aged Väinämöinen,

Wherefore didst forget to take me,

As your very trusty comrade?

I had brought the locks to creaking,

And the bars asunder broken,

And released the moon for shining,

And had raised the sun for shining.”

Väinämöinen, old and steadfast,

Answered in the words that follow:

“Unto spells the bolts will yield not,

And the locks my magic breaks not;

Strength of hands will never move them,

And no strength of arm will force them.”

To the smith’s forge then he wandered,

And he spoke the words which follow:

“O thou smith, O Ilmarinen,

Forge me now a mighty trident,