Or have seen such foam-capped billows.
Let the wind be now my refuge,
And the waves have mercy on me." 520

Vaeinaemoeinen, old and steadfast,
Heard his words, and thus responded:
"In the boat's no place for weeping,
Room is none for lamentation,
Weeping helps not in misfortune,
Howling, not when days are evil."

Then he spoke the words which follow,
And he sang and thus expressed him:
"Water, now restrain thy children,
And, O wave, do thou restrain them. 530
Ahto, do thou calm the billows,
Vellamo, o'ercome the waters,
That they splash not on our timbers,
Nor may overwhelm my boat-ribs.

"Rise, O wind, aloft to heaven,
And among the clouds disport thee,
To thy race, where thou wast nurtured,
To thy family and kindred.
Do not harm this wooden vessel,
Sink thou not this boat of pinewood. 540
Rather fell burnt trees in clearings,
On the slopes o'erthrow the pine-trees."

Then the lively Lemminkainen,
He the handsome Kaukomieli,
Spoke aloud the words which follow:
"Come, O eagle, thou from Turja,
Do thou bring three feathers with thee,
Three, O eagle, two, O raven,
To protect this little vessel,
To protect this bad boat's timbers." 550

He himself enlarged the bulwarks,
Fixed the timbers in their places,
And to these fresh boards he added,
And to fathom-height he raised them,
Higher than the waves were leaping,
Nor upon his beard they splashed him.

All his work was now completed,
And the bulwarks raised protecting,
Though the winds might blow most fiercely,
And the waves might beat in fury, 560
And the foam be wildly seething,
And like hillocks be uprising.

RUNO XLIII.--THE FIGHT FOR THE SAMPO

_Argument_

The Mistress of Pohjola equips a war-vessel and goes in pursuit of the
robbers of the Sampo (1-22). When she overtakes them a fight ensues
between the forces of Pohjola and Kalevala in which the latter conquer
(23-258). Nevertheless the Mistress of Pohjola succeeds in dragging the
Sampo from the boat into the lake, where it breaks to pieces (259-266).
The larger portions sink in the lake, and form its riches, while the
smaller pieces are thrown on shore by the waves, at which Vaeinaemoeinen is
much pleased (267-304). The Mistress of Pohjola threatens