the great wall of iron and the fence of spears and the horrible snakes
and lizards that his mother had told him of. Yet he pulled out his magic
broad sword and cut an opening through the wall and the fence of spears
and the mass of serpents, and passed through to the gateway. There he
found a huge serpent with a hundred eyes, each as large as bowls, and a
thousand tongues long as javelins, and teeth like hatchets. Lemminkainen
sang one spell, but it was not powerful enough, and the huge monster
started to rush at him and seize him in its awful mouth. But
Lemminkainen just in time began to sing a stronger spell.
For evil things cannot bear to have their wicked origin told, and if
therefore one sings the source of any evil, one makes it harmless at
once, so Lemminkainen sang: 'If thou wilt not give room for me to pass,
I will sing of thy evil origin, will tell how thy horrid head was made.
Suoyatar, thy evil mother, once spat upon the waves of the sea. The
spittle was rocked by the waves and warmed by the sun, until after a
long time it was washed ashore. There the daughters of Ukko, the
Creator, saw it, and said: "What would happen if great Ukko were to
breathe the breath of life into this writhing, senseless mass?" But Ukko
overheard them and said: "Naught but evil comes from evil, therefore I
will not give it life."
'Now, wicked Lempo heard what Ukko had said, and he himself breathed
into it the breath of life, and shaped it to the form of a serpent,
adding to the spittle all manner of evil things, every poisonous plant
and thing from the Deathland. This was thine origin, O Serpent, vilest
thing of all creation; therefore clear the pathway that I may enter the
halls of the hostess Louhi.'
Thus sang Lemminkainen, and the serpent uncoiled itself and crawled
away, while Ahti himself went on through the gateway.
[Illustration]
THE UNWELCOME GUEST
Thus Lemminkainen came unbidden to Louhi's abode, but he had arrived too
late for the feast. He entered the house with such a mighty tread that
the floors bent under him and the walls and ceilings creaked as he
advanced. Louhi's husband was seated in the guest-room, and Lemminkainen
said to him: 'The same greeting to thee that thou givest to me! Are
there food and beer here for a stranger and barley for a hungry steed?'
Louhi's husband answered: 'I have never yet refused a place in my
stables for a stranger's horse, and if thou wilt act honestly there is a
place for thee between the iron kettles.'
Lemminkainen said: 'When my father Lempo comes to a house as a guest, he
is well received and given the place of honour. Why should I, his son,
be put between the pots and kettles to be covered with soot?' With these
words he walked up to the table, and taking his seat he waited to be
served.
Then Louhi said to him: 'O Lemminkainen, thou wert not invited hither,
and I feel that thou bringest sorrow with thee. All our dinner was eaten
and our beer drunk yesterday, and we have nothing left for thee.'
This made Lemminkainen very angry, and he replied: 'O toothless mistress
of Pohjola, thou hast managed thy feast very badly, for thou hast had
delicacies of every sort for the others, who gave but trifling presents,
while for me, who have sent the most of all, thou hast nothing at all
after my long journey.'
Then Louhi called up one of her meanest servants and bade her serve the
guest. And there came a little short woman, who made ready a soup out of
fish-bones and fish-heads and crusts of bread and turnip-stalks, and
brought him the worst of the servants' beer to quench his thirst with.
Lemminkainen looked into the pitchers of beer, and saw snakes and worms
and lizards floating about in them. This made him furiously angry, yet
he resolved to drink the beer at any rate, and then to punish them for
their evil treatment of him. So he drew a fish-hook out of his magic
wallet, and with it he caught all the evil creatures in the beer and
killed them with his sword, and drank the beer.
When he had done this, he turned to the host and upbraided him for his
bad treatment, and finally said that as the Pohjola folk could not treat
guests decently, perhaps he could purchase good beer at least. At this
Louhi's husband grew angry and conjured up a little lake in the floor at
Lemminkainen's feet, and bade him quench his thirst at that. But
Lemminkainen conjured up a bull with gold and silver horns, that drank
up all the water. Then Louhi's husband conjured up a wolf to devour the
bull, but Ahti called up a rabbit to draw off the wolf's attention. Next
the host conjured up a dog to eat the rabbit, but Ahti drew away the dog
by means of a squirrel that he called up by his magic. At that the host
made a golden marten to catch the squirrel, and Lemminkainen a
scarlet-coloured fox which ate the golden marten. Next the host conjured
a hen to distract the scarlet fox, and Lemminkainen made a hawk to tear
the hen to pieces.
Then old Louhi's husband cried: 'We shall never be happy here until thou
art driven out, O evil Ahti,' and with these words he drew his sword and
challenged Lemminkainen to combat. So Ahti drew his sword also, and
when the two were measured, they found that Ahti's was the shorter by
half an inch.
Then Lemminkainen said to his host: 'Although thou hast the longer
sword, yet thou shalt begin the fight.'
After this they placed themselves in position, and the host of Pohjola
began. But so powerful was Lemminkainen's magic that he only hit the
walls and floor and rafters, but could not touch Ahti himself. Then
Lemminkainen said sneeringly: 'What harm have the walls and rafters
done, that thou shouldst cut them to pieces. But come, let us go out
into the courtyard, that the hall may not be covered with blood.'
So they went out into the yard, and there they spread out an ox-hide,
and took up their places on it to continue the fight. Lemminkainen again
allowed the host to begin, and the latter struck three mighty blows, but
still could not harm Ahti. Then the battle began in real earnest, and
the sparks flew from their swords until it seemed as if there were a
sheet of flame flowing from Lemminkainen's sword and down upon the head
and shoulders of his opponent. And when he saw this, Lemminkainen said:
'O thou son of Pohjola, see how thy neck is shining like the ocean at
dawn.'
The other turned without thinking, to see what it was, and quick as
lightning Lemminkainen whirled his sword round his head, and with one
blow cut off the host's head as easily as one cuts the top from a
turnip, and the head rolled along on the ground. In the yard were
hundreds of sharp stakes, and on all but one there was a human head. So
Lemminkainen quickly took the host's head and stuck it on the empty
stake, and then went into the house and ordered Louhi to bring him water
to wash his hands, as he had just slain her husband.
But Louhi hastened out and called in hundreds of armed warriors to
avenge her husband's death. And in a very short time Lemminkainen saw
that he must either flee or else be killed if he remained.
[Illustration]
THE ISLE OF REFUGE
Lemminkainen hastened from Louhi's house and looked around for his
sledge and steed to escape from the Pohjola men. But both had
disappeared, and in their place he found only a clump of willows. As he
stood there, wondering what he should do next, the noise of armed men
running together grew louder and louder, and he knew that they would
soon reach him. So Lemminkainen changed himself into an eagle, and rose
up into the clouds. As he flew towards the south he met a gray hawk
flying northward, and called to it: 'O Gray Hawk, fly to Pohjola and
tell the warriors of the Northland that they will never catch the Eagle,
Lemminkainen, ere he reaches his home in distant Kalevala.'
Then he flew on home and taking on again his own form, he went to his
mother's house. When she saw the troubled look in his face, she guessed
that some great danger threatened him, and began to ask him if it were
this, or that, or the other that troubled him, but to all her questions
he answered 'no.' At length she bade him tell her, then, what his
trouble was, and he replied: 'All the men of Northland are sharpening
their swords and spears to kill thy unlucky son Ahti, for I have slain
the host of Pohjola, Louhi's husband, in a quarrel, and the men of
Northland will soon come hither to avenge it.'
His mother then reminded him how she had warned him of the journey and
its troubles, and asked him where he was going to take refuge.
Lemminkainen replied that he did not know, and asked his mother to help
him, and she answered: 'If I should turn thee into a tree, thou might be
cut down for firewood. Or if into a berry, the maidens might pluck thee.
Or if to a fish, thou would never have a happy life. But if thou wilt
swear to me not to go to war again for sixty years, then I will tell
thee of a distant isle, far off across the ocean, where thou mayst rest
in safety.'
So Lemminkainen gave his promise, on his honour, not to fight for sixty
years, and then his mother told him how to find the isle of refuge. He
must sail across nine seas and in the middle of the tenth he would come
to the island, where his father had once taken refuge long before. There
he must stay until the third year was come, and then he might return to
his home.
Lemminkainen took enough provisions in his boat for a long journey, and
then bidding farewell to his mother and his home he sailed away. When he
had raised the linen sails, he called up a fair wind to drive him
onward, and for three months he sailed on without a moment's rest, until
at length he reached the magic Isle of Refuge.
First, he asked the people of the island if there was room there for his
boat, and on receiving their consent he drew it up out of the water.
Next he asked them if he might take refuge and conceal himself there,
and they granted this too; but when he asked for a little ground to
cultivate, and a place in the forest to cut down the trees, they told
him that the whole island had long ago been divided up amongst them, and
that he must live in one of their houses if he wished to stay on the
island.
But Lemminkainen was not satisfied with this, and told them that he only
wished to be allowed to go into the forest and sing some few magic songs
there, and this they willingly allowed him to do. So he went into the
forest and began to sing the most wondrous spells, making oak-trees to
grow up around him, and on each branch an acorn, and on each acorn sat
a cuckoo. Then the cuckoos began to sing, and gold fell from every beak,
and silver from their wings, and copper from their feathers, until the
isle was abundantly supplied with precious metals. Then Lemminkainen
sang again, and turned the sand to gems and the pebbles into pearls, and
he covered the whole island with flowers, and made little lakes with
gold and silver ducks swimming in them, until every one was delighted,
and the maidens most of all.
Then Ahti said: 'If I were in a fine castle I would conjure up the most
wonderful feasts and sing the grandest songs you have ever heard.' No
sooner had he said this than they led him to their finest castle, and
there he conjured up a splendid feast, with knives and forks and all the
dishes made of gold and silver. From this time on Ahti was treated as an
honoured guest, and spent his time most delightfully. In every village
on the island were seven castles, and in each castle were seven
daughters, and all of these made Lemminkainen welcome as he went from
one to another according to his fancy. Thus he spent the whole of his
years of exile; but there was one maid, old and ugly, and living in a
remote village, whom he neglected.
At length the time of his return was come, and he made up his mind to
leave. But just as he had decided to go, the maid whom he had neglected
came to him and bade him beware, for she was going to take revenge for
his slighting her; but Lemminkainen scarcely heard her, for he was so
busy thinking about his journey home. But the maiden went around to all
the men of the island, and told them evil stories about Lemminkainen,
and then she went and burned his boat.
The next morning Lemminkainen started off to bid his friends the maidens
farewell, but he had not gone far before he saw the men getting their
weapons ready to come and attack him, and he saw that he must fly
immediately if he wished to escape alive. So he hastened down to his
boat, but when he reached it there were only the ashes left. At first he
did not know what to do, but he spied seven broken pieces of planks and
a few fragments from a broken distaff, and taking these he began to sing
some mystic spells over them. No sooner had he finished his incantations
than a magic boat stood ready before him, and he got into it and sailed
away. But before he was far from the shore all the maidens came down to
the beach and began to weep and beg him to come back and dwell with them
for ever. But Lemminkainen answered them that he felt a great longing to
see his home once more and his mother, yet that he was truly sorrowful
to leave them, but it must be so. And so he sailed on until the isle was
out of sight.
The boat sailed on and on for two days and nights, but on the third day
came a mighty storm-wind, and tossed the vessel about until it broke all
in pieces, and left Lemminkainen struggling in the waters. He swam for
long days and nights, struggling with the waves, until at length he
reached a rocky point projecting out into the ocean. There he landed and
soon found his way to a castle that was built upon the rocks. He told
the mistress of the castle how he had been in the water for days and
days, and was almost perishing from hunger, and she, being a
kind-hearted woman, gave him a splendid feast of bread and butter, veal
and bacon, and fish and honey-cakes, and when he had eaten that and
rested, she gave him a new boat, loaded with provisions, in which to
finish his journey.
So off he sailed again, and after many weary days of sailing he at
length reached his beloved island-home. But when he landed and went up
to where the house had stood, there was not a sign of anything left. The
whole place was all overgrown with trees and bushes.
Then Lemminkainen sat down and began to weep; but it was not for the
loss of his home and all his riches that he wept but for his beloved
mother. As he sat there he caught sight of an eagle flying in the air
above, and Ahti asked him if he knew what had happened to his mother.
But the eagle could only tell him that his people had all perished long
go. Next he asked the raven, and the raven told him that his people had
been killed by his enemies from Pohjola.
On hearing this Lemminkainen began again to mourn her loss, and to look
about for some dear relic that he might keep in remembrance of her. But
as he looked he suddenly came on a faint pathway leading away from the
house, and on it he saw the prints of light feet. He began to follow it
eagerly, over hill and valley until he reached the gloomy forest. There
it led him to a hidden glade, right in the middle of the island, and
there he found a humble cabin, and his gray-haired mother weeping in it.
Ahti cried aloud for joy at the sight of her, and then he told her how
he had mourned her as dead. She asked him in return how he had spent
those years on the Isle of Refuge, and he told her all; how charming the
life there was, and how he had enjoyed himself there, but that at the
end all the men of the isle had come to hate him, because the maidens
admired him so much, and how through their jealousy and the hatred of
the one maid whom he had neglected, he had nearly lost his life. And
when he had ended his story they both gave thanks to great Ukko that
they had found each other again.
[Illustration]
THE FROST-FIEND
When the next day began to dawn, Lemminkainen went to the beach, that
was hidden behind a projecting point, where his vessels lay. He found
them still there, but as he approached he heard the rigging wailing in
the wind, and saying: 'Must we lie here for ever and rot, since Ahti has
sworn not to go to war for sixty long years?'
Then Lemminkainen cried out to his vessels: 'Mourn no more, my good
warships, for soon ye shall be filled with warriors and hastening to the
battle.' When he had uttered these words he hurried back to his mother
and bade her sorrow no longer over the insult that the Pohjola warriors
had offered to her, for he was going now to make war on them in order to
punish them for it.
His mother, when she heard his intention, besought him earnestly not to
go to war and break his oath to her, for some great misfortune would
surely come upon him. But he paid no heed to her, and went to seek his
friend Kura to accompany him on his expedition. When he came to the isle
on which Kura lived, he went up to the house and said: 'O my dear friend
Kura, dost thou not remember the time when we fought together long ago
against the men of dismal Northland? Come with me now and be my
companion in another war against them.'
Now Kura's father was sitting by the window, whittling out a javelin,
and his mother was near the door skimming milk, and his brother and
sisters were also working near by. And all of them cried out that Kura
could not go to war, for he was but lately married, and they bade
Lemminkainen leave him.
But Kura himself jumped up from where he was lying before the fire, and
began to put on his armour in great haste. On his helmet were wolves of
bronze, and a horse on each javelin. Then Kura took his mighty spear,
and going forth into the court he hurled it towards the north; and it
flew on and on, whistling through the air, until at length it fell upon
the earth of the distant Northland. And after this Kura touched his
javelin against Lemminkainen's spear and promised to be his faithful
comrade in the expedition. So the two great warriors made all needful
preparation and set forth to sail to dismal Pohjola.
But Louhi knew by magic art that they were coming, and she called the
Black-frost to her, and gave him these commands: 'Hasten forth, O
Black-frost, and freeze all the wide sea. Freeze Lemminkainen's vessel
fast in the ice, and freeze the magician himself in his vessel, so that
he may never more awaken from his icy sleep until I myself may choose to
free him.'
So the Black-frost hastened off to do her bidding. And first he stripped
the leaves off the trees and took all the colour from the flowers on his
way to the seashore. When he reached the shore, the first night he
froze all the rivers that empty into the sea and the waters along the
shore, but he did not touch the open sea that night. But on the second
night he froze all the sea, and the ice kept growing thicker and thicker
all around Lemminkainen's vessel, until at last the Black-frost even
began to freeze Lemminkainen's hands and feet and ears.
But when Lemminkainen felt this he began to sing an incantation against
the Black-frost, saying: 'Black-frost, evil child of the Northland and
only son of Winter, thou mayst freeze the trees and waters and the very
stones,--but let me be in peace. Freeze the iron mountains till they
burst in sunder; freeze Wuoksi and Imatra, but do not try to harm me,
for I will sing thine origin and make thee powerless. For thou wert born
on the borders of the ever-dismal Northland, and wert fed by crawling
snakes. The Northwind rocked thee to sleep in the marshes, and thus thou
grew, a thing of evil, and at last the name of Frost was given thee. And
as thou became larger, thou didst learn to rend the trees in winter and
to cover all the lakes with ice. But if thou wilt not leave me now, I
will cast thee into Lempo's fiery hearth, and will lay thee on the
anvil, that Ilmarinen may pound thee to pieces with his mighty hammer.'
Now the Frost-fiend knew how great a magician Lemminkainen was, and
therefore he agreed that he would leave the two warriors unharmed, but
keep their ship frozen up as it was. And so Ahti and Kura had to leave
their vessel and journey over the ice to land. At length they reached
the country called Starvation-land, and there they found a house, but
there was no food in it. So they went on still farther, over hill and
valley, and as they went, Lemminkainen gathered soft moss from the
tree-trunks and made stockings of it to keep their feet warm.
On and on they went, seeking for some pathway to guide them, but all was
one snow-covered wilderness. Then Kura said: 'Alas, O Ahti; we came
hither to take vengeance on the men of Pohjola, but I fear that we shall
leave our own bones here, and our flesh be food for eagles and ravens.
We shall never learn the pathway that can guide us to our homes. My poor
mother will never know what has become of me--whether I have perished in
the heat of battle, or on some lonely hill, or in some dismal forest.
She can only mourn me as one dead, and sit and weep bitter tears.'
Then Lemminkainen said: 'My aged mother, think of our former happy days,
when all went well and all was joy and happiness. But now sorrow and
misfortune are come upon me, yet shall we not despair; for we are young
and strong, and will give way neither to hunger nor to evil sorcerers,
but will use the prayer my father used to pray, saying: "Guard us, O
thou great Creator; shield us in thine arms, and give us of thy wisdom.
Be our guardian and our Father, that thy children may not wander from
the path which thou hast given them."'
Then when Lemminkainen had finished speaking, he took his cares and made
fleet coursers of them, and the reins he made of days of evil, and from
his pains he made the saddles. Then he and Kura galloped off each to his
own home, and thus Lemminkainen was once more returned to his aged
mother's arms. Now let us leave him there, and Kura with his bride and
kinsfolk, and speak hereafter of other heroes.
* * * * *
Thus Father Mikko ended, adding: 'And I think we must stop now for the
night, for it is getting late.' Then they had supper, and it was not
long before all of them had gone to bed and were sound asleep.
Early the next morning they were all awakened by a dull thud and a
smothered shout. Erik and Father Mikko jumped up and lit a lantern, and
then hurried to the door, which stood open. They had dug a passage-way
out through the snow the day before, and they saw that the walls of snow
had just caved in, and sticking out of the middle of the heap was a pair
of small legs waving about wildly in the air.
The next minute they had pulled out the owner of the legs, and little
Antero stood before them, looking very much frightened and very foolish
too. He had his snow-shoes and some meat with him, and managed to
explain, between his sobs, that he had intended to go and hunt for
reindeer in Lapland, the way Lemminkainen did in the story, but his
snow-shoe had caught in the wall and disaster had overtaken him. The
would-be hero was promptly taken in charge by Mother Stina, and soon all
was quiet again.
When they went out the next morning, they found that the snow had long
since stopped, but the wind was blowing so hard and it was so bitterly
cold, that Father Mikko was easily persuaded to stay another day.
After dinner they settled down exactly as the day before, Mimi in
'Pappa' Mikko's lap again, and in a few minutes he began to tell them
some more of his wonderful stories.
'I will tell you about some one you have not heard of yet,' Father Mikko
said; 'about _Kullervo_, though I am sure you will none of you like
Kullervo himself--but yet the story itself may be interesting.' So he
began.
[Illustration: MIMI IN HOLIDAY DRESS.]
[Illustration]
KULLERVO'S BIRTH
Many ages ago there was a mother who had three sons, and one of them
grew up to be a prosperous merchant, but the other two were carried
off--one to distant Pohjola and one to Karjala. And the one in Pohjola
was named Untamo, but the one in Karjala was called Kalerwoinen.
One day Untamo set his nets near Kalerwoinen's home to catch salmon, but
in the evening Kalerwoinen came by and took all the fish out of the nets
and carried them off home. When Untamo found it out he went to his
brother, and soon they fell to blows; but neither could conquer the
other, though they gave one another sound beatings. After this had
happened, Kalerwoinen sowed some barley near Untamo's barns; and
Untamo's sheep broke into the field and ate the barley, and then
Kalerwoinen's dog killed the sheep. This made Untamo so angry that he
collected a great army and marched against his brother to put him and
all his tribe to death. And when they reached Kalerwoinen's home they
burned all the houses and killed every one except Kalerwoinen's daughter
Untamala.