Kalevala (Kirby 1907)/Runo 40
Runo XL.—The Pike and the Kantele
Argument
The Sampo-raiders come to a waterfall, beneath which the boat is caught fast on the back of a great pike (1-94). The pike is killed, and the front part is taken into the boat, cooked, and eaten (94-204). Vainamoinen makes the jaws of the pike into a kantele, on which several of the party attempt to play, but without success (205-342).
Väinämöinen, old and steadfast,
Steered the vessel swiftly forward,
On beyond the jutting headland,
On beyond the wretched village,
Singing songs upon the water,
Joyous songs upon the billows.
On the cape were maidens standing,
And they looked around and listened.
“From the lake there comes rejoicing,
And what song from lake re-echoes,10
Far more joyous than aforetime,
And a finer song than any?”
Onward steered old Väinämöinen,
For a day o’er lake was steering,
For the next through marshy waters,
For the third day past a cataract.
Then the lively Lemminkainen
Thought of spells he heard aforetime,
For the ears of furious cataract,
And the sacred river’s whirlpool.20
And he spoke the words which follow,
And expressed himself in singing:
“Cease, O Cataract, thy foaming,
Mighty water, cease thy rushing,
Thou, foam-maiden, Cataract’s daughter,
On the foam-flecked stones, O seat thee,
On the wet stones do thou seat thee,
In thy lap the waters gather,
And in both thy hands collect them,
With thy hands repress their fury,30
That upon our breasts they splash not,
Nor upon our heads are falling.
“Thou, old dame, beneath the billows,
Lady, pillowed on the waters,
Raise thy head above the waters,
Rise from bosom of the waters,
That the foam be heaped together,
And that thou mayst watch the foam-wreaths,
Lest they should o’erwhelm the guiltless,
And should overthrow the faultless.40
“Stones that stand amid the river,
Slabs of stone with foam o’ercovered,
Be ye sunk into the water,
And your heads be pressed beneath it,
From the red boat’s pathway banished,
From the course the tarred boat follows.
“If this is not yet sufficient,
Kimmo-stone, O son of Kammo,
Make an opening with thy auger,
Pierce an opening with thy auger,50
Through the stones in river standing,
And the dangerous slabs that border,
That the boat may pass uninjured,
And the vessel pass undamaged.
“If this is not yet sufficient,
Water-Father, ’neath the river,
Into moss the rocks transform thou,
Make the boat like pike’s light bladder,
As amid the foam it rushes,
As beneath the banks it passes.60
“Maiden in the cataract dwelling,
Girl who dwell’st beside the river,
Do thou spin a thread of softness,
In a soft ball do thou wind it,
Drop thy thread into the water,
Through the blue waves do thou guide it,
That the boat its track may follow,
So that men the least instructed,
E’en the inexperienced find it.70
“Melatar, thou gracious matron!
Of thy favour, take the rudder,
That with which thou guid’st the vessel,
Safely through the streams enchanted,
To the house that lies beyond them,
And beneath the sorcerer’s windows.
“If this is not yet sufficient,
Ukko, Jumala in heaven,
With thy sword direct the vessel,
With thy naked sword direct it,80
That the wooden boat speed onward,
Journey on, the pinewood vessel.”
Then the aged Väinämöinen,
Steered the vessel swiftly forward,
Through the river-rocks he steered it,
Steered it through the foaming waters,
And the wooden vessel wedged not,
Nor the wise man’s boat was grounded.
But as they their voyage continued
Once again in open water,90
Suddenly the vessel halted,
Stopped the boat upon its journey,
In its place remained it fastened,
And the vessel rocked no longer.
Thereupon smith Ilmarinen,
With the lively Lemminkainen,
Pushed into the lake the rudder,
In the waves the spar of pinewood,
And they tried to loose the vessel,
And to free the wooden vessel,100
But they could not move the vessel,
Nor release the wooden vessel.
Väinämöinen, old and steadfast,
Uttered then the words which follow:
“O thou lively son of Lempi,
Stoop thou down, and look around thee.
Look what stops the boat from moving,
Look what keeps the vessel moveless
Here amid the open water;
What the force beneath that holds it,110
Whether stopped by rocks or branches,
Or by any other hindrance.”
Then the lively Lemminkainen
Stooped him down to look about him,
And he looked beneath the vessel,
And he spoke the words which follow:
“Not on rock the boat is resting,
Not on boat, and not on branches,
But upon a pike’s broad shoulders,
And on water-dog’s great backbone.”120
Väinämöinen, old and steadfast,
Answered in the words which follow:
“All things may be found in rivers,
Whether they are pikes or branches.
If we rest on pike’s broad shoulders,
And on water-dog’s great backbone,
Plunge your sword into the water,
Thus in twain the fish to sever.”
Then the lively Lemminkainen
Ruddy youth, accomplished rascal,130
Drew his sword from out his sword-belt,
From his side the bone-destroyer,
In the lake his sword plunged deeply,
Thrust it underneath the vessel,
But he splashed into the water,
Plunged his hands into the billows.
Thereupon smith Ilmarinen
By the hair seized fast the hero,
Dragged from out the lake the hero,
And he spoke the words which follow:140
“All pretend to grow to manhood,
And are ready to be bearded,
Such as these we count by hundreds,
And their number mounts to thousands.”
From his belt he drew his sword-blade,
From the sheath the keen-edged weapon,
And he struck the fish with fury,
Striking down beneath the vessel,
But the sword in pieces shivered,
And the pike was injured nothing.150
Väinämöinen, old and steadfast,
Uttered then the words which follow:
“Not the half of manhood have you,
Not the third part of a hero,
But a man is now required,
And a man’s sense now is needed,
All the sense of the unskilful,
All the efforts of the others.”
Then himself he drew his sword-blade,
Firmly grasped the keen-edged weapon,160
In the lake his sword then thrust he,
Underneath the boat he struck it,
At the pike’s great shoulders striking
At the water-dog’s great backbone.
But the sword was fixed securely,
In the fish’s jaws fixed firmly;
Then the aged Väinämöinen
Presently the fish uplifted,
Dragged it up from out the water,
And the pike in twain he severed.170
To the bottom sank the fish-tail,
In the boat the head he hoisted.
Now again moved on the vessel,
And the boat-prow now was loosened.
Väinämöinen, old and steadfast
To the shoals steered on the vessel,
To the shore the boat he guided,
And he turned and looked about him,
And the pike’s great head examined,
And he spoke the words which follow:180
“Let the eldest of the yeomen,
Come and cleave the pike to pieces,
Let him carve it into slices,
Let him hew the head to pieces.”
From the boat the men made answer,
From the boat replied the women,
“But the captor’s hands are finer,
And the speaker’s fingers better.”
Väinämöinen, old and steadfast,
Drew from out the sheath his knife-blade,190
From his side the cold sharp iron,
That the pike might be divided,
And he cut the fish to pieces,
And he spoke the words which follow:
“Let the youngest of the maidens,
Cook the pike that we have captured,
Let her mince it for our breakfast,
That on fish we make our dinner.”
Then the maidens set to cooking,
Ten there were who made the effort,200
And they cooked the pike for eating,
And they minced it for their breakfast;
On the reefs the bones they scattered,
On the rocks they left the fishbones.
Väinämöinen, old and steadfast,
Saw the bones where they were lying,
And he turned to look upon them,
And he spoke the words which follow:
“What might perhaps be fashioned from them,
From the pike’s teeth be constructed,210
From the fragments of the jawbones,
Were they to the smithy taken,
To the skilful smith entrusted,
To the hands of one most skilful?”
Said the smith, said Ilmarinen,
“Nothing comes from what is useless,
Nothing can be made of fishbones,
By a smith in smithy working,
Though to skilful smith entrusted,
To the hands of one most skilful.”220
Väinämöinen, old and steadfast,
Answered in the words which follow:
“Yet a harp might be constructed
Even of the bones of fishes,
If there were a skilful workman,
Who could from the bones construct it.”
As no craftsman there was present,
And there was no skilful workman
Who could make a harp of fishbones,
Väinämöinen, old and steadfast,230
Then began the harp to fashion,
And himself the work accomplished,
And he made a harp of pikebones,
Fit to give unending pleasure.
Out of what did he construct it?
Chiefly from the great pike’s jawbones,
Whence obtained he pegs to suit it?
Of the teeth of pike he made them;
Out of what were harpstrings fashioned?
From the hairs of Hiisi’s gelding.240
Now the instrument was ready,
And the kantele completed,
Fashioned from the pike’s great jawbones,
And from fins of fish constructed.
Thereupon the youths came forward,
Forward came the married heroes,
And the half-grown boys came forward,
And the little girls came likewise,
Maidens young, and aged women,
And the women middle-aged,250
All advanced the harp to gaze on,
And the instrument examine.
Väinämöinen, old and steadfast,
Bade the young folks and the old ones,
And the people middle-aged,
With their fingers play upon it,
On the instrument of fishbone,
On the kantele of fishbone.
Played the young and played the aged,
Likewise played the middle-agèd,260
Played the young, and moved their fingers,
Tried the old, whose heads were shaking,
But they drew no music from it,
Nor composed a tune when playing.
Said the lively Lemminkainen,
“O ye boys half-witted only,
And ye maidens, all so stupid,
And you other wretched people,
’Tis not thus you play upon it,
Neither are you skilled musicians.270
Give me now the harp of fishbone,
Let me try to play upon it,
On my knees now place it for me,
At the tips of my ten fingers.”
Then the lively Lemminkainen
In his hands the harp uplifted
And he drew it nearer to him,
Held it underneath his fingers,
And he tried to play upon it,
And the kantele he twisted,280
But could play no tune upon it,
Draw no cheerful music from it.
Said the aged Väinämöinen,
“There are none among the youthful,
Nor among the growing people,
Nor among the aged people,
Who can play upon these harpstrings,
Drawing cheerful music from them.
Perhaps in Pohjola ’twere better,
Tunes might perhaps be played upon it,290
Cheerful music played upon it,
If to Pohjola I took it.”
So to Pohjola he took it,
And to Sariola he brought it,
And the boys they played upon it,
Boys and girls both played upon it,
And the married men played on it,
Likewise all the married women,
And the Mistress played upon it,
And they turned the harp and twisted,300
Held it firmly in their fingers,
At the tips of their ten fingers.
Thus played all the youths of Pohja,
People played of every station,
But no cheerful notes came from it,
And they played no music on it,
For the strings were all entangled,
And the horsehair whined most sadly,
And the notes were all discordant,
And the music all was jarring. 310
In the corner slept a blind man,
By the stove there lay an old man,
And beside the stove he wakened.
From the stove he raised an outcry,
From his couch he grumbled loudly,
And he grumbled, and he mumbled,
“Leave it off, and stop your playing,
Cut it short and finish quickly,
For the noise my ears is bursting,
Through my head the noise is echoing,320
And through all my hair I feel it,
For a week you’ve made me sleepless.
“And the harp of Suomi’s people
Cannot really give us pleasure,
Lulls us not to sleep when weary,
Nor to rest does it incline us.
Cast it forth upon the waters,
Sink it down beneath the billows,
Send it back to where it came from,
And the instrument deliver330
To the hands of those who made it,
To the fingers which constructed.”
With its tongue the harp made answer,
As the kantele resounded:
“No, I will not sink in water,
Nor will rest beneath the billows,
But will play for a musician,
Play for him who toiled to make me.”
Carefully the harp they carried,
And with greatest care conveyed it340
Back to him whose hands had made it,
To the knees of its constructor.