Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v2.djvu/212

Now the harp at last was finished,
And the aged Väinämöinen
On a rock his seat selected,
Near the steps, upon a stone bench.
In his hands the harp then taking,
Very near he felt his pleasure,
And the frame he turned to heaven,
On his knees the knob then propping,
All the strings he put in order,
Fit to make melodious music.240
When he had the strings adjusted,
Then the instrument was ready;
Underneath his hands he placed it,
And across his knees he laid it,
With his ten nails did he play it,
And he let five active fingers
Draw the tunes from out the harp-strings,
Making most delightful music.
When the aged Väinämöinen
Thus upon his harp was playing,250
Fine his hands, his fingers tender,
And his fingers curving outwards,
Then rang out the wood so speckled,
Sang the sapling green full loudly,
Loudly called the golden cuckoo,
And rejoiced the hair of maiden.
Thus played Väinämöinen’s fingers,
And the harp-strings loud resounded,
Mountains shook and plains resounded,
All the rocky hills resounded,260
In the waves the stones were rocking,
In the water moved the gravel,
And the pine-trees were rejoicing,
On the heath the stumps were skipping.
All of Kaleva’s step-daughters,
All the fair ones flocked together,
And in streams they rushed together,
Like a river in its flowing.
Merry laughed the younger women,
And the mothers all were joyful,270