And now the brothers’ cabin was at last ready. Five fathoms was its
length and three its breadth; one gable looked eastward, the other
westward. Entering through the door at the cabin’s eastern end, thou
hadst on thy right a large bath-oven, on thy left a manger, built for
Valko’s use in the winter. From the threshold onward, almost to the
middle of the room, a carpet of spruce branches hid the naked earth,
but at the back of the room a stout floor had been built of broad
planks and above this a roomy gallery. For the new cabin was to serve
the brothers both as dwelling-place and bath-house. About twenty paces
from the house stood the store-room, joined together of small, round
spruce-logs.
The brothers had thus a fine shelter against rain, storm and the
frosts of winter, and an extra room for their provisions. And now they
could turn all their energies to hunting and all the divers forms of
trapping. And then for the capercaillies, heath-grouse and partridges,
hares, squirrels and stout-hearted badgers, and the wild-duck and
fish in Lake Ilvesjärvi, death was nigh. Then with the barking of the
aroused Killi and Kiiski and the crash of guns, the hills and endless
spruce-woods rang. The brothers’ guns felled too, now and again, a
bushy-pelted bear; but the proper time for hunting bears was not yet
come.
Came autumn with its frosty nights, and the grass-hoppers, frogs and
lizards died or fled to their deep hiding-places, and it was now time
to trap the fox with shining irons; this art the brothers had learned
from their father. Many a quick-footed Reynard then paid with his fine
fur for a dainty tit-bit or two. Hares are known to tread paths in the
soft snow of the forest, and across these paths the brothers spread
hundreds of brass-wire snares, to the doom of many a white-furred
denizen of the woods. They built as well a fine wolf-trap, with a fence
sloping inward around it, in a bush-covered ditch on the clearing’s
eastern edge. To catch wolves, they also dug a pit, enormously deep,
some distance from the cabin on a dry sandy patch. A joint tempted many
a hungry wolf into the strong fence; and then, when the brothers saw
their prey in chancery, a din and crashing would arise in the trap on
a dark autumn night. One of the brothers would stand on the slope of
the fence, seeking, gun in hand, to fell the coarse-haired brute with a
bullet; at his side another held a light, a blazing torch of resinous
wood. The others helped Killi and Kiiski to drive the sombre-visaged,
grinning beasts out of the bushes, flashing their resinous firebrands
now here, now there. Great was the tumult, what with the shouting
of the men, the raging of the hounds and the banging of guns, and
the forest and Impivaara’s pitted side rattled untiringly. Thus they
would struggle; the snow would become stained, reddened more and more,
fly round in a thousand directions, until the last wolf lay bleeding
on the ground. And then the flaying of their prey provided work for
the brothers; yet this labour was exceedingly pleasant to them. Into
the pit, too, on the clearing’s western edge, hastened more than one
slant-eyed wolf.
It befell once that early in the morning, while the others still
slept, Timo set out to examine the baited pit, whose half-fallen
covering awakened hopes in him already at a distance. And having
reached the pit, his joyful eye perceived indeed a grey object in the
depths, a mighty wolf, which, with its muzzle pressed to the earth,
lay moveless, peering up at the man. What did Timo now decide to do?
Why, to kill the wolf singlehanded, and then, to the amazement of
the others, enter the cabin with his hairy burden slung across his
shoulder. Putting the idea into action, he fetched the ladder from the
cabin wall, placed it cautiously in the pit, and with a heavy mallet in
his hand stepped down the rungs, meaning to smash the brute’s skull.
For long he smote around him with his club, his teeth bared, but always
at the empty air. The wolf’s head darted nimbly right or left each time
he brought down his clumsy weapon. At last he lost his club to the
wolf, and could then think of nothing better than to climb up again and
hurry to the cabin to report his find.
The brothers soon emerged, furnished with staves, ropes and nooses, to
seize their prey. But when they reached it the pit was empty. Along
the ladder, which Timo had left behind him in the pit, their wolf had
climbed neatly to safety and swiftly departed, thanking his lucky
stars. This the brothers at once perceived, and, cursing and grinding
their teeth, sought with enraged glance for Timo; but he was no longer
present. He ran already in full flight at the forest’s edge, where
the pines soon hid him from view. He felt that it was unwise to stay
and argue the matter. But the others howled after him, fists aloft,
promising to bray him to a jelly from brow to heels, if he still dared
to open the cabin door. So threatening, they left the pit ill-tempered
and wroth and went back to the cabin. Meanwhile Timo wandered, a
fugitive, in the forest, and soon the brothers began to regret their
behaviour towards him, perceiving that the mischance was due more
to his stupidity than to any evil intention. And so, already before
evening, Juhani climbed to Impivaara’s summit, and shouting in his
mighty voice to all points of the compass, called Timo, assuring him
on oath that he need not fear to return at once. He went on shouting,
and after a time Timo returned, glowering angrily and rolling his eyes.
Without a word he undressed, dropped down on his bed, and soon snored
in deepest slumber.
Came, later, the best time for catching bears. Then the brothers
took their spears, rammed huge bullets into their rifles and set out
to awaken the prince of the woods, where he already lay dreaming in
his dark chamber deep under the snow-covered spruce. And to their
rifles fell many a heavy-jowled bear, as it flung out, enraged, from
its peaceful couch. Then a sharp tussle would often arise, the snow
would whirl round and become stained by the flowing blood as wounds
were dealt on either side. So they would fight on until at last the
rough-visaged beast lay still. But the brothers, having cheerily
reached home with their burden, anointed their wounds with the salve
compounded of spirits, salt, powder and brimstone. They spread this
over their wounds, covering the whole with yellow-brown tar.
Thus they gathered a living from the wilds and the thickets on the
hills, filling their store-room with all kinds of game: wildfowl,
hares, badgers and the flesh of bears. They had attended, too, to the
winter provision of their old, faithful Valko. On the brink of the bog
one saw a great hayrick, mown with sickles and roofed smoothly over,
sufficient to tide over the winter. Nor had they forgotten to provide
for the heating of their cabin during the cold period. A mighty stack
of cordwood stood near the store-room and a high pile of resinous
roots, like a heap of fantastic elk-horns, rose to the cabin’s eaves.
Thus prepared they could look winter in its frosty beard unmoved.
It is Christmas Eve. A thaw has set in, grey clouds cover the sky and
the new-fallen snow hides the hills and valleys. A faint rustling is
heard from the forest; the heath-grouse sups in a catkin-covered birch,
a flock of wax-wing in a glowing rowan, and a magpie, the greedy maiden
of the woods, carries twigs for a foundation for her coming nest. In
hut and glittering manor joy and peace prevail, and so it was in the
brothers’ cabin on Impivaara clearing. Just outside the door is a
load of straw, drawn by Valko from Viertola Manor to deck the floor
in honour of Christmas. For even in the wilds the brothers would not
forego that rustle of Christmas straw which was their most delightful
memory from childhood’s days.
From the cabin the hiss of water on the oven’s heated stones is
heard, and the slapping of soft bunches of birch twigs. The brothers
are taking a stern Christmas bath. And when at last the scorching
steam-bath was over, they stepped down from the platform, dressed
themselves and rested on the beams which lined the walls in place of
benches. There they sat, exuding perspiration and puffing. A blazing
torch illumined the room; Valko champed oats at his manger, for his
Christmas too had not been forgotten; dozing and yawning the cock sat
on his rafter; Killi and Kiiski, chin on paw, slept near the oven, and
on Juhani’s knee the old, water-grey Jukola cat lay purring.
Timo and Simeoni began after a while to lay the supper; the others
lifted in the sheaves. They opened the bindings and spread out the
straw to the thickness of a span, but on the platform, where they
usually spent their nights, they spread it thicker. Supper was ready at
last: seven round loaves, two oaken trenchers of steaming bear’s-meat
and a pail of beer stood on the table. The beer they had brewed
themselves, carefully recollecting their mother’s methods of preparing
the beverage. They had brewed it stronger, however, than ordinary
peasant ale. Dark red it foamed in the pail; and wert thou to swallow
a can of it, thou wouldst not fail to feel a slight dizziness in thy
brain. But now they all sit at table, enjoying the meat and the foaming
ale.
AAPO. Eh, but there’s plenty of food piled up before us.
JUHANI. Let’s eat and drink, boys, for now it is Christmas,
Christmas for all, for men and for beasts. Brother Timo, pour a little
ale over Valko’s oats. That’s it, at least a whole can. No stinginess
this evening, but may each get his, the horse, the dogs and the cat,
as well as Jukola’s merry brothers. The cook can sleep in peace and
draw his rations tomorrow. Here’s for you, Killi and Kiiski, a huge bit
of bear’s thigh, and here’s thine, poor pussy. But first shake hands,
narrow-eyes! Look! And now both hands! Look at our cat’s tricks and
admit that I’m a bit of a schoolmaster myself. He shakes hands already
with both paws at once, and to do this he sits himself down like a
solemn old man and shoves, the scamp, both fore-paws into my fist. Like
that!
AAPO. Well, that is funny.
TUOMAS. The things a man has to learn yet even in his old age.
JUHANI. The learning took some time, I tell you. But I
wouldn’t leave the lad in peace until he could thank teacher with both
paws. Now he does it like a man, and schoolmaster’s paid. There’s a
cat for you! Here! Get thy teeth into this lump of bear. And Killi and
Kiiski there. Ay, ay! ‘Cast a stone at a man, but not at his dog’.
Right! But to this I would add: ‘Cast a stone at Juhani Jukola but not
at his cat’.
EERO. Help that beer-pail on over here, Juhani.
JUHANI. It shall be given thee. Drink, brother, God’s
creation, drink, for now it’s Christmas and there’s plenty in the
storeroom. What is lacking with us here? What should we care if all the
world were to burn to dust and ashes, except Impivaara and the lands
around. Here we live in clover, on our own soil, without having to
bother about ill-tempered neighbours. Here it is good for us to be. The
forest is our meadow, our field, our mill and our nest everlasting.
TIMO. And our meat-larder.
JUHANI. Just so! It is good to be here. Thanks, Lauri, for the
way thou foundest us to escape from the markets of the world. Here is
freedom and peace. I ask once more: what would we care if golden flames
were to burn down the whole of this world, if only the northern end of
Jukola’s lands and its seven sons were saved.
TIMO. If a forest fire once started to lick up the world, it’s
dust and ashes Jukola’s northern end would be too, and its seven sons
into the bargain.
JUHANI. That I well know. But sithee, a man can think what
he wants, think himself master of the whole world or a creeping
dung-beetle. Look you, he can think God, devils, angels, all mankind
and the beasts of the sea, air and land dead; think the world, Hell and
Heaven vanished like a bunch of tow in a fire, and a darkness fallen in
which no crowing cock ever greets God’s morn. So the thought of a man
can fly down here, and who can cast nets in its path?
TIMO. Who knoweth the plan of the world? Not the child of man,
who is daft and silly as a bleating goat. But it’s best to take the
day as it comes, let it go as it goes, whether it lead to weal or woe.
We’re here and that’s all.
JUHANI. What’s wrong with us being here. What is lacking?
TIMO. ‘Not the grace of God nor bird’s milk.’ The storeroom’s
full and the cabin warm. Here too we can sprawl on straw.
JUHANI. Here we sprawl like bull-calves on rustling straw. We
can bathe whenever we like, whenever the idea comes into our heads, and
eat when we’re hungry. But now we are sated. So there’s nothing else
for us to do but to bless our bellies and clear the table.
SIMEONI. Wait till I’ve said grace and sung a verse on top of
that.
JUHANI. Never mind this time. Why didst thou not do it before
the meal? Go thou, Eero-boy, as the youngest, and draw ale from the
cask.
SIMEONI. Wouldst thou forbid a verse of a hymn in honour of
Christmas Eve?
JUHANI. We’re no singers, brother mine. Let us sing and pray
in our hearts, which is after all the most pleasing offer to God. But
here comes the pail again, bubbling and frothing like Kyrö Rapids. Ta,
lad, ta! Here goes! Take a swig, brother Tuomas, a real man’s swig.
TUOMAS. I’ll soon do that.
JUHANI. That’s how a man drinks. Swigs like that will soon
turn our throats into true choristers’ throats.
We lived as well in olden days
Beyond the river here;
The driftwood kept our fire ablaze
And water was our beer.
Just so. But now our drink is the brown juice of the barley, our fuel
cordwood and resinous roots, and under us is a soft bolster of straw,
a prime wrestling-mat fit for kings and grand dukes. A word, brother
Tuomas. Brother Aapo once backed thy power and strength as mightily
greater than mine, but that I’d scarce like to believe. What if we were
to try a throw? Let’s try!
SIMEONI. Let us behave! and spare this shining straw until
tomorrow at least.
JUHANI. Now jollity is at its height, the ‘eve is the height
of the holiday’; and straw has got to turn to litter anyhow. Does the
idea please Tuomas?
TUOMAS. There’d be no harm in trying.
JUHANI. Cross-buttock wrestling!
TUOMAS. I’m ready.
JUHANI. Let’s set to, let’s set to!
AAPO. Easy, lad! Let Tuomas get a firm grip of the belt of thy
trousers.
JUHANI. He may, he may.
EERO. Juho, what art thou grinning and rolling thy eyes, for,
like a bull on a bench? Oh brother! See thou dost not bring shame on
thyself.
AAPO. All clear. Whose is the first throw?
JUHANI. Let Tuomas have it.
TUOMAS. Let the elder brother have it.
JUHANI. Stand firm then.
TUOMAS. I’ll try.
JUHANI. Dost thou stand, dost stand?
TUOMAS. I’ll try.
AAPO. Hallelujah, boys! That’s the way, like that! Ye fight
like heroes of the Faith. Juho wrestles and strains like Israel himself
and ‘Tuomas stands an oak unbending’.
EERO. ‘Hearing Aapo’s gab unending’. But look at Juhani’s
mouth, it’ll terrify thee. Ah! if I were to thrust even a bar of steel
between his teeth now--snap! it’d be in two like a shot. I’m terrified!
I’m terrified!
AAPO. Only a bout between men. The very beams rise and fall
beneath us.
EERO. Like the pedals of an organ; and Tuomas’s slippers
plough the floor like heavy wooden ploughs.
AAPO. It’s not with fingers of milk they’re stroking each
other. Lord! if this bout were on yonder fell, their heel-plates would
strike sparks from the rock.
EERO. Real golden sparks would fly into the forest and there’d
be a jolly forest-fire. But Tuomas still stands.
TUOMAS. Well, hast thou jerked to thy content?
JUHANI. Try a throw thyself.
TUOMAS. I’ll try. But now look out, for the floor’s going to
whirl.
EERO. Remember, remember, Juho!
AAPO. That was a throw.
EERO. That was a swipe from ‘Haman’s mallet’, a blow from
‘Heaven’s fiery hammer’.
TIMO. And there lies Juhani like a sack of malt.
EERO. Poor Jussi-boy!
TIMO. ’Tis what he called himself when a little boy.
AAPO. One ought to know however, how to throw a man. Remember,
Tuomas, a human body is not made of iron, but of flesh and blood.
TIMO. Ay, though it does wear trousers.
TUOMAS. Did I hurt thee?
JUHANI. Look to thyself.
TUOMAS. Get up.
JUHANI. I’ll get up and show thee a man’s strength at pulling
the bar. That’s the game for measuring strength.
TUOMAS. Eero, bring a stick from yon corner. Here Juhani.
JUHANI. Here I am. And now hind-paw against hind-paw and claws
around the bar.
AAPO. When I yell, then pull, but without the smallest jerk.
The bar over your toes, right above the toes, not at inch over on
either side. Now, boys!
TIMO. Juho flies up like a chip.
AAPO. Even pity wouldn’t help him there.
JUHANI. Go and draw ale, Timo.
TIMO. Thou’rt limping, brother.
JUHANI. Draw ale, thou accursed lout! Dost hear me, or shall I
clut thy ear?
TUOMAS. Did I hurt thy foot?
JUHANI. Why worry about that? Look to thy own foot. What does
it matter if the heel did chance to come off my boot in the wrestling
like a slice of turnip. But look to thyself, thou. It seems thou
winnest at wrestling and pulling the bar, but let’s fight.
AAPO. We have nothing to do with fighting now.
JUHANI. Yes we have, if we want.
TUOMAS. I don’t want.
JUHANI. Thou durst not.
AAPO. Know that wrestling is play.
SIMEONI. I know it for play that often gives rise to fighting
and murder.
JUHANI. May Tuomas win, but no other can overthrow Juhani.
That I swear and will show man by man through the whole company. A
little bout, Aapo! Will thy waistband hold, will it hold?
AAPO. Madcap without the slightest cause! Wait, wait, and
we’ll wrestle properly.
JUHANI. Bright lightning!
AAPO. Wait, say I. Now, try now.
EERO. Juho dances the polka like a true lad, even if he does
limp.
JUHANI. What dost thou say now, brother Aapo?
AAPO. That I’m down under thee.
JUHANI. Step up to thy number, Simeoni.
SIMEONI. Not for a thousand crowns would I break the holy
festival.
JUHANI. All honour to the Christmas festival! A bit of
innocent wrestling won’t harm it, if only our minds are joyful and our
hearts pure. One try, Simeoni!
SIMEONI. Why wilt thou tempt me?
JUHANI. One bout!
SIMEONI. Thou Satan!
AAPO. Peace be with him, Juhani, peace.
JUHANI. No harm in trying. Now then, one single tug at thy
waistband.
SIMEONI. Get thee to Hell, evil spirit. I admit thee the
winner.
TUOMAS. I’ll believe that when I see it. I don’t think
Simeoni’s sinews are of veal either.
JUHANI. Well, let him try. Then we’ll see whether they’re veal
or black, stringy bear’s-meat.
AAPO. Leave him in peace and let the next man, more willing
for a bout, step forward. Brother Timo, always a stout fellow!
JUHANI. Wilt thou?
AAPO. Into the wind, Timo! Thou hast never been a mammy’s boy.
TUOMAS. Never, but always hearty like a man in his own home.
I’ll never forget the fight he put up in that matchless tussle with the
Toukola men. Before he knew it he had got a grand bash on the head, but
caring little for that, he turned gravely round, snatched the staff
out of the man’s hand and hit him back on the skull--and snap went the
staff. Broke in two like a flash and down flopped the man like an
empty sack. That was Timo Jukola’s work. And I know he’s still game to
meet any man.
TIMO. Come on, lad.
JUHANI. Just what I want. But let me too get hold of thy
flounces. Now I’m ready.
AAPO. Let Timo have first heave.
JUHANI. All right. Then I’ll have time to get my breath back.
TIMO. How’s that?
JUHANI. Nay, my son.
TUOMAS. A fairly stiff heave, Timo, thou brave Timo! But canst
better it?
JUHANI. We don’t go as easily as that.
TUOMAS. Timo, canst better it?
TIMO. I ought to be able to. What does this say?
JUHANI. ‘We don’t go so easily, said the beggar at Hyvämäki’.
AAPO. Once more, Timo.
TUOMAS. Canst better it?
TIMO. I ought to be able to. How’s that?
JUHANI. ‘We don’t go so easily, said the beggar at Hyvämäki’.
TUOMAS. But it was a jerk that made itself felt.
EERO. Nothing to be afraid of; brother Juhani’s voice only
shook the least bit, but quite innocently.
JUHANI. Upright I stand.
TUOMAS. Once more, Timo.
TIMO. We’ll try, we’ll try.
JUHANI. Wait a bit! my trousers are falling!
TIMO. ‘But now, said Kaitaranta!’
JUHANI. My trousers are falling! Dost hear me?
TIMO. How’s that, brother!
AAPO. Is Juhani lying there again, kissing the floor?
EERO. And puffing like a bull. But it is well ‘he can get his
breath back again’.
TIMO. Under me the lad lies like a wet slipper.
TUOMAS. But his trousers played him a mean trick.
AAPO. That must be said in truth’s name. Juhani’s own trousers
rose against their master and joined themselves with Timo.
EERO. That’s true. So trousers off and a new start.
SIMEONI. Hold thy jaw now, jackdaw! Or I’ll hit thee on the
nose. Hast thou not had enough of this Hell’s game?
EERO. Well, let’s make it a heavenly game then. Trousers and
shirts off, and wrestle like two angels in the fields of Paradise.
TUOMAS. Why art thou sitting on his neck, Timo?
TIMO. If I had a faggot now I’d lay it along his buttocks till
the room echoed.
AAPO. Why so? This is wrestling, not a fight.
EERO. Is Timo angry?
TIMO. Not at all, not at all, all I say is, if I had a faggot
or a round stick, I’d lay it smacking along his buttocks.
TUOMAS. Let him get up.
TIMO. Get up, God’s creation.
JUHANI. I’ll get up, and know that when I have fastened my
trousers it’ll be thy turn to lie down and somewhat quicker than I did.
I, poor boy, stumbled down by accident, which thou didst hasten to turn
to thy profit, lout, boot-tree!
AAPO. No anger! I know that he hardly noticed thy
trouser-accident before the throw was over. He did it in the heat of
the scrimmage, the poor boy.
JUHANI. He knew quite well, the bull-badger. But you are all
like ravens at my neck. He didn’t know! Didn’t I roar in a loud voice:
wait a bit, my trousers are falling! But he never cared, but tore with
teeth and nails like a cat. Stand and burn! I’ll teach thee to use a
man’s flabby trousers to his undoing another time, oh I’ll teach thee!
TIMO. I, poor boy, did it in the heat of the scrimmage.
JUHANI. I’ll teach thee, when I’ve hoisted up my trousers and
pulled my belt tight as a wedged hoop.
TIMO. I give a fig for the whole wrestle; once I’ve won, I’ve
won, and there’s nothing more to grumble at. What have trousers to do
with it? In wrestling it’s the man who wrestles, not his trousers or
leggings or snow-socks.
JUHANI. Waistbands in fist and breast to breast again! Stand
and burn!
TIMO. Shall I join him in this childish job?
EERO. How can he ask? Go, God’s creation, while thou hast the
chance.
SIMEONI. Don’t go, say I.
EERO. Don’t go if thou fearest and tremblest.
JUHANI. Fear and trembling won’t help him now, but he’s got to
join in a new tussle and this very God’s moment.
EERO. Have mercy on him, Juhani, have mercy!
TIMO. Why, Eero, why? Let’s try another bout then, one or two.
Seize hold!
JUHANI. So, my boy.
TUOMAS. Have a care, Juhani!
AAPO. Carefully! That’s how two hungry hawks might fight.
SIMEONI. Fighting, pure fighting!
AAPO. Sensibly, Juhani!
SIMEONI. Oh you monsters, you monsters!
EERO. Don’t lame thy brother!
SIMEONI. Aha! Aha! now Eero turns pale. Here’s the fish thou
hast angled for.
TUOMAS. Juhani!
SIMEONI. The whole cabin’s breaking up, you wild beasts and
devils!
JUHANI. Vot, lad, says the Russian! Well, why art thou lying
there and peering up at the ceiling?
TIMO. Thou winnest me now, but wait till time has worked on us
a bit. Thou wilt grow older and smaller, while I fill out and become
stronger.
JUHANI. Even the world will wear out once and end, let alone
a sinful human being. Time wears us all down, brother mine. But get up
and gulp a swig of ale into thy face and admit there’s an ounce or two
less strength in thee than in me.
TIMO. That was seen. There I lay on all fours and thou atop o’
me like a raving bear.
JUHANI. Here’s to us all, my bonny boys! I am second therefore
in the hosts of Jukola in the matter of strength. True, Lauri and
Eero are still untried, but may they know that there’d be a buzzing
in their ears if it came to a trial; and Simeoni has admitted himself
the weaker. But not one of Jukola’s brothers is a little-finger man,
that I guarantee. Let even fifty Toukola men come at us, fist against
fist. Five barrels I can carry on my back, and Tuomas a bit more; five
barrels if some one piles them up on my back.
TUOMAS. I’d like to see Lauri and Eero wrestle in deadly
earnest.
AAPO. Truly it would be a sight. One solemn and calm as a thaw
in winter, the other small as a dwarf, but swift and keen as lightning.
Into the wind, boys, and we’ll see a scrap between a weasel and a
buck-hare. Mind, I’m not calling thee a hare for thy bravery, there’s
no call for that, nor for thy walk, for Lauri steps out like blacksmith
Könni’s hoer--whose feet and hoe were moved by a tricky clockwork in
its belly--but to me the tussle would just look like one between a big
jack-hare and a weasel.
JUHANI. One breasting, boys, one breasting or a buttock-throw.
LAURI. What use is a bout with Eero? You can’t even get a
proper grip of him, but there he wriggles between your legs like a cat,
scratching and squeezing your middle so that you can hardly draw a
breath. He did that when we wrestled in Aro Meadow last autumn, and who
won and who lay under, was beyond anyone to say. Why should I wrestle
him again?
EERO. I wasn’t a hair stronger than thee. Believe me if thou
canst.
LAURI. I believe thee, knowing thee to be weaker.
JUHANI. Let honest wrestling prove it.
LAURI. Why should I try a second time with him?
SIMEONI. Let’s go to bed now, you madmen.
JUHANI. Nights are many, but Christmas comes only once a year,
so let us rejoice now. Rejoice, thou Christmas chamber, rejoice the
whole land of Israel! This night, this very second a great miracle has
happened in Babylon Town. Let us rejoice! What game shall we play?
Blind Man’s Bluff? Slaughter the Pig or Prod the Cobbler?
SIMEONI. There now! Are we to start tumbling about like wilful
brats? Go away!
JUHANI. A young unmarried fellow’s life is a dance. Isn’t it,
Timo?
TIMO. He-he-he!
JUHANI. Isn’t it?
TIMO. It’s like that, surely.
EERO. Just so, Jussi-darling.
JUHANI. Said the fox to the hare. Right! This life’s all
right; it’s jolly sometimes and makes a man’s heels itch. Let’s dance
a Russian jig; I’m quite a master at that. Look!
AAPO. Would our ale have made thee drunk?
JUHANI. Empty three cans of it into thy mug and see if thou
dost not notice a blaze like in thy attic. But sing, Eero, while
Jussi-boy dances. Out with it.
EERO. What sort is wanted?
JUHANI. Any sort, so long as it rings and roars. Out with it,
yell till the bottom logs rise up! Sing, thou he-badger’s whelp, sing
while I dance, while I buck like a goat, buck right up to the ceiling.
Sing!
EERO. I’ll try my best:
‘Let us carol and rejoice,
Christmastide is here;
Now the vats are full of ale,
Full the tankard and the pail;
Full of ale, full of ale,
Full the tankard and the pail.
At the Anjanpelto Fair
Gin we drank like water,
With the money for the bull
A wedding-ring we bought her.
Bought her, bought her;
With the money for the bull
A wedding-ring we bought her.
Jussi, Pussi, Jukola’s Jussi!’
AAPO. Shut up, Eero, and don’t aggravate him.
JUHANI. Go on singing, I won’t get mad; keep on singing, that
I needn’t dance without music.
EERO. ‘Jussi, Pussi, Jukola’s Jussi!
Jussi, Jassi, floury-snout,
Dusts the litter in the sty....’
TIMO. He-he-he! Oh what daft words thou singest.
JUHANI. Keep on singing, keep on. I won’t be angry.
EERO. ‘Jussi, Jassi, floury-snout’. I sing and snap my fingers
at thee.
Dusts the litter in the sty,
Sings the pigs a lullaby!
Jussi, Pussi, Jukola’s Jussi!
Ida walked along the strand,
Wrote upon the wave-washed sand
The name of her true-love,
The name of her true-love.
When I heard my sweetheart’s voice
The first time I did meet her,
I seemed in Heaven to rejoice,
No seraph there was sweeter,
I seemed in Heaven to rejoice,
No seraph there was sweeter.
Jussi, Pussi, Jukola’s Jussi!
Dost thou remember
The times we have rambled
And merrily gambolled?
Fra-la la-la laa!
The times we have rambled
And merrily gambolled?
Fra-la la-la laa!
Jussi, Pussi, Jukola’s Jussi!
Never, poor Aato
Blame little Jussi,
For well thou knowest
There’s strength in our Jussi.
Jussi sits in jail,
A goatskin for his tail,
All of us brothers
Can tell the same tale.
Fra-la la-la laa!
Woe me, poor madcap fellow,
Why was I ever born?
A farm have I at home--
And sit in jail forlorn.
A farm have I at home--
And sit in jail forlorn.’
JUHANI. That’s the way! So! There’s no fetters on this fellow.
Go on singing!
EERO.
‘Jussi, Pussi, Jukola’s Jussi!
Jussi, Jassi, floury-snout,
Dusts the litter in the sty,
Sings the pigs a lullaby.
Jussi, Pussi, Jukola’s Jussi!’
Isn’t that enough?
JUHANI. More! This is Karja-Matti’s wedding. More! More!
Karja-Matti’s wedding!
SIMEONI. Even the cock crows wrathfully at this godless medley
and din.
JUHANI. Hold thy jaw, cock, and stop that clucking.
TUOMAS. Enough of that, Juhani.
AAPO. That Turk’s dance will be the death of thee.
JUHANI. That is a Russian jig, isn’t it, Eero?
EERO. That is a Jussian jig.
JUHANI. All right then, we’ll have a score or so more hops of
this Jussian jig.
SIMEONI. Thou wild fellow!
TIMO. Look, look! He-he-he! Well, may the Old ’Un take me!
JUHANI. Out of the way! Or I’ll tread thee to paste like a
Cossack’s horse a drunken fair-goer. Hih!
AAPO. The loose end of his belt is in a fair lather there
behind. It’s bouncing, it is; bouncing up, bouncing down, walloping his
back and his buttocks in turns. Oh thou!
JUHANI. La-la laa laa! That was a dusting, he-he! That was
the second time I danced in my life. The first was at Karja-Matti’s
wedding where there were none of the female sex except three old hags,
but a rare crowd of men. But look you, after Matti had brewed us a
couple of mugs of juicy coffee-punch, nothing would do for us but to
start hammering the floor-beams, we men amongst ourselves; and didn’t
the sinful earth sigh under us! The poor old women were thankful to be
let off such a kneading; we’d have danced ’em to tatters. Deuce! what
a time! But now clothes off to our shirts, and up on to the gallery.
We’re not, in any case, going to close our eyes just yet, but round a
foaming pail of ale and in the light of a resinous torch will relate
merry tales and legends up there in the gallery’s warmth.
They undressed and filling their pail once again with ale, climbed
on to the gallery. There, all in their shirts, they sat amidst their
straw in the steaming heat. Busily the foaming pail went round from man
to man, and in a crack in the wall a pine torch burned with a golden
flame. Then a thought came suddenly into Juhani’s brain and words fell
from his lips which were to prove their undoing.
JUHANI. Here we can truly roast ourselves like sausages in a
straw-filled oven, and it is the hot stones of our fireplace that give
us our warmth. Eero, pour a can of ale on the oven and we’ll see what
barley-juice steam tastes like.
TUOMAS. What silly trick would that be?
JUHANI. A grand trick. Do as I say.
EERO. I wish to obey my master.
JUHANI. A couple of cans of ale on the oven!
TUOMAS. Not a drop! If I hear the tiniest hiss from there,
unhappy the man who caused it.
AAPO. Don’t let us waste a fine drink.
TIMO. We can’t afford to live in beer steam, not we.
JUHANI. It would be jolly to taste it.
TUOMAS. I forbid it firmly.
JUHANI. It’d be jolly to taste it. Winning just now in the
wrestling has lifted Tuomas’s crest-feathers a lot and he now thinks
he can rule this house as he wants. Remember though that the bitter
spleen, once it really swells, gives its lad the strength of seven men
in a fight. Be that as it may, my eyes are surely not inclined to wait
on thee.
SIMEONI. The fruits of wrestling, all fruits of wrestling.
JUHANI. Let’s hear it splash, Eero. I’ll answer for the deed
and defend its doer.
EERO. That is the master’s command, and I must obey; else
there’s a hare’s passport in my fist on Christmas Eve of all nights.
Then Eero, clenching his teeth and pursing his lips in a cunning grin,
hastened to obey Juhani’s will, and soon a splash was heard from the
oven, swiftly followed by a fierce hissing. Enraged, Tuomas now flew up
and dashed like an eagle at Eero, but Juhani too was quick to defend
his younger brother. Whereupon a general scrimmage arose, in the
confusion of which the burning torch was thrown down from the gallery
on to the floor. There, unnoticed by the brothers, it soon set the
straw in a lively blaze. Like a ring on the surface of a pool spreads
evenly and rapidly in all directions, so the bright circle of fire on
the floor grew. Ever higher it rose; it licked already the floor of
the gallery before the inhabitants of the room became aware of the
danger beneath them. But they perceived it too late to save more than
their own lives and those of the animals in the cabin. Flames already
billowed over a wide area and great was the distress and commotion.
There was a general dash to the door, on the opening of which men,
dogs, cat, and cock charged out almost simultaneously with a fearful
din. It looked as though the cabin had sped them from its smoking maw
on to the snow-clad ground, where they then stood coughing as for a
wager. Last to come out was Lauri, leading by a halter Valko, who would
otherwise probably have perished in the flames. For already a devouring
fire poured out of the narrow window-openings, and soon from both door
and roof. Enwrapped in flames, Impivaara’s stout cabin glowed. But
on the snow-covered ground stood its garrison, destitute; even the
charcoal-burner’s hut which had first given them shelter had been razed
to the ground, and the store-room was built loosely as a magpie’s nest.
There the brothers lingered, and their only protection against wind
and frost was a short shirt of tow. Not even a cap for their heads or
birch-bark slippers for their feet had they had time to snatch from the
flames. Of all the property in the cabin there remained only the guns
and birch-bark knapsacks, which had been taken into the store-room when
the brothers began their bath. In the snow the brothers stood, all with
their backs towards the roaring flames, lifting and warming in turns
their right and left feet; and caressed alternately by fire and snow,
their feet were red indeed, red as the webs of a goose.
They enjoyed the last gift their cabin still had to give them, enjoyed
the warmth of the fire; and this fire was immense. The flames rose
violently on high, a shimmering light spread everywhere, and the mossy
spruce on the crest of the fell smiled as sweetly as in the glow of
the rising sun. From the stack of resinous roots the smoke, thick and
pitch-black, rose to the clouds, rolling in dark balls under the vault
of the sky. But on the clearing and around it light dwelt; a ruddy
day reigned in the heart of the winter night, and astounded at this
phantom light birds gazed down with staring eyes from the branches of
the snow-clad trees as the stoutly-built cabin on Impivaara turned
into cinders and dust. Scratching their heads in rage and sorrow the
brothers stood around, all with their backs turned to the fire and
lifting the soles of their feet in turns towards its grateful warmth.
Gradually, however, their bonfire waned, collapsing at last in a
rain of embers, and the night air filled with thousands of crackling
sparks. Terror-striken, the brothers then became aware that the sky
was clearing and the wind veering from south to north. The weather was
changing from a thaw to a frost.
AAPO. We were saved from the fire, only to fall victims to
the frost. Look! The sky clears and already the north wind blows cold.
Brothers, our danger is terrible.
JUHANI. Death and curses! Who caused this?
TUOMAS. Who! Thou food for fire, thou askest who? Were I to do
right now, I’d dash thee to roast in yon fiery ash-heap.
JUHANI. Never could one Tuomas do such a feat, never. But
accursed be the man who brought this Hell’s night upon us!
TUOMAS. He curseth himself.
JUHANI. Accursed be that man, namely, Tuomas Jukola.
TUOMAS. Say that a second time.
JUHANI. Tuomas, son of Juhani Jukola, is the cause of all this.
AAPO. Tuomas!
SIMEONI. Juhani!
LAURI. Softly!
TIMO. Now you shall not fly at each other, you won’t be let,
my bantams. Ay, ay, let’s all keep quiet now and warm ourselves in
brotherly fashion.
SIMEONI. Ye godless wretches!
AAPO. No anger and quarrelling when a miserable death awaits
us.
TUOMAS. Who is to blame, who is to blame?
JUHANI. I am innocent.
TUOMAS. Innocent! Holy fire! I’ll eat thee alive!
AAPO. Softly, softly!
SIMEONI. For God’s sake, softly!
AAPO. Guilty or innocent, may that be left undecided now,
seeing that only haste can save us. Our cabin is in ashes and we
stand almost naked in the snow. For what am I to call this rag of a
tow-shirt? One good thing is that our guns and ammunition were in yon
store-room; for now we have need of weapons. Teerimäki echoes with the
howling cry of wolves.
TUOMAS. What shall we do then?
AAPO. All I can think of is to hasten to Jukola, hasten for
pale Death’s sake. Two can always ride on Valko and the others follow
running. Let us do that: run and ride turnabout on horseback. With the
aid of our horse we can thus avoid having to tread snow the whole way
and with God’s help we can still maybe be saved.
JUHANI. Our feet will be one single turnip-stew before we
stand in Jukola’s tupa, in the warmth of a cordwood blaze.
SIMEONI. Yet there lies our only hope. So let us hurry. The
wind grows keener and the roof of the sky is already clearing. Let’s
hurry!
EERO. Our death has come.
JUHANI. There go Jukola’s seven stout brothers!
SIMEONI. Our danger is awful, but strong is the Lord on high.
Let us hurry!
TUOMAS. Guns and knapsacks out of the store-room!
JUHANI. A night of terror. Here a ringing frost threatens us,
yonder the hungry howling wolves.
TIMO. We are in danger, both Valko and ourselves.
JUHANI. Ours is the greater danger. A naked man, I have heard,
is a very tasty joint for a wolf in the winter.
TIMO. And a man and a pig, I have heard, taste the same, and
it’s well-known that a pig is a wolf’s favourite dish in winter. We’ve
a hard knot before us; that no one can deny.
JUHANI. What are we to do?
AAPO. Rush off to Jukola like sorcerer’s arrows through the
night before the frost turns fiery and heats our blood to ice with its
burning coldness. Away to Jukola over shrieking Teerimäki! We are armed
against the wolves, but not against rime-bearded, old King Frost.
TUOMAS. Here’s the guns and bags. Gun on shoulder now and
knapsack on back every man of you, and two up on horseback, while
we others pound on behind as best we can. But hurry, hurry, for our
everlasting souls!
JUHANI. The north turns bright and the stars shine. Hii, haa!
But let’s hurry.
AAPO. Tomorrow we can fetch what goods and chattels the fire
has left us; we’ll come tomorrow and fetch the cock too and the cat.
This night they’ll be warm enough beside yon hot ash-heap. But Killi
and Kiiski can take the road with us like faithful comrades. Where are
they?
TUOMAS. I can’t see them. Hush! let us listen.
EERO. They’re off galloping far away by now. Yonder you can
hear them barking, behind the fell.
TUOMAS. They’re chasing a glutton that I suppose has passed
close to the cabin, giving a scent to the dogs. Well, let them hunt as
they like; we’ve got to forget them now and hasten off on our stern
journey.
JUHANI. Right! For Life and Death are now at each other’s
throats like two he-bears.
AAPO. Let’s put out all our strength now!
JUHANI. All the strength of our souls and bodies down to the
marrow.
TUOMAS. Remembering that the most miserable death awaits us.
JUHANI. Black death threatens us from two points. Hii, haa!
it’s a frozen snout now or guts on the ground if this lad isn’t soon on
slippery straw before a fire. One of these three will have to happen
before the hour is out. But dawdling here won’t help, not in the least,
so clenching my teeth I’d go now even through icebergs, miles thick.
SIMEONI. Let us try in God’s name, with His help.
JUHANI. With His help. What can man that is born of woman do
down here with his own strength alone? Let us be of good cheer.
EERO. Let us start off without any more delay.
JUHANI. And without any fear. Let’s go now!
TUOMAS. All ready then. Get up on horseback, Eero and Simeoni,
and start riding towards Jukola, but so that we who trot on foot after
you through the snow are always at the old nag’s heels.
So they set out on their journey: naked, clad only in tow-shirts and
each with his knapsack on his back and a gun on his shoulder or in his
hand. In such fashion they set out on the wintry night road, fleeing
from the frost which attacked them from the waste lands of the north.
It came not, however, wearing its most frightful aspect; the weather
on this occasion was not yet at its severest. True, the brow of Heaven
cleared at times, but the sailing clouds soon hid it again, and the
north wind blew tempered. The brothers, too, were friends of old with
the cold, with skins hardened in many a shrieking frost; and earlier,
as wilful children, they had often trampled the snowdrifts for hours in
their bare feet. Notwithstanding, this journey from Impivaara to Jukola
was terrible, exceedingly terrible to them. Hotly they dashed onward,
with terror in their hearts. Foremost, on Valko’s back, rode Eero and
Simeoni, and the others followed them running, treading the backwoods’
snow, which whirled around their feet. But on Impivaara clearing, near
the glowing oven, sat the cat and the cock, gloomily staring at the
waning embers.
Towards the village the brothers hastened; Sompio Bog already lay
behind them, and they approached Teerimäki Hill, whence the ghastly
howling of wolves could still be heard. In a thicket of young spruce,
between the bog and Seunala Jaakko’s clearing, the riders were changed:
Eero and Simeoni climbed down and two others hastened to replace them.
Then without delay they continued their journey: they dashed along the
crest of the heath, across the Viertola road and onward through a wide,
humming pinewood. And at last rocky Teerimäki drew nigh, and suddenly
the multiple chorus of the wolves was stilled. Soon they stood on the
summit of the hill and gave their steed a breather; the riders again
dismounted and were quickly replaced by others. A while yet they
stood on the snow-covered rock; the north wind blew, the dome of the
sky cleared again for a moment, and the head of the Great Bear showed
midnight to have passed.
But having rested, they hurried down the smooth hill track, and when
this ended entered a dark spruce-wood and a cheerless scene spread
around them. The moon looked palely down, owls shrieked, and here and
there in the forest’s sombre depths weird phantoms stood, resembling
in shape gigantic bears; these were the upward-pointing mossy roots of
fallen spruce-trees. Immovable, like frozen ghosts, these bear-shaped
images stared at the strange procession which sped swiftly by.
Immovable they stared, but between and around them a frightening
liveliness soon made itself apparent in the forbidding forest. Hungry
wolves circled around the brothers, approaching closer and closer.
Now ahead and now behind, now flickering across the path, now on both
sides of the road, their loping run could be seen. Furious, thirsting
for blood, they followed the nightly refugees from Impivaara; and
with a sound of crackling the dry branches broke snapping from the
spruce-roots. Quivering and snorting the affrighted Valko ran; and
the man who rode in front could scarce restrain him from breaking
into a wild gallop. And ever bolder waxed the wolves. Panting in a
bloodthirsty manner they flashed by close to the men; and now to the
right, now to the left, the gun of one of the brothers would bang in an
attempt to scare them. This, however, did not seem able to drive them
far away.
They came to Kiljava’s open, fire-ravaged heath, where the trunks of
withered pines stood dotted here and there, homes for hawks and owls.
And now the fierceness of the wolves became alarming, and the men’s
danger grew. Tuomas and Timo happened just then to be on horseback,
but those who ran on foot behind suddenly halted and fired almost
simultaneously an angry volley at their foe, who, frightened by this,
now retreated a moment. The men dashed onward again; but soon the
pursuing pack of wolves rustled once more around them, and the danger
was greater than ever. Then Tuomas reined in his steed, saying in a
loud voice: ‘may the man whose gun is empty load it at once, and may he
hurry like fire and lightning!’ So shouting, he dismounted and ordered
Timo to hold Valko firmly. The brothers now stood and loaded, and they
felt not the cold, neither in their feet nor in any part of their
bodies. The wolves too halted, about fifty paces away, and tossing
their tails lustily, stared at the men with avid eyes. And naked of
clouds shone the heavens, whence a bright moon now looked down on the
heath.
TUOMAS. Are the guns loaded?
AAPO. It has been done. What is thy purpose?
JUHANI. All together again!
TUOMAS. Not if our lives are dear to you. Someone’s gun must
always be loaded; remember that. Lauri, thou hast the steadiest hand
and the keenest eye, come up abreast of me.
LAURI. Here I stand. What wouldst thou?
TUOMAS. A hungry wolf will eat even his bleeding brother. If
we could only bring about this, it would be the saving of us. Let us
try. Lauri, we’ll both aim at the one farthest on the left, and both
fire at the same time, but you others must spare your bullets. Now,
Lauri, aim as carefully as an eagle and blaze away when I say now.
LAURI. I’m ready.
TUOMAS. Now.
Both fired at the same second, and the wolves fled at a gallop. One
lingered, however, on the scene, attempting to follow the others by
crawling, but without success. And onward with all their strength the
brothers hastened once more: six men running on foot, Timo riding on
ahead alone. And thus passed a few moments. Soon the wolves halted
in their flight, and returning, again flitted swiftly towards the
nocturnal wayfarers. The snow foamed around them and Kiljava’s naked
heath drummed as they came on in a body. At fiery speed they drew level
with their comrade who squirmed in his blood; they charged already past
him, but turned quickly round as the tempting smell of blood was borne
to their nostrils. Round they spun: tails wagged, the snow boiled and
fire flashed in the night from eyes of lust and greed. Then, grinning
fearfully, the whole pack sprang at their wounded brother; and on the
heath arose a grim struggle and a din such that one might have believed
the pillars of the earth would collapse in one crash. The ground quaked
and the snow was turned to a grisly pulp as former comrades tore the
son of the woods into pieces, the wolf whose blood Tuomas’s and Lauri’s
well-aimed bullets had set flowing. Then silence reigned again on the
night-clad heath. Only a soft panting and the snapping of bones was
heard, as with bloody faces and flashing eyes the brutes rent and
devoured their victim.
But the brothers already fared far from their terrible foe; and
delightfully had the murderous din of the wolves on Kiljava echoed
in their ears; for them it was the sweet and ravishing message of
salvation. Soon they had reached Kuttila’s big meadow, round which the
road made a detour over hilly ground. But to gain time they decided
to cut straight across the meadow. Under their combined weight the
fence gave and fell, and Valko, again with two of the brothers on his
back, stepped over it, and urged on by the men’s switches, set off at a
trot over the meadow’s smooth surface. And without delay, those of the
brothers whose turn it was to tread the snow, hurried after. Along the
meadow a winter track led to the village, and just at that movement a
number of travellers, in three sleighs, were moving over it. But great
was the alarm of both men and horses when they perceived the brothers
making towards them from the north. In the light of the moon they saw
seven men in their shirts, with guns on their shoulders and accompanied
by a horse, hastening in their direction; and they believed a host of
wicked demons from Impivaara’s caves was attacking them. The tumult and
din in the meadow was immense. Mad with fright, the travellers’ horses
gallopped hither and thither, while the men shouted or prayed, cursed
or raved in ringing voices. But the brothers cast hardly a glance at
this confusion, only ran madly across the meadow towards Jukola, and
the snow was cleft in smoke before them. They reached the fence on the
other side, and under their united pressure this too gave with a crash,
and soon they were all out on the hilly road again.
This night was to them of a truth a fearful and terrible night. Stoutly
they ran, with twinkling feet and panting wildly, while doubt glared
from their wooden-stiff glance, which was ever directed towards their
former home. So without a word they dashed onward, and swiftly the
snow-covered ground retreated beneath them. Until at last, having
reached the crest of a hilly field, they saw in the pale moonlight
Jukola standing on its hillside, and almost with one voice the cry:
‘Jukola, Jukola!’ broke from their lips. They ran on down the hill,
jumped the ditch like bewinged demons, and staggering uphill again,
stood on the threshold of the closed door of the farmhouse. Time to
knock and wait for admittance there was none, so putting forth all
their strength they flung forward, and with a crash and a clatter the
stout porch-door flew open. With a great banging and stamping they
rushed from the porch into the tupa, and on like a whirlwind towards
the embers in the fireplace, from which a luxurious warmth still
breathed. But great was the alarm of the tanner’s sleep-drunken family
at this intrusion, for they believed themselves overtaken by robbers.
THE TANNER. What monster enters the room of an honourable man
in this fashion on Christmas night? Answer; my gun is aimed!
TUOMAS. Leave the gun in peace, man.
AAPO. Don’t shoot the farm’s own people.
JUHANI. We are, God help us, from Impivaara.
TIMO. The seven sons of the former Jukola.
SIMEONI. The Lord ha’ mercy upon us! Seven souls are passing
to eternity this selfsame terrible moment. The Lord ha’ mercy upon us!
JUHANI. Fire burned down our good cabin in the forest and all
our belongings with it. Here we had to gallop like hares with no more
covering to our poor bodies than a rag of a shirt, a short shirt. And
that was a narrow escape.
THE TANNER’S WIFE. The Lord Jesus preserve us!
THE TANNER. Oh you poor lads!
JUHANI. Ay, is this a right state of things! Here we sit like
magpies, beseeching God’s mercy. Ah! I must cry.
THE WIFE. Poor, miserable children! Hurry, husband, and light
a fire.
EERO. Oh unhappy night, oh unhappy us!
AAPO. Oh night of terror, oh!
SIMEONI. Ah! oh!
JUHANI. Don’t cry, Eero, don’t cry, Simeoni, there’s no cause
at all to blubber, Aapo! Don’t cry, don’t cry, brother Eero; we’re
under shelter now. But it was a Turk’s march.
THE WIFE. Oh child of man on earth, alas!
JUHANI. Dear mistress, your tears and pity awaken my own tears
again. Ah! But don’t cry, mistress, don’t cry. Haven’t we escaped from
the clutches of wild beasts and the cold to the warmth of Christian
neighbours? And for that, thanks be to God.
TUOMAS. Wretched, wretched indeed is our state. But build up a
blazing fire for us, bring a couple of sheaves of straw for our beds on
the floor, and put Valko in the stable and hay before him.
AAPO. Forgive us, if we beg so hard in the name of the law and
for our lives’ sake for help and shelter. For our lives’ sake, for our
lives’ sake!
JUHANI. O angels of the Covenant of Mercy! the life left in me
is all at the tip of my nose, ready to fly off, to fly off. If there be
meat and ale in the house, bring it forth. Look you, this was a game, a
dusting we shall never forget. Bring meat and mulled ale for the sake
of our dear lives and souls.
THE TANNER. As fast as we can and all we can, good friends, as
soon as I have lit a light. You hapless fellows! in your shirts!
JUHANI. Not a rag on our heads or an old boot on our feet.
Look at these goose-legs, look!
THE TANNER. It fair makes my hair bristle. Come and look, wife.
TIMO. Look at my legs too!
JUHANI. What are yours to mine! There! Look, lad, at two roast
turnips.
TIMO. What about these!
JUHANI. What are thy trotters here.
TIMO. Eigh? Mine? Never mind. Just look at them. Is this human
flesh?
THE TANNER. Hurry, wife, and look.
THE WIFE. Well, good people and powers of Heaven!
JUHANI. Ay, is this a right state of things? Even Tuomas’s
eyes are wet. Don’t cry, Tuomas. What did I say? Is this a right state
of things?
TIMO. That’s how we human calves are chased down here.
THE WIFE. How they flush and glow, flush and glow! Good people!
TIMO. Like iron in the furnace, especially cast-iron. He-he!
THE WIFE. So red, so red! Lord Jesus save us!
JUHANI. They’re just ‘like unto molten brass’, as it says in
the Bible. The Lord help us poor wretches!
THE WIFE. Oh, poor children!
LAURI. Do as we begged you and as you promised.
AAPO. We beseech you, hurry! We’ll kindle the fire ourselves,
seeing that there is cordwood in yon corner, fine bark-clad faggots.
JUHANI. Here we are again in old Jukola, under its well-known
sooty rafters, and here we stop right until May-day. May the old tupa
be our lodging for one more winter.
TUOMAS. But wait till summer comes.
JUHANI. Wait till summer comes, and a cabin, grander than
ever, will stand on Impivaara clearing.
TUOMAS. As soon as the snow has gone, the forests and hills
will soon be echoing again with the ring of axes, and the Jukola
brothers will no longer need to beg for shelter of anyone.
JUHANI. Rightly said, Tuomas. Let’s forget the accursed luck
that caused our cabin to be burned down, and picture in our minds the
new cabin we shall soon have set together again.
TUOMAS. Know that all grudge vanished from my mind as soon as
we set out on our dreadful journey, and know that when thou blewest on
my neck like a swimming stallion as thou camest on behind, it cut me to
the heart.
JUHANI. Let us rejoice then that the journey is ended and that
we are once more in a warm room. Here comes food and drink, and there
two mighty sheaves of shining straw. Let us thank God, beloved brothers.
Merrily blazed the birchwood fire, and in its grateful warmth the
brothers wallowed and warmed themselves. And having stood there for
a while, seven men in a row, they moved to the table to enjoy the
meat, bread, sausage and mulled ale, all of which the tanner’s wife,
a pitying woman, set before them. The master himself took charge of
Valko, led him to the stable and filled the manger before him with hay.
And at last, following the men’s tracks, the dogs too came from their
dismal journey, came panting and fawning, with joy blazing in their
eyes. And with joy the brothers received them; they petted them, fed
them and fondled them.
But when the brothers had finished their meal, they sank down on their
bed of straw, and soon, wrapped in the soft blanket of sleep, forgot
the battle of life. Soundly they slept, and for long they were warmed
by the flickering fire, until it had dwindled into a heap of glowing
cinders. Then the mistress closed the dampers and a delicious warmth
streamed into the room from the fireplace; and having done so she lay
down on her own bed, and silence reigned in the room. But outside the
frost skipped crackling along the fences, the north wind blew roaring
under a star-glittering sky, whence a pallid moon looked smiling down.