Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v2.djvu/158

But for me, though well constructed,
Of a hundred boards constructed,
Here upon my rests I’m rotting,
Lying idly at my moorings,
And the worst worms of the country
Underneath my ribs are lurking,
While the birds, of all most horrid,
In my masts their nests are building,
All the toads from out the forest
Over all my deck are leaping.200
Twice it had been better for me,
Two or three times were it better
Had I been a mountain pine-tree,
Or upon the heath a fir-tree,
With a squirrel in my branches,
Underneath my boughs a puppy.”
Väinämöinen, old and steadfast,
Answered in the words which follow:
“Do not weep, O wooden vessel,
Fret thyself, O boat with rowlocks! 210
Soon shalt thou go forth to battle,
There to mix in furious conflict.
Boat, who wast by builder fashioned,
’Twas this gift the builder gave thee,
That thy prow should reach the water,
And thy sides the billows traverse,
Even though no hand should touch thee,
Neither arm be thrust against thee,
Though no shoulder should direct thee,
And although no arm should guide thee.”220
Then replied the wooden vessel,
Answered thus the boat with rowlocks:
“None of all my race so mighty,
Neither will the boats, my brothers,
Move unpushed into the water,
Nor unrowed upon the billows,
If no hand is laid upon us,
And no arm should urge us forward.”
Said the aged Väinämöinen,
“If I push you in the water,230