Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v1.djvu/217

And his bow was great, and tight-strung,
And the bow he drew was splendid,
And a black dog leashed securely,
In the stern was tightly tethered,150
On the strand the hounds were running,
And the whelps across the shingle;
Speak the truth, O Väinämöinen,
Whither do you take your journey?”
Said the aged Väinämöinen,
“Wherefore take I not my journey,
Where a mighty fight is raging,
There to fight among my equals,
Where the greaves with blood are spattered,
Even to the knees all crimsoned?”160
Annikki again insisted,
Loudly cried the tin-adorned one:
“Well I know the ways of battle,
For aforetime went my father
Where a mighty fight was raging,
There to fight among his equals,
And a hundred men were rowing,
And a thousand men were standing.
In the prow their bows were lying,
And beneath the seats their sword-blades.170
Speak the truth, and tell me truly,
Cease to lie, and speak sincerely.
Whither goest thou, Väinämöinen,
Wherefore, O Suvantolainen?“
Then the aged Väinämöinen
Answered in the words which follow:
“Come thou in my boat, O maiden,
In my boat, O maiden seat thee,
And the truth I then will tell thee,
Cease to lie, and speak sincerely.”180
Annikki, the tin-adorned one,
Cried aloud in indignation:
“May the wind assail thy vessel,
And the east wind fall upon it,
May thy boat capsize beneath thee,
And the prow sink down beneath thee,