Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v1.djvu/187

So he went to fell the aspen,
With his axe the tree to sever,
And the aspen spoke and asked him,
With its tongue it spoke in thiswise:30
“What, O man, desire you from me?
Tell your need, as far as may be.”
Youthful Sampsa Pellervoinen,
Answered in the words which follow:
“This is what I wish for from thee,
This I need, and this require I,
’Tis a boat for Väinämöinen;
For the minstrel’s boat the timber.”
And the aspen said astounded,
Answered with its hundred branches:40
“As a boat I should be leaking,
And would only sink beneath you,
For my branches they are hollow.
Thrice already in this summer,
Has a grub my heart devoured,
In my roots a worm has nestled.”
Youthful Sampsa Pellervoinen
Wandered further on his journey,
And he wandered, deeply pondering,
In the region to the northward.50
There he found a pine-tree standing,
And its height was full six fathoms,
And he struck it with his hatchet,
On the trunk with axe-blade smote it,
And he spoke the words which follow:
“O thou pine-tree, shall I take thee,
For the boat of Väinämöinen,
And as boatwood for the minstrel?”
But the pine-tree answered quickly,
And it cried in answer loudly,60
“For a boat you cannot use me,
Nor a six-ribbed boat can fashion,
Full of knots you’ll find the pine-tree.
Thrice already in this summer,
In my summit croaked a raven,
Croaked a crow among my branches.”