{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_19438/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_19438","id":"gutenberg_19438","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/19438","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Estonian literature","Estonian literature -- History and criticism"],"text":"The Hero of Esthonia and Other Studies in the Romantic Literature of That Country\n\n\n_COMPILED\nFROM ESTHONIAN AND GERMAN SOURCES BY_\n\nW.F. KIRBY, F.L.S., F.E.S., ETC.\nCORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE FINNISH\nLITERARY SOCIETY\n\nWITH A MAP OF ESTHONIA\n\n_IN TWO VOLUMES_\n\nLONDON\nJOHN C. NIMMO\n14, KING WILLIAM STREET, STRAND.\nMDCCCXCV\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS OF VOL. I\n\nPAGE\nPREFACE ix\nINTRODUCTION\u2014 \nESTHONIA xiii\nTHE KALEVIPOEG xviii\nFOLK-TALES IN PROSE xxii\nBALLADS AND OTHER SHORT POEMS xxiii\nPASTOR HURT'S COLLECTIONS xxiv\nMYTHOLOGY xxvi\n_PART I_ \nTHE HERO OF ESTHONIA \nTHE KALEVIPOEG 1\nTHE ARGUMENT 2\nCANTO I.\u2014THE MARRIAGES OF SALME AND LINDA 7\nCANTO II.\u2014THE DEATH OF KALEV 18\nCANTO III.\u2014THE FATE OF LINDA 24\nCANTO IV.\u2014THE ISLAND MAIDEN 32\nCANTO V.\u2014THE KALEVIDE AND THE FINNISH SORCERER 38\nCANTO VI.\u2014THE KALEVIDE AND THE SWORD SMITHS 42\nCANTO VII.\u2014THE RETURN OF THE KALEVIDE 49\nCANTO VIII.\u2014THE CONTEST AND PARTING OF THE BROTHERS 55\nCANTO IX.\u2014RUMOURS OF WAR 61\nCANTO X.\u2014THE HEROES AND THE WATER-DEMON 64\nCANTO XI.\u2014THE LOSS OF THE SWORD 72\nCANTO XII.\u2014THE FIGHT WITH THE SORCERER'S SONS 80\nCANTO XIII.\u2014THE KALEVIDE'S FIRST JOURNEY TO HADES 87\nCANTO XIV.\u2014THE PALACE OF SARVIK 94\nCANTO XV.\u2014THE MARRIAGE OF THE SISTERS 105\nCANTO XVI.\u2014THE VOYAGE OF THE KALEVIDE 110\nCANTO XVII.\u2014THE HEROES AND THE DWARF 119\nCANTO XVIII.\u2014THE KALEVIDE'S JOURNEY TO P\u00d5RGU 124\nCANTO XIX.\u2014THE LAST FEAST OF THE HEROES 129\nCANTO XX.\u2014ARMAGEDDON 135\n_PART II_ \nESTHONIAN FOLK-TALES \nSECTION I \nTALES ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE \"KALEVIPOEG\" \nTHE MILKY WAY 147\nTHE GRATEFUL PRINCE 152\nTHE CLEVER COUNTRYWOMAN 186\nSLYBOOTS 187\nTHE HOUSE-SPIRIT 207\nTHE GOLD-SPINNERS 208\nSECTION II \nORPHAN AND FOUNDLING STORIES \nTHE WOOD OF TONTLA 237\nTHE KING OF THE MISTY HILL 259\nTHE ORPHAN'S HANDMILL 260\nTHE ORPHAN BOY AND THE HELL-HOUNDS 261\nTHE EGG-BORN PRINCESS 273\nTHE ROYAL HERD-BOY 279\nTIIDU, THE FLUTE-PLAYER 303\nTHE LUCKY EGG 308\nTHE MAGICIAN IN THE POCKET 321\nTHE GOD-DAUGHTER OF THE ROCK-MAIDENS 321\nTHE FOUNDLING 321\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS OF VOL. II\n\n_PART II_ \nESTHONIAN FOLK-TALES\u2014(_continued_) \nSECTION III \nCOSMOPOLITAN STORIES \nPAGE\nBLUEBEARD (THE WIFE-MURDERER) 1\nCINDERELLA (TUHKA TRIINU) 4\nTHE DRAGON-SLAYER (THE LUCKY ROUBLE) 6\nTHE DWARF'S CHRISTENING 8\nTHE ENVIOUS SISTERS (THE PRINCE WHO RESCUED HIS BROTHERS) 9\nTHE GIFTED BROTHERS (SWIFTFOOT, QUICKHAND, AND SHARPEYE) 12\nTHE SWIFT-FOOTED PRINCESS 23\nTHE IDIOT'S LUCK (STRANGE TALE OF AN OX) 24\nTHE MAGICIAN'S HEIRS (THE DWARFS' QUARREL) 24\nTHE MAN IN THE MOON 29\nVIDEVIK, KOIT, AND \u00c4MARIK 30\nTHE MAIDEN AT THE VASKJALA BRIDGE 34\nTHE WOMAN IN THE MOON 37\nPOLYPHEMUS 38\nRED RIDING-HOOD (THE DEVIL'S VISIT) 38\nSNOWWHITE, THE GLASS MOUNTAIN, AND THE DESPISED YOUNGEST SON (THE PRINCESS WHO SLEPT FOR SEVEN YEARS) 40\nTHE THREE SISTERS 43\nTHE THREE WISHES (LOPPI AND LAPPI) 45\nTHE WITCH-BRIDE (R\u00d5UGUTAJA'S DAUGHTER) 45\nTHE STEPMOTHER 46\nSECTION IV \nFAMILIAR STORIES OF NORTHERN EUROPE \nMELUSINA 48\nTHE FISHERMAN AND HIS WIFE (THE POWERFUL CRAYFISH AND THE INSATIABLE WIFE) 48\nTHE MERMAID 49\nHOW THE SEA BECAME SALT 70\nTHE TWO BROTHERS AND THE FROST 71\nTHE SOLDIER AND THE DEVIL 76\nSECTION V \nSTORIES OF THE GODS AND SPIRITS OF THE ELEMENTS \nTHE SONG-GOD'S DEPARTURE 81\nJUTTA 85\nTHE TWELVE DAUGHTERS 87\nTHE FOUR GIFTS OF THE WATER-SPRITE 98\nTHE LAKE-DWELLERS 98\nTHE FAITHLESS FISHERMAN 104\nTHE MERMAID AND THE LORD OF PAHLEN 106\nTHE SPIRITS OF THE NORTHERN LIGHTS 107\nTHE SPIRIT OF THE WHIRLWIND 110\nTHE WILL O' THE WISPS 111\nTHE FOUNDLING 112\nTHE CAVE-DWELLERS 114\nTHE COMPASSIONATE WOODCUTTER 125\nCHRISTIAN VARIANT OF SAME 127\nTHE GOOD DEED REWARDED 128\nSECTION VI \nHEATH LEGENDS \nTHE WONDERFUL HAYCOCK 133\nTHE MAGIC EGG 134\nSECTION VII \nLAKE LEGENDS \nLAKE PEIPUS 136\nTHE LAKE AT EUSEK\u00dcLL 142\nEMMU LAKE AND VIRTS LAKE 144\nTHE BLUE SPRING 145\nTHE BLACK POOL 146\nSECTION VIII \nSTORIES OF THE DEVIL AND OF BLACK MAGIC \nTHE SON OF THE THUNDER-GOD 149\nTHE MOON-PAINTER 159\nTHE TREASURE-BRINGER 168\nTHE WOODEN MAN AND THE BIRCH-BARK MAID 180\nTHE COMPASSIONATE SHOEMAKER 182\nMISCELLANEOUS STORIES OF THE DEVIL 185\nMARTIN AND HIS DEAD MASTER 188\nTHE HUNTER'S LOST LUCK 191\nTHE COINERS OF LEAL 192\nTHE BEWITCHED HORSE 193\nSECTION IX \nHIDDEN TREASURES \nTHE COURAGEOUS BARN-KEEPER 195\nTHE GALLOWS-DWARFS 210\nTHE TREASURE AT KERTELL 222\nTHE GOLDEN SNAKES 224\nTHE DEVIL'S TREASURE 225\nTHE NOCTURNAL CHURCH-GOERS 226\nSECTION X \nORIENTAL TALES \nTHE MAIDENS WHO BATHED IN THE MOONLIGHT 233\nTHE NORTHERN FROG 237\nSECTION XI \nCHURCH STORIES \nTHE CHURCH AT REVEL 262\nTHE CHURCH AT P\u00dcHALEPP 263\nTHE CHURCH OF THE HOLY CROSS 265\nTHE CHURCH AT FELLIN 265\nSECTION XII \nUNNATURAL BROTHERS \nTHE RICH BROTHER AND THE POOR ONE 267\nSECTION XIII \nPLAGUE-LEGENDS 271\nSECTION XIV \nBEAST-STORIES \nWOLF-STORIES 274\nTHE MAN WITH THE BAST SHOES 278\nWHY THE DOG AND CAT AND THE CAT AND MOUSE ARE ENEMIES 282\nTHE ORIGIN OF THE SWALLOW 283\nTHE SPIDER AND THE HORNET 284\nTHE OFFICIOUS FLIES 285\n_PART III_ \nESTHONIAN BALLADS, &c. \nTHE HERALD OF WAR 285\nTHE BLUE BIRD (I.) 292\nTHE BLUE BIRD (II.) 296\nCHARM AGAINST SNAKE-BITE 298\nBIBLIOGRAPHY 299\nINDEX AND GLOSSARY 305\n\n\n[Illustration] (Click image to enlarge)\n\n\n [Pg ix]\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE\n\n\n When I took up the study of the _Kalevala_ and Finnish\n literature, with the intention of publishing a critical English\n edition of the poem, on which I am still engaged, the\n accumulation of the necessary materials led me to examine the\n literature of the neighbouring countries likewise. I had\n expected to find the _Kalevipoeg_ an Esthonian variant of the\n _Kalevala_ ; but I found it so dissimilar, and at the same time\n so interesting, when divested of the tedious and irrelevant\n matter that has been added to the main story, that I finally\n decided to publish a full account of it in prose, especially as\n nothing of the kind has yet been attempted in English, beyond a\n few casual magazine articles.\n\n The Esthonian folk-tales are likewise of much interest, and in\n many cases of an extremely original character; and these also\n have never appeared in an English dress. I have, therefore,\n selected a\n [Pg x]\n\n sufficiently representative series, and have added a few\n ballads and short poems. This last section of the work,\n however, amounts to little more than an appendix to the\n _Kalevipoeg_, though it is placed at the end of the book.\n Esthonian ballad literature is of enormous extent, and only\n partially investigated and published at present, even in the\n original; and it would therefore be premature to try to treat\n of it in detail here, nor had I time or space to attempt it. I\n had, however, intended to have included a number of poems from\n Neus' _Ehstnische Volkslieder_ in the present volumes, but\n found that it was unnecessary, as Latham has already given an\n English version of most of the best in his \"Nationalities of\n Europe.\"\n\n The Introduction and Notes will, it is hoped, be sufficiently\n full to afford all necessary information for the intelligent\n comprehension of the book, without overloading it; and it has\n been decided to add a sketch-map of this little known country,\n including some of the places specially referred to. But\n Esthonian folk-literature, even without the ballads, is a most\n extensive study, and I do not pretend to do more than offer a\n few specimens culled from some of the most easily accessible\n sources. My professional work does not allow me time to attempt\n [Pg xi]\n more at present; and it is from the same cause that my work on\n the _Kalevala_\n has been delayed so long.\n\n In outlying parts of Europe like Finland and Esthonia, which\n were not Christianised till long after the southern and western\n countries, primitive literature has survived to a much greater\n extent than elsewhere; and the publication of the _Kalevala_\n and the _Kalevipoeg_\n during the present century furnishes a striking example before\n our very eyes of the manner in which the Iliad and the Odyssey\n grew up among the Greeks, before these poems were edited in the\n form in which they have come down to us, by order of\n Pisistratus.\n\nThe principal books used in the preparation of this work are mentioned\nin the short Bibliography. The names of others quoted or referred to\nwill be found in the Index, which has also been drawn up in such a\nmanner as to form a general glossary.\n\n W.F. KIRBY.\n\n Chiswick, _September 1894_.\n\n\n\n [Pg xiii]\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION\n\n\nESTHONIA\n\nEsthonia, or Estonia, as some prefer to write it, is the most northerly\nof the three so-called German or Baltic provinces of Russia\u2014Esthonia,\nLivonia, and Courland. It is bounded on the north by the Gulf of\nFinland, which lies between that country and Esthonia; on the east by\nthe Government of St. Petersburg; on the south by Livonia, and on the\nwest by the Baltic. Opposite its western coast lie numerous large\nislands, the most important of which are Dag\u00f6 and Oesel; these islands\nnearly close the north-west corner of the Gulf of Riga.\n\n The northern part of Livonia (including the island of Oesel,\n already mentioned) is partly inhabited by Esthonians, and is\n dealt with in popular literature as forming part of the\n country. The four provinces of Esthonia proper, which are\n constantly referred to,\n [Pg xiv]\n are as follows, the German names being added in brackets. Two\n western, Arju or Harju (Harrien) on the north, and L\u00e4\u00e4ne\n (Wiek) on the south; one central, J\u00e4rva (Jerwen), and one\n eastern, Viru (Wierland). East of Livonia lies the great Lake\n Peipse or Peipus, eighty miles long and thirty-two miles broad\n at the broadest part, across which the son of Kalev is said to\n have waded to fetch timber from Pihgast or Pleskau, which name\n is used to include the Russian province of Pskov, bordering\n the lake on the south and south-east. At two-thirds of its\n length the lake is divided nearly in two, and the southern\n portion is sometimes called Lake Pskov. It may have been\n across the narrow part between the two ends of the lake that\n the hero is supposed to have waded, when, even during a great\n storm, the water reached only to his girdle.\n\nThe coast of Esthonia is rocky, but the interior of the country is very\nmarshy, though there are no navigable rivers or lakes of much\nimportance except Lake Peipus, which we have already mentioned. Small\nlakes, however, are very numerous, the largest being Lake Virts.\n\n Esthonia was one of the countries conquered during the Middle\n Ages by the crusading German\n [Pg xv]\n Knights of the Sword, and has been described as a country with\n a Finnish population and a German aristocracy under Russian\n rule. Occasionally we meet with reminiscences of oppression by\n the German nobility in the songs and tales; as, for instance,\n in the story of the Royal Herd-boy; while everything beautiful\n or above the ordinary life of the peasants is characterised as\n Saxon.\n\nThe bulk of the population speak a language very closely allied to\nFinnish, and they possess a large store of oral literature, much of\nwhich has been collected, and in part published, during the present\ncentury. It has, however, attracted very little attention out of\nEsthonia, except in Finland, and to some extent in Germany, and very\nfew articles on the subject have appeared in England or France. It is\nbelieved that this is the first work published in England giving any\ndetailed account of the popular literature of Esthonia, and it does not\npretend to be exhaustive, nor to extend much beyond the publication of\nKreutzwald, Neus, and Jannsen.\n\n The Finnish-Ugrian race, though not Aryan, is widely\n distributed throughout Europe and Asiatic Russia, and the\n principal peoples belonging to it\n [Pg xvi]\n in the North are the Finns, the Esthonians, and the Lapps, who\n speak very similar languages, and whose tales and legends\n possess much similarity, while in the south the Magyars are\n more distantly related to them. The Lapp hero-tales, however,\n have more of a historical basis, while the popular tales are\n much shorter and less artistic. It is, however, curious that\n Swan-maiden stories are peculiarly common among the Lapps.\n Several other lesser known peoples belong to the same race,\n whom we need not further notice.\n\nEsthonian abounds in dialects, but is so close to Finnish that it bears\nalmost the same relation to it as Lowland Scotch to English, or perhaps\nas Danish to Swedish. But there is a strong admixture of German words\nin Esthonian, and their tales, when exhibiting traces of foreign\ninfluence, have apparently derived it from Germany. In Finnish tales,\non the contrary, Russian influence is often very apparent.\n\n The orthography is a little unsettled, words like Ukko or Kalev\n being often written with a single or double consonant, as Uko\n or Kallev; while words like K\u00e4p\u00e4 are often written with double\n vowels, as K\u00e4\u00e4p\u00e4.\n [Pg xvii]\n\nThe pronunciation of most of the letters resembles that of English, or,\nin the case of the vowels, German, and calls for no special remark.\n\n _j_, as in nearly all languages except English and French,\n corresponds to our _y_.\n\n\n _v_ is printed either _v_ or _w_ in Finnish and Esthonian, but\n corresponds to our _v_, and is thus used by the best Finnish\n authorities. Of course the Germans properly write it _w_, their\n _w_\n corresponding to our _v_.\n\n\n For the modified vowels we have no exact equivalent in English;\n _\u00e4_ and _\u00fc_ are pronounced nearly as in German; but the _\u00f5_ may\n roughly be said to resemble our _ee_ in sound. _y_ has somewhat\n of a _u_ sound, as in the Scandinavian languages; and, as in\n these too, the modified vowels are placed at the end of the\n alphabet, but in the following order: _\u00fc_,\n _\u00e4_,\n _\u00f5_. Musical as is Finnish itself, Esthonian is still softer,\n as may be seen in the dropping of final consonants, as\n Vanemuine for V\u00e4in\u00e4m\u00f6inen; and in such words as _kannel_ (harp)\n for _kantele_. As in most parts of Northern Europe, the Gothic\n character is still much used in Finland and Esthonia,\n especially in literary works.\n\n As a specimen of the language we may quote the original of the\n lines on p. 14:\n [Pg xviii]\n \u2014\n\n\n\n Ristitantsi tantsitie,\n\n Viru tantsi veeritie,\n\n Arju tantsi hakkatie,\n\n L\u00e4\u00e4ne tantsi l\u00f5hutie,\n\n S\u00f5re liiva s\u00f5tkutie,\n\n Murupinda piinatie.\n\n T\u00e4hte peig ja Salme neidu,\n\n Pidasivad pulma ilu!\n\n\n\nWe may add the text of the lines on p. 49:\u2014\n\n\n\n Kalevide poeg ei v\u00e4si;\n\n Piht on meehel pihlakane,\n\n \u00d5lanukud \u00f5unapuusta,\n\n K\u00e4evarred vahterased,\n\n K\u00fc\u00fcnarnukud k\u00fcnnapuusta,\n\n S\u00f5rmel\u00fclid s\u00f5sterased,\n\n S\u00f5rmek\u00fc\u00fcned kuuslapuused,\n\n Raudarammu k\u00f5iges kehas.\n\n\n\n\nTHE KALEVIPOEG\n\n\n In the year 1838 some Esthonian scholars founded a society\n called \" _Die gelehrte Ehstnische Gesellschaft_, \" and set\n themselves to collect the popular literature of their country.\n Doubtless encouraged by the recent publication of the\n _Kalevala_ in Finland, Dr. F\u00e4hlmann undertook specially to\n collect any fragments of verse or prose relative to the\n mythical\n [Pg xix]\n hero of Esthonia, the son of Kalev, intending to weave them\n into a connected whole. He did not live to complete the work;\n but after his death Dr. Kreutzwald carried out his design, and\n the book was published, accompanied by a German translation by\n Reinthal and Bertram, from 1857 to 1861.\n\n The materials were defective, and were augmented and pieced\n together, not always very successfully or artistically,\n [1] by Dr. Kreutzwald, and the story is interrupted by long\n lyrical passages, especially at the beginning of some of the\n cantos, which are tedious and out of place in a narrative poem.\n Consequently, a complete translation would hardly be\n sufficiently attractive; but there is so much that is curious\n and beautiful in the poem, that I think that a tolerably full\n prose abstract may perhaps be found both useful and\n interesting, as opening up an almost new subject to English\n readers.\n\n Besides Reinthal's translation, there are two condensed\n abstracts of the poem in German, one by C. C. Israel, in prose,\n published in 1873, and the other by Julius Grosse, in\n hexameters, published in 1875.\n [Pg xx]\n\n\n But while the _Kalevala_ has been translated into six or seven\n languages, and into several of them two or three times,\n extremely little has been published on the _Kalevipoeg_ outside\n of Esthonia and Finland.\n\n The metre is the eight-syllable trochaic, which is the\n commonest metre used by the Esthonians and Finns. In the\n _Kalevipoeg_ the verse usually flows continuously, while in the\n _Kalevala_ it is arranged in distichs, almost every second line\n being a repetition of the first in other words; nor is the\n _Kalevipoeg_ quite so full of alliteration as the _Kalevala_.\n\n\n Longfellow adapted this metre in his _Hiawatha_ from\n Schiefner's German translation of the _Kalevala_, and as it was\n then a novelty in English, it was set down at the time as\n Longfellow's own invention, and was much ridiculed. A similar\n metre, however, was used before the appearance of _Hiawatha_ in\n some parts of Kenealy's _Goethe_, which was published in 1850,\n and subsequently condensed and completed under the title of \"A\n New Pantomime.\" I quote a passage from this wonderful but\n eccentric poem ( _Goethe_, p. 301) to show the manner in which\n Kenealy has used it in the lighter parts of his work; but in\n some of the darker passages it shows itself as a versatile\n metre of great power in English:\n [Pg xxi]\n \u2014\n\n\n\n \"We have come, enchanting ladyes,\n\n To sojourn awhile, and revel\n\n In these bowers, far outshining\n\n The six heavens of Mohammed,\n\n Or the sunbright spheres of Vishnu,\n\n Or the Gardens of Adonis,\n\n Or the viewless bowers of Irim,\n\n Or the fine Mosaic mythus,\n\n Or the fair Elysian flower-land,\n\n Or the clashing halls of Odin,\n\n Or the cyclop-orbs of Brahma,\n\n Or the marble realms of Siva,\n\n Or the grandly proud Walhalla.\"\n\n\n\n I do not find this metre used in either of the two cognate\n poems, _Faust_ and _Festus_.\n\n\n To return to the _Kalevipoeg_, the poem consists of twenty\n cantos and about 19,000 verses. Some of the legends are found\n also in the _Kalevala_, and the giant-hero whose life and\n adventures form its subject is evidently the same as the\n Kullervo of the _Kalevala_, as will be seen in our notes on\n various passages in the poem.\n\n Of the other heroes of the _Kalevala_, besides an occasional\n reference to Vanemuine and Ilmarine (V\u00e4in\u00e4m\u00f6inen and\n Ilmarinen), we find no trace; but three heroes, apparently\n cousins of the Kalevipoeg, appear suddenly in the poem. These\n are usually\n [Pg xxii]\n called by their patronymics, Alevide, Sulevide, and Olevide,\n but sometimes simply Alev, Sulev, and Olev.\n\n\n\n\nFOLK-TALES IN PROSE\n\n\n The most important collection of Esthonian prose tales was\n edited by Kreutzwald, and was published by the Finnish Literary\n Society at Helsingfors in 1866, under the title of _Eestirahwa\n Ennemuistesed jutud_, and has since been reprinted at Dorpat.\n In 1869 the same Society published a useful little\n Esthonian-Finnish glossary to the volume. A good German\n translation of many of these tales, by F. L\u00f6we, appeared at\n Halle in 1869, under the title of _Ehstnische M\u00e4rchen_, with\n notes by various contributors; and M. Dido, who has lately\n translated two or three of the tales into French, and given\n more or less detailed notices of the others, mentions that they\n have also been translated into Russian. Other collections of\n Esthonian tales have since been published; and Harry Jannsen\n has published a selection in German under the title of _M\u00e4rchen\n und Sagen des estnischen Volkes_ (Dorpat, 1881; Riga, 1888).\n Some of his tales are taken from Kreutz\n [Pg xxiii]\n wald, but I have not seen the Esthonian originals of the\n others. Many of the longer and more interesting tales in those\n collections I have given in full; others are more or less\n abridged, or simply noticed, and some few unimportant tales\n towards the end of Kreutzwald's collection have been passed\n over altogether.\n\nOne of Kreutzwald's longer tales, which I thought too unlike the others\nto be noticed in the body of the work, is, \"How Seven Tailors went to\nwar in Turkey.\" Their names were, \"First-man, One-strong, Two-strong,\nThree-strong, Four-strong, Five-strong, and Last-man;\" and the story\ngives a comic account of their poltrooneries.\n\nOther tales relate to a plot against a chaste wife; a girl who clears\nherself from scandal by lifting and hurling a huge stone; &c.\n\n\nBALLADS AND OTHER SHORT POEMS\n\n The plan of the present work did not allow of many short\n poetical pieces being included; nevertheless, two of the best\n of the numerous songs and ballads interspersed through the\n _Kalevipoeg_ have been given, and two other specimens from\n [Pg xxiv]\n Neus' _Ehstnische Volkslieder_ (Revel, 1850-1852) and\n Kreutzwald and Neus' _Mythische und Magische Lieder der\n Ehsten_ (St. Petersburg, 1854). More poetical specimens were\n thought unnecessary, because many of the principal ballads in\n the former work will be found translated in Latham's\n \"Nationalities of Europe,\" 1863.\n\n\nPASTOR HURT'S COLLECTIONS\n\nIn recent years enormous collections of Esthonian folk-lore have been\nformed by Pastor Jacob Hurt and his coadjutors.\n\n \"Three volumes of these collections were edited by Hurt in\n 1875, 1876, and 1886, under the title of _Vana Kannel_, the\n 'Old Harp;' and other collections were published by several of\n his colleagues. In 1888 Hurt made a renewed appeal to the\n Esthonians to collect their old songs, and fresh contributions\n came pouring in from all quarters.\n\n\"Special attention was called to Pastor Hurt's work at the Congress of\nFolk-lorists in Paris by Henry Carnoy.\n\n \"According to the latest intelligence which I have received\n from Dr. Krohn, Pastor Hurt has received\n [Pg xxv]\n contributions from 633 different folk-tale collectors in the\n last three and a half years. Most of these contributors are\n simple peasants; some are schoolmasters, but only a few are\n students or highly educated persons.\n\n\"He now possesses, as the result of three and a half years' work of\nthis nature, epics, lyrics, wedding-songs, &c., upwards of 20,000\nitems; tales, about 3000; proverbs, about 18,000; riddles, about\n20,000. Besides these he has a large collection of magical formul\u00e6,\nsuperstitions, &c.\n\n \"He has only been able to accomplish these extraordinary\n results by his having been able to awaken popular interest in\n the subject.\"\n [2]\n\n I am glad to hear from my friend Dr. Kaarle Krohn, to whom I\n have been indebted for much useful information and assistance\n in my own studies, that part of the results of these great\n collections are likely to be published very shortly. Of course\n a great number of tales and songs are merely variants. Many\n relate to legends belonging rather to the _Kalevala_ than to\n the _Kalevipoeg_.\n\n\n In Dr. Krohn's important paper, _Die geogra_\n [Pg xxvi]\n _phische Verbreitung Estnischer Lieder_, published in 1892, he\n divides Esthonia and Northern Livonia into several districts,\n and marks the number of variants obtained in each. It may be\n interesting to summarise the latter, to show the extent to\n which the collection of variants has been carried on in\n Esthonia.\n\n1. Legend of the creation of the earth and of the origin of the\nheavenly bodies, 62 variants.\n\n2. Salme and her suitors, 160 variants; and 33 relative to the\ncelestial suitors.\n\n3. The Great Ox, 24 variants.\n\n4. The Great Oak, 130 variants, and 61 relative to its fragments.\n\n5. The Weeping Oak, 61 variants.\n\n6. The origin of the harp and of boating, three variations, with 19,\n39, and 17 variants respectively.\n\n7. The bride of gold and silver, 52 variants.\n\n8. Songs of the Seluks or Orthodox Esths, 91 variants.\n\n\nMYTHOLOGY\n\n We can, I think, trace Finnish and Esthonian religion through\n four well-marked stages.\n [Pg xxvii]\n\n1. Fetishism, as seen in the story of the Treasure-Bringer, and in the\naccount given of the origin of various animals, &c.\n\n2. Nature-worship.\n\n 3. Transitional stage, well marked in the _Kalevala_, where the\n heroes sometimes pray to the gods in conventional Christian\n phraseology, and at other times try to compel their assistance\n by invocations and spells. This stage is also seen in the\n strange travesty of the Nativity in the last Runo of the\n _Kalevala_ ; and indeed, one of the older writers says that the\n favourite deities of the Finns in his time were V\u00e4in\u00e4m\u00f6inen and\n the Virgin Mary. But this stage is much less visible in the\n _Kalevipoeg_, which is, on the whole, a more archaic and more\n heathenish poem than the _Kalevala_.\n\n4. Medi\u00e6val Christianity.\n\n The gods belong to the stage of Nature-worship. The supreme god\n is Taara, to whom the oak is sacred. The most celebrated of his\n sacred oak-forests was in the neighbourhood of Dorpat. Thursday\n is his day; whence it is more often mentioned in popular tales\n than any other day in the week. He is also called Uko or Ukko\n (the Old God), by which name he is usually known in the\n [Pg xxviii]\n _Kalevala_ ; and also Vana Isa, or Old Father. The Christian\n God is called Jumal or Jumala, and is probably to be identified\n with Taara. Ukko or Taara is the ancestor and protector of the\n heroes; he attended with R\u00f5ugutaja at the birth of the\n Kalevipoeg, watched over and protected him during his life,\n sometimes appeared to counsel him in visions, received him in\n his heavenly halls after death, and assigned to him his future\n employment.\n\n Ukko's daughters are Lindu and Jutta, the queens of the birds;\n and Siuru, who is described as a blue bird herself. Possibly\n these may be all the same; and the first at least may be\n identical with Kalev's bride, Linda, who was born from an egg,\n and whose name is evidently derived from _lind_ or _lindu_, a\n bird.\n\n \u00c4ike, K\u00f5u, Paristaja, Pikne, Piker, or Pikker, is the god of\n thunder, and some of his names connect him with the Lithuanian\n Perkunas. He thunders across the iron bridges of the skies in\n his chariot; and hurls his thunderbolts at the demons, like\n Thor. He also possesses a musical instrument, of which the\n demons stand in great terror. He has a ne'er-do-weel son, who\n has dealings with the Devil, and a mischievous little daughter,\n called the Air-Maiden.\n [Pg xxix]\n\n\n Ahti, the god of the waters, is mentioned occasionally, but\n much less frequently than Ahto in the _Kalevala_. He must not\n be confounded with Ahti, one of the names of the hero\n Lemminkainen in the latter poem.\n\nR\u00f5ugutaja is the god of the winds and waves, and attends specially on\nbirths. In one story, however, he appears rather in the character of a\nmorose wood-demon with very undesirable family connections than as a\ngod. This is very probably due to missionary efforts to malign his\ncharacter and discredit his worship. However, there is a class of\nmagicians who are called Wind-sorcerers, and witches often invoke the\naid of the Mother of the Wind.\n\nAn old man, with one eye and a long grey beard, often appears to\ntravellers in the forests. He is probably the Finnish Tapio, but is not\nnamed.\n\nThe sun, moon, and stars are represented as male deities.\n\n Goddesses preside over the woods, fields, waters, &c. Thus we\n have the Meadow-Queen (literally, Grass-mother), who presides\n over the home-field, and is therefore one of the protecting\n deities of the household. She is also the queen of the woods\n and fields. The Wind-mother and Water-mother are\n [Pg xxx]\n similar deities, and the wood-nymphs and water-nymphs are\n their daughters.\n\n Vanemuine, the V\u00e4in\u00e4m\u00f6inen of the Finns, is the god of song and\n music, rather than the patriarch and culture-hero of the\n _Kalevala_. All voices and sounds in nature are only echoes of\n his music. He has a foster-daughter, Jutta, of whom we have\n given an account elsewhere.\n\nIlmarine (Finnish, Ilmarinen) is a great smith, whose workshop is under\na mountain at the centre of the earth.\n\n The Devil has many names, being called Kurat, the Evil One;\n T\u00fchi or T\u00fchja, the Empty One, or rather, perhaps, the\n Contemptible One; but most often Vana Pois, the Old Boy; God\n being frequently called Vana Isa, the Old Father. He dwells in\n the underground kingdom, and has three daughters, or\n foster-daughters; a hat of invisibility, composed of\n nail-parings; a bridge-building wand, and a sword. He has also\n much gold and silver plate, and ducks and geese with gold and\n silver plumage. These treasures are often carried off by\n enterprising heroes. The maidens whom the Kalevipoeg found in\n the palace of Sarvik do not appear to have been at all unkindly\n treated, though they had to work\n [Pg xxxi]\n hard, and much regretted that they had no human company.\n\n Another Devil, more prominent in the _Kalevipoeg_, is Vana\n Sarvik, or Old Hornie, who is represented as T\u00fchi's\n brother-in-law.\n\nThe Devil's underground kingdom is called P\u00f5rgu, or Hell. His mother\nusually appears in the form of a bitch, and his grandmother under that\nof a white mare. The minor Esthonian devils are usually stupid rather\nthan malevolent. They are sometimes ogres or soul-merchants, but are at\ntimes quite ready to do a kindness, or to return one to those who aid\nthem. Their great enemies are the Thunder-God and the wolf. The\nprincipal outwitter of the devil is generally called Crafty Hans; and\nseveral volumes of their adventures have been published in Esthonian.\nThe Devil is often represented as fond of beer.\n\n Besides the above-named gods and demons, we have spirits of the\n whirlwind and the Northern Lights; gnomes; and a host of\n inferior demons, as well as various grades of sorcerers,\n especially Wind-sorcerers, Word-sorcerers, or soothsayers, and\n Death-sorcerers, or necromancers. The Tont, or House-Spirit,\n goes by various names; among others Kratt or Puuk. Kratt is\n perhaps a word\n [Pg xxxii]\n of Scandinavian or German origin; Puuk must be the same as our\n Puck, or the Irish Pouka. He was probably originally a\n beneficent house-spirit, and in later times assumed the\n demoniacal character in which he appears in the story of the\n Treasure-Bringer. In the story of \"Martin and his Dead\n Master,\" we have a spectre much resembling a vampyre in\n character.\n\n The gigantic race of the heroes is represented as descended\n from Taara. As in the case of so many other hero-races\u2014as, for\n example, the knights of Arthur, Finn, Charlemagne, Vladimir,\n Palmerin, &c.\u2014they are at length practically destroyed in a\n series of terrible battles, while the Kalevipoeg, like Arthur,\n Olger, Barbarossa, and Tell, remains in enchanted bondage till\n the day shall come for him to restore the ancient glories of\n his country.\n [3]\n\n\n\n [Pg 1]\n\nPART I\n\nTHE HERO OF ESTHONIA\n\n The _Kalevipoeg_, which may be called the national epic of\n Esthonia, contains the adventures of a mythical hero of\n gigantic size, who ruled over the country in its days of\n independence and prosperity. He is always called by his\n patronymic, Kalevipoeg, or Kalevide, the son of Kalev; and,\n notwithstanding the great differences between them, he is\n evidently the Kullervo of the Finnish _Kalevala_.\n\n\n The _Kalevipoeg_ consists of twenty cantos and about 19,000\n lines; and a fairly complete prose outline of the story is here\n given, all the tedious lyrical interludes which break its\n continuity, especially at the beginning of several of the\n cantos, being entirely omitted. For further\n [Pg 2]\n\n general information respecting the poem itself we will refer to\n the Introduction, and will now proceed to give a short abstract\n of the principal contents of the cantos, before proceeding to a\n more detailed analysis.\n\n\nARGUMENT OF THE \"KALEVIPOEG\"\n\n _Canto I._\n \u2014Three brothers travel in various directions, one of whom,\n Kalev,\n [4] is carried by an eagle to Esthonia, where he becomes king.\n A widow finds a hen, a grouse's egg, and a young crow. From the\n two first spring the fair maidens, Salme and Linda, and from\n the last a slave-girl. Salme chooses the Youth of the Stars,\n and Linda the young giant-king Kalev, as their respective\n husbands, with whom they depart.\n\n\n _Canto II._\n \u2014Death and burial of Kalev; birth of his posthumous son, the\n Kalevipoeg.\n\n\n _Canto III._\n \u2014The Kalevipoeg and his brothers go hunting in the forest.\n During their absence Linda is carried off by a Finnish sorcerer\n whose suit she has despised. She escapes from him through the\n interference of the gods, who afterwards change her into a\n rock. Return of the\n [Pg 3]\n\n brothers; the Kalevide seeks help and counsel at his father's\n grave.\n\n\n _Canto IV._\n \u2014The Kalevide throws himself into the sea to swim to Finland.\n In the evening he lands on an island where he meets a maiden\n whom he seduces. When she hears his name, she is horrified, and\n falls into the sea. He plunges after her, but being unable to\n save her, swims onwards on his journey. The parents rake the\n sea, and find an oak and a fir and other things, but not their\n daughter. Song of a maiden who was enticed into the sea by a\n man of copper.\n\n\n _Canto V._\n \u2014The planting of the great oak-tree on the island. The Kalevide\n arrives in Finland and slays the sorcerer.\n\n\n _Canto VI._\n \u2014The Kalevide visits a famous smith, from whom he buys a huge\n sword, which was bespoken by his father Kalev. A great\n drinking-bout is held in his honour, during which he slays the\n smith's eldest son in a fit of drunken fury, and the smith\n curses him. The felling of the great oak-tree on the island.\n\n\n _Canto VII._\n \u2014The Kalevide finds the sorcerer's boat, and sails homeward.\n The three brothers relate their adventures and the eldest\n proposes that they should now decide which of them shall settle\n in the country as his father's heir. The Kalevide again visits\n his father's grave.\n\n\n _Canto VIII._\n \u2014The three sons of Kalev journey to the shores of a lake, and\n try their strength in hurling rocks across it. The youngest\n makes the best cast, and the other two leave the country. The\n Kalevide ploughs the land, and one day while he is sleeping his\n horse is devoured by wolves.\n [Pg 4]\n\n\n _Canto IX._\n \u2014The Kalevide slaughters the wolves. News of war. The visit of\n Taara. The Finnish Bridge.\n\n\n _Canto X._\n \u2014In order to settle a dispute between two water-demons, the\n Kalevide's cousin, the Alevide, begins to drain a swamp. The\n water-demon begs the hero to desist, and the latter tricks the\n demon out of his treasures. Visit of the Kalevide's cup-bearer\n to the water-demon's palace, and his escape. The Kalevide\n overcomes the demon in hurling and wrestling. He decides to\n build fortified towns, and sets out to Lake Peipus to fetch\n timber. Meeting with the Air-maiden at a well.\n\n\n _Canto XI._\n \u2014The Kalevide wades through Lake Peipus. A sorcerer steals his\n sword and sinks it in the brook K\u00e4p\u00e4, where the Kalevide leaves\n it, after enjoining it to cut off the legs of him who had\n brought it there; meaning the sorcerer. He encounters a man of\n ordinary stature in a forest, whom he puts in his wallet. The\n man relates his adventure with two giants and their mother.\n\n\n _Canto XII._\n \u2014The Kalevide is attacked by three sons of the sorcerer, and\n beats them off with the boards, which are destroyed. Adventure\n with the hedgehog. The Kalevide finds to his grief that the man\n in his wallet has been killed by a chance blow during the\n fight. He falls asleep, and the sorcerer casts a spell upon him\n which throws him into a deep sleep for seven weeks. Vision of\n Ilmarine's workshop. The Kalevide wakes, and sets out on his\n return. Adventures of two poor boys.\n\n\n _Canto XIII._\n \u2014On his return journey the Kalevide finds some demons cooking\n at the entrance to a cave. He enters the cavern, which leads\n him to the door of the palace of\n [Pg 5]\n Sarvik,\n [5] which he breaks open. In the antechamber, he finds three\n maidens.\n\n\n _Canto XIV._\n \u2014Next day the maidens show the Kalevide over Sarvik's palace.\n Sarvik surprises them, and wrestles with the Kalevide in the\n enclosure, but is overcome and vanishes. The Kalevide and the\n sisters escape from the palace.\n\n\n _Canto XV._\n \u2014The fugitives are pursued by the demons, but the youngest\n sister raises a flood between them. The leader, T\u00fchi, questions\n the Kalevide, who answers him sarcastically, and the demons\n take to flight. The three sisters are married to the Kalevide's\n kinsmen.\n\n\n _Canto XVI._\n \u2014The Kalevide projects a voyage to the end of the world.\n Building of the ship Lennuk. Voyage to Finland and Lapland.\n Meeting with Varrak, the Laplander. Voyage to the Island of\n Fire. The Giant's Daughter. The Northern Lights. The Dog-men.\n Homeward voyage.\n\n\n _Canto XVII._\n \u2014The fortified cities. Great battle with invaders. Land journey\n of the Kalevide and his friends. Encounter with Sarvik\n disguised as a dwarf. The daughters of the Meadow-Queen.\n\n\n _Canto XVIII._\n \u2014The gates of P\u00f5rgu.\n [6] The Kalevide enters the cavern, notwithstanding every\n obstacle fights his way across an iron bridge, and enters\n Sarvik's palace.\n\n\n _Canto XIX._\n \u2014The Kalevide overcomes Sarvik in a wrestling match, and loads\n him with chains. He returns to the upper world, and finds the\n Alevide waiting for him\n [Pg 6]\n at the entrance to the cavern. Return of the Kalevide to\n Lindanisa.\n [7] Great feast and songs. News of a formidable invasion.\n Departure of Varrak for Lapland. Arrival of fugitives.\n\n\n _Canto XX._\n \u2014The Kalevide buries his treasure. Terrible battles, in which\n his cousin the Sulevide is slain. Drowning of the Alevide. The\n Kalevide abdicates in favour of his surviving cousin, the\n Olevide, and retires to live in seclusion on the bank of a\n river. Being annoyed by occasional visitors, he wanders away\n towards Lake Peipus, and steps into the brook K\u00e4p\u00e4, when his\n sword cuts off his legs. His soul takes flight to the halls of\n Taara,\n [8] but is bidden by the gods to reanimate his body. He is\n mounted on a horse, and stationed at the gates of P\u00f5rgu, to\n keep watch and ward on Sarvik and his hosts.\n\n\n\n [Pg 7]\n\nTHE KALEVIPOEG\n\nOR,\n\n _THE ADVENTURES OF THE SON OF KALEV, THE HERO OF ESTHONIA._\n\n\n The poem commences with an invocation to Vanemuine.\n [9] This is followed by a long lyrical exordium.\n\n\nCANTO I\n\nTHE MARRIAGES OF SALME AND LINDA\n\n In ancient days, the race of Taara dwelt here and there in the\n land, and took to themselves wives of the daughters of men.\n [10] In the far North,\n [Pg 8]\n\n near the sacred oak forest of Taara, such a household existed,\n and from thence three sons went forth into the world to seek\n their fortunes. One son travelled to Russia, where he became a\n great merchant; another journeyed to Lapland, and became a\n warrior; while the third, the famous Kalev,\n [11] the father of heroes, was borne to Esthonia on the back of\n an eagle.\n [12] The eagle flew with him to the south across the Gulf of\n Finland, and then eastward across L\u00e4\u00e4ne\n [13] and Viru,\n [14] until, by the wise ordering of Jumala,\n [15] the eagle finally descended\n [Pg 9]\n with him on the rocky shores of Viru, where he founded a\n kingdom.\n\nIn the province of L\u00e4\u00e4ne a young widow lived quietly by herself. One\nSunday she followed the footprints of her cattle, and what did she find\non her way? On the path she found a hen; she found a grouse's egg in\nthe footprints of the cattle, and she found a young crow near the\nvillage. She carried them all home with her to comfort her loneliness,\nand she made a nest for the hen and the egg in a basket lined with\nwool, but she threw the young crow into a corner behind the boxes.\n\nThe hen soon began to grow, and her head reached the lid of the basket\nwhile she sat on the egg. She grew taller for three months, and for\nseveral days of the fourth month.\n\n The widow went into the storehouse to look at her\n foster-children, and what did she behold on raising the lid of\n the basket? The hen had grown into the fair maiden Salme;\n [16] the egg had given\n [Pg 10]\n birth to a second maiden, Linda, while the poor crow had\n become an orphan girl, a maid-of-all-work, to carry wood to\n the stove and to bend under the weight of water-pails from the\n well.\n\n Salme was besieged by suitors. Five and six brought her\n offerings of corn-brandy, seven sent her offers of marriage,\n and eight sent trustworthy messengers to bring them news of\n her. The fame of her beauty spread far and wide, and at length\n not merely mortal lovers, but even the Moon, the Sun,\n [17] and the eldest son of the Pole Star sought her hand in\n marriage.\n\n The Moon drove up in a grand chariot drawn by fifty horses, and\n attended by a train of sixty grooms. He was a pale slender\n youth, and found no favour in the eyes of Salme, who cried out\n from the storehouse:\n [Pg 11]\n\n\n\n \"Him I will not have for husband,\n\n And the night-illumer love not.\n\n Far too varied are his duties,\n\n And his work is much too heavy.\n\n Sometimes he must shine in heaven\n\n Ere the day, or late in evening;\n\n Sometimes when the sun is rising;\n\n Sometimes he must toil at morning,\n\n Ere the day has fully broken;\n\n Sometimes watches in the daytime,\n\n Lingering in the sky till mid-day.\"\n\n\n\nWhen the Moon heard her answer, he grew yet paler, and returned home\nsorrowful.\n\n And now the Sun himself appeared, a young man with fiery eyes;\n and he drove up with similar state to the Moon. But Salme\n declared that she liked him even less than the Moon, for he was\n much too fickle. Sometimes, during the finest summer weather,\n he would send rain in the midst of the hay-harvest; or if the\n time had come for sowing oats, he would parch the land with\n drought; or if the time for sowing is past, he dries up the\n barley in the ground, beats down the flax, and presses down the\n peas in the furrows; he won't let the buckwheat grow, or the\n lentils in their pods; and when the rye is white for harvest,\n he either glows fiercely and drives away the clouds, or sends a\n pouring rain.\n [Pg 12]\n\nThe Sun was deeply offended; his eyes glowed with anger, and he\ndeparted in a rage.\n\nAt last the Youth of the Stars made his appearance, driving with a\nsimilar cort\u00e8ge to those who had preceded him.\n\nAs soon as Salme heard of his arrival, she cried out that his horse was\nto be led into the stable and tended with the utmost care. The horse\nmust have the best provender, and must be given fine linen to rest on\nand be covered with silken cloths; his head was to rest on satin, and\nhis hoofs on soft hay. After this she declared to his master:\n\n\n\n \"Him I will accept as lover,\n\n Give the Star my hand in marriage,\n\n And will prove his faithful consort.\n\n Gently shine his eyes of starlight,\n\n And his temper alters nothing.\n\n Never can he thwart the sowing,\n\n Never will destroy the harvest.\"\n\n\n\n Having thus accepted her suitor and provided for the comfort of\n his horse, Salme ordered the bridegroom to be ushered into the\n hall, where the broad table was washed clean and covered with a\n new tablecloth. The Star was to be seated with his back to the\n wall and his feet comfortably propped up on the bench, while he\n was to\n [Pg 13]\n be feasted on the best meat and fish, and offered wedding-cake\n and honey, besides beer and sweet mead. The widow invited the\n Star to take his place at the table, and pressed him to eat\n and drink, but he was greatly excited, and his weapons,\n ornaments, and heavy spurs jingled and clanked as he stamped\n on the floor, and declared that he would eat nothing till\n Salme herself appeared before him. But Salme asked him to wait\n awhile while she adorned herself, and asked her sister Linda\n to fetch her woollen dress and her silken shift with\n gold-embroidered sleeves, her stockings with the pretty\n garters, and the brightly coloured and gold-worked kerchiefs\n of silk and linen.\n\nMeantime, the widow again invited the Star to eat and drink, or, if he\nwere tired, to sleep; but he declared, as before, that he would neither\neat nor drink till he had seen Salme, and that the stars never closed\ntheir eyes in sleep.\n\n At last Salme herself appeared in the hall, but the\n Meadow-Queen\n [18] and the wood nymphs had so adorned her that her\n foster-mother did not know\n [Pg 14]\n\n her again, and asked in astonishment, \"Is it the moon,\n [19] or the sun, or one of the young daughters of the sunset?\"\n\nGuests gathered to the wedding from far and near, and even the oaks and\nalders came, roots, branches, and all.\n\n\n\n After this they danced the cross-dance,\n [20]\n\n Waltzed the waltzes of Esthonia,\n\n And they danced the Arju\n [21] dances,\n\n And the dances of the West Land;\n\n And they danced upon the gravel,\n\n And they trampled all the greensward.\n\n Starry youth and maiden Salme,\n\n Thus their nuptials held in rapture.\n\n\n\n In the midst of these joyous festivities, the Moon and then the\n Sun returned in greater state than before to seek the hand of\n Linda, who was resting on a couch in the bathroom; but she also\n refused\n [Pg 15]\n them both, almost in the same terms as her sister had done;\n and they retired sorrowfully.\n\nA third suitor, the Lord of the Waters, now appeared; but Linda replied\nthat the roaring of the waves was terrible, and the depth of the sea\nwas awful; that the brooks only gave a scanty supply of water, and the\nriver-floods were devastating. He was followed by the Wind, who rode\nthe Horse of the Tempest, and, like all the other suitors, was attended\nby a cavalcade of fifty horses and sixty grooms; and he too asked the\nhand of Linda. But she replied that a delicate girl could never take\npleasure in the howling of the wind and the raging of the tempest. The\nWind whistled out of the house, but his trouble did not weigh on his\nheart very long.\n\n Another suitor for the hand of Linda now appeared in the person\n of the Prince of Kungla.\n [22] All the guests, and Linda's own sisters, approved of this\n suitor. But Linda declared that she could not\n [Pg 16]\n think of accepting him; for the king, his father, had wicked\n daughters, who would treat a stranger unkindly.\n\nA sixth suitor now appeared in the person of the young and handsome\ngiant Kalev. All the wedding-guests grumbled, and even the widow was\nopposed to the match; but he pleased Linda, and she accepted him at\nonce. The widow then invited him to enter and partake of the good\ncheer; but he trembled with eagerness, so that his sword in its sheath,\nand his chains and spurs, and even the money in his purse, jingled as\nhe answered that he would neither eat nor drink till Linda appeared\nbefore him. Linda begged for a little delay to adorn herself, but Kalev\nstill refused to eat or drink, and then she called her slave-sister to\nhelp her, while the widow continued her ineffectual invitations to\nKalev to feast and enjoy himself.\n\nAt last Linda appeared in the hall, where she excited as much\nadmiration as her sister, and her wedding was celebrated with still\ngreater festivities than Salme's, the guests dancing the local dances\nof every province of Esthonia.\n\n But now the Youth of the Stars could delay no longer, and Salme\n took an affecting farewell\n [Pg 17]\n of her foster-mother and all her kith and kin, declaring that\n she would now be hidden behind the clouds, or wandering\n through the heavens transformed into a star. Then she mounted\n her sledge, and again bade her foster-mother a last and\n eternal farewell. Linda and her slave-sister called after her\n to ask whither she was going; but there came no answer save\n the sighing of the wind, and tears of joy and regret in the\n rain and the dew; nor did they ever receive tidings of Salme\n more.\n\nAfter Salme's departure, the wedding-festival of Linda was kept up for\nsome time, and when Kalev finally drove off with her in her sledge, she\nbade farewell to her foster-mother; but Kalev reminded her that she had\nforgotten the moon before the house, who was her father; the sun before\nthe storehouse, who was her old uncle; and the birch-tree before the\nwindow, who was her brother, besides her cousins in the wood. They\ngazed after her sorrowfully; but she was happy with Kalev, and heeded\nthem not. Kalev and Linda drove on in their sledge day and night across\nthe snow-fields and through the pine-forests till they reached their\nhome.\n\n\n\n [Pg 18]\n\nCANTO II\n\nTHE DEATH OF KALEV\n\n Kalev and Linda lived very happily together, and were blessed\n with a numerous offspring;\n [23] but the country was small, and as soon as the children\n were grown up they wandered forth into the world to seek their\n fortunes, more especially as Kalev had determined that one son\n only should be the heir to his possessions. At length Kalev\n began to grow old, and felt that his end was approaching. Two\n of his younger sons, who were still little boys, remained at\n home; but the youngest of all, the famous Sohni, more often\n known by his patronymic, the Son of Kalev, was still unborn.\n Kalev foretold the glory and greatness of this last son to\n Linda, indicating him as his heir,\n [24] and shortly afterwards fell dangerously sick.\n [Pg 19]\n\n\n Then Linda took her brooch, and spun it round on a thread,\n while she sent forth the Alder-Beetle\n [25] to bid the Wind-Magician and Soothsayer hasten to the\n bedside of her husband. Seven days the brooch spun round, and\n seven days the beetle flew to the north, across three kingdoms\n and more, till he encountered the Moon, and besought his aid.\n But the Moon only gazed on him sorrowfully without speaking,\n and went on his way.\n\nAgain Linda spun the brooch for seven days, and sent forth the beetle,\nwho flew farther this time, through many thick forests, and as far as\nthe Gold Mountain, till he encountered the Evening Star; but he also\nrefused him an answer.\n\n Next time the beetle took a different route, over wide heaths\n and thick fir-woods, till he reached the Gold Mountain, and met\n the rising Sun. He also\n [Pg 20]\n returned no answer; but on a fourth journey the beetle\n encountered the Wind-Magician, the old Soothsayer from\n Finland,\n [26] and the great Necromancer himself. He besought their aid,\n but they replied with one voice that what the drought had\n parched up, the moonlight blanched, and the stars withered,\n could never bloom again. And before the beetle returned from\n his fruitless journey the mighty Kalev had expired.\n\n Linda sat weeping by his bedside without food or sleep for\n seven days and nights, and then began to prepare his corpse for\n burial. First she bathed it with her tears, then with salt\n water from the sea, rain water from the clouds, and lastly\n water from the spring. Then she smoothed his hair with her\n fingers, and brushed it with a silver brush, and combed it with\n the golden comb which the water-nymphs had used to comb their\n hair. She drew on him a silken shirt, a satin shroud, and a\n robe over it, confined by a silver girdle. She her\n [Pg 21]\n self dug his grave thirty ells below the sod, and grass and\n flowers soon sprang from it.\n\n\n\n From the grave the grasses sprouted,\n\n And the herbage from the hillock;\n\n From the dead man dewy grasses,\n\n From his cheeks grew ruddy flowers,\n\n From his eyes there sprang the harebells,\n\n Golden flowerets from his eyelids.\n [27]\n\n\n\n Linda mourned for Kalev for one month after another till three\n months had passed, and the fourth was far advanced. She heaped\n a cairn of stones over his tomb, which formed the hill on which\n the Cathedral of Revel now stands. One day she was carrying a\n great stone to the cairn, but found herself too weak, and let\n it fall. She sat down on it, and lamented her sad fate, and her\n tears formed the lake called \"\u00dclemiste j\u00e4rv,\" the Upper Lake,\n beside which the huge stone block may still be seen.\n [28]\n\n After this, Linda felt her time approaching, and she retired to\n the bathroom,\n [29] and called upon the\n [Pg 22]\n gods to aid her. Ukko and R\u00f5ugutaja\n [30] both attended at her call, and one brought a bundle of\n straw, and the other pillows, and they made her up a soft bed;\n nor was it long before Kalev's posthumous son saw the light.\n\n Linda was sitting by the cradle one day, trying to sing the\n child to sleep, when suddenly he began to scream, and continued\n to scream day and night for a whole month, when he burst his\n swaddling-clothes, smashed the cradle to pieces, and began to\n creep about the floor.\n [31]\n\n Linda suckled the child till he was three years old, and he\n grew up a fine strong boy. He first learned to tend the cattle,\n and then to guide the plough, and grew up like a young\n oak-tree. When he played _kurni_\n (tipcat), his blocks flew far and wide all over the country,\n and many even as far as the sea. Sometimes he used to go down\n to the sea, and make ducks and drakes of huge rocks, which he\n sent spinning out to sea for a\n [Pg 23]\n verst or more, while he stood on his head to watch them.\n\nAt other times he used to amuse himself quietly in the enclosure,\ncarving skates or weaving baskets. Thus he passed his days till he came\nto man's estate.\n\nAfter the death of Kalev, Linda was much pestered by suitors who were\nanxious to marry the rich widow; but she refused them all, and at\nlength they ceased to trouble her. Last of all came a mighty\nwind-sorcerer from Finland, calling himself Kalev's cousin; and when\nshe refused him also, he vowed revenge. But she laughed at his threats,\ntelling him she had three young eagles with sharp claws growing up in\nthe house, who would protect their mother.\n\nLinda was no longer tormented by suitors, but the magician whom she had\ndiscarded recommended all his friends not to seek a wife in Kalev's\nhouse, for notwithstanding Linda's wealth her beauty was faded, her\nteeth were iron, and her words were red-hot pincers. They would do\nbetter to sail to Finland, where they would find rows of maidens, rich\nin money, pearls, jewels, and golden bracelets, waiting for them on the\nrocky coast.\n\n\n\n [Pg 24]\n\nCANTO III\n\nTHE FATE OF LINDA\n\n One hot day, the youngest son of Kalev was sitting on the top\n of a cliff watching the clouds and waves. Suddenly the sky\n became overcast, and a terrific storm arose, which lashed the\n breakers into foam. \u00c4ike,\n [32] the Thunder-God, was driving his brazen-wheeled chariot\n over the iron bridges of the sky, and as he thundered above,\n the sparks flew from the wheels, and he hurled down flash after\n flash of lightning from his strong right hand against a company\n of wicked demons of the air, who plunged from the rocks into\n the sea, dodged the thunderbolts among the waves,\n [Pg 25]\n and mocked and insulted the god. The hero was enraged at their\n audacity, and plunging into the water, dragged them from their\n hiding-places like crabs, and filled a whole sack with them.\n He then swam to the shore, and cast them out on the rocks,\n where the bolts of the angry god soon reduced them to a\n disgusting mass that even the wolves would not touch.\n\n Another day, the three sons of Kalev went hunting in the forest\n with their three dogs.\n [33] The dogs killed a bear among the bushes, an elk in the\n open country, and a wild ox in the fir-wood. Next they\n encountered a pack of wolves and another of foxes, numbering\n five dozen of each, and killed them all. All this game the\n youngest brother bound together and carried on his back; and on\n the way home they found the rye-fields full of hares, of which\n they likewise secured five dozen.\n [34]\n [Pg 26]\n\nMeantime the Finnish sorcerer had been watching Kalev's house from his\nboat, where he remained in hiding among the rocks a little way from the\nshore, till he saw that the three young heroes had left the house and\nwandered far into the forest, leaving their home unprotected. The\nsorcerer then steered boldly to the shore, hid his boat, and made his\nway by devious and unfrequented paths to the house of Kalev, where he\nclimbed over the low gate into the enclosure, and went to the door, but\nhe looked cautiously round when he reached the threshold. Linda was\njust boiling soup over the fire when he rushed in, and, without saying\na word, seized her by the girdle and dragged her away to his boat. She\nresisted him with tooth and nail, but he muttered spells which unnerved\nher strength and overpowered her feeble efforts, and her prayers and\ncries for help were unheard by men. But she cried to the gods for\nprotection, and the Thunder-God himself came to her aid.\n\n Just as the sorcerer was about to push off from the shore,\n Pikker darted a bolt from the clouds. His chariot thundered\n over the iron bridges of the sky, scattering flames around it,\n and the sorcerer was struck down senseless. Linda fled; but the\n [Pg 27]\n gods spared her further sorrow and outrage by transforming her\n into a rock on Mount Iru.\n\nIt was a long time before the sorcerer woke from his swoon, when he sat\nup, rubbing his eyes, and wondering what had become of his prey; but he\ncould discover no trace of her. The rock is now called \"Iru's\nStepmother;\" and old people relate that when it was once rolled down\ninto the valley, it was found next morning in its original place on the\nmountain.\n\nThe sons of Kalev were now making the best of their way home, sometimes\nalong well-trodden paths or across the plains, sometimes wading through\ndeep sand or mossy bogs, and then through forests of pine, oak, birch,\nand alder. The pine forest was called the King's Wood; the oak forest\nwas sacred to the God Taara; the forest where the slender birch-trees\ngrew was called the Maidens' Wood, and the alder-wood was sacred to\nmourners, and was called the Wood of the Poor Orphans.\n\n As they passed through the pine forest which was called the\n King's Wood, the eldest brother sat down under a tree and began\n to sing a song. He sang till the leaves on the trees shone\n brighter than ever, and the needles on the fir-trees turned to\n [Pg 28]\n silken tassels, and the fir-cones gleamed purple in the\n sunshine. Acorns sprouted on the oaks, tender catkins on the\n birch-trees, and other trees were covered with sweet-scented\n snow-white flowers, which shone in the sunshine and glimmered\n in the moonlight, while the woods re-echoed with his singing,\n and the tones were heard far over the heaths and meadows, and\n the daughter of the king of Kungla wept tears of rapture.\n [35]\n\n The second brother sat down in the birch-wood under a weeping\n birch-tree, and began to sing a song. As he sang, the buds\n unfolded and the flowers bloomed, the golden ears of corn\n swelled, and the apples reddened, the kernels formed in the\n nuts, the cherries ripened, red berries grew on the hills and\n blue berries in the marshes, while black berries grew at the\n edges of the swamps, yellow ones on the mossy hillocks, and the\n elder-trees were covered with rich purple grapes, while the\n woods re-echoed with the song, and its notes spread far over\n the heaths and meadows till the little water-nymphs shed tears\n of rapture.\n [Pg 29]\n\nThe third brother sat down under a magnificent oak in the sacred\noak-forest of Taara, and began to sing a song. As he sang, the wild\nbeasts of the neighbouring woods and heaths gathered round him, and the\ncuckoos, doves, magpies, larks, nightingales, and swallows joined in\nthe concert. The swans, geese, and ducks swam towards the sound, the\nwaves of the sea beat on the rocks, and the crowns of the trees bowed\ndown. The green hills trembled, and the clouds parted to permit the sky\nto listen to the singing, while the forest-king's daughter, the slender\nwood-nymphs, and the yellow-haired water-nymphs wept tears of rapture\nand glowed with longing for the handsome singer.\n\nEvening now approached, and the heroes made the best of their way\nhomewards, the youngest, as before, loading himself with all the game.\nThey looked out anxiously for the smoke of their home and the glow of\nthe kitchen-fire, but they could discover nothing.\n\n They quickened their pace as they crossed the deep sand of the\n heath, but no smoke nor fire nor steam from the kettle could be\n seen. They rushed into the house, but the fire was out and the\n hearth was cold. Again and again they shouted to their\n [Pg 30]\n mother, but there was no answer save the echo. The evening\n became darker and stiller, and the brothers went out to search\n in different directions. The youngest went down to the beach,\n where he found such traces of his mother's presence that he\n concluded that she had been carried off by her disappointed\n suitor, the Finnish sorcerer.\n\n The eldest brother proposed that they should eat their supper\n and go to sleep, hoping that a dream might show them where to\n seek for their mother. The second assented, hoping that Ukko\n would send them a vision; but the youngest was unwilling to put\n off till to-morrow what might be done to-day, and finally\n determined to repair to his father's grave.\n [36]\n\n\n\n From his grave there spoke the father\u2014\n\n \"Who upon the sand is treading,\n\n With his feet the grave disturbing?\n\n In my eyes the sand is running,\n\n On my eyelids grass is pressing.\"\n\n\n\n The youth told his father who he was, and all his trouble, and\n implored him to rise and help him. But his father answered that\n he could not rise, for the rocks lay on his breast, lilies of\n the\n [Pg 31]\n valley on his eyelids, harebells on his eyes, and red flowers\n on his cheeks. But he prayed the wind to show his son the\n right path, and a gentle zephyr to guide him on the way\n pointed out by the stars of heaven. So the young hero returned\n to the sea-shore and followed his mother's footprints till\n they were lost in the sea. He gazed over the sea and shore,\n but could detect no further traces of her, nor was any boat in\n sight. There he sat till it grew quite dark, and the moon and\n stars appeared in the sky; but winds and waves, sea and sky,\n moon and stars, alike were silent, and brought him no tidings\n of his mother.\n\n\n\n [Pg 32]\n\nCANTO IV\n\nTHE ISLAND MAIDEN\n\n When the Kalevide had satisfied himself that no further traces\n of his mother were to be found, he cast himself into the sea\n beneath the stars, and swam northwards manfully towards\n Finland, swimming with his hands, steering with his feet, and\n with his hair floating like a sail. He swam on till past\n midnight without meeting with a resting-place; but at length he\n espied a black speck in the distance, which proved to be a\n small rocky island. The hero discovered a mossy bank on a\n projecting rock, and made his way to the shore, and lay down,\n intending to sleep a little, when he was roused by the voice of\n a maiden singing a love-song. It was very dark and somewhat\n foggy, but he saw the light of a fire at a little distance at\n the foot of an oak-tree, beneath which sat a fair girl with\n brown eyes.\n [37] The hero soon joined\n [Pg 33]\n her, and they talked together for some time, when the maiden\n became alarmed at his familiarities, and cried out. Her mother\n awoke, and thought it was only a bad dream; but her father\n hastened to her aid, armed with a great club. But when he saw\n the terrible giant, he grew as pale as death, and his club\n dropped from his hand.\n\n The maiden could not lift her eyes to her father, but the\n Kalevide asked carelessly if he had seen the Finnish sorcerer\n pass the island in his boat on the previous evening. \"No,\"\n replied the islander, \"I have not seen anything of him for\n weeks; but tell me your name and lineage, for I judge that you\n are of the race of the gods.\" The hero answered him fully; but\n when the maiden heard that he was the son of Kalev and Linda,\n she was seized with terror, and her foot slipping she fell from\n the cliff into the sea.\n [Pg 34]\n\nThe father shrieked and wrung his hands, but the Kalevide plunged into\nthe sea after the maiden, and sought for her for a long time in vain.\nWhen he abandoned the search, he did not venture to return to the\nisland, but after crying out a few words of unavailing regret swam\nagain towards Finland. The father's cry of despair fully roused the\nmother, who sprang up, and ran down to the shore, only to learn that\nher daughter was lost.\n\n Then the mother took a rake with a long copper handle, and the\n father took his net, and with them they sought for their\n daughter's body at the bottom of the sea.\n [38] They did not find their daughter, but they raked up an\n oak-tree, a fir-tree, an eagle's egg, an iron helmet, a fish,\n and a silver dish. They took them all carefully home, and went\n again to seek for their lost child.\n\n Then a song arose from the deep, telling how a maiden went down\n to the sea:\n [39]\n\n\n\n What beheld she in the ocean?\n\n What beneath the sea was shining?\n\n [Pg 35]\n\n From the sea a sword shone golden,\n\n In the waves a spear of silver,\n\n From the sand a copper crossbow.\n\n Then to grasp the sword she hastened,\n\n And to seize the spear of silver,\n\n And to lift the copper crossbow.\n\n\n\n Then there came a man to meet her;\n\n 'Twas an aged man of copper;\n [40]\n\n On his head a helm of copper;\n\n Wearing, too, a shirt of copper;\n\n Round his waist a belt of copper;\n\n On his hands were copper gauntlets;\n\n On his feet were boots of copper;\n\n In his belt were copper buckles,\n\n And the buckles chased with copper;\n\n Copper was his neck and body,\n\n And his face and eyes were copper.\n\n And the copper man demanded:\n\n \"In the sea what seeks the maiden,\n\n Singing thus amid the waters,\n\n She, a dove\n [41] among the fishes?\"\n\n\n\n And the maiden heard and hearkened,\n\n And the little duck made answer:\n\n [Pg 36]\n\n \"To the sea I went to rock me,\n\n And amid the waves to carol;\n\n And I saw the sword that glittered,\n\n And the spear of silver shining,\n\n And the copper crossbow gleaming.\n\n And to grasp the sword I hastened,\n\n And to seize the spear of silver,\n\n And to lift the copper crossbow.\"\n\n\n\n Then the copper man made answer,\n\n With his copper tongue he answered:\n\n \"'Tis the sword of son of Kalev,\n\n And the spear is son of Alev's,\n\n And the crossbow son of Sulev's.\n\n On the bed of ocean guarded,\n\n Here the man of copper keeps them,\n\n Of the golden sword the guardian,\n\n Guardian of the spear of silver,\n\n Guardian of the copper crossbow.\"\n\n\n\n Then the man of copper offered her the weapons if she would\n take him as her husband, but she refused, saying that she was\n the daughter of a landsman, and preferred a husband from the\n village on the land. He laughed scornfully; her foot slipped,\n and she sank into the sea. Her father and mother came to seek\n her, and found only her ornaments scattered on the beach. They\n called her by her name, and implored her to go home with them;\n but she answered that she could not,\n [Pg 37]\n for she was weighed down by the water; and she related to them\n her adventure with the copper man. But she begged her parents\n not to weep for her, for she had a house at the bottom of the\n sea, and a soft resting-place in the ooze.\n\n\n\n \"Do not weep, my dearest mother,\n\n Nor lament, my dearest father.\n\n In the sea is now my dwelling,\n\n On its bed a pleasant chamber,\n\n In the depths a room to rest in,\n\n In the ooze a nest of softness.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n [Pg 38]\n\nCANTO V\n\nTHE KALEVIDE AND THE FINNISH SORCERER\n\nDay was breaking as the dauntless swimmer approached the coast of\nFinland, where his enemy, the sorcerer, had arrived somewhat before\nhim, and had made his boat fast under a projecting rock. The Kalevide\ngazed round without seeing any traces of him, and lay down to sleep;\nbut though the morning was calm and peaceful, his dreams were but of\nbattle and murder.\n\nMeantime the islander and his wife, not being able to find their\ndaughter, returned home weeping, and planted the oak and the fir in the\nfield where their daughter used to swing in the evening, in remembrance\nof her. Then they went to look in the helmet where they had put the\negg; but it was cold and damp, so the mother put the egg in the warm\nsun by day, and nursed it in her bosom at night.\n\n Then they went to look at the trees, and the oak had already\n shot up a hundred fathoms, and the\n [Pg 39]\n fir-tree ten. Next they visited the fish, which prayed for its\n liberty, and they restored it to the sea.\n\n The oak and fir now reached the clouds; and a young eagle was\n hatched from the egg, which the mother tended; but one day it\n escaped and flew away. The oak now scattered the clouds and\n threatened to pierce the sky. Then they sought a sorcerer to\n fell the tree, and the woman took a golden rake on her shoulder\n with a copper handle and silver prongs. She raked up three\n swathes of grass, and in the third she found the eagle which\n she had lately reared from the egg. She took him home, and\n under his wing was a little man, scarcely two spans high,\n holding an axe in his hands.\n [42]\n\n The Kalevide had only intended to take a short nap, but he was\n so weary that he slept all through the day and night, and did\n not awake till sunrise next morning.\n [43] When he awoke, he set off at once\n [Pg 40]\n in search of his mother and the sorcerer into the interior of\n the country. At last he climbed a high mountain, and saw from\n thence an inhabited valley with a brook running through it,\n and the sorcerer's farm at the edge of the wood.\n\nThe son of Kalev rushed down the mountain and through the plain till he\nreached the gate of the enclosure and looked in. The sorcerer was lying\non the grass in the shade of his house. The Kalevide turned towards the\nwood, tore up an oak-tree by the roots, and trimmed it into a club. He\nswung it in his right hand, and strode through the enclosure, the whole\ncountry trembling and the hills and valleys shaking with fear as he\nadvanced.\n\n The sorcerer started from his sleep, and saw Linda's avenger at\n the gate, but he was too unnerved and terrified to attempt to\n hide himself. He hurriedly took a handful of feathers from his\n bosom, and blew them from him with a few magic words, and lo!\n they became an armed host of warriors,\u2014thousands of them, both\n on foot and on horseback.\n [44] They rushed upon the son of Kalev\n [Pg 41]\n like a swarm of gnats or bees; but he laid about him with his\n club as if he was threshing, and beat them down, horse and man\n together, on all sides, like drops of hail or rain. The fight\n was hardly begun when it was over, and the hero waded\n chest-deep in blood. The sorcerer, whose magic troops had\n never failed him before, was now at his wit's end, and prayed\n for mercy, giving a long account of how he had endeavoured to\n carry off Linda, and had been struck down by the enraged\n Thunder-God. But the Kalevide paid no attention to his speech,\n and, after a few angry words, he smashed his head with his\n club. Then he rushed through the house from room to room in\n search of his mother, breaking open every door and lock which\n opposed him, while the noise resounded far over the country.\n But he found not his mother, and regretted that he had killed\n the sorcerer, who might have helped him. At last, wearied out\n with his own violence, he threw himself on a couch, and wept\n himself to sleep. He had a vision of his mother in her youth\n and beauty, swinging with her companions, and awoke, convinced\n that she was really dead.\n\n\n\n [Pg 42]\n\nCANTO VI\n\nTHE KALEVIDE AND THE SWORD-SMITHS\n\n The Kalevide mourned two days for his mother, but on the third\n day he began to get over his grief, and determined, before\n returning home, to visit a famous smith of Finland, and to\n provide himself with a good sword. So he set off in another\n direction, and lost himself in the woods, and had to pass the\n night on the wet grass under a fir-tree, which he did not at\n all relish. Next morning he started off again early, and a\n thrush sang to him, and directed him to turn to the west. He\n sprang forward with renewed energy and soon found himself in\n the open country, where he encountered an old woman,\n [45] who gave him minute instructions for finding his way to\n the smithy, which was three days' journey off. When at length\n he reached the smithy, he found\n [Pg 43]\n the old smith and his three sons hard at work forging swords.\n\nThe hero saluted the smith, who replied to him courteously, and at once\nacceded to his request to try the swords before purchasing one. At a\nsign from the smith, one of the sons went out and fetched an armful of\nswords. The Kalevide picked out the longest, and bent it into a hoop,\nwhen it straightened itself at once. He then whirled it round his head,\nand struck at the massive rock which stood in the smithy with all his\nmight. The sparks flew from the stone and the blade shivered to pieces,\nwhile the old smith looked on and swore.\n\n\"Who mixes up children's toys with weapons for men?\" said the Kalevide\nscornfully, and caught up a second and third sword, which he shivered\nin the same way before the smith could interfere. \"Stop, stop,\" cried\nthe smith at last, \"don't break any more swords to show off your\nstrength;\" and he called to his sons to bring some swords of the best\nquality they had.\n\n The youths brought in an armful of the very best, and the\n Kalevide chose a huge sword, which he brandished like a reed in\n his right hand, and\n [Pg 44]\n\n then brought down on the anvil. The sword cut deep into the\n iron, and the blade did not fly, but the sharp edge was\n somewhat blunted.\n\nThen the smith was well pleased, and said that he had one sword in\nstore worthy of the strength of the hero, if he was rich enough to buy\nit; for, between friends, the price was nine strong carthorses, four\npairs of good packhorses, twenty good milch kine, ten pairs of good\nyoke oxen, fifty well-fed calves, a hundred tons of the best wheat, two\nboatsful of barley, and a large shipload of rye, a thousand old\ndollars, a hundred pairs of bracelets, two hundred gold coins, a lapful\nof silver brooches, the third of a kingdom, and the dowries of three\nmaidens.\n\n Then from a little iron cupboard they fetched a sword which had\n not its equal in the world, and on which the smith and his sons\n had laboured for seven long years without intermission. It was\n wrought of seven different kinds of Swedish iron with the aid\n of seven powerful charms, and was tempered in seven different\n waters, from those of the sea and Lake Peipus to rain-water. It\n had been bespoken by Kalev himself, but he had not lived till\n the work was completed.\n [Pg 45]\n\nThe son of Kalev received the huge blade from the hands of the smith\nwith reverence, and whirled it round like a fiery wheel, and it\nwhistled through the air like the tempest that breaks oaks and unroofs\nhouses. Then he turned and brought down the keen edge like a flash of\nlightning on the great anvil, and clove it to the ground without the\nsword receiving the slightest injury.\n\nThen the hero joyfully expressed his thanks to the smith for forging\nsuch a splendid sword, and promised to bring him the full price\ndemanded upon his return to Esthonia. But the smith said he would\nrather go and fetch the value of the sword himself.\n\nAnd now a great drinking-bout was prepared in honour of the sword and\nits owner, which lasted for seven days. Beer and mead flowed in\nabundance, and the guests drank till they lost all restraint, shouting\nand laughing, and throwing their caps about, and rolling on the grass.\n\n The Kalevide had lost his senses like the rest, and told the\n whole story of his adventure on the island and the drowning of\n the maiden. Upon this, the eldest son of the smith, his\n father's pride and joy, sprang forward, denouncing him for his\n [Pg 46]\n aspersions on the maiden's honour. The Kalevide defied him,\n maintaining the truth of the story, and from words they soon\n came to blows; and, before any one could comprehend what was\n going on or interfere, the Kalevide drew the sword from its\n sheath and struck off the head of his adversary before the\n face of his father, mother, and brothers, the hero thus\n loading himself with a second great crime.\n\n The youth's father shrieked with horror and his mother fell\n fainting to the ground; the smith then cried out to the\n Kalevide that he had murdered the support of his old age, and\n had stained the innocence and honour of his new sword for ever.\n Then he called to his sons to fetch the hammers from the smithy\n and break the bones of the murderer. But the drunken giant\n advanced against them with his sword, defying them to the\n combat; and the smith, recognising the hopelessness of any\n attempt against him, cried to his sons to let him pass and\n leave vengeance to the gods, cursing him like a mad dog, and\n calling on the sword itself to avenge the crime. But the\n Kalevide seemed to hear nothing, and staggered away from the\n house through the wood along the road till he\n [Pg 47]\n came to a high waterfall. He followed the course of the stream\n some distance till he found a resting-place, where he laid\n down, and snored till the whole neighbourhood shook, and\n people asked in fear whether enemies had invaded the land and\n a battle was in progress.\n\n The oak which the islander had planted sprang up, first as a\n small tree, but it grew so rapidly that it reached the clouds,\n and almost touched the sun. The sun and moon were hidden, the\n windows darkened, and all the country around made dismal by the\n shadow of its branches. The islander sought far and near for\n some one to fell the tree, for whole cities and fleets might\n have been built of its wood. Proclamation was made everywhere\n for some one to fell the tree, but no one dared to attempt it,\n and he returned home, grumbling to his wife at the failure of\n his long and fruitless journey. Then the old woman led the way\n to the room where the eagle and the dwarf were still remaining,\n and told her husband how she had found the dwarf, who was no\n larger than Kalev's thumb, under the wing of the eagle. The\n islander asked the dwarf if he would fell the oak-tree, and he\n consented at once, on condition that\n [Pg 48]\n he should be released from his captivity; he was also given a\n dish of pure gold.\n\nThe dwarf went out and took a good look at the oak-tree, and then he\nhimself began to grow, first by ells, and then by fathoms. Having thus\nbecome a giant, he began to hew at the tree, and he hewed at it for\nthree days, till it fell, covering half the island and half the sea\nwith its branches. The trunk was used to make a great bridge, with two\narms, reaching from the island to Finland on the one side, and to\nEsthonia on the other. Large ships were built of the summit,\nmerchant-vessels from the trunk, towns from the roots, rowing-boats\nfrom the branches, and children's boats from the chips. What remained\nwas used to make shelters for weak old men, sick widows, and orphan\nchildren, and the last branches left were used to build a little room\nin which the minstrel could sing his songs. Strangers who came now and\nthen across the bridge stopped before the minstrel's hut to ask the\nname of the city with the magnificent palace; and the minstrel replied\nthat there was nothing there but his poor hut, and all the splendour\nthey beheld was the light of his songs reflected from heaven.\n\n\n\n [Pg 49]\n\nCANTO VII\n\nTHE RETURN OF THE KALEVIDE\n\nThe Kalevide slept till the following morning, and when at length he\nawoke he tried in vain to recollect the events of the day before. He\ncould not remember whether he had been in Finland or on the island, or\nwhether he had been engaged in battle. He had no remembrance of having\nslain the smith's son; but he got up half-dazed, and walked on without\nstopping till he reached the seashore on the third day afterwards. Here\nhe found the sorcerer's boat; so he stepped into it, hoisted sail, and\nset off homewards.\n\n\n\n Kalev's offspring was not weary,\n\n For his back was like an oak-tree,\n\n And his shoulders gnarled and knotted,\n\n And his arms like trunks of oak-trees,\n\n And like elm-trees were his elbows,\n\n And his fingers spread like branches,\n\n And his finger-nails like boxwood,\n\n And his loins like hardened iron.\n\n\n\n [Pg 50]\n The Kalevide was now in high spirits, and began to sing a song,\n in which he pictured himself as going on a voyage, and meeting\n three shiploads of enchantresses, old and young, whose\n blandishments he resisted. But as he approached the shores of\n Esthonia, the fresh sea-breeze dispelled the mists that still\n clouded his memory, and the blood-stained sword and the\n splashes of blood on his clothes bore witness of the murder he\n had committed.\n\n About midnight he approached the small island where the maiden\n had fallen into the sea, and the whole sad scene arose again\n before his imagination. And now he could hear the maiden\n singing a sad song beneath the waves, lamenting her sad fate,\n and yet more the evil lot of her brother, who had slain the son\n of his father's old friend.\n [46] The blood from the sword reddened the cheeks of the\n maiden, and a long and terrible penance lay before her brother.\n\n For a while the hero sat lost in thought, bitterly lamenting\n the past; but presently he roused himself, and proceeded on his\n voyage, singing a lamentation for his mother beginning:\n [Pg 51]\n\n\n\n Where upgrows the weeping alder,\n\n And the aspen of confusion,\n\n And the pine-tree of distraction,\n\n And the deep remorse of birch-tree?\n\n Where I sorrow, springs the alder;\n\n Where I tremble, sprouts the aspen;\n\n Where I weep, the pine is verdant;\n\n Where I suffer, sighs the birch-tree.\n\n\n\nNext morning the Kalevide reached the shore, made fast the boat, and\nwent homewards; but as he passed Mount Iru, where the form of his\nmother stood, his steps were arrested by the sweet singing of her\nunseen spirit in the wind. She sang how the young eagle had soared from\nthe nest in youthful innocence, and had returned stained with crime. He\nknew now that his mother was dead, and realised more fully the two\ncrimes which weighed upon his soul\u2014the one committed thoughtlessly and\nwithout evil intent, and the other without his knowledge, when he was\nnot master of himself. He hastened on, and when he reached home his\nbrothers, who had long mourned him as dead, received him with open\narms.\n\n In the evening the three brothers sat together and related\n their adventures. The first sang how he had wandered in search\n of his mother over vast\n [Pg 52]\n regions, and through a great part of Courland, Poland, Russia,\n Germany, and Norway, and had met on his wanderings maidens of\n tin, copper, silver, and gold. But only the golden daughter of\n the Gold King could speak, and she directed him along a path\n which would lead him to a beautiful maiden who could reply to\n his question. He hurried on a long way, and at last met a\n rosy-cheeked maiden of flesh and bone, who replied to his\n questions that she had seen no traces of his mother, and the\n hawk must have flown away with her. But she invited him to her\n village, where he would find plenty of rich and beautiful\n maidens. He answered that he had not come to choose a wife,\n but to seek his mother.\n\nThen the second brother sang how he also had wandered a long way, but\nat last reached a cottage where he found an old man and woman, whom he\nsaluted and asked for tidings. They made no reply, and only the cat\nmewed in answer.\n\n He went on farther, and met a wolf; but when he asked if he had\n seen his mother, he only opened his mouth to grin at him. Next\n he met the bear, who only growled, but finally the cuckoo\n [47] directed\n [Pg 53]\n him through a wood and across a green meadow to some maidens\n who would give him information. When he reached the spot, he\n found four beautiful maidens in elegant attire, who told him\n that they had been wandering about the woods and meadows every\n day, but had seen nothing of his mother, and they thought she\n must have flown away. They recommended him to seek a wife; but\n he answered that a young wife could not fill the place of his\n dear lost mother.\n\nThen the youngest brother related his adventures; but he said nothing\nabout the fatal brawl at the smith's feast, nor of the sad songs of the\nisland-maiden and of the spirit of his mother.\n\nThen the eldest brother remarked that they knew not what had become of\ntheir mother, but their parents were no more, and they must shift for\nthemselves, so he proposed a trial to decide which of the three should\nrule as king in the land. The second brother agreed, and the third\nproposed that the trial should take place next day, and be decided\naccording to the will of Taara.\n\n In the evening, before twilight had quite given way to night,\n the youngest son took his handkerchief, which was wet with\n tears, and climbed up\n [Pg 54]\n his father's cairn. And his father asked from below:\n\n\n\n \"Who disturbs the sandy hillock,\n\n With his feet the grave disturbing,\n\n Stamping with his heels the gravel,\n\n And the gravestone thus disturbing?\"\n\n\n\nThe hero besought his father to rise up and stroke his hair and speak\nto him; but his father answered that he had long lain in his grave; his\nbones were decayed, and the grass and moss grew over him, and he could\nnot rise. Let the wind and the sun caress his son. The son answered\nthat the wind only blew sometimes, and the sun only shone by day, but\nTaara lives for ever. And the father told him not to weep or grieve,\nfor the spirit of his dead father should follow him throughout his\nlife, and that the good gods would protect him even through the desert\nwastes of the waters of the ocean; and he also counselled him to do his\nbest to atone for every fault and error.\n\n\n\n [Pg 55]\n\nCANTO VIII\n\nTHE CONTEST AND PARTING OF THE BROTHERS\n\n On the following morning the three sons of Kalev set out before\n sunrise towards the south; but they rested under the trees and\n took some refreshment during the heat of the day. In the\n evening they passed a house which was lighted up as if for\n company. The father and mother stood at the door, and invited\n them to choose brides from among their rich and beautiful\n daughters. The eldest brother answered that they were not come\n to woo brides, and had no thought of marriage; but the second\n brother said he should like the girls to come out to swing with\n them; and they were forthwith summoned. Then the youngest\n brother said he hoped the young ladies would not distress\n themselves, but really he and his brothers had no idea of\n marrying at present, and they must beg to be excused.\n [Pg 56]\n\n\n Then they continued their journey southwards, and on the third\n day they reached a small lake with steep banks.\n [48] Water-birds were sporting in the lake, and on the opposite\n shore they saw the holy forest of Taara shining in the sunset.\n \"Here is the place where our lot must be decided,\" said the\n eldest brother; and each selected a stone for the trial of\n strength. It was arranged that whoever should cast his stone\n across the lake to the firm ground opposite should be adjudged\n his father's heir, and the other two should wander forth to\n seek their fortunes in other lands.\n\nThe eldest brother, in all friendliness, claimed his right to the first\ntrial, and cast his stone. It flew from his hand with the speed of a\nbird or of the tempest, but suddenly changed its direction, and plunged\ninto the middle of the lake. The water foamed up over it, and entirely\nconcealed it from sight.\n\n The second brother then seized his stone, and sent it whistling\n through the air like an arrow. It rose up till it was nearly\n lost to sight, and then turned and fell on the shore close to\n the water, where it sank for half its bulk into the\n [Pg 57]\n mud. Then came the turn of the third, who, though the\n youngest, was much taller and stronger than his brothers.\n\nThe youngest brother made some sad reflections on his posthumous birth,\nand on the course of his childhood, and then cast forth his rock like a\nbird, or like a ship in a storm. It flew up far and high, but not up to\nthe clouds, like that cast by his brother, and afterwards made great\nducks and drakes across the whole lake, reaching at last the firm\nground beyond.\n\n \"Don't let us wait here,\" said the eldest brother, \"but let us\n go and look for the stones, and decide our competition.\" As the\n nearest way to the opposite shore was through the lake, they\n waded straight across it, and at the deepest place the water\n reached a little above their knees. The stone cast by the\n eldest brother had disappeared entirely in the water, and no\n trace of it could be found; but that thrown by the second was\n found on the shore half sunken in the mud. Only the stone\n thrown by the youngest brother, easily recognisable by its\n marks, was found on firm ground, lying on the grass at some\n little distance beyond the lake. Then the eldest brother\n declared\n [Pg 58]\n that the gods had plainly assigned the kingdom to the\n youngest, and that the others must now bathe him and adorn him\n as king.\n [49] After this the three brothers took an affectionate leave\n of each other, and the two elder ones wandered cheerfully away.\n The youngest sat on the rock sadly reflecting on the lost joys\n of youth, and how he must now depend on his own unaided\n efforts. At length he threw a silver coin into the water as an\n offering to the gods, an old custom now forgotten.\n\nIt was the duty of the new king both to plough the country and to\ndefend it, and he therefore set to work with his sword by his side.\nEarly and late he ploughed, stocking the country with corn, grass,\ntrees, and berries.\n\n One hot noonday, seeing his white horse\n [50] nearly exhausted, he unyoked him from the plough, hobbled\n him, and left him to graze, while he\n [Pg 59]\n\n himself lay down in the grass and fell asleep. His head rested\n on the top of a hill, and his body and legs spread far over the\n plain below. The sweat ran from his forehead and sank into the\n earth, whence arose a healing and strengthening spring of\n wonderful virtues. Those who taste the water of this spring are\n greatly strengthened; weak children grow strong, the sick grow\n healthy; the water heals sore eyes, and even blindness; the\n weary are refreshed, and the maidens who taste it have rosy\n cheeks for their whole lifetime.\n\n While the Kalevide lay asleep, he dreamed that he saw his good\n horse torn to pieces by wolves. And truly the horse had strayed\n away to some distance, when a host of wild animals, wolves,\n bears, and foxes, emerged from the forest. As the horse's feet\n were hobbled, he could not escape, and was soon overtaken. He\n defended himself as well as he could with hoofs and head, and\n killed many of the beasts; but he was finally overpowered by\n their ever-increasing numbers, and fell. Where he sank the\n ground is hollow, and a number of little hills represent the\n wolves killed in the struggle. The horse's blood formed a red\n lake, his liver a mountain, his entrails a\n [Pg 60]\n marsh, his bones hills, his hair rushes, his mane bulrushes,\n and his tail hazel-bushes.\n [51]\n\n\n\n [Pg 61]\n\nCANTO IX\n\nRUMOURS OF WAR\n\n When the Kalevide awoke, he followed the traces of his horse\n till he found the remains; and he secured the skin as a relic,\n cursing the wolves, and then drew his sword, and rushed into\n the wood in pursuit of them, breaking down the trees and bushes\n in his way, and destroying all the wild beasts he met with,\n while those who could fled to distant swamps and thickets. He\n would have utterly exterminated all the wolves and bears, if\n the increasing darkness of night had not compelled him at\n length to desist from further pursuit. He retired to the open\n country, and being wearied out, lay down to sleep on the skin\n of the horse. But he had scarcely closed his eyes before a\n messenger arrived from the elders of Esthonia, announcing that\n war had broken out, and that a hostile army was ravaging the\n country.\n [Pg 62]\n\nThe Kalevide heard the long and woful story to an end, and then threw\nhimself down again to sleep off his weariness, when another messenger\narrived, whom he sharply upbraided for disturbing him.\n\nThe second messenger was a venerable old man with a white beard. He\nsaluted the king, and apologised for disturbing him, but reminded him\nthat when he was young the birds had sung to him that a ruler could\nknow no rest:\n\n\n\n Heavy cares oppress the monarch,\n\n And a weighty load the ruler;\n\n Heavier yet a hero's burden:\n\n Thousand duties wait the strongest;\n\n More await the Kalevide!\n\n\n\n He then spoke encouragingly to the king, assuring him that much\n would result from all his labours for the good of his people.\n The Kalevide answered that he would not shun toil and\n weariness, and would do his best. The old man assured him that\n nothing could prosper without the aid of the gods; and now the\n Kalevide recognised that Ukko himself spoke with him. Then the\n god exhorted him not to quarrel with destiny, and warned him to\n beware of his sword, for murder\n [Pg 63]\n could only be atoned for by murder, and he who had murdered an\n innocent man was never secure.\n\nHis voice died away in the wind, and the Kalevide sank into slumber\ntill dawn; and when he awoke he could only recall vague fragments of\nthe long discourse he had heard in his vision. He then gave the\nEsthonian messenger directions for the conduct of the war, and\nespecially the defence of the coasts, asking to be particularly\ninformed if the war should spread farther and the need grow greater,\nand then he himself would come at once; but he was compelled to rest a\nlittle from his fatigues before he could take part in the war in\nperson.\n\n Here is inserted the grand ballad of the Herald of War, from\n Neus, _Ehstnische Volkslieder_, p. 305. It is out of place in\n the _Kalevipoeg_, but will be included in a later section of\n our work.\n\n\n\n [Pg 64]\n\nCANTO X\n\nTHE HEROES AND THE WATER-DEMON\n\n As the Kalevide was wandering through Esthonia, he arrived one\n day at the swamp of Kikerp\u00e4r\u00e4. Two demon brothers had settled\n themselves in the swamp, and were fighting for its possession,\n and when the hero appeared they referred their dispute to him.\n As he could not stay to attend to the matter himself, he\n requested his friend, the son of Alev, who was with him, to\n measure out the swamp fairly. So the Alevide began to drive\n piles into the bed of the river at a place called Mustapall, to\n fasten his measuring lines to, when the wretched old\n water-demon\n [52] raised his head from the river, and asked what he was\n doing. The hero replied that he was damming up the river; but\n the demon, who had lived under the water for many years, and\n [Pg 65]\n did not like to be turned out of his comfortable home, offered\n him a reward to desist. So the Alevide asked him to fill his\n old felt hat for him with bright silver coins; which he\n promised to do on the morrow, the hero declaring that he would\n hold him to his bargain in the words of the proverb:\n [53]\n\n\n\n By the horns the ox we grapple,\n\n By his word the man is fastened.\n\n\n\nThen the demon dived back into the water, while the son of Alev, who\nwas a cousin of the Kalevide, got a friend to help him to dig a hole in\nthe ground during the night, a fathom in depth and broad at the bottom,\nbut with an opening at the top just wide enough for the top of the hat\nto fit into; but the hat was cut at the sides, so that the heavy money\nshould fall through into the pit.\n\n Before daybreak the stupid demon brought a lapful of roubles,\n [54] which he poured into the hat. He brought a second and a\n third, and afterwards brought money by the hogshead, but the\n hat still remained empty. Presently his coffers, purses, and\n [Pg 66]\n pockets were all exhausted. He then begged for time; but the\n Alevide declared that if he did not keep his promise, and fill\n his hat with bright silver coins, he should begin his work\n again.\n\nThen the demon thought of appealing to his mother to help him; but\nfirst he asked the Alevide to come with him to receive his money\nhimself, hoping to circumvent him. But the hero knew that it was only a\ntrick to get him away from the hat, so he refused to budge, but sent\nthe Kalevide's cupbearer, the smallest of the company, to help to carry\nthe money.\n\n The boy was ready at once; but his heart failed him as the\n demon preceded him to the under-world,\n [55] leading him by paths that no living man had ever trodden\n before, and through an utterly unknown country, where the sun\n and moon never shone, and where the only light came from the\n torches that flared on both sides of their way. When they\n reached the palace of the demon, his sons came to the door, and\n invited the guest to take his place at the table, which was\n loaded with gold and silver plate, and eat and drink. But the\n [Pg 67]\n boy could touch nothing from terror, for sparks of fire flew\n from the dishes and viands, and blue flames played over the\n beakers.\n\n Then the water-demons began to titter, and to whisper to each\n other in their own language, which sounded just like Lettish,\n [56] and which their guest could not understand. The boy began\n to reproach his avaricious friend in his thoughts for having\n thus sent him to P\u00f5rgu without thinking of what might happen to\n him; but presently the younger demons seized upon him, and\n began to toss him from one to another like a ball, sometimes\n from one side of the room to the other, and sometimes up to the\n ceiling.\n\n The boy begged them to let him rest a little, and presently\n they allowed him to do so. Then he drew a cord from his pocket,\n and pretended to measure the length and breadth of the room.\n Presently he came to the door, and seized the opportunity to\n bolt, and was fortunate enough to make his way back to\n daylight, where the demon had no more power to interfere with\n him.\n [Pg 68]\n\n\n As he passed the gates, the guards whispered to him to turn to\n the right to avoid the many snares in his path. He did not\n escape without a good fright; for only strong men can go where\n they please, like the birds, while the weak man is exposed to a\n thousand terrors. On the boy's way he met a small bitch\n [57] accompanied by two puppies; and this was the mother of the\n demons, just returning from the bath-house. The boy now\n remembered the warning he had received, and turned aside to the\n right, and the three ran past without noticing him.\n\n When the boy reached the place where he had left the Alevide,\n he found that both his friend and the money had disappeared.\n Presently the water-demon came up, and asked him jestingly\n whether he had burnt himself, or whether he had been stung by a\n gadfly, that he ran away like that, instead of helping him to\n carry the heavy money-bags. He then proposed that they should\n look for a good place where they might wrestle. He thought he\n could easily overcome the boy by strength, if not by craft, and\n the boy consented.\n [Pg 69]\n\nBefore they had gone far, they met the sons of Kalev and Alev, who had\nhidden their treasure, walking arm-in-arm. The Kalevide asked, \"Whence\ndid you bring that Lettish comrade, and to what queer race does he\nbelong?\" His cousin answered that he was the same who had promised to\nfill his hat with silver, and hadn't kept his word. Then the boy said\nthat they were going to engage in a contest, and the Kalevide answered,\n\"You must grow a little taller, my lad, before you engage in a serious\nstruggle, for you are only a child at present.\"\n\nSo the Kalevide, laughing, stuck the boy in his trouser-pocket to grow,\nand took over the challenge himself, and they all went to a mountain\nwhere the contest was to take place; and first they began with hurling\nstones. The demon took up a rock, which he balanced for an hour in his\nclumsy fingers, and at last swung it round more than ten times before\nhe loosed it. The stone fell ten paces from the sandy shore of Lake\nVirts, and it lies there now, conspicuous by its size, for it is at\nleast as big as a bath-house.\n\n Then the Kalevide took up a rock in his hand, and threw it\n without more ado. They heard it rushing through the air for a\n long time, and at\n [Pg 70]\n last it fell on the shore of Lake Peipus, and any one who\n visits the lake can see it there. Then they engaged in a\n wrestling match, and the Kalevide soon lifted the demon from\n his feet and flung him into the air. When he came to the\n ground, he rolled seven versts, and then fell down a little\n hill among the bushes, where he lay stunned for seven days,\n hardly able to open his eyes or lift his head, or even to move\n a limb.\n\n At this the Kalevide and his companions laughed till the hills\n shook, and the cup-bearer loudest of all. Then the Alevide told\n his story; but when he came to mention the proverb, it reminded\n the son of Kalev that he had not yet paid the debt which he\n owed to the smith in Finland for his sword. So the Kalevide\n asked his cousin to take the goods across to Finland, and he\n himself laid down to rest under a tree, and pondered on how he\n could provide for the safety of the people during the war. He\n decided to improve and beautify the towns as well as to fortify\n them, and to make an excursion to survey the country while his\n cousin was away in Finland. Presently the Kalevide felt in his\n pocket, and pulled out the boy, with whom he began to jest; but\n soon their conversation became more serious,\n [Pg 71]\n and the Kalevide ordered him to wait for the expected\n messengers, while he himself should proceed to Lake Peipus,\n where he had important business.\n\n As the Kalevide proceeded on his journey, he passed a well in a\n lonely place, where the Air-Maiden,\n [58] the fair daughter of the Thunder-God, sat bewailing the\n loss of her ring, which had dropped into it.\n [59] When the hero saw the blue-eyed, golden-haired maiden in\n tears, he asked the cause of her trouble, and when he heard it\n he plunged into the well to look for the ring. A party of young\n sorcerers quickly gathered round, thinking that the mouse was\n in the trap, and they flung a great millstone after him. But he\n searched in the mud and water for some time, and presently\n sprang out of the water with the millstone on his finger, which\n he offered to the maiden, saying that he had not been able to\n find anything else in the mud, and that she would not need a\n larger finger-ring.\n\n\n\n [Pg 72]\n\nCANTO XI\n\nTHE LOSS OF THE SWORD\n\nNext morning the Kalevide arose at dawn, and hurried on towards Lake\nPeipus, clearing and levelling the country as he went. When he arrived\nat the lake, there was no boat to be seen; so he girded himself, and\nplunged into it at a point where it was too wide to see the opposite\nshore, while the fish fled before him as he waded through.\n\n On the shore opposite, a hideous sorcerer was hiding in the\n bushes. He was as bristly as a wild boar, with wide mouth and\n small oblique eyes.\n [60] He was well skilled in all magic; he could make the wind\n blow from any quarter, could\n [Pg 73]\n remove ill from one man to cast it on another, and could cause\n quarrels between the best friends. He had evil demons at his\n beck and call; but for all that, he could cure all hurts and\n diseases when he pleased. But to-day he was in a bad humour,\n and blew a tremendous storm against the son of Kalev.\n Presently he saw a human form struggling through the waters,\n which reached to his girdle. Even at four or five miles'\n distance the figure seemed as large as a man, and he appeared\n to be heavily laden. Sometimes the water hid him from view,\n but as he came nearer the form became ever huger and more\n terrible.\n\n The Kalevide laughed at the raging storm, and said to the lake,\n \"You nasty little puddle, you're wetting my girdle.\" He had\n taken scarcely an hour in his passage, when he reached the firm\n ground, carrying a load of planks which a horse or a pair of\n oxen could hardly have dragged along. He had brought them from\n Pleskau to build a refuge for his people; over twenty dozen\n planks, three inches thick, an ell broad, and ten yards long.\n He drew his sword to trim the timber, and the sorcerer\n determined to reward himself for his late exertions in raising\n the tem\n [Pg 74]\n pest by possessing himself of it; but this was not the time for\n action, and he slunk deeper into the shades of the forest.\n\nThe Kalevide was tired with his journey, and found a level place some\nlittle distance from the shore, so he brought a lapful of shingle from\nthe beach and a quantity of sand, and made himself a comfortable bed in\na dry spot. Then he refreshed himself with bread and milk from his\nwallet, loosed his girdle, laid his sword beside him, and soon fell\nasleep, with his head to the west and his feet to the east, that the\nfirst rays of the morning sun might shine in his eyes and awaken him.\nPresently the ground shook, and the woods re-echoed, and the billows of\nthe lake rose in answer to his snoring, which sounded like the\nThunder-God driving three-in-hand through the clouds.\n\n The sorcerer now stole from his hiding-place, and advanced\n towards the sleeping giant with catlike steps; but he tried in\n vain to steal the good sword from its master's side by his\n incantations. Neither commands nor supplications would avail,\n and he was forced to use stronger spells. So he scattered\n rowan-leaves, thyme, fern, and other magic herbs over the\n sword, and at last it inclined\n [Pg 75]\n towards the sorcerer, and he took it in his arms. The huge\n weapon weighed him to the ground, and he was only able to\n struggle along painfully under its weight, step by step, with\n the sweat pouring from his face; but still he would not\n relinquish his booty. Presently he came to the brook K\u00e4p\u00e4, and\n jumped over it; but the sword slipped from his arm, and sank\n in the mud in the deepest place. He renewed his incantations,\n but was now quite unable to repossess himself of the sword,\n and on the approach of dawn he fled into the forest, to hide\n from the vengeance of its owner.\n\nWhen the Kalevide awoke, he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and felt\nfor his sword, but it had disappeared. He could see its traces where it\nhad been dragged away, and he followed on its track, calling to the\nsword as to a brother, and beseeching it to answer him, and not to let\nhim search in vain. But there was no reply, and then he tried a song,\nbut still there was no reply, and he searched everywhere for the sword,\ntill at last he saw it shining at the bottom of the water.\n\n Then the Kalevide asked the sword who had stolen it and sunk it\n in the water, and the sword\n [Pg 76]\n sang in reply how the sorcerer had carried it off, and how it\n had slipped from his grasp into the water, into the embraces\n of the fairest of the water-nymphs. The Kalevide answered,\n \"Does my sword prefer to lie in the arms of a water-nymph\n rather than to feel the grasp of a hero in battle?\" The sword\n reminded the Kalevide of the terrible murder in Finland, which\n it declared it could never forget, and the hero abandoned the\n weapon to its sweet repose, saying that he relied on his own\n strength to overcome his enemies in battle. But he laid his\n commands on the sword that if any heroes of his race,\n Kalevides, Alevides, or Sulevides, should come to the spot,\n then the sword should address them in words. If a great singer\n came, the sword was to sing to him; if a hero as brave and as\n strong as the Kalevide himself should come to the brook, then\n the sword was to rise from its bed and join him; but if the\n man himself who had brought the sword there should come that\n way, then the sword was to cut off both his feet.\n\nBy this he meant the sorcerer, but he expressed himself ambiguously.\n\n The son of Kalev then left the brook, took the boards on his\n back, and set out for home. On his\n [Pg 77]\n journey he passed through a pine forest which belonged to men,\n a leafy forest sacred to women, and a hazel thicket, the last\n refuge of the maidens, the orphans, and the sick. Here his\n foot touched something soft, which he found to be a man of\n about the stature of our present race, who was quaking with\n fear and besought his protection. The Kalevide took him up\n kindly by the hair, and dropped him into his wallet, where he\n fell as down a deep precipice, till he came to a stop among\n the bread and herrings at the bottom. Then the hero asked him\n what had frightened him so much.\n\n Up from the bottom of the bag came a voice like the croaking of\n a frog from the bottom of a deep well, and this was the man's\n story:\u2014\"Yesterday evening I was wandering on the shores of Lake\n Peipus, and lost my way. Presently I came to a footpath which\n led me to a poor hut, where I thought to find a night's\n lodging. I came into a great empty room, where an old woman was\n standing by the hearth preparing supper. She was cooking half a\n pig in a great pot with peas, and kindly gave me a cupful, but\n told me to eat my supper quick. As soon as I had finished, she\n told me to hide among the straw which she had laid under the\n table, and\n [Pg 78]\n to lie as still as a mouse, for if I only moved a finger after\n her sons returned, they would be sure to kill me. I thanked\n the good old woman, and crept into the straw, where three men\n could easily have hidden themselves; and I hoped to sleep. But\n presently I heard steps approaching which shook the house; and\n whether or not it was my fear that makes me think so, I fancy,\n noble scion of the Kalevides, that even your heavy tread never\n made such a noise.\n\n\"The two brothers rushed into the room like wild bears, and one of them\nsniffed about the room and said, 'Mother, who has been here? I smell\nman's sweat.' 'Nobody has even been near the house to-day, my son,'\nanswered the old woman. 'If you smell anything, you must have brought\nthe smell with you from out of doors.'\n\n\"Then she gave them their supper, and they ate as much as would have\nsatisfied fifty of our race, and left something over. Then they laid\nthemselves down on the hard floor, one on each side the table, while\nthe old woman crept cautiously up the ladder to her couch above the\nstove.\n\n \"Poor wretch that I am! if I had ever expected to find myself\n in such a position, I would rather have drowned myself in the\n lake or thrown myself\n [Pg 79]\n over a precipice. I could not sleep a wink all night, and when\n the old woman opened the door in the morning I crept behind\n her, and fled through two woods till I reached the third,\n where you found me.\"\n\nThis was the poor man's story, and the Kalevide laughed heartily at the\nrecital.\n\n\n\n [Pg 80]\n\nCANTO XII\n\nTHE FIGHT WITH THE SORCERER'S SONS\n\n As the Kalevide proceeded on his way, carrying his heavy load\n of planks, the sorcerer's three sons rushed upon him from an\n ambush close to a high waterfall which foams over steep rocks.\n He had been walking quietly along, and the man in his wallet\n had fallen comfortably asleep. The villains sprang upon the\n hero from behind, armed with slender young birch-trees and dry\n pine-trunks. Two of them carried long whips, the handle formed\n of strong beech-wood, and the lash armed with a great\n millstone, with which they belaboured the hero unmercifully. He\n had just armed himself with a huge club, in case he should be\n assaulted in passing through the wood. It was a great\n pine-trunk from which he had broken the crown. It was\n five-and-thirty ells long, and two feet thick at the thick end,\n and with this he could defend himself as with a sword.\n [Pg 81]\n\n\n The Kalevide tried at first to remonstrate with his assailants,\n but as they continued to annoy him he rushed upon them with his\n club. The pine club was soon splintered, the fragments flying\n in all directions, and then the Kalevide defended himself with\n the planks which he was carrying, and at every blow he smashed\n one on the backs of his enemies. Presently his load was nearly\n exhausted, and the sorcerer's sons, hoping now for an easy\n victory, pressed him more hardly, when suddenly he heard a\n little voice crying from the bushes, \"Dear son of Kalev, strike\n them with the edges!\"\n [61] The hero at once took the hint, and, instead of striking\n with the flat side of the planks, began to strike with the\n sharp edges, and his enemies soon fled before him, howling like\n wolves. If the savages had not been thoroughly hardened by long\n exposure to heat and cold by day and night, he would have left\n them dead on the field.\n\n The Kalevide sat down to rest after the battle, and called to\n his dear brother, who had aided him, to show himself. But his\n friend answered\n [Pg 82]\n\n that he could not venture out into the open, for he was only a\n poor naked little hedgehog. So the hero called to him to come,\n and he would clothe him. The hedgehog crept out of his warm\n nest, naked and shivering, and the hero cut a piece from the\n lining of his own coat, and gave it to the hedgehog, who\n joyfully wrapped himself in the warm covering. But the piece\n was not large enough to cover him entirely, and his legs and\n belly remained naked as before.\n\n The Kalevide now wanted to sleep, but he was in the midst of a\n swamp. He therefore fetched a load of sand from the distant\n sandhills, to make himself a bed. He then felt into his bag for\n something to eat, when his thumb came against the cold stiff\n body of his little friend, who had been killed in his sleep by\n a chance blow during the fight, without having had time to cry\n out or move a limb. He was much grieved at the untimely death\n of his _prot\u00e9g\u00e9_, and dug him a grave with his own hands, round\n which he planted berry-bearing bushes. Then he ate his supper\n and fell asleep, to dream of the events of the past day.\n\n While he was asleep, the sorcerer himself crept\n [Pg 83]\n to his side, and by his spells and incantations, and the use\n of magic herbs, threw him into a deep slumber, which lasted\n for days and nights. Presently a messenger came in haste to\n summon the king, and the cup-bearer directed him to Lake\n Peipus; but no one had seen or heard anything of him.\n\nOn a fine summer's day, the people flocked from all parts of the\ncountry to the sacred hill of Taara for a great festival, and as yet\nthere came no news of the king. Summer faded into autumn, and the\nKalevide still slept on, but he was dreaming of a new sword, much\nbetter than the uncle of his father Kalev had forged for him, which was\nforged in an underground smithy.\n\n This sword had been forged by the pupils of Ilmarine\n [62] in a workshop in the interior of a great mountain at the\n middle point of the earth, the peak of which was lost in the\n clouds. Seven strong smiths wrought it with copper hammers, the\n handles of which were of silver, and one of their company\n turned it on the fire or laid it on the anvil with tongs of the\n purest silver, while Ilmarine himself watched every stroke of\n the hammers.\n [Pg 84]\n\n\n Presently a young man entered, pale and covered with blood, and\n he only touched his cap without further salutation, and cried\n out to the workmen not to waste the sword on the murderous son\n of Kalev, who could slay his best friends in his rage. The\n Kalevide tried to cry out that it was false, but the son of the\n old T\u00fchja\n [63] oppressed him with a nightmare, and he could not utter a\n word; he felt as if a mountain lay upon his breast, and the\n sweat ran from his face.\n\nOn the following morning the Kalevide awoke from his sleep. He knew\nthat the vision of the smithy was a dream, but he was not aware that he\nhad slept for seven weeks without intermission. He found that his\nplanks were nearly all destroyed, and determined to fetch a fresh load\nfrom Pleskau.\n\n When he came to the lake, he heard a boy shouting for help. It\n was a herd-boy, whose favourite lamb was being carried off by a\n wolf. He killed the wolf with a stone,\n [64] and then stood by the lake considering what to do next.\n Presently he decided to build a bridge across the \"puddle;\"\n [Pg 85]\n and built it out into the lake for perhaps a couple of miles,\n when a great storm arose and swept away the unfinished\n structure. When he saw his work destroyed, he said, \"Why\n didn't I wade straight through, as I did before, instead of\n wasting my time like this?\" So he caught a supply of crayfish,\n which he roasted and ate, and then set out on his journey\n through the water.\n\n On the shores of Lake Peipus lived a poor orphan boy, who had\n lost all dear to him by famine, pestilence, and war, and who\n was now compelled to slave as herd-boy for a hard mistress,\n [65] and to mind the children as well as to look after the\n sheep and goats. He sang sad songs, till at length the\n wood-nymph took compassion on him, and sang to him one evening\n from the summit of an oak-tree, telling him that good luck\n would be his in the morning. Next morning he found a lark's egg\n hidden among leaves, which he hid in his bosom next his heart\n wrapped in wool and a strip of linen. A mouse was hatched from\n it, which he fostered in the same way till it became\n [Pg 86]\n a kitten, a puppy, a lamb, and at length a sheep\n [66] with fine white wool, and the sheep was so dear to the boy\n that he left off weeping and lamenting, and always felt happy\n and contented, though his lot was still a hard one.\n\n\n\n [Pg 87]\n\nCANTO XIII\n\nTHE KALEVIDE'S FIRST JOURNEY TO HADES\n\nOn the Kalevide's homeward journey he slept for a night at the place\nwhere his sword had been stolen, and set out early next morning, making\nhis way through bush and brake. He walked on till sunset with his load\nof planks without stopping to rest, and then ate his supper and\nprepared himself a bed of sand as usual. When he awoke in the morning,\na magpie informed him for the first time that the sorcerer had kept him\nin a magic sleep for seven weeks, and he quickened his pace. But when\nhe reached Lake Ilma he found it, to his disgust, too deep to wade\nthrough, and he was compelled to go round it.\n\n Presently he encountered an old witch, a relative of the\n sorcerer who had done him so much harm already, sitting among\n the bushes and singing magic songs. The hero stopped to rest\n himself, for the day\n [Pg 88]\n was very warm, and listened to her song, which was a long\n charm against snake-bites. Then he walked on till noon, when\n he took a siesta, breaking down trees of all kinds to make\n himself a couch. Afterwards he turned to the left in the\n direction of Lake Endla, and towards evening he came to the\n entrance of a cavern, before which a great fire was burning. A\n huge caldron hung over it by heavy iron chains, just opposite\n the entrance to the cavern, and three fellows were standing\n round, who grinned and whispered to each other as the stranger\n approached.\n\n The Kalevide threw down the planks and asked the men what they\n had got in the caldron, and whether they were getting ready for\n a feast or a wedding. They replied that the caldron cooked for\n everybody, and that when they made a feast they killed a great\n ox. It took a hundred men to kill it, five hundred to bleed it,\n and a thousand to cleanse it.\n [67] But to-day they were only cooking for poor people; only\n half an elk, the ribs of an old boar, the lungs and liver of a\n bear, the suet of a young wolf, the hide of an old bear, and an\n egg\n [Pg 89]\n from an eagle's nest. Old Sarvik\n [68] and the old mother were to dine from it; the cat and dog\n were to get their share, and the rest was to be divided among\n the cooks and workmen; but the old mother was going to bake\n cakes for the young ladies' dinner.\n\n The Kalevide expressed his disgust at such cookery, but they\n told him it was good enough for witches and sorcerers, and he\n then asked them to show him the way to their master's house, as\n he wished to pay his respects to the family. They warned him\n that he might not escape easily; but as he persisted, they\n directed him to the cavern, which he immediately entered, while\n the demons laughed, saying that the bear had fallen into the\n trap and the lion\n [69] into the net, and that he was carrying his hide to market\n for nothing.\n\n The cave was so dark and narrow that the hero soon found\n himself obliged to creep on all fours, and to grope his way. At\n last he perceived a faint light at a distance, and the cavern\n enlarged so much that he could now stand upright again.\n [Pg 90]\n\n\n Where the roof rose highest, a heavy lamp hung by chains from\n the ceiling, and beyond it were great folding-doors. On each\n side stood a jar, one filled with a liquid as white as milk,\n and the other with a liquid as black as pitch. Inside he could\n hear maidens spinning and singing,\n [70] lamenting the happiness of their former lives, and hoping\n that some deliverer might appear. Then he strove to force the\n door, but it resisted all his efforts, so he sang a song in his\n softest tones, telling how he had encountered four fair maidens\n gathering flowers in the woods. The maidens sang back that he\n had come at a good time, for all the family were out, and they\n directed him to dip his hands in the dark liquid, which would\n give him magic strength; but if he wished to moderate his\n strength, then to dip his hands in the white liquid, for the\n dark liquid would give him strength to dash everything to\n pieces.\n\n The hero dipped his hands in the dark liquid, and felt his\n strength redoubled. He pushed against the door again, and the\n door and door-posts too came thundering to the ground. The\n maidens fled into the adjoining room, crying out\n [Pg 91]\n to him not to approach them till he had dipped his hands in\n the white liquid, which would remove the enchantment. He\n laughed, and, notwithstanding their entreaties, followed them\n into the next room, where he saw a naked sword, a small willow\n wand, and a ragged old hat hanging on the wall. \"Look,\" cried\n he joyfully, \"this is the sword which I saw forged for me in\n my dream!\"\n\n\"Beware,\" said one of the maidens, \"do not touch that sword, for it\nbelongs to Sarvik; but take the rod and the hat, for they are yours,\nand you can work any wonders with them. Swords you can only obtain from\nthe smith himself.\"\n\n But the Kalevide answered that he could have his will without\n the wishing-rod and cap, which were only fit for witches and\n wizards. So the maiden, who was anxious to convince him of the\n value of the treasures which he despised, took down the hat\n from its peg. It was made of the cuttings of finger-nails,\n [71] and she declared that there was not\n [Pg 92]\n\n another like it in the world, for it could fulfil every desire\n of its possessor. So she put it on her head and said\u2014\n\n\n\n \"Raise thee, raise thee, golden\n [72] maiden,\n\n Blue-eyed maiden, raise thee, raise thee,\n\n Like unto the son of Kalev,\n\n Like unto thy friend in stature.\"\n\n\n\nShe began at once to grow taller, ell after ell, till she grew fully as\ntall as the son of Kalev himself.\n\n Then the Kalevide took the hat from her head and set it on his\n own, wishing to become as small as she had been. His stature\n immediately sank, ell after ell, till he was reduced to the\n size of an ordinary man.\n [73] The young giantess took back the hat, and wished to resume\n her former stature, which accordingly befell.\n\n The Kalevide then said to the maiden that he would willingly\n remain a little boy that day for her sake, but he was now\n anxious to keep the hat, that he\n [Pg 93]\n might at once resume his own stature and strength in case of\n any sudden and unexpected danger. They sang and danced and\n sported to their heart's content, and the maiden called her\n second sister, whose duty it was to polish the gold, silver,\n and copper ware; and her third sister, who tended the geese on\n the common; and the sisters locked and bolted the kitchen\n door, for fear the old woman should hear the noise and come to\n disturb their merriment.\n\n The maidens were delighted, for though the Kalevide declared\n that he could not think of marrying a wife himself, he would\n deliver them from Hades next day, and would marry one to the\n son of Alev, one to the son of Sulev, and one to the\n cup-bearer.\n [74] So they played all sorts of games; the falcon-game, in\n which the hero was the falcon, and they were the birds;\n kiss-in-the-ring, blind man's buff, &c. But whatever they\n played at, the hero always got the best of the game. When they\n were tired of this amusement, they put out all the lights.\n\n\n\n [Pg 94]\n\nCANTO XIV\n\nTHE PALACE OF SARVIK\n\nThe sisters were sorry to see the dawn of day, though they were no\nlonger obliged to spin and weave, for the old woman was locked up in\nthe kitchen, and could not interfere with them. That day they amused\nthemselves by showing their guest all over the house, and all the\ntreasure-chambers, but they blushed and dropped their eyes whenever he\nlooked at themselves.\n\n Presently they passed through a stone door into a stone\n gallery, likewise paved with stone, and after passing through\n it for some little distance, arrived at a room in which the\n walls and furniture were wholly of iron. \"This,\" said the\n eldest sister, \"is the room of old Sarvik, where his\n men-servants assemble and work or amuse themselves, and where\n they are sometimes tortured in all sorts of ways.\"\n [Pg 95]\n\nThey left this room through an iron archway which opened into a gallery\nof iron, which they followed for some distance till they reached a\nsecond room, entirely of copper, and with copper furniture. \"This,\"\nsaid the eldest sister again, \"is old Sarvik's room, where the maids\nassemble to work or amuse themselves, and where, too, they are punished\nand tormented.\"\n\nFrom this room they passed through a copper archway into a copper\ngallery, which led them presently to a third room of silver, with\nsilver furniture and fittings, and the chests in the corners were\nfilled with silver coins. Then said the second sister, \"This is old\nSarvik's room, where he spends most of his time, and where he sleeps\nand refreshes himself.\"\n\nThey passed from this room into a silver gallery, which led them into a\nroom of gold, with gold fittings and furniture, and the chests in the\ncorners were filled with gold coins. \"This,\" said the second sister\nagain, \"is old Sarvik's room, where he feasts and amuses himself. I was\nbusy yesterday for hours sweeping this room and polishing up all the\ngold.\"\n\n From this room they went through a golden\n [Pg 96]\n gallery to a fifth chamber, which was of silk, and everything\n in it was silk. The walls were hung with silken raiment, and\n the chests in the corners were filled with silken stuffs.\n \"This,\" said the youngest sister, \"is the maidens' room, where\n they deck themselves out in silk on gala days.\"\n\nThey passed through a silken gallery into a chamber of satin, of which\nshe gave a similar explanation. From this they passed to a lace\nchamber, where the little girls decked themselves out.\n\nThe lace gallery from this room led them out into the enclosure, which\nwas paved with silver coins instead of grass.\n\n Round the court stood seven storehouses, the first composed of\n a single block of granite, the second of plates of iron, the\n third of hens' eggs, the fourth of goose-eggs, the fifth of\n polished quartz, the sixth of the finest eagles' eggs, and the\n seventh of eggs of the Siuru.\n [75]\n\n The barns were filled respectively with rye,\n [Pg 97]\n barley, oats, wheat, maize, vegetables, and the last with\n lumps of lard and tallow.\n\nAt the back of the enclosure stood cattle-stalls, constructed of all\nsorts of bones.\n\nThe Kalevide did not care to look at these things long, but asked the\nsisters to tell him all they could about Sarvik.\n\n\"We can't tell you anything about his birth and parentage,\" answered\nthe eldest sister. \"We don't know if a bear was his father and a wolf\nhis mother, or whether a mare suckled him and a goat rocked him in the\ncradle.\n\n \"He has large estates, which occupy much of his time, and he\n makes long journeys secretly in an incredibly short time; but\n no one has seen or heard which way he goes or what places he\n visits. Everybody can see him going out and coming in, but\n nothing further is known about his movements. It is said that\n there is a vast space in the centre of the earth where he rules\n over seven worlds; seven islands, very thickly populated with\n the souls of the departed, where they live in large villages,\n and are subject to old Sarvik, as the wisdom of Taara has\n decreed from the beginning of the world.\n [Pg 98]\n\n\"Sarvik rules his subjects with great severity; but once a year, on All\nSouls' Day, they are permitted to revisit their homes, to see and\nsalute their friends and relatives. They rush up in shoals, on these\noccasions, to the places which they once inhabited in joy or grief; but\nas soon as their time is over they are compelled to return, each to his\nown dwelling.\"\n\nThe second sister added, \"Old Sarvik selects his workmen and maids from\nthis kingdom, and they are forced to follow him, and perform hard tasks\nfor him in the iron and copper chambers; and if they fail in anything,\nthey are beaten with bars of iron and rods of copper.\n\n \"This is Sarvik's abode, where he lives with his wife, and\n rests and refreshes himself, and sleeps on soft pillows, when\n he is tired with long journeys and knocking about. Then the old\n woman heats the bath for him, and whisks his back and shoulders\n with the bath-whisk.\n [76]\n\n \"Sometimes he makes a great feast for his friends and\n relatives, when they shout and drink beer till they are tipsy.\n His brother-in-law is\n [Pg 99]\n\n T\u00fchi,\n [77] his mother is the bitch of P\u00f5rgu, and his grandmother is\n the white mare.\"\n [78]\n\n\"We expect him back this evening from the upper world, for he does not\nlike to stay where the sun shines by day and the moon and stars by\nnight. But when he has anything to do in the under world, he stays away\nfrom home for days and weeks together.\"\n\nThe third sister added, \"Noble scion of the Kalevides, if Sarvik found\nyou among us here unawares, it would surely be your death, for no one\nwho passes the threshold of his abode ever sees the sun again. We, poor\ncreatures, were carried away as children from a country a thousand\nversts distant, and have had to do the hardest work early and late. But\nTaara mercifully decreed that we should always retain our youth as long\nas we retained our innocence.\"\n\n \"But what avails it,\" interrupted the eldest sister, \"when we\n are cut off from all pleasure and happiness?\"\n [Pg 100]\n\nThen the son of Kalev soothed and comforted them, assuring them that he\nwas strong enough to rescue them. He would fight Sarvik himself, and\novercome the old woman too. The eldest sister answered that if he\nreally wished to fight with Sarvik, he must make use of the rod and the\nhat; for strength and bravery would avail nothing against Sarvik, who\nhad thousands of allies at his beck and call, and was lord of the winds\nand of all kinds of magic spells.\n\nBut the Kalevide only laughed, and declared that he had fought with a\nwhole host of demons in Finland. Then the second sister implored him to\nescape while there was yet time, and to wish himself away with the\nwishing-hat; for as soon as Sarvik returned, all the doors would fly\nback to their places behind him, and escape would become impossible.\nThe hero laughed again, proud of his strength, and the sisters, greatly\ndistressed, consulted how they could help him in spite of himself, by\nsome artifice.\n\n Two glasses stood by Sarvik's bed, half filled with a magic\n liquor that looked like beer. They looked just alike, but the\n liquor on the right hand gave the strength of ten oxen, while\n that on the\n [Pg 101]\n left produced corresponding weakness. The eldest sister\n hastened to change these glasses, while the second secured the\n wishing-rod.\n\nAs they returned, they heard the heavy footsteps of Sarvik approaching,\nand the youngest sister again implored the hero to fly before it was\ntoo late. Sarvik approached with a noise like hundreds of cavalry\nprancing over a bridge, or heavy iron waggons thundering along a copper\nroadway. The earth quaked and the cavern shook under his steps, but the\nhero stood at the entrance:\n\n\n\n Like the oak-tree in the tempest,\n\n Or the red glow 'mid the cloudlets,\n\n Or the rock amid a hailstorm,\n\n Or a tower in windy weather.\n\n\n\n Presently Sarvik dashed open the last door with a blow of his\n fist, and stopped, confronting the intruder. The sisters shrank\n back pale and trembling, but the Kalevide stood beside them,\n with the hat in his hand, and apparently no taller than\n themselves. Sarvik asked who he was, and how he came to throw\n himself into the trap; but the hero at once challenged him to\n wrestle, and he accepted the challenge. Then Sarvik advanced to\n the bed, not knowing that the glasses had been\n [Pg 102]\n changed, and drained the water of weakness to the very bottom.\n Meantime the Kalevide concealed the magic hat in his bosom, so\n that he could at once resume his former strength and stature\n in case of need.\n\nThe combatants then went to the enclosure to wrestle, but Sarvik sent\nthe eldest sister to the iron room to fetch a double chain with which\nthe victor might bind his conquered foe. Meantime the wrestling-place\nwas marked off with posts, so that all might be fair.\n\n Now they rushed upon each other, and struggled together like\n waves in a tempest or roofs in a storm. The whole underground\n kingdom trembled, the palace walls cracked and their\n foundations heaved, the arches bowed and the roof began to\n totter. The contest remained long undecided, but when they\n paused to rest, the Kalevide drew out the hat, and wished to\n resume his former size and strength. He grew up at once, as\n strong as an oak-tree and as tall as a pine. He grasped Sarvik\n by the hair, raised him up ten fathoms, and then rammed him\n into the ground like a pointed stake, first to the calves, then\n to the knees, and then to the loins, so that he could not move.\n He then grasped the chain\n [Pg 103]\n to bind him, but suddenly Sarvik grew smaller and smaller, and\n finally sank into the ground out of sight, like a stone in a\n swamp.\n\nThe Kalevide shouted after him, upbraiding him for a coward, and\nthreatened to follow him up and fetter him some other day; but his\npresent care was to release the sisters from their long captivity. So\nhe seized and girded on the sword, took a load of old treasures, and\nmany bags full of gold coins, and barrels full of silver money. All\nthis he took on his shoulders and mounted the three sisters on the top.\nThen he put on the hat, and cried out, \"Hat, carry us quickly to the\nentrance gate, where I left the planks.\" He found himself there at\nonce, but the cooks and the kettle had disappeared, and nothing was\nleft behind but the ashes of the fire, in which a few dying embers\nstill remained. These the hero fanned into a flame, into which he\ncontemptuously tossed the hat, which was immediately consumed.\n\n The sisters began to cry, and reproached him with having\n destroyed a hat which had not its equal on earth or in P\u00f5rgu,\n and said that all hope was now at an end. But the hero\n comforted them, telling them that it was no time for\n lamentation, for\n [Pg 104]\n the summer was at its loveliest, and they should soon find\n themselves in full possession of all the pleasures of life,\n from which they had been so long debarred. So he took the\n planks on his back, piled all his booty upon them, and then\n invited the sisters to take their place again on the top of\n all. Before their departure, the sisters had also provided\n themselves with good store of rich clothing from the silk and\n satin chambers, while the youngest had secured the wishing-rod\n in case of need.\n\nNotwithstanding his load, the Kalevide ran on as if his feet were\nburning, while the sisters jested and laughed and sang.\n\n\n\n [Pg 105]\n\nCANTO XV\n\nTHE MARRIAGE OF THE SISTERS\n\n The Kalevide had not gone far on his homeward journey when he\n found that T\u00fchi himself was pursuing him with a band of his\n followers. Then the youngest sister took the wishing-rod, and\n called upon it to flood the whole country, a bridge rising\n before them for the hero, while water flowed behind between him\n and his enemies. The demons stopped in confusion, and T\u00fchi\n shouted to the Kalevide to ask if he was carrying off his\n adopted daughters? \"It looks like it,\" answered the hero.\n [79]\n Then T\u00fchi asked again, \"Dear brother, did you wrestle with my\n good brother-in-law in his own enclosure, and then drive him\n into the ground like a post?\" \"Likely enough,\" retorted the\n hero; \"but it's not my fault if his bones are\n [Pg 106]\n still sound.\" Then the demon asked again, \"My dear brother,\n son of Kalev, did you lock up our old mother in the kitchen\n just like a mouse in a trap, while she was baking cakes?\" \"O\n yes,\" said the hero; \"and I suppose she roared, and made up a\n bed among the boxes of peas, and for aught I know she may be\n sleeping there still, unless a flea has woke her up.\" \"Have\n you stolen Sarvik's good sword?\" asked T\u00fchi again. \"Perhaps I\n may have taken the weapon too, dear brother,\" answered the\n hero. \"Who can separate a man and his sword? One is worth\n nothing without the other.\" Then T\u00fchi asked if he had taken\n the hat. \"I think so,\" said the hero; \"but Sarvik will never\n put it on his head again, for I threw it into the fire and\n burned it to ashes, which have blown away in the wind.\" T\u00fchi\n then asked if he had plundered his brother's treasures. \"Yes,\n my dear sir,\" answered the hero; \"I took a little gold and\n silver, but not much. Ten horses could drag such a load, and\n twenty oxen easily; but you may depend upon it I didn't carry\n away any copper.\" T\u00fchi's next question was whether he had\n stolen the bridge-builder, the wishing-rod. The hero replied,\n \"I\n [Pg 107]\n suppose some brown-eyed maiden stole it, for no stronger\n person would have troubled about such a thing.\" T\u00fchi next\n inquired how he had treated the maidens; and to this the hero\n replied that he'd tell him another time. \"Won't you come back\n again, dear brother, and pay your debts?\" asked T\u00fchi at last.\n \"Who knows, dear brother?\" said the hero; \"if I ever find\n myself short of money, I may perchance come back to fetch some\n more gold and silver, and repay my old debts with new ones.\"\n And upon this T\u00fchi and his seventy people decamped in the\n greatest haste, as if they had been on fire, or as if they\n were pursued by gadflies.\n\n Strong as was the Kalevide, his back was weary and chafed with\n his heavy load, and he threw it off and lay down to rest; but\n while he slept he was in danger of being carried away by a\n sudden flood from the mountains, raised against him by a\n sorceress.\n [80] After stemming it with some trouble, on resuming his\n journey, he met a stranger who\n [Pg 108]\n asked him what he was going to do with the planks. The\n stranger proved to be the son of Olev, the great\n master-builder, and to him was intrusted the task of building\n the cities and fortifications.\n\n When the Kalevide learned that he had lost seven weeks in a\n magic sleep, he gave the three sisters to the charge of the son\n of Alev, who married the youngest. The son of Sulev married the\n eldest, but the second sister found no lover, and while the\n others were talking together of their wedded happiness she\n stole apart weeping; and at length she was carried away by a\n famous sorcerer, and her strong brothers-in-law went in search\n of her. On the third evening they came upon her track, when the\n sorcerer spread out a great lake to impede their passage. But\n the Alevide had brought with him the wishing-rod, which quickly\n provided them with a bridge. They rushed across, broke the\n locks, and burst open the doors, slew the sorcerer, released\n the captive, and then sent the red cock on the roof.\n [81]\n [Pg 109]\n\nThen the son of Olev took the second sister to wife; and thus all the\nthree sisters whom the Kalevide had released from the regions of Sarvik\nwere happily married, and many great tribes derived their origin from\nthem.\n\n\n\n [Pg 110]\n\nCANTO XVI\n\nTHE VOYAGE OF THE KALEVIDE\n\nThe Kalevide now decided on a journey north, to the uttermost end of\nthe world, where it touches the sky. He imagined that he could only\nreach this point by sea, and thought at first of travelling on the\nwings of an eagle. Meantime, a raven directed him, when he came to a\nbroad expanse of blue water, to look for a place where rushes grew on\nthe bank, and to stamp on the ground with his right foot, when the\nmouth of the earth and the strongly guarded doors would fly open, and\nhe would reach the end of the world.\n\n Then the Kalevide reflected how he had waded through every lake\n and sea, and had found none too deep for him except Lake Ilma.\n He then thought he would visit Finland, Norway, and the\n islands, where he expected to find old friends to direct him on\n his journey. So he directed Olev\n [Pg 111]\n to fell the great oak-tree which their father and mother had\n planted, and which neither sun, moon, stars, nor rain, could\n penetrate,\n [82] and to make the strongest sailing vessels for exploring\n voyages from the trunk, warships from the crown, merchantmen\n from the large branches, slave-ships from the smaller ones,\n children's boats from the splinters, and maiden's boats from\n the chips. He ordered the remainder to be used for building\n towns, fortresses, and houses for the people in various parts\n of the country.\n\nOlev replied, \"I know what to do, dear brother, if we can find a strong\nman in the country able to fell the oak-tree.\" The raven told them to\nsend out to seek for such a man, and they did so; whereupon the wise\nmen of Norway and Finland assembled to give them advice. But they told\nthe Kalevide that it was no use building a wooden ship to sail to the\nworld's end, for the spirits of the Northern Lights would set it in\nflames. He must build a strong vessel of iron and copper and tin.\n\n The Kalevide then constructed a vessel, not of\n [Pg 112]\n iron and copper, but of silver. The whole of the\n ship\u2014planking, deck, masts, and chains\u2014was of silver, and he\n named the vessel Lennuk.\n [83] For himself he provided golden armour, silver for the\n nobles, iron for the crew, copper for the old men, and steel\n for the wise men.\n\nThe Kalevide selected experienced sailors and many wise men to\naccompany him, and they set sail joyfully towards Finland; but soon\nturned, and directed their course to the far north, in the direction of\nthe Great Bear.\n\n To the north they sailed under the guidance of a wise helmsman\n who knew all languages and the speech of birds and beasts. But\n the Finnish sorcerers raised storms against the ship, and they\n were driven along for seven days and nights, till a coast rose\n before them which the helmsman declared was quite unknown to\n him. The son of Kalev then sprang into the sea, swam ashore,\n and towed the ship after him.\n [84] The birds sang to them that it was the poverty-stricken\n coast of Lapland.\n [85] They went\n [Pg 113]\n\n to explore the country, but wandered a long way without meeting\n with any inhabitants. At last they found a solitary cottage,\n where a maiden sat on the grass plot before the door spinning.\n And she sang how a milkmaid once found a cock and a hen. The\n cock flew away, but she caught the hen, and brought it home,\n where it grew up into a proud princess who had many lovers,\n among whom were the sun and\u2014\"The Kalevide,\" shouted he; and the\n maiden screamed and fled into the house. Then her father came\n to the door, and the Kalevide saluted him courteously, and\n asked him the way to the world's end. The wise man answered\n that it was a vain quest. The sea had no end, and those who had\n formerly attempted this quest had found their deaths on the\n Fire Island. The raven had only directed them on the road to\n P\u00f5rgu, but if they wished to return home, he would be pleased\n to guide them.\n\nThe Kalevide answered that he needed no pilot to show him the way home,\nbut would be glad if the Lapp could pilot him to the door at the\nWorld's End. The Lapp consented, but bargained for what was chained to\nthe wall at home, which the hero readily promised.\n\n So Varrak the Laplander took the helm and\n [Pg 114]\n steered the vessel due north for many days and nights. The\n first danger they encountered was a great whirlpool,\n [86] which threatened to engulf the ship. Then Varrak threw a\n small barrel overboard, wrapped in red cloths and ornamented\n with red streamers. This bait was swallowed by a whale, which\n took to flight, and towed the ship to a place of safety.\n\n Again they sailed on for a long distance, till they came in\n sight of the Island of Fire,\n [87] where huge pillars of flame were towering up, and vast\n clouds of smoke filled the air. The Kalevide wished to visit\n the island, but Varrak warned him of the danger, and at length\n the Sulevide volunteered to land alone. So Varrak ran the ship\n ashore at a spot where one mountain was casting up flames, a\n second smoke, and a third boiling water, while the burning lava\n ran down into the valley.\n\n The son of Sulev wandered on amid ashes and snowfields, amid a\n rain of red-hot stones, till he\n [Pg 115]\n reached the mouth of the volcano, when his coat caught fire\n and his hair and eyebrows were singed, and he returned\n scorched to the ship. The Kalevide asked if he had seen\n anything of the cupbearer, who had followed him; but he had\n not. Then a white bird perched on the ship, and the wise Finn,\n who knew the language of animals, asked for tidings of the\n boy. But the bird answered that he had wandered away to a\n beautiful country which lay behind the snow-mountains, where\n he was enjoying himself in the company of the water-nymphs. He\n would return no more; let the ship proceed on her course.\n [88]\n\nNext they reached a country where the birds all fed on gold and silver\nand copper, and where the herbage grew as high as the pine-trees. The\nKalevide sent some of the crew ashore, under the guidance of the\nmagician, to view the country, while he and the Sulevide lay down on\ndeck to sleep in the sun, leaving the Alevide to keep watch.\n\n The ship's company, headed by the magician, wandered into the\n country, and, when night came, lay down to rest under a bush.\n Next morning the\n [Pg 116]\n\n little daughter of a giant\n [89] found them asleep, and wondering what they were, put them\n all into her apron, and carried them home to her father, and\n scattered them before him, saying:\n\n\n\n \"Look at these, O dearest father,\n\n I have brought them here to play with,\n\n For I found them in the cabbage,\n\n Where the six like fleas were lying,\n\n Stiffened in the chilly dewdrops,\n\n Sleeping 'neath a head of cabbage.\"\n\n\n\n The giant\n [90] wished to test the wisdom of the strangers, so he\n inquired, \"What walks along the grass, steps on the edge of the\n fence, and walks along the sides of the reeds?\" \"The bee,\"\n replied the magician.\n [91] \"What drinks from the brooks and wells, and from the\n stones on the bank?\" \"The rainbow.\" \"What comes hissing from\n the\n [Pg 117]\n\n meadow, and rushing from the blue forest?\" \"The rain.\" The\n giant was pleased with the answers to his riddles, and told his\n daughter to carry the men back to where she had found them, but\n the wise man asked her to take them to the ship for fun. The\n maiden willingly obeyed; she leaned over the ship like a vast\n cloud, shook the men out of her apron on deck, and then blew\n the ship four miles out to sea, for which the Kalevide shouted\n back his thanks to her.\n\nNow they sailed farther north, and the cold became intense, while the\nspirits of the Northern Lights began their combats in the air with\nsilver spears and golden shields. The sailors were frightened, but the\nKalevide was pleased that they should now be able to direct their\ncourse when they had left the sun and moon behind them.\n\n Next they reached an unknown shore, where the inhabitants were\n half men and half dogs, and had long dog's tails.\n [92] They were armed with great clubs, and the Kalevide sprang\n ashore to fight. A\n [Pg 118]\n horse which he mounted soon fell dead under him, but he tore\n up an oak by the roots and began to lay the country waste. The\n wisest man of the country expostulated with him, and he\n repented of his violence, and prayed to Ukko to send fish to\n the country to replace the good ground which he had destroyed\n in his fury. Peace was thus concluded; and the wise man told\n the Kalevide that the raven had sent him on an idle quest to\n the gates of P\u00f5rgu. The Kalevide then decided to return home,\n and they directed the ship towards Lalli in the bay of\n Lindanisa, where Olev was building a city.\n\n\n\n [Pg 119]\n\nCANTO XVII\n\nTHE HEROES AND THE DWARF\n\n Olev had now built a magnificent city, fortified with towers\n and ditches, around the burial-mound of Kalev. Large numbers of\n people flocked to it, and the Kalevide named it Lindanisa, in\n memory of his mother.\n [93] Other fortified cities were founded by the Alevide and the\n Sulevide.\n\nBut news came that hostile troops were landing on the coast, and the\nKalevide mounted his war-horse. The king wore a golden helmet, gold\nspurs, and a silver belt, and carried a shield of gold, and the steed\nwas all caparisoned with gold and silver and pearls, while the maidens\nof the country looked on with admiration.\n\n The Kalevide and his three friends fought a pitched battle with\n the countless forces of the enemy on the plains of Esthonia.\n Their heads\n [Pg 120]\n\n fell before him like autumn leaves, and their scattered limbs\n were strewn about in heaps like straw or rushes. His horse\n waded in blood and bones to the belly; for the Kalevide\n slaughtered his enemies by tens of thousands, and would have\n utterly annihilated them, but, as he was pursuing the fugitives\n over hill and dale, his horse lost his footing in a bog, and\n was engulfed in the morass.\n\n As the Kalevide was unable to continue the pursuit after the\n loss of his horse, he recalled his troops and divided the\n booty. Then he sent his soldiers to carry news of the victory\n to the towns and villages throughout the country, and he and\n his three friends set out on a journey across the plains and\n swamps, and through primeval forests, making a pathway for\n others as they advanced. At length they came to a place where\n smoke and flames were shooting up into the air, and when they\n reached the spot they found an old woman sitting at the mouth\n of a cave and stirring the fire under a pot. The Alevide asked\n what she was cooking, and she answered, \"Cabbage for my sons\n and for myself.\" Then the son of Sulev said they were hungry\n travellers, and asked her to give them some, and to take a rest\n while they\n [Pg 121]\n finished the cookery. The old woman consented, but warned\n them, if a strange youth asked to be allowed to taste the\n broth, to take good care that he did not empty the pot and\n leave them nothing. Three of the heroes at once volunteered to\n take turns to watch the pot, but the Kalevide said nothing.\n Then the old woman crept into the bushes, and hid herself in a\n wolf's den.\n\n The Alevide took the first watch, and his companions lay down\n by the fire to sleep. He had not been long sitting there, and\n throwing fresh faggots on the fire, when one of the little\n dwarf race stole up stealthily and timidly through the long\n grass. He was about three spans high, and had a gold bell\n [94] hanging to his neck. He had small horns behind the ears,\n and a goat's beard under his chin. He asked humbly to be\n allowed to taste the soup, and the hero gave him leave, but\n warned him to take care not to drown himself in it.\n\n The dwarf replied that he would like to taste the soup without\n a spoon, and jumped on the edge of the pot; but he grew up in\n an instant to\n [Pg 122]\n the height of a pine-tree, and then to the clouds, rising to\n the height of seventy fathoms and more. Then he vanished like\n a mist, and the Alevide found the pot as empty as if the\n contents had been scraped out.\n [95] So he refilled the pot with water, put in some fresh\n cabbage, and roused the Olevide, but said nothing of what had\n happened. Then he lay down and went to sleep, leaving his\n companion on guard. But presently the dwarf reappeared, and\n neither the Olevide nor the Sulevide, who took the third watch,\n fared any better than their companion.\n\n The watch now fell to the Kalevide, but he would not allow the\n dwarf to taste the soup until he gave him his gold bell as a\n pledge of good faith. As soon as he had received it, he\n playfully gave the dwarf a fillip on the forehead, when there\n was a tremendous crash of thunder, and the dwarf sank into the\n earth and disappeared from the sight of the hero. The other\n heroes and the old woman then assembled round the fire to hear\n what had happened. They sat down to their supper, after which\n the Kalevide advised his companions to lie down and rest for\n [Pg 123]\n the remainder of the night, and to return home to their wives\n and children in the morning. During the night the daughters of\n the Meadow Queen danced and sported, and sang to the Kalevide\n of his approaching adventures and journey.\n\n\n\n [Pg 124]\n\nCANTO XVIII\n\nTHE KALEVIDE'S JOURNEY TO P\u00d5RGU\n\nNext morning the Kalevide rose at daybreak and looked about him. Where\nthe dwarf had vanished in blue smoke, he now beheld a sheet of blue\nwater with rushes on the bank, and knew that he had unexpectedly\nchanced upon the entrance to P\u00f5rgu. His wearied comrades were still\nsleeping, and, without disturbing them, he stamped with his right foot,\nand the hidden strongly-guarded doors of Hades flew open.\n\n The hero gazed down into the abyss, but clouds of smoke and hot\n steam rolled up, and made his eyes smart, and he hesitated a\n moment, when a raven called to him from the summit of a\n pine-tree to sound the bell. Instantly the clouds of smoke\n disappeared, and he set out on the downward path. As he\n proceeded, he found himself in thick darkness, without a ray of\n light to guide him, and he\n [Pg 125]\n was forced to grope his way, when the voice of a mouse\n directed him to sound the bell again. The path grew dimly\n light, and the Kalevide proceeded, but soon found his way so\n much impeded by nets and snares, which multiplied faster than\n he could destroy them, that he was unable to advance, and his\n strength began to fail him. This time it was a toad who\n advised him to sound the bell, when all the magic snares\n vanished, and he hurried on till he reached the edge of a\n rivulet about two spans broad. Every time he attempted to\n cross, his foot sank in the mud in the middle, and no matter\n how often he renewed his efforts, he could not reach the\n opposite shore. While the Kalevide was lamenting that he found\n less difficulty in crossing Lake Peipus with a heavy load of\n timber on his back, he heard a crayfish advising him to sound\n the bell, when the brook instantly vanished.\n\n There was nothing in these caverns to mark the difference\n between night and day, and the Kalevide did not know how long\n he had been struggling against the various difficulties of the\n road. He was now assailed by swarms of mosquitoes, which he\n thought to escape by hurrying through them and leaving them\n behind; but they grew\n [Pg 126]\n thicker and thicker, till a cricket in the grass called to him\n to sound the bell. The mosquitoes vanished as if carried away\n by the wind, and the hero sat down to rest and refresh\n himself, and having at length learned wisdom from experience,\n tied the bell on his little finger, that he might have its\n constant aid in future. Then he advanced farther.\n\nAnd now the hosts of hell, the servants of Sarvik, heard his heavy\ntread, and they sent out scouts, who fled back in consternation,\nreporting that the son of Kalev, the strongest of men, was advancing\nwith hostile intentions. Then Sarvik commanded his forces to march\nagainst him.\n\nThe Kalevide had now reached a river of blazing pitch, crossed by an\niron bridge. Here the hosts of hell determined to make a stand, and\nformed themselves into four detachments, one upon the bridge, one\nbelow, one on the bank, and one in the rear.\n\n \"What's this swarm of frogs?\" cried the Kalevide, drawing his\n sword and rushing forward to the bridge. He was at once\n assailed with a shower of arrows, and was then attacked with\n spear and battleaxe; but he stood like a wall of\n [Pg 127]\n iron, and scattered his enemies, though fresh hosts\n continually advanced against him. At length he fought his way\n through all the hostile troops, and Sarvik was in despair, and\n did his utmost to block the paths and to fortify himself\n against the imminent danger.\n\n When the Kalevide reached the bridge, he rested for a moment to\n look round, and then casting the bodies of his enemies into the\n river as he advanced, his steps thundered across the bridge,\n and he soon reached the fortifications. Three strokes of his\n fist sufficed to burst in the gates, and he trod down all\n impediments and forced his way into the enclosure. When he came\n to the inner door, he beat and kicked it down, and it fell in\n fragments, door, door-posts, bolts, and bars, all battered to\n pieces. In the hall he found a shade resembling his mother\n Linda spinning. At her right hand was a cup of the water of\n strength, and at her left a cup of the water of weakness.\n Without speaking, she offered her son the cup with the water of\n strength, which he drank, and then lifting a huge rock broke\n his way into the inner hall, where Sarvik's old mother was\n sitting spinning. She knew, and tried to beg the bell,\n [Pg 128]\n but the Kalevide put her off, and inquired if Sarvik was at\n home. She answered that he left home the day before yesterday,\n and would not return for two or three days; but if the hero\n liked to wait for him, he should be received as a guest; but\n first he must taste her mead. He knew that she would give him\n the water of weakness, and declined, but looked about till he\n saw a secret door in a recess in the wall, and was about to\n break it open, when it flew open of itself with a tremendous\n noise, and a host of armed warriors rushed out. He repulsed\n them all, and then Sarvik himself cried out to him,\n reproaching him with all the wrongs he had suffered at his\n hands, and the numerous thefts he had committed. In reply the\n Kalevide reproached Sarvik with his own tricks; but\n nevertheless he sheathed his sword and put the bell in his\n pocket.\n\nThen Sarvik came forth from his hiding-place pale and trembling, and\nwishing to recover himself a little by a potion, mistook the cups in\nhis confusion, and drank the water of weakness, while the Kalevide took\nanother draught of the water of strength.\n\n\n\n [Pg 129]\n\nCANTO XIX\n\nTHE LAST FEAST OF THE HEROES\n\n After this the Kalevide and Sarvik engaged in a terrific\n wrestling-match, which lasted for seven days and nights, with\n varying success. At length the shade of Linda, who was looking\n on, took her distaff, swung it ten times round her head, and\n dashed it to the ground. The hint was not lost on her son. He\n seized Sarvik by the garters, whirled him ten times round, and\n then hurled him down, set his knee on his chest, and seized his\n throat and tried to strangle him. Then he took his belt, bound\n Sarvik firmly, and dragged him to the iron chamber, where he\n bound him hand and foot with chains. A third chain he fastened\n round his neck, and a fourth round his body, and drove the ends\n into the walls of rock. He rolled a great stone, as large as a\n house, against the door, and fixed the chains to this also, so\n that Sarvik could hardly move.\n [Pg 130]\n\nThe Kalevide washed the traces of the struggle away, and Sarvik tried\nto obtain some concessions from him, but failing this he began to curse\nand swear. The Kalevide then went to pack up a store of treasures, but\nwas warned by a mouse not to overload himself. So he contented himself\nwith taking two sacks on each shoulder, and then set out on his\nhomeward journey, and the iron bridge thundered beneath his footsteps,\nwhile Sarvik shouted curses after him.\n\nAt last the Kalevide struggled up to daylight, and sank down exhausted\nby the side of the son of Alev, who had been waiting anxiously for his\nfriend, and had heard faint sounds of conflict far below. When his\nfriend had fetched him some water, and he had recovered a little from\nhis fatigue, he asked how long he had been absent, and learned that he\nhad been away about three weeks. The Kalevide remarked that where he\nhad been there was no means of distinguishing day and night or\nmeasuring time, and he then related his adventures.\n\n The Alevide then slaughtered a great ox, a feat which no one\n else had been able to accomplish. The blood filled a hundred\n vats and the flesh a thousand barrels. They sat down to supper,\n and\n [Pg 131]\n the Kalevide ate till he was ready to burst, and then laid\n down to sleep, while the son of Alev seated himself on the\n treasure-sacks. The Kalevide slept for two days and nights,\n and did not wake till the third morning was well advanced.\n While he slept, his snoring resounded for miles, and the great\n trees shook as if they were saplings. About noon on the third\n day they set out homeward. The son of Alev carried one sack of\n treasure, and the Kalevide the other three.\n\nAfter the Kalevide's return from his journey, he resided at Lindanisa,\noccupying himself with schemes for the good of his people. Olev had\nbuilt three more cities, in the north, west, and south of the country.\nHis friends advised the Kalevide to seek a bride in Kungla, and he\nreplied that they would first build a beautiful fortified city and rear\na magnificent house, and then he would follow their advice.\n\n One day the Kalevide sat at a feast with his friends, and a\n harper sang the adventures of Siuru, the blue bird,\n [96] the daughter of Taara.\n\n The Kalevide invited his friends to drink, and sang a song\n relating how he had gone down to\n [Pg 132]\n the beach where two trees, the apple of fortune and the oak of\n wisdom, grew in the sea. Here he found some girls who told him\n that his little brother had fallen into the water. He waded\n into the water to look for him, and saw a naked sword at the\n bottom, which he was just about to grasp, when his sister\n called from the shore to tell him that his father, mother,\n brothers, and sisters were all dead or dying. He hurried home,\n but it proved to be a hoax, for they were all alive and well.\n\nThe son of Sulev next sang a ditty relating an adventure with four coy\nmaidens, and the drinking and mirth continued.\n\nAnd now messengers arrived in great haste, announcing that hostile\narmies of Letts, Vends, and Poles had invaded the kingdom on all sides.\nBut the Kalevide bade his comrades empty their cups, while he himself\nquietly gave general orders, and declared that to-morrow he would take\nthe field in person. Then he sang a song about two lovers.\n\n While the Kalevide was thus drinking and singing, Varrak the\n Laplander entered and embraced his knees. He called down\n blessings from Ukko on\n [Pg 133]\n\n the hero, and then requested to receive the reward which had\n been promised him, as he intended to set sail for home on the\n morrow. The Kalevide asked him what he wished for; and he\n answered that he had found a chained book in an iron cover,\n which he wished to possess.\n\n The Kalevide could not read the book, which nevertheless\n contained all the priceless wisdom which his father had\n recorded; and he willingly gave it to Varrak, notwithstanding\n the loud protests of the sons of Sulev and Olev. The book was\n fastened with three chains and three locks, and the keys could\n not be found. Varrak knew very well where they were, but he\n kept his knowledge to himself. So the Kalevide ordered the wall\n to be broken down to release the book, which was then laid on a\n waggon, and dragged by a yoke of oxen to the boat, which Varrak\n had already loaded with bags of gold.\n [97]\n\n Meantime a troop of fugitives came flying to the city, bringing\n word that the war was close at hand,\n [Pg 134]\n and that the axes of the youths were useless against the\n swords of the mail-clad warriors.\n [98] The Kalevide ordered the weary men to be fed and\n comfortably housed, and while they slept he repaired to his\n father's grave. But there was no voice nor counsel; there was\n no sound but the sighing of the wind and the moaning of the\n distant sea, and the clouds shed sad tears. The hero returned\n home sorrowful and uneasy.\n\n\n\n [Pg 135]\n\nCANTO XX\n\nARMAGEDDON\n\nThe news of the invasion had brought the feast to a sudden end, and the\nKalevide consulted with his friends, and proposed to bury his treasure,\nthinking it might otherwise be insecure. So at dead of night the\nKalevide, Alevide, and Sulevide dug a deep pit in a secret place. Then\nthe Kalevide solemnly delivered over the treasure to Taara's\nprotection, and declared that no one should obtain it but the son of a\npure mother, who should come to the spot on St. John's Eve, and should\nsacrifice three black animals without a white hair upon them\u2014a black\ncock with a curled comb, a black dog or cat, and a mole. Then he\nmurmured secret spells over the treasure; but the man is not yet born\nwho shall raise it.\n\n When the morning dawned, the son of Kalev took his spear and\n sword, mounted his war-horse, and\n [Pg 136]\n ordered the Alevide to follow him as his shield-bearer. Then\n he blew his horn, and set his forces in battle array. The\n sound of the horn echoed through city and forest, and was\n heard in every province of Esthonia,\n [99] and the people flocked to the king at the summons. The\n women wept and lamented, but their husbands, sons, brothers,\n and lovers went forth to the war. The Kalevide assembled his\n army in the sacred oak-forest of Taara, and a bird advised him\n to sharpen his sword and spear before the fight. By the fifth\n evening the last stragglers had come in, and the Kalevide\n allowed his men two days' longer rest. On the third day\n thereafter the battle began in earnest, and the Kalevide fought\n against the mailed warriors for half a day, when his horse was\n killed under him.\n\n Hundreds were slain on both sides, and at last the Sulevide\n fell severely wounded. The soothsayer was summoned hastily, and\n adjured the blood to cease flowing:\n [100]\n\n\n\n Quickly came the man of wisdom,\n\n Who should charm the blood from flowing\n\n And should still the pain by magic.\n\n [Pg 137]\n\n \"Flow thou not, O blood, like water;\n\n Still thee, blood, of life the honey;\n\n Wherefore thus thy source o'erflowing,\n\n Breaking thus the bonds that hold thee?\n\n Let the blood as stone be hardened,\n\n Firm as oak-tree let it stiffen;\n\n In the stone-like veins around it,\n\n Let the blood be stanched, O Taara!\"\n\n\n\nBut the blood continued to flow, and then the magician used stronger\nspells, pressed his fingers on the wound to stop the bleeding, and tied\nup the limb with red thread, afterwards applying healing herbs.\n\nMeantime the Kalevide had routed the enemy and dispersed them over the\nplain in flight, the dead being piled up in heaps behind them. But the\nhero was weary and overcome with heat and thirst, and went to a lake,\nwhich he drained to the last drop, leaving only the mud at the bottom.\n\nThree days were given to the burial of the dead and the care of the\nwounded, and then the Kalevide set out in pursuit of the enemy. Olev\nbuilt a bridge over the V\u00f5handa according to the Kalevide's directions,\nand presently the army fell in with a murderous host of Tartars, Poles,\nand Letts, who were ravaging the neighbourhood of Pleskau.\n\n Another great battle was fought, and the Kale\n [Pg 138]\n vide slaughtered his enemies till their bodies lay in heaps a\n fathom high about the field, and the blood was five spans deep.\n The battle lasted for seven days, and many notable chiefs were\n slain, among whom was the son of Sulev, who had been so\n severely wounded in a previous battle. The Tartars and Poles\n had now been slain or put to flight, and the Kalevide gathered\n together the remnants of his army to attack the Vends, and\n ordered the Alevide to break their centre.\n\n The fight with the Vends lasted two days longer, and again vast\n numbers were slain on both sides. A great mound was raised on\n the battlefield over the grave of the Sulevide in memory of the\n fallen hero. The three remaining heroes, the Kalevide, the\n Alevide, and Olev, stood like towers against the attacks of the\n mailed warriors; but at last they were overcome by thirst, and\n went to a lake in a valley, with steep high banks, to drink.\n The Alevide, who was very weary, stooped down to drink, when\n his foot slipped, and he fell into the water, and was drowned\n before his friends could recover his body. In the bright\n sunshine his huge iron helmet and his three-edged sword may\n still be seen gleaming at the bottom of the water.\n [Pg 139]\n\n\n The Kalevide was so overcome with grief at this last misfortune\n that he abandoned his kingdom, abdicating in favour of Olev,\n and retired to the pine-forests on the banks of the river\n Koiva, where he built a cottage and thought to dwell in peace\n and retirement. Here he lived alone, supporting himself on fish\n and crayfish. One day a party of armed men found their way to\n his hermitage, and invited him to join company with them. He\n turned his back on them contemptuously, when he saw in the\n water the reflection of one of them advancing with his sword\n drawn to murder him.\n [101] He turned angrily on his foes with an indignant\n exclamation, and seizing one of them by the helmet, whirled him\n round, and the air sounded as if disturbed by the rush of the\n Northern eagle. Then he dashed him down so that he sank to his\n waist in the ground. He seized the second by the hand, and\n swung him round till the forest was shaken as if by a tempest,\n and him he sank to the cheeks in the ground. The third he\n seized in the same way, and drove him so far into the ground\n that nothing could\n [Pg 140]\n be seen of him but the hole where he had disappeared.\n\nAnother time the Kalevide was troubled by a messenger sent by the\nmerchants on the coast to invite him to visit them. After listening to\nhis talk for some time, he told him to pull up the rod which he had\nbaited for crayfish, and after he had eaten, they might discuss the\nmatter further. The youth went down to the river bank, and found, to\nhis amazement, that the rod was a tall fir-tree, which the Kalevide had\ntorn up by the roots, but which the youth could not even move. Then the\nKalevide lifted the rod with one hand, and showed the youth that it was\nbaited with the whole carcass of a dead mare; and sent him about his\nbusiness, telling him to report what he had seen.\n\n These intrusions vexed the Kalevide, and he wandered away from\n his hermitage through the forests, and three days afterwards he\n reached Lake Peipus, without remembering that he had ever\n travelled the same way before. Singing gaily, he came to the\n brook K\u00e4p\u00e4, and waded in. The hero had laid an injunction on\n his lost sword which he had intended to apply to the sorcerer\n who had robbed him of it; but the understanding\n [Pg 141]\n of the sword was confused by the curse which the Finnish smith\n had previously laid upon it, and it reflected that now was the\n time for vengeance. So without more ado the great sword raised\n itself, and cut off both the hero's legs at the knee. He cried\n out for help, and dragged himself with his hands to the shore,\n where he lay down bleeding, his legless body covering a whole\n acre of ground.\n\nThe cries of the dying Kalevide rose above the clouds and ascended to\nheaven. The heavenly powers assembled round the hero, and vainly tried\nto salve his wounds and soothe his pain. Presently he expired, and his\nsoul, like a joyful bird, took its flight to the halls of Taara in\nheaven. There he sat in the firelight among the heroes of Taara,\nresting his cheek on his hand, and listening to the bards as they sang\nof his great deeds.\n\n But the old father of the gods knew that so great a hero, who\n had conquered all his enemies in battle, and had bound even the\n prince of P\u00f5rgu in chains, could not remain idle in heaven. So\n he summoned all the gods in secret conclave to consider what\n work they should assign to the Kalevide, and the debate lasted\n for many days and nights. At last they determined that he\n [Pg 142]\n should keep watch and ward at the gates of P\u00f5rgu, so that\n Sarvik should never be able to free himself from his bonds.\n\n So the soul of the Kalevide flew down from heaven like a bird,\n and was bidden to reanimate his body; but the might of all the\n gods, and even the divine wisdom of Taara, could not put his\n legs on again. Then they mounted him on a white charger,\n [102] and sent him to the post which had been assigned to him\n at the gates of P\u00f5rgu.\n\n When the Kalevide reached the rocky portal, a voice was heard\n from heaven, \"Strike the rock with thy fist!\" He did so, and\n clove open the rock, and his right hand was caught in the\n cleft.\n [Pg 143]\n Here he sits now on his horse at the gates of P\u00f5rgu, watching\n the bonds of others while bound himself. The demons attempt\n unceasingly to soften their chains by heaping up charcoal\n faggots around them, but when the cock crows at dawn their\n fetters grow thicker again. From time to time, too, the\n Kalevide struggles to free his hand from the wall of rock,\n till the earth trembles and the sea foams; but the hand of\n Mana\n [103] holds him, that the warder shall never depart from his\n post. But one day a vast fire will break out on both sides of\n the rock and melt it, when the Kalevide will withdraw his hand,\n and return to earth to inaugurate a new day of prosperity for\n the Esthonians.\n [104]\n\nEND OF THE KALEVIPOEG.\n\n\n\n [Pg 145]\n\nPART II\n\nEsthonian Folk-Tales\n\n These are very numerous, and, while some are of course\n identical with well-known stories of world-wide distribution,\n others have a peculiarly original character of their own. We\n have divided them into sections, but this classification must\n not be taken as too stringent, for many tales would fall\n equally well under two or three of our separate headings. In so\n far as any foreign elements are visible, they are apparently\n Scandinavian or German. Finnish tales show more trace of\n Russian influence, but there is seldom any visible in Esthonian\n tales, and even in the _Kalevipoeg_ there is no resemblance to\n the Russian hero-legends. It is, however, noteworthy that even\n in the most heathenish tales, the heroes usually have names of\n [Pg 146]\n Christian origin; though not in the _Kalevipoeg_. It is\n possible that the Gospel of Nicodemus, which describes the\n descent into hell, may have suggested the name of Nicodemus\n for Slyboots.\n\n\n\n [Pg 147]\n\nSECTION I\n\n _TALES ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE \"KALEVIPOEG\"_\n\nThe following stories are thoroughly Esthonian in character, and, with\nthe exception of the first, mostly exhibit variants of the Kalevide's\njourneys to P\u00f5rgu.\n\nThat of \"Slyboots\" is also interesting from the resemblance of a\nportion of it to \"Jack and the Beanstalk.\"\n\n\nTHE MILKY WAY.\n\n ( Jannsen .)\n\n Soon after the creation of the world, God created a fair maiden\n and gave into her charge all the birds beneath the heavens.\n This was Lindu, the lovely daughter of Uko, who knew the paths\n of all the birds of passage, whence they came in spring, and\n whither they went in autumn, and appointed to each his\n dwelling. She cared for the birds with\n [Pg 148]\n a tender heart, like a mother for her children, and gave them\n her aid whenever it was possible; and like a flower in the\n morning sunlight under a thousand dewdrops, so brightly shone\n Lindu in her motherly care for the birds.\n\nTherefore was it not surprising that all gazed upon her and loved her.\nEvery one desired the maiden as a wife, and suitors came in crowds. The\nNorth Star drove up in a grand coach drawn by six brown horses, and\nbrought ten presents. But Lindu gave him a sharp answer. \"You must\nalways remain at your post, and cannot stir from it,\" said she.\n\nThen came the Moon in a silver coach drawn by ten brown horses, and he\nbrought twenty presents. But Lindu refused the Moon too. \"You are much\ntoo changeable,\" said she, \"and yet you always run in your old path,\nand that won't suit me.\"\n\n Scarcely had the Moon taken a sorrowful departure than the Sun\n drove up. He rode in a golden coach drawn by twenty gold-red\n horses, and brought thirty presents with him. But all his\n splendour and magnificence and rich presents went for nothing;\n for Lindu said, \"I don't like you.\n [Pg 149]\n You always run on the same course day by day, just like the\n Moon.\"\n\nAt length the Northern Light came from midnight in a diamond coach\ndrawn by a thousand white horses. His arrival was so splendid that\nLindu went to the door to meet him. His attendants carried a whole\ncoach-load of gold and silver, pearls, and jewellery into her house.\nAnd behold, the bridegroom and his presents pleased Lindu so much that\nshe accepted him at once, saying, \"You don't always travel the same\npath, like the others. You set out when you will, and rest when it\npleases you. Each time you appear in new splendour and magnificence,\nand each time you don a new robe, and each time you ride in a new coach\nwith new horses. You are the fitting bridegroom, whom one can receive\nwith joy.\"\n\nNow they celebrated their betrothal with great splendour. But the Sun,\nMoon, and Pole Star looked on sadly, and envied the happiness of the\nNorthern Light.\n\n The Northern Light could not tarry long in the bride's house,\n for he was obliged to journey back towards midnight. But before\n his departure he promised soon to return for the wedding, and\n to carry\n [Pg 150]\n the maiden to his home in the North. In the meantime she was\n to prepare her trousseau and get everything ready for the\n wedding.\n\nLindu now waited and made everything ready. One day followed another,\nbut the bridegroom came not to hold a joyous wedding with his bride.\nThe winter passed away, and the warm spring adorned the earth with new\nbeauty, then came the summer; but Lindu waited in vain for her\nbridegroom; nothing was seen of him.\n\nThen she began to lament bitterly, and sorrowed day and night. She sat\nin the meadow by the river in her bridal robes and white veil and the\nwreath on her head, and from her thousand tears sprang the little\nbrooks in the valley. She did not heed the little birds who flew about\nher head and shoulders, and sought to soothe her with their soft\nblandishments, nor did she remember to direct their migrations to\nforeign parts, and to care for their nurture and food. So they wandered\nabout and flew from place to place, not knowing what to do or where to\nremain.\n\n At length the news of the maiden's distress and the needs of\n the birds came to the ears of Uko. Then he resolved in his\n heart to help them all,\n [Pg 151]\n and ordered the winds to carry his daughter to him, away from\n the misery of the world. While Lindu was sitting on the ground\n weeping and lamenting, the winds sank down before her, and\n lifted her so gently that she herself perceived it not, and\n bore her away to heaven, where they set her down on the blue\n firmament.\n\n There dwells Lindu still in a heavenly pavilion. Her white\n bridal veil spreads from one end of the heavens to the other,\n and he who lifts his eyes to the Milky Way beholds the maiden\n in her bridal robes. From thence she still directs the birds on\n their long migrations; from thence she still gazes towards\n midnight at the other end of the heavens, and waves her hand in\n greeting to the Northern Light. There she has forgotten her\n sorrow, and her former happy life reawakens in her heart. And\n when winter approaches, she sees with joy that the Northern\n Light visits her as a guest, and asks after his bride. Often he\n rises up to her, and, heart to heart, renews the bond of their\n love. But they may not hold their wedding. Uko has stationed\n the maiden in the heavens with her bridal robe and veil, and\n the bridegroom cannot carry away his love from her seat. Thus\n has Uko in his\n [Pg 152]\n wisdom determined, and thus has the Milky Way arisen.\n\n\nTHE GRATEFUL PRINCE.\n\n ( Kreutzwald .)\n\n Once upon a time, the king of the Golden Land\n [105] lost his way in a forest, and, notwithstanding all his\n efforts, could not find his way out. Presently he encountered a\n stranger, who said to him, \"What are you doing here, my friend,\n in this gloomy forest, where only wild beasts dwell?\" The king\n replied, \"I have lost my way, and am trying to find the road\n home.\" \"If you will promise to give me the first living thing\n that meets you when you return to your palace, I will show you\n the right way,\" said the stranger.\n [106]\n\n The king reflected awhile, and then answered, \"Why should I run\n the risk of losing my good hunting-dog? I may perhaps succeed\n in finding my way home by myself.\" The stranger went\n [Pg 153]\n away, but the king wandered about in the wood till his\n provisions were exhausted, while he was unable to discover the\n least trace of the right path. Then the stranger met him a\n second time, and said, \"Promise me the first living thing that\n meets you on your return to your palace.\" But as the king was\n very obstinate, he refused to promise anything yet. He once\n more boldly explored the forest backwards and forwards, and at\n length sank down exhausted under a tree, and thought that his\n last hour had come. Then the stranger, who was none other than\n the Old Boy\n [107] himself, appeared to the king for the third time, and\n said, \"Don't be a fool. How can you be so fond of your dog that\n you are unwilling to part with him to save your life? Only\n promise me what I require, and you will soon be relieved from\n your anxiety, and your life will be saved.\" \"My life is worth\n more than a thousand dogs,\" answered the king. \"The welfare of\n a whole country and people is at stake. Let it be so, I will\n grant your request, if you will only take me home.\" He had\n hardly uttered the words when he found himself at once on the\n borders of the wood, and could see his palace\n [Pg 154]\n in the distance. He hurried thither, and the first thing which\n met him at the gate was the nurse with the royal infant, who\n stretched out his arms to his father. The king was horrified,\n and scolded the nurse, telling her to take the child away as\n quickly as possible. Directly afterwards came his faithful\n dog, and fawned upon his master, who repulsed his advances\n with a kick. Innocent dependants often suffer thus for the\n folly and ill-humour of their superiors.\n\n As soon as the king's anger had cooled a little, he exchanged\n his child, a promising boy, for the daughter of a peasant, and\n thus the prince was reared up in the house of poor people,\n while the peasant's daughter slept in silken robes in the royal\n cradle. In a year's time, the Old Boy made his appearance to\n demand his due, and took the little girl with him, supposing\n her to be the king's child, for he knew nothing of the artifice\n by which the children had been changed. The king exulted at the\n success of his stratagem, and ordered a great feast. He loaded\n the parents of the stolen child with rich presents, that the\n prince might want for nothing in the cottage, but did not yet\n venture to reclaim his son, fearing lest the deception might be\n [Pg 155]\n discovered. The peasant family were well satisfied with the\n arrangement, for they had one mouth less to feed, and plenty\n of food and money.\n\n Meantime the prince grew up to boyhood, and spent a very\n pleasant life in the house of his foster-parents. But still he\n was not quite happy, for as soon as he learned how the\n stratagem had succeeded, he was much grieved that a poor\n innocent girl should have to suffer the consequences of his\n father's thoughtlessness in his place. He formed a fixed\n resolve either to release the poor girl, if this was possible,\n or to perish with her. He could not endure the thought of\n becoming king by the sacrifice of a maiden.\n [108] One day he secretly disguised himself as a peasant lad,\n took a bag of peas on his shoulder, and went to the wood where\n his father had lost his way eighteen years before.\n [Pg 156]\n\n\n Soon after entering the wood he began to cry out, \"O what an\n unfortunate boy I am! how far I must have wandered from the\n path! Who will show me the way out of this wood, for there is\n no human soul to be seen far or near!\" Presently a stranger\n with a long grey beard and a leather pouch at his girdle, like\n a Tartar,\n [109] made his appearance. He gave the youth a friendly\n greeting, adding, \"I know this neighbourhood well, and can\n direct you anywhere you please, if you will promise me a good\n return.\"\n\n\"What can a poor lad like me promise you?\" answered the artful prince.\n\"I have nothing more than my young life, for even the coat on my body\nbelongs to the master whom I must serve in exchange for food and\nclothing.\"\n\nThe stranger looked at the bag of peas on the lad's shoulder, and\nremarked, \"You can't be quite destitute, for you carry a bag which\nseems to be very heavy.\"\n\n \"There are peas in the bag,\" said the prince. \"My old aunt died\n last night, and has left me so\n [Pg 157]\n much as this, that I may be able to set boiled peas before the\n watchers of the dead\n [110] as is the custom in this country. I have begged the peas\n from my host in the name of God, and was going away with them,\n when I struck into a forest path as a short cut, and it has led\n me astray, as you see.\"\n\n\"Then I conclude, from what you say, that you are an orphan,\" observed\nthe stranger with a grin. \"If you will enter my service, I happen just\nto be in want of a handy workman for my small household, and I've taken\na fancy to you.\"\n\n\"Why shouldn't I, if we can come to terms?\" replied the prince. \"I was\nborn to servitude, and a stranger's bread is always bitter, so that it\nmatters little to me what master I serve. But what will you promise me\nfor a year's service?\"\n\n\"Well,\" said the stranger, \"you shall have fresh food every day, meat\ntwice a week, and when you work out of doors, butter or herrings as a\ntreat, a full suit of summer and winter clothing, besides two acres of\nland for your own use.\"\n\n \"That will suit me,\" said the crafty prince. \"Let other people\n bury my aunt; I'll go with you.\"\n [Pg 158]\n\n\n The Old Boy seemed well pleased at having made such a good\n stroke of business, and spun round on one foot like a teetotum,\n hallooing so loud that the wood re-echoed. Then he started off\n on the road with his new servant, and enlivened the tedium of\n the way by a variety of jokes, without observing that his\n companion dropped a pea from his bag at every ten or fifteen\n paces. The travellers halted for the night in the forest under\n a large fir-tree, and continued their journey next morning. The\n sun was already high in the heavens when they reached a large\n stone. Here the old man stopped, looked sharply round on all\n sides, whistled loudly, and then stamped on the ground three\n times with his left foot.\n [111] Suddenly a secret door opened under the stone, and\n revealed a covered way like the entrance to a cavern. Then the\n old man seized the prince's arm, and said roughly, \"Follow me!\"\n\n They were in utter darkness, but it seemed to the prince that\n the path led them deeper and deeper into the earth. After some\n time a glimmer of light again grew visible, but the light did\n not resemble that of either the sun or moon. The prince looked\n [Pg 159]\n up in some alarm, but could see neither sun nor sky; only a\n mass of shining clouds floated over him, which seemed to\n canopy this new world, in which everything had a strange\n appearance. Land and water, trees and plants, animals and\n birds, all had a different aspect from what he had seen\n before. But what seemed strangest to him was the wonderful\n silence around, for there was not a voice or a rustle to be\n heard anywhere. All was as still as in the grave, and even the\n prince's own footsteps made no sound. Here and there a bird\n might be seen sitting on a bough with stretched-out neck and\n swelled throat, as if singing, but no sound was audible. The\n dogs opened their mouths to bark, and the bulls raised their\n heads to bellow, but neither bark nor bellow could be heard.\n The water flowed over the gravel without gushing, the wind\n waved the tops of the trees without rustling, and flies and\n beetles flew about without buzzing. The Old Boy did not speak\n a word, and when his companion tried to speak he felt his\n voice die away in his throat.\n\n Nobody knows how long they travelled through this unearthly\n silent country. Terror seized on the heart of the prince, his\n hair stood on end\n [Pg 160]\n like bristles, and he shivered with fear, when at length, to\n his great joy, the first sound fell on his straining ears, and\n seemed to make a real country of this shadowy land. It seemed\n to him that a great herd of horses was toiling through swampy\n ground. At last the old man opened his mouth, and said,\n licking his lips, \"The soup kettle's boiling, and they are\n expecting us at home.\" They went on some distance farther,\n when the prince thought he heard the sound of a sawmill, in\n which at least two dozen saws seemed to be at work, but the\n host said, \"My old grandmother is already fast asleep and\n snoring.\"\n\n Presently they reached the top of a hill, and the prince could\n see the homestead of his new master at some distance, but there\n were so many buildings that it looked more like a village or an\n outlying suburb than the residence of a single owner. At length\n they arrived, and found an empty dog-kennel at the gate. \"Creep\n in there,\" said the master, \"and lie quiet till I have spoken\n to my grandmother about you. She is very self-willed, like most\n old people, and can't bear a stranger in the house.\" The prince\n crept trembling into the dog-kennel, and began to repent\n [Pg 161]\n the rashness that had brought him into such a scrape.\n\nAfter a time the host came back, called the prince from his\nhiding-place, and said with a wry face, \"Take good note of the\narrangements of our household, and take care not to go against them, or\nyou might fare very badly.\n\n\n\n \"Keep your eyes and ears both open,\n\n But your mouth fast closed for ever,\n\n And obey without a question:\n\n Think whatever it may please you;\n\n Never speak without permission.\"\n\n\n\n When the prince crossed the threshold, his eyes fell upon a\n young girl of great beauty, with brown eyes and curly hair. He\n thought to himself, \"If the old man has many such daughters as\n this, I should be glad to become his son-in-law. The maiden is\n just to my taste.\" The fair maiden laid the table without\n saying a word, set the food upon it, and then modestly took her\n place by the hearth, as if she had not observed the stranger.\n She took out needles and worsted, and began to knit a stocking.\n The master sat down alone at the table, and did not ask either\n the man or maid to join him, nor was\n [Pg 162]\n anything to be seen of the old grandmother. The Old Boy's\n appetite was immeasurable, and in a very short time he had\n made a clean sweep of everything on the table, though it would\n have been plenty for at least a dozen people. When at last he\n allowed his jaws to rest, he said to the maiden, \"Scrape out\n what is left at the bottom of the pot and kettle, and content\n yourselves with the fragments, but throw the bones to the\n dog.\"\n\n The prince's countenance fell at the idea of this meal from the\n scrapings of the kettle, which he was to share with the pretty\n girl and the dog. But he soon recovered his spirits when he\n found a very nice meal placed on the table from these\n fragments. During supper he cast many stolen glances at the\n maiden, and would have given a great deal if he could have\n ventured to speak to her. But whenever he was on the point of\n speaking, he met the imploring glance of the maiden, which\n seemed to say, \"Silence!\" So the young man allowed his eyes to\n speak, and gave expression to this dumb language by his good\n appetite, for the maiden had prepared the supper, and it must\n be pleasant to her to see that the guest appreciated her\n cookery.\n [Pg 163]\n Meantime the old man had lain down on the stove-bench, and\n made the walls re-echo with his snoring.\n\nAfter supper he roused himself, and said to the prince, \"You may rest\nfor two days after your long journey, and look round the house. But\ncome to me to-morrow evening and I will arrange your work for next day,\nfor my household must always set about their work before I get up\nmyself. The girl will show you your lodging.\" The prince made an effort\nto speak, but the old man came down on him like a thunderbolt, and\nscreamed out, \"You dog of a servant! If you break the rules of the\nhouse, you'll find yourself a head shorter without more ado. Hold your\njaw, and off to bed with you!\"\n\n The maiden beckoned him to follow, unlocked a door and signed\n to him to enter. The prince thought he saw a tear glisten in\n her eye, and would have been only too glad to loiter on the\n threshold, but he was too much afraid of the old man. \"It's\n impossible that this beautiful girl can be his daughter,\"\n thought he, \"for she has a kind heart. She must be the poor\n girl who was brought here in my place, and for whose sake I\n undertook this foolhardy enterprise.\" He did not fall asleep\n for a long time, and even then his uneasy dreams gave him no\n [Pg 164]\n rest. He dreamed of all sorts of unknown dangers which\n threatened him, and it was always the form of the fair girl\n that came to his aid.\n\nWhen he awoke next morning, his first thought was to do his best to\ningratiate himself with the maiden. He found the industrious girl\nalready at work, and helped her to draw water from the well and carry\nit into the house, chopped wood, kept up the fire under the pots, and\nhelped her in all her other work. In the afternoon he went out to make\nhimself better acquainted with his new abode, and was much surprised\nthat he could find no trace of the old grandmother. He saw a white mare\nin the stable, and a black cow with a white-headed calf in the\nenclosure, and in other locked outhouses he thought he heard ducks,\ngeese, fowls, &c. Breakfast and dinner were just as good as last\nnight's supper, and he would have been very well content with his\nposition, but that it was so very hard to hold his tongue with the\nmaiden opposite him. On the evening of the second day he went to the\nmaster to receive his instructions for next day's work.\n\n The old man said, \"I'll give you an easy job for to-morrow.\n Take the scythe, and mow as much grass as the white mare needs\n for her day's pro\n [Pg 165]\n vender, and clean out the stable. But if I should come and find\n the manger empty or any litter on the floor, it will go badly\n enough with you. Take good heed!\"\n\n The prince was well pleased, for he thought, \"I shall soon be\n able to manage this piece of work, for although I have never\n handled either plough or scythe before, I have often seen how\n easily the country-people manage these tools, and I am quite\n strong enough.\" But when he was about to go to bed, the maiden\n crept in gently, and asked in a low voice, \"What work has he\n given you?\" \"I've an easy task for to-morrow,\" answered the\n prince. \"I have only to mow grass for the white mare, and to\n clean out the stable; that's all.\" \"O poor fellow!\" sighed the\n maiden, \"how can you ever accomplish it? The white mare is the\n master's grandmother, and she is an insatiable creature, for\n whom twenty mowers could hardly provide the daily fodder, and\n another twenty would have to work from morning till night to\n clear the litter from the stable. How will you be able to\n manage both tasks alone? Take my advice, and follow it exactly.\n When you have thrown a few loads of grass to the\n [Pg 166]\n mare, you must plait a strong rope of willow-twigs in her\n sight. She will ask you what this is for, and you must answer,\n 'To bind you up so tightly that you will not feel disposed to\n eat more than I give you, or to litter the stable after I have\n cleared it.'\" As soon as the girl had finished speaking, she\n slid out of the room as gently as she had come, without giving\n the youth time to thank her. He repeated her instructions to\n himself several times, for fear of forgetting anything, and\n then went to sleep.\n\n Early next morning he set to work. He plied the scythe lustily,\n and soon mowed down so much grass that he could rake several\n loads together. He took one load to the mare, but when he\n returned with the second he found with dismay that the manger\n was already empty, and that there was half a ton of litter on\n the floor. He saw now that he would have been lost without the\n maiden's good advice, and resolved to follow it at once. He\n began to plait the rope, when the mare turned her head and\n asked in astonishment, \"My dear son, what do you want with this\n rope?\" \"O nothing at all,\" he answered; \"I am only going to\n bind you up so tightly that you\n [Pg 167]\n won't care to eat more than I choose to give you, or to drop\n more litter than I choose to carry away.\" The white mare\n looked at him, and sighed deeply once or twice, but it was\n clear that she understood him, for long after midday there was\n still fodder in the manger and the floor remained clean.\n Presently the master came to inspect the work, and when he\n found everything in good order he was much surprised, and\n asked, \"Are you clever enough to do this yourself, or did any\n one give you good advice?\" But the prince was on his guard,\n and answered at once, \"I have no one to help me but my own\n poor head and a mighty God in heaven.\" The old man was\n silenced, and left the stable grumbling, but the prince was\n delighted that everything had succeeded so well.\n\n In the evening the master said, \"I have no particular work for\n you to-morrow, but as the maid has plenty to do in the house,\n you must milk the black cow. But take care not to leave a drop\n of milk in the udder. If I find that you have done so, it might\n cost you your life.\" As the prince went away, he thought, \"If\n there is not some trick in this, I cannot find the work hard.\n Thank God, I have strong fingers, and\n [Pg 168]\n will not leave a drop of milk behind.\" But when he was about\n to retire to rest, the maiden came to him again, and asked,\n \"What work have you to do to-morrow?\" \"I've a whole holiday\n to-morrow,\" answered the prince. \"All I have to do to-morrow\n is to milk the black cow, and not leave a drop of milk in the\n udder.\" \"O you unfortunate fellow!\" sighed she, \"how will you\n ever accomplish it? Know, dear young stranger, that if you\n were to milk the black cow from morning till evening, the milk\n would continue to flow in one unbroken stream. I am convinced\n that the old man is bent on your ruin. But fear nothing, for\n as long as I am alive no harm shall happen to you, if you will\n remember my advice, and follow it exactly. When you go\n milking, take a pan full of hot coals, and a smith's tongs\n with you. When you reach the place, put the tongs in the fire,\n and blow the coals to a bright flame. If the black cow asks\n what this is for, answer her as I am about to whisper in your\n ear.\" Then the maiden crept out of the room on tiptoe as she\n had come, and the prince lay down to sleep.\n\n The prince got up almost before dawn next day, and went to the\n cowhouse with the milk-pail in\n [Pg 169]\n one hand, and a pan of live coals in the other. The black cow\n looked at his proceedings for a while in silence, and then\n asked, \"What are you doing, my dear son?\" \"Nothing at all,\" he\n replied; \"but some cows have a bad habit of keeping back milk\n in their udders after they are milked, and in such cases I\n find hot tongs useful to prevent the chance of any waste.\" The\n black cow sighed deeply and seemed scared. The prince then\n took the pail, milked the cow dry, and when he tried again\n after a while he found not a drop of milk in her udder. Some\n time after the master came into the cowhouse, and as he was\n also unable to draw a drop of milk, he asked angrily, \"Are you\n so clever yourself, or did any one give you good advice?\" But\n the prince answered as before, \"I have no one to help me but\n my own poor head and a mighty God in heaven.\" The old man went\n off in great vexation.\n\n When the prince went to the master in the evening, the latter\n said, \"There is still a heap of hay in the field that I should\n like to have brought under cover during dry weather. Bring the\n hay home to-morrow, but take care not to leave a particle\n behind, or it might cost you your life.\" The prince left the\n room well pleased,\n [Pg 170]\n thinking, \"It's no great job to bring hay home. I have only to\n load it, and the mare must draw it. I won't spare the master's\n grandmother.\" In the evening the maiden crept to his side, and\n asked about his work for to-morrow. The prince said smiling,\n \"I am learning all sorts of farmwork here. I have to bring\n home a heap of hay to-morrow, and only to take care not to\n leave a scrap behind. This is all my work for to-morrow.\" \"O\n poor fellow!\" sighed she, \"how will you ever do it? If you\n were to set to work for a week, with the help of all the\n inhabitants of a large district, you could not remove this\n heap. Whatever you took away from the top would grow up again\n from the ground directly. Mark well what I say. You must get\n up to-morrow before daybreak, and lead the white mare from the\n stable, taking with you some strong cords. Then go to the\n haycock, fasten the cords round it, and then bind them to the\n mare. When this is done, climb on the haycock, and begin to\n count one, two, three, four, five, six, and so on. The mare\n will ask what you are counting, and you must answer her as I\n whisper.\" Then the maiden left the room, and the prince went\n to bed.\n [Pg 171]\n\n\n When he awoke next morning, the first thing he remembered was\n the maiden's good advice. So he took some strong ropes with\n him, led out the white mare, and rode on her back to the\n haycock, but found that the so-called haycock contained at\n least fifty loads. The prince did all that the maiden had told\n him, and when he was sitting on the heap, and had counted up to\n twenty, the white mare asked in surprise, \"What are you\n counting, my dear son?\" \"Nothing at all,\" said he; \"I was only\n amusing myself by counting up the packs of wolves\n [112] in the forest, but there are so many that I can't reckon\n them all up.\" He had hardly spoken when the white mare darted\n off like the wind, and the haycock was safely housed in a few\n moments. The master was not a little surprised, when he came\n out after breakfast, to find that the new labourer had already\n finished his day's work. He put him the same question as\n before, and received the same reply; and he went off shaking\n his head and cursing.\n\n In the evening, the prince went as usual to inquire about his\n work, and the old man said,\n [Pg 172]\n \"To-morrow you must take the white-headed calf to pasture, but\n take care that he doesn't run away, or it might cost you your\n life.\" The prince thought, \"There are many ten-year old\n farm-boys who have whole herds to manage, and surely I can't\n find it so very difficult to look after one calf.\" But when\n the maiden heard of it she said, \"Know that this calf is so\n wild that he would run three times round the world in a day.\n [113] Take this silk thread, and bind one end to the left\n fore-leg of the calf, and the other to the little toe of your\n left foot, and then the calf will not be able to stir a step\n from your side, whether you are walking, standing, or lying\n down.\" Then she left him, and the prince lay down, but it vexed\n him to think that he had again forgotten to thank her for her\n good advice.\n\n Next morning he followed the advice of the friendly maiden, and\n led the calf to the pasture by the silken thread. It remained\n by his side like a faithful dog, and in the evening he led it\n back to the stall, where the old man met him\n [Pg 173]\n angrily, and, after the usual question and answer, went off in\n a fury, and the prince thought it must be the mention of the\n holy name which kept him under restraint.\n\nLate in the evening the prince went to his master for instructions,\nwhen the old man gave him a bag of barley, saying, \"I will give you a\nholiday to-morrow, and you may sleep as long as you like, but you must\nwork hard to-night instead. Sow me this barley, which will spring up\nand ripen quickly; then you must cut it, thresh it, and winnow it, so\nthat you can malt it and grind it. You must brew beer of this malt, and\nwhen I wake to-morrow morning, you must bring me a jug of fresh beer\nfor my morning drink. Take care to follow my instructions exactly, or\nit might easily cost you your life.\"\n\n This time the prince was quite confounded, and on leaving the\n room, he stood outside weeping bitterly, and said to himself,\n \"This is my last night, for no mortal can do this work, and the\n clever maiden's aid will avail me no longer. O unhappy wretch\n that I am! why was I so thoughtless as to leave the king's\n palace, and thrust myself into this danger! I cannot even\n lament my unhappy lot to\n [Pg 174]\n the stars in heaven, for here there are neither stars nor sky.\n But yet God reigns over all.\"\n\n He was still standing with the bag of barley in his hand when\n the house-door opened and the kind maiden came out. She asked\n what troubled him so much, and he replied, \"Alas! my last hour\n has come, and we must part for ever. I will tell you all before\n I die. I am the only son of a great king, from whom I should\n inherit a mighty empire; but now all hope and happiness are at\n an end.\" Then he told the maiden with tears of the task the old\n man had laid upon him; but it pained him to see that she did\n not seem to share his trouble. When he had finished his long\n story, she smiled and said, \"My dear prince, you may sleep\n quietly to-night, and enjoy yourself all day to-morrow. Take my\n advice, and don't despise it because I am only a poor\n servant-girl. Take this little key, which unlocks the third\n hen-house, where the Old Boy keeps the spirits who serve him.\n [114] Throw the bag of barley into the house, and repeat word\n for word the commands that you have received from the master,\n and add, 'If you depart a hair's breadth from my\n [Pg 175]\n instructions, you will all perish together; but if you want\n help, the door of the seventh pen will be open to-night, in\n which dwell the most powerful of the old man's spirits.'\"\n\nThe prince carried out all her instructions, and then lay down to\nsleep. When he awoke in the morning and went to the beer tub, he found\nit full of beer violently working, with the foam flowing over the edge.\nHe tasted the beer, filled a large jug with the foaming drink, and\nbrought it to his master, who was just getting up. But instead of the\nthanks which he expected from him, the old man broke out in\nuncontrollable fury, \"That's not from yourself. I see you have good\nfriends and helpers. All right! we'll talk again this evening.\"\n\nIn the evening the old man said, \"I have no work for you to-morrow, but\nyou must come to my bedside to-morrow morning, and shake hands with\nme.\"\n\n The prince was amused at the old man's queer whim, and laughed\n when he told the maiden. But when she heard it she became very\n serious, and said, \"Now you must look to yourself, for the old\n man intends to eat you to-morrow morning, and there is only one\n way of escape. You must heat a\n [Pg 176]\n\n shovel red-hot in the stove,\n [115] and offer it to him instead of your own hand.\" Then she\n hastened away, and the prince went to bed. Next morning he took\n good care to heat the shovel red-hot before the old man awoke.\n At last he heard him shouting, \"What has become of you, you\n lazy fellow? Come and shake hands with me.\" But when the prince\n entered the room with the red-hot shovel in his hand, the old\n man cried out with a whining voice, \"I am very ill to-day, and\n cannot take your hand. But come back this evening to receive my\n orders.\"\n\nThe prince loitered about all day, and went to the old man in the\nevening as usual to receive his commands for the morrow. He found him\nvery friendly, and he said, \"I am well pleased with you. Come to me\nto-morrow morning with the maiden, for I know that you have long been\nattached to each other, and I will give her to you as your bride.\"\n\n The prince would have liked to dance and shout for joy, but by\n good luck he remembered the strict rules of the house, and kept\n silent. But when he\n [Pg 177]\n spoke to his betrothed of his good fortune, and expected that\n she would receive the news with equal delight, he saw her turn\n as white as the wall with terror, and her tongue seemed to be\n paralysed. As soon as she recovered herself a little, she\n said, \"The Old Boy has discovered that I have been your\n counsellor, and has resolved to destroy us both. We must fly\n this very night, or we are lost. Take an axe, and strike off\n the head of the white-headed calf with a heavy blow, and then\n split the skull in two with a second stroke. In the brain of\n the calf you will find a shining red reel, which you must\n bring me. I will arrange whatever else is needful.\" The prince\n thought, \"I would rather kill an innocent calf than sacrifice\n both myself and this dear girl, and if our flight succeeds, I\n shall see my home once more. The peas I sowed must have sprung\n up by this time, so that we cannot miss our way.\"\n\n He went into the stall, and found the cow and the calf lying\n asleep near together, and they slept so fast that they did not\n hear his approach. But when he struck off the calf's head, the\n cow groaned very loud, as if she had had a bad dream. He\n hastened to split the calf's skull with the second\n [Pg 178]\n blow, and lo! the whole stall suddenly became as light as if\n it was day. The red reel fell out of the brain, and shone like\n a little sun. The prince wrapped it carefully in a cloth, and\n hid it in his bosom. It was fortunate that the cow did not\n wake, or she would have begun to roar so loud that she might\n easily have roused her master too.\n\n The prince found the maiden waiting for him at the gate with a\n small bundle on her arm. \"Where is the reel?\" she whispered.\n \"Here,\" replied the prince, and gave it to her. \"Now we must\n hasten our flight,\" said she, and she unravelled a small part\n of the reel from the cloth that its shining light might\n illuminate the darkness of the way like a lantern. As the\n prince had expected, the peas had all sprung up, so that they\n could not miss the way. The maiden then told the prince that\n she had once overheard a conversation between the old man and\n his grandmother, and had learned that she was a princess whom\n the Old Boy had stolen from her parents by a trick. The prince\n knew the real state of the case better, but kept silence,\n rejoicing inwardly that he had succeeded in freeing the poor\n girl. The\n [Pg 179]\n travellers must have gone a long way before the day began to\n break.\n\nThe Old Boy did not wake till late In the morning, and rubbed the sleep\nout of his eyes for a long time before he remembered that he was going\nto devour the couple. After waiting for them a good while he said to\nhimself, \"Perhaps they haven't quite finished their preparations for\nthe wedding.\" But at last he got tired of waiting so long, and shouted\nout, \"Ahoy, man and maid, what has become of you?\" He repeated the cry\nseveral times, shouting and cursing, but neither man nor maid appeared.\nAt last he scrambled out of bed in a rage, and went in search of the\ndefaulters. But he found the house empty, and discovered, too, that the\nbeds had not been slept in. Then he rushed into the stall, and when he\nsaw the calf slaughtered and the magic reel stolen, he comprehended\nall. He cursed till everything was black, and opened the third\nspirit-house, sending his messengers forth to seek the fugitives.\n\"Bring me them just as you find them, for I must have them,\" said the\nOld Boy, and the spirits flew forth like the wind.\n\n The fugitives were just crossing a great plain,\n [Pg 180]\n when the maiden suddenly stopped and said, \"All is not as it\n should be. The reel moves in my hand, and we are certainly\n pursued.\" When they looked back, they saw a black cloud\n rushing towards them with great speed. Then the maiden turned\n the reel thrice in her hand and said:\n\n\n\n \"Hear me, reel, and reel, O hearken;\n\n Fain would I become a streamlet,\n\n Where as fish my lover's swimming.\"\n\n\n\nInstantly they were both transformed. The maiden flowed away like a\nbrook, and the prince swam in the water like a little fish. The spirits\nrushed past, and turned after a time, and flew back home; but they did\nnot touch the brook or the fish. As soon as the pursuers were gone, the\nbrook became a maiden, and the fish a youth, and they continued their\njourney in human form.\n\nWhen the spirits returned, weary and empty-handed, the Old Boy asked if\nthey had not noticed anything unusual on their journey.\n\n\"Nothing at all,\" they answered, \"but a brook on the plain, with a\nsingle fish swimming in it.\"\n\n The old man growled angrily, \"There they were! there they\n were!\" Immediately he threw open the doors of the fifth pen and\n let out the spirits,\n [Pg 181]\n commanding them to drink up the water of the brook, and to\n capture the fish; and the spirits flew off like the wind.\n\nThe travellers were just approaching the edge of a wood, when the\nmaiden stopped, saying, \"All is not as it should be. The reel moves\nagain in my hand.\" They looked round, and saw another cloud in the sky,\ndarker than the first, and with red borders. \"These are our pursuers,\"\nshe cried, and turned the reel three times round in her hand, saying:\n\n\n\n \"Hear me, reel, and reel, O hear me;\n\n Change us both upon the instant:\n\n I'll become a wild rose-briar,\n\n And my love a rose upon it.\"\n\n\n\nInstantly the maiden was changed into a wild rose-bush, and the youth\nhung upon it in the form of a rose. The spirits rushed away over their\nheads, and did not return for some time; but they saw nothing of the\nbrook and the fish, and they did not trouble about the wild rose-tree.\nAs soon as their pursuers were gone, the rose-tree and the rose again\nbecame a maiden and a youth, and after their short rest they hurried\naway.\n\n \"Have you found them?\" cried the old man,\n [Pg 182]\n when the spirits returned and crouched before him.\n\n\"No,\" answered their leader; \"we found neither brook nor fish on the\nplain.\"\n\n\"Did you see nothing else remarkable on the way?\" asked their master.\nThe leader answered, \"We saw nothing but a wild rose-bush on the edge\nof the wood, with a single rose upon it.\" \"Fools!\" cried the old man,\n\"there they were! there they were!\" He threw open the door of the\nseventh pen, and sent out his most powerful spirits to search for the\nfugitives. \"Bring them me just as you find them, for I must have them,\ndead or alive. Tear up the accursed rose-tree by the roots, and bring\neverything else with you that looks strange.\" And the spirits rushed\nforth like a tempest.\n\n The fugitives were just resting in the shade of a wood, and\n strengthening themselves for further efforts with food and\n drink. Suddenly the maiden cried out, \"All is not right, for\n the reel feels as if it was being pulled from my bosom. We are\n certainly again pursued, and the danger is close at hand, but\n the wood still hides us from our enemies.\" Then she took the\n reel from her bosom,\n [Pg 183]\n and turned it over three times in her hand, saying:\n\n\n\n \"Hear me reel, and reel, O hear me;\n\n To a puff of wind transform me,\n\n To a gnat transform my lover.\"\n\n\n\nInstantly they were both transformed, and the maiden rose into the air\nas a puff of wind, and the prince sported in the breeze like a gnat.\nThe mighty host of spirits swept over them like a tempest, and returned\nsome time afterwards, as they could neither find the rose-bush nor\nanything else remarkable. But they were hardly gone before the youth\nand the maiden resumed their proper forms, and the maiden cried out,\n\"Now we must make haste, before the old man himself comes to look for\nus, for he would know us under any disguise.\"\n\nThey ran on for some distance till they reached the dark passage, which\nthey could easily climb up by the bright light of the reel. They were\nbreathless and exhausted when they reached the great rock; when the\nmaiden again turned the reel three times round, saying:\n\n\n\n \"Hear me, reel, and reel, O hear me;\n\n Let the rock aside be lifted,\n\n And a portal opened for us.\"\n\n\n\n [Pg 184]\n Instantly the rock was lifted, and they found themselves once\n more upon the earth. \"God be praised,\" cried the maiden, \"we\n are saved. The Old Boy has no further power over us here, and\n we can guard against his cunning. But now, my friend, we must\n part. Do you go to your parents, and I will go to mine.\" \"By no\n means,\" replied the prince, \"I cannot part from you, and you\n must come with me, and become my wife. You have passed days of\n sorrow with me, and now it is only right that we should enjoy\n days of happiness together.\" The maiden resisted for a time,\n but at last she consented to accompany the youth.\n\n They met with a woodcutter in the wood, who told them that\n there was great trouble in the palace and throughout the whole\n country, because of the unaccountable disappearance of the\n king's son, every trace of whom had been lost for years.\n [116] The maiden made use of the magic reel to provide the\n prince with suitable robes in which to present himself to his\n father. Meanwhile she stayed be\n [Pg 185]\n hind in a peasant's cottage, till the prince should have\n informed his father of his adventures.\n [117]\n\nBut the old king had died before the prince's arrival, for trouble at\nthe loss of his only son had shortened his life. On his death-bed he\nrepented bitterly of his thoughtless promise, and of his treachery in\ndelivering a poor innocent maiden to the old rascal, for which God had\npunished him by the loss of his son. The prince mourned for the death\nof his father, as befitted a good son, and buried him with great\nhonours. Then he mourned for three days, refusing all food and drink.\nOn the fourth morning he presented himself to the people as their new\nruler, assembled his councillors, and related to them the wonderful\nthings that he had seen and experienced in the Old Boy's dwelling, and\ndid not forget to say how the clever maiden had saved his life. Then\nthe councillors all exclaimed with one voice, \"She must become your\nconsort and our queen.\"\n\n When the young king set out to seek his bride, he was much\n surprised to meet the maiden\n [Pg 186]\n advancing in regal state. The magic reel had provided her with\n everything that was necessary, and all the people supposed\n that she must be the daughter of some very wealthy king, and\n came from a distant country. Then the wedding festivities\n commenced, which lasted four weeks, and they lived together in\n happiness and prosperity for many a pleasant year.\n [118]\n\n\n\n [Pg 187]\n\nSLYBOOTS.\n\n ( Kreutzwald .)\n\n In the days of the son of Kalev there reigned a very rich king\n of Kungla, who gave a great feast to his subjects every seven\n years at midsummer, which lasted for two or three weeks\n together.\n [119] The time for the feast came round again, and its\n commencement had been looked forward to for some months, though\n with some uncertainty; for twice already, seven years ago and\n fourteen years ago, the anticipated festival had come to\n nothing. Both times the king had made full preparations for the\n feast, but no man had tasted it. This seemed strange and\n incredible, but there were many people everywhere who could\n bear witness to the facts. It was said that on both these\n occasions an unknown stranger had come to the head-cook and\n asked to be permitted to taste a little of the food and drink,\n but the moment he had dipped his spoon in the soup-kettle, and\n put the froth in the beer-can to his\n [Pg 188]\n\n mouth, the whole contents of the storehouses, pantries, and\n cellars vanished in a moment, so that not a scrap or drop of\n anything remained.\n [120] The cooks and kitchen-boys had all seen and sworn to the\n truth of the matter, but the people were so enraged at the\n collapse of the feast, that the king was obliged to appease\n them seven years before, by ordering the head-cook to be hanged\n for having given the stranger permission to taste the food. In\n order to prevent any repetition of the trouble, the king\n proclaimed that he would richly reward any one who would\n undertake the preparation of the feast; and at length, when no\n one would undertake the responsibility, the king promised his\n youngest daughter in marriage to any one who should succeed,\n but added that failure would be punished with death.\n\n A long way from the capital, and near the borders of the\n kingdom, lived a rich farmer who had three sons, the youngest\n of whom showed great intelligence from his youth, because the\n Meadow-Queen\n [121] had nursed him, and had often secretly given him the\n breast. The father called\n [Pg 189]\n him Slyboots, and used to say to the brothers, \"You two elder\n ones must earn your living by your bodily strength and by the\n work of your hands, but as for you, little Slyboots, you will\n be able to rise higher in the world than your brothers, by\n your own cleverness.\"\n\nBefore the father died, he divided all his corn-land and meadows\nbetween his two elder sons, but to the youngest he gave enough money to\nenable him to go forth into the wide world to seek his fortune. But the\nfather's corpse was scarcely cold when the two elder brothers stripped\nthe youngest of every farthing, and thrust him out of the door, saying\nmockingly, \"Your cleverness alone, Slyboots, is to exalt you over our\nheads, and therefore you might find the money troublesome to you.\"\n\n The youngest brother scorned to notice the ill-treatment of his\n brothers, and went cheerfully on his way. \"Good fortune may\n come from God,\" was the comforting reflection which he took\n with him from his father's house, and he whistled away his sad\n thoughts. Just as he was beginning to feel hungry, he\n encountered two travelling journey-men. His pleasant\n countenance and cheerful talk pleased them, and when they\n rested, they shared\n [Pg 190]\n their provisions with him, so that Slyboots did not fare so\n badly on the first day. He parted from his companions before\n evening quite contented, for his present comfort left him\n without anxiety for the morrow. He could sleep anywhere with\n the green grass for a couch and the blue sky above, and a\n stone under his head served as well as a soft pillow. Next\n morning he set out on his way again, and arrived at a lonely\n farm, where a young woman was sitting at the door, weeping\n bitterly. Slyboots asked what was her trouble, and she\n answered, \"I have a bad husband, who beats me every day if I\n cannot humour his mad freaks. He has ordered me to-day to cook\n him a fish which is not a fish, and which has eyes, but not in\n its head. Where in the world shall I find such a creature?\"\n \"Don't cry, young woman,\" answered Slyboots. \"Your husband\n wants a crab, which is a water-animal to be sure, but is not a\n fish, and which has eyes, but not in its head.\" The woman\n thanked him for his good advice, and gave him something to\n eat, and a bag of provisions which would last him for several\n days. As soon as he received this unexpected assistance, he\n determined to set out for the royal capital, where cleverness\n [Pg 191]\n was likely to be in most request, and where he hoped to make\n his fortune.\n\nWherever he went, he heard every one talking of the king's midsummer\nbanquet, and when he heard of the reward which was offered to the man\nwho should prepare the feast, he began to reflect whether he might not\nbe able to accomplish the adventure. \"If I succeed,\" said he to\nhimself, \"I shall find myself at a stroke on the highway to fortune;\nand in the worst case of all, I shall only lose my life, and we must\nall die sooner or later. If I begin in the right way, why shouldn't I\nsucceed? Perhaps I may be more fortunate than others. And even if the\nking should refuse me his daughter, he must at least give me the\npromised reward in money, which will make me a rich man.\"\n\nBuoyed up with such thoughts, he pursued his journey, singing and\nwhistling like a lark, sometimes resting under the shadow of a bush\nduring the heat of the day, and sleeping at night under a tree or in\nthe open fields. One morning he finished the last remains of his\nprovisions, and in the evening he arrived safe and sound at the city.\n\n Next day he craved audience of the king. The king saw that he\n had to deal with an intelligent and\n [Pg 192]\n enterprising man, and it was easy for them to come to terms.\n \"What is your name?\" asked the king. The man of brains\n replied, \"My baptismal name is Nicodemus, but I was always\n called Slyboots at home, to show that I did not fall on my\n head.\" \"I will leave you your name,\" returned the king, \"but\n your head must answer for all mischief if the affair should go\n wrong.\"\n\n Slyboots asked the king to give him seven hundred workmen, and\n set about his preparations without delay. He ordered twenty\n large sheds to be constructed, and arranged in a square like a\n series of large cowhouses, so that a great open space was left\n in the middle, to which led one single large gate. He ordered\n great cooking-pots and caldrons to be built in the rooms which\n were to be heated, and the ovens were furnished with iron\n spits, where meat and sausages could be roasted. Other sheds\n were furnished with great boilers and vats for brewing beer, so\n that the boilers were above and the vats below. Other houses\n without fireplaces were fitted up as storehouses for cold\n provisions, such as black bread, barm bracks, white bread, &c.\n All needful stores, such as flour, groats, meat, salt, lard,\n butter, &c., were brought into the\n [Pg 193]\n open space, and fifty soldiers were stationed before the door,\n so that nothing should be touched by the finger of any thief.\n The king came every day to view the preparations, and praised\n the skill and forethought of Slyboots. Besides all this,\n several dozen bakehouses were built in the open air, and a\n special guard of soldiers was stationed before each. They\n slaughtered for the feast a thousand oxen, two hundred calves,\n five hundred swine, ten thousand sheep, and many more small\n animals, which were driven together in flocks from all\n quarters. Stores of provisions were constantly brought by\n river in boats and barges, and by land in waggons, and this\n went on without intermission for several weeks. Seven thousand\n hogsheads were brewed of beer alone. Although the seven\n hundred assistants toiled late and early, and many additional\n labourers were engaged, yet most of the toil and trouble fell\n upon Slyboots, who was obliged to look sharply after the\n others at every point. He had warned the cooks, the bakers,\n and the brewers, in the most stringent manner, not to allow\n any strange mouth to taste the food or drink, and any one who\n broke this command was threatened with the gallows. If such a\n greedy stranger should make his appearance\n [Pg 194]\n anywhere, he was to be brought immediately to the\n superintendent of the preparations.\n\n On the morning of the first day of the feast, word was brought\n to Slyboots that an unknown old man had come into one of the\n kitchens, and asked the cook to allow him to taste a little\n from the soup-kettle with a spoon, which the cook could not\n permit him to do on his own responsibility. Slyboots ordered\n the stranger to be brought before him, and presently he beheld\n a little old man with grey hair, who humbly begged to be\n allowed to taste the food and drink prepared for the banquet.\n Slyboots told him to come into one of the kitchens, when he\n would gratify his wish if it were possible. As they went, he\n scanned the old man sharply, to see whether he could not detect\n something strange about him. Presently he observed a shining\n gold ring on the ring-finger of the old man's left hand. When\n they reached the kitchen, Slyboots asked, \"What security can\n you give me that no harm shall come of it if I let you taste\n the food?\" \"My lord,\" answered the stranger, \"I have nothing to\n offer you as a pledge.\" Slyboots pointed to the fine gold ring\n and demanded that as a pledge. The old fellow resisted with all\n his might,\n [Pg 195]\n protesting that the ring was a token of remembrance from his\n dead wife, and he had vowed never to take it from his hand,\n lest some misfortune should happen. \"Then it is quite\n impossible for me to grant your request,\" said Slyboots, \"for\n I cannot permit any one to taste either the food or drink\n without a pledge.\" The old man was so anxious about it that at\n last he gave his ring as a pledge.\n\nJust as he was about to dip his spoon in the pot, Slyboots struck him\nso heavy a blow on the head with the flat of an axe, that it might have\nfelled the strongest ox; but the old fellow did not fall, but only\nstaggered a little. Then Slyboots seized him by the beard with both\nhands, and ordered strong ropes to be brought, with which he bound the\nold man hand and foot, and hung him up by the legs to a beam. Then\nSlyboots said to him mockingly, \"You may wait there till the feast is\nover, and then we will resume our conversation. Meantime, I'll keep\nyour ring, on which your power depends, as a token.\" The old man was\nobliged to submit, whether he liked it or not, for he was bound so\nfirmly that he could not move hand or foot.\n\n Then the great feast began, to which the people\n [Pg 196]\n flocked in thousands from all quarters. Although the feasting\n lasted for three whole weeks, there was no want of either food\n or drink, for there was plenty and to spare.\n\n The people were much pleased, and had nothing but praise for\n the king and the manager of the feast. When the king was about\n to pay Slyboots the promised reward, he answered, \"I have still\n a little business to transact with the stranger before I\n receive my reward.\" Then he took seven strong men with him,\n armed with heavy cudgels, and took them to the place where the\n old man had been hanging for the last three weeks. \"Now, then,\"\n said Slyboots, \"grasp your cudgels firmly, and belabour the old\n man so that he shall never forget his hospitable reception for\n the rest of his life.\" The seven men began to whack the old man\n all at once, and would soon have made an end of his life, if\n the rope had not given way under their blows. The little man\n fell down, and vanished underground in an instant, leaving a\n wide opening behind him. Then said Slyboots, \"I have his\n pledge, with which I must follow him. Bring the king a thousand\n greetings from me, and tell him to divide my reward among the\n poor, if I should not return.\"\n [Pg 197]\n\n\n He then crept downwards through the hole in which the old man\n had disappeared. At first he found the pathway very narrow, but\n it widened considerably at the depth of a few fathoms, so that\n he was able to advance easily. Steps were hewn in the rock, so\n that he did not slip, notwithstanding the darkness. Slyboots\n went on for some distance, till he came to a door. He looked\n through a crack, and saw three young girls\n [122] sitting with the old man, whose head was resting on the\n lap of one of them. The girl was saying, \"If I only rub the\n bruise a few times more with the bell,\n [123] the pain and swelling will disappear.\" Slyboots thought,\n \"That is certainly the place where I struck the old man with\n the back of the axe three weeks ago.\" He decided to wait behind\n the door till the master of the house had lain down to sleep\n and the fire was extinguished. Presently the old man said,\n \"Help me into my room, that I may go to bed, for my body is\n quite out of joint, and I can't move hand or foot.\" Then\n [Pg 198]\n they brought him to his room. When it grew dark, and the girls\n had left the room, Slyboots crept gently in, and hid himself\n behind the beer-barrel.\n [124]\n\n Presently the girls came back, and spoke gently, so as not to\n rouse the old man. \"The bruise on the head is of no\n consequence,\" said one, \"and the sprained body will also soon\n be cured, but the loss of the ring of strength is irreparable,\n and this troubles the old man more than his bodily sufferings.\"\n Soon afterwards they heard the old man snoring, and Slyboots\n came out of his hiding-place and made friends with the maidens.\n At first they were rather frightened, but the clever youth soon\n contrived to dispel their alarm, and they allowed him to stay\n there for the night. The maidens told him that the old man\n possessed two great treasures, a magic sword and a rod of\n rowan-wood, and he resolved to possess himself of both. The rod\n would form a bridge over the sea for its possessor, and he who\n bore the sword could destroy the most numerous army.\n [125] On the following evening\n [Pg 199]\n Slyboots contrived to seize upon the wand and the sword, and\n escaped before daybreak with the help of the youngest girl.\n But the passage had disappeared from before the door, and in\n its place he found a large enclosure, beyond which was a broad\n sea.\n\n As soon as Slyboots was gone the girls began to quarrel, and\n their loud talking woke up the old man. He learned from what\n they said that a stranger had been there, and he rose up in a\n passion, and found the wand and sword gone. \"My best treasures\n are stolen!\" he roared, and, forgetting his bruises, he rushed\n out. Slyboots was still sitting on the beach, thinking whether\n he should try the power of the wand, or seek for a dry path.\n Suddenly he heard a rushing sound behind him like a gust of\n wind. When he looked round, he saw the old man charging upon\n him like a madman. He sprang up, and had just time to strike\n the waves with the rod, and to cry out, \"Bridge before, water\n behind!\" He had scarcely spoken, when he found himself standing\n on a bridge\n [Pg 200]\n over the sea, already at some distance from the shore.\n [126]\n\nThe old man came to the beach panting and puffing, but stopped short\nwhen he saw the thief on the bridge over the sea. He called out,\nsnuffling, \"Nicodemus, my son, where are you going?\" \"Home, papa,\" was\nthe reply. \"Nicodemus, my son, you struck me on the head with an axe,\nand hung me up to a beam by the legs.\" \"Yes, papa.\" \"Nicodemus, my son,\ndid you call seven men to beat me, and steal my gold ring from me?\"\n\"Yes, papa.\" \"Nicodemus, my son, have you bamboozled my daughters?\"\n\"Yes, papa.\" \"Nicodemus, my son, have you stolen my sword and wand?\"\n\"Yes, papa.\" \"Nicodemus, my son, will you come back?\" \"Yes, papa,\"\nanswered Slyboots again. Meantime he had advanced so far on the bridge,\nthat he could no longer hear the old man speak. When he had crossed the\nsea, he inquired the nearest way to the royal city, and hastened\nthither to claim his reward.\n\n But lo! he found everything very different from what he had\n expected. Both his brothers had\n [Pg 201]\n entered the service of the king, one as a coachman and the\n other as a chamberlain. Both were living in grand style and\n were rich people. When Slyboots applied to the king for his\n reward, the latter answered, \"I waited for you for a whole\n year, and I neither saw nor heard anything of you. I supposed\n you were dead, and was about to divide your reward among the\n poor, as you desired. But one day your elder brothers arrived\n to inherit your fortune. I left the matter to the court, who\n assigned the money to them, because it was supposed that you\n were dead. Since then your brothers have entered my service,\n and both still remain in it.\" When Slyboots heard what the\n king said, he thought he must be dreaming, for he imagined\n that he had been only two nights in the old man's subterranean\n dwelling, and had then taken a few days to return home; but\n now it appeared that each night had been as long as a year. He\n would not go to law with his brothers, but abandoned the money\n to them, thanked God that he had escaped with his life, and\n looked out for some fresh employment. The king's cook engaged\n him as kitchen-boy, and he now had to turn the joints on the\n spit every day. His brothers\n [Pg 202]\n\n despised him for his mean employment, and did not like to have\n anything to do with him, although he still loved them. One\n evening he told them much of what he had seen in the\n under-world, where the geese and ducks had gold and silver\n plumage. The brothers related this to the king, and begged him\n to send their youngest brother to fetch these curious birds.\n The king sent for the kitchen-boy, and ordered him to start\n next morning in search of the birds with the costly feathers.\n\n Slyboots set out next day with a heavy heart, but he took with\n him the ring, the wand, and the sword, which he had carefully\n preserved. Some days afterwards he reached the sea, and saw an\n old man\n [127] with a long grey beard sitting on a stone at the place\n where he had reached land after his flight. When Slyboots came\n nearer, the old man asked, \"Why are you so sad, my friend?\"\n Slyboots told him how badly he had fared, and the old man bid\n him be of good cheer, and not vex himself, adding, \"No harm can\n happen to you, as long as you wear the ring of strength.\" He\n then gave Slyboots a mussel-shell,\n [128] and advised him to\n [Pg 203]\n build the bridge with the magic wand to the middle of the sea,\n and then to step on the shell with his left foot, when he\n would immediately find himself in the under-world, while every\n one there was asleep. He also advised him to make himself a\n bag of spun yarn in which to put the water-birds with gold and\n silver plumage, and then he could return unmolested.\n Everything fell out as the old man predicted, but Slyboots had\n hardly reached the sea-shore with his booty when he heard his\n former acquaintance behind him; and when he was on the bridge\n he heard him calling out, \"Nicodemus, my son,\" and repeating\n the same questions as before. At last he asked if he had\n stolen the birds? Slyboots answered \"Yes\" to every question,\n and hastened on.\n\n Slyboots arrived at the royal city in the evening, as his\n friend with the grey beard had foretold, and the yarn bag held\n the birds so well that none had escaped. The king made him a\n present, and told him to go back next day, for he had heard\n from the two elder brothers that the lord of the under-world\n had many gold and silver utensils, which the king desired for\n his own use. Slyboots did not venture to refuse,\n [Pg 204]\n but he went very unwillingly, because he did not know how to\n manage the affair. However, when he reached the sea-shore, he\n met his friend with the grey beard, who asked the reason of\n his sadness. The old man gave Slyboots another mussel-shell,\n and a handful of small stones, with the following advice. \"If\n you go there in the afternoon, you will find the father in bed\n taking his siesta, the daughters spinning in the sitting-room,\n and the grandmother in the kitchen scouring the gold and\n silver vessels bright. Climb nimbly on the chimney, throw down\n the stones tied up in a bag on the old woman's neck, come down\n yourself as quick as possible, put the costly vessels in the\n yarn bag, and then run off as fast as your legs will carry\n you.\"\n\n Slyboots thanked his friend, and followed his advice exactly.\n But when he dropped the bag of pebbles, it expanded into a six\n hundred weight sack of paving stones, which dashed the old\n woman to the ground. In a moment Slyboots swept all the gold\n and silver vessels into his bag and took to flight. When the\n Old Boy heard the noise, he thought the chimney had fallen\n down, and did not venture to get up directly. But when he\n [Pg 205]\n\n had called the grandmother for a long time without receiving\n any answer, he was obliged to go himself. When he discovered\n the misfortune that had happened, he hastened in pursuit of the\n thief, who could not be gone far. Slyboots was already on the\n sea, when his pursuer reached the shore panting and puffing. As\n before, the Old Boy cried out, \"Nicodemus, my son,\" and\n repeated the former questions. At last he asked, \"Nicodemus, my\n son, have you stolen my gold and silver utensils?\" \"Certainly,\n my father,\" answered Slyboots. \"Nicodemus, my son, do you\n promise to come again?\" \"No, my father,\" answered Slyboots,\n hurrying along the bridge. Although the old man cursed and\n scolded after the thief, he could not catch him, and he had now\n been despoiled of all his magic treasures.\n\nSlyboots found his friend with the grey beard waiting for him on the\nother side of the sea, and he threw down the bag of heavy gold and\nsilverware, which the ring of strength had enabled him to bring away,\nand sat down to rest his weary limbs.\n\n The old man now told him much that shocked him. \"Your brothers\n hate you, and will do all\n [Pg 206]\n they can to destroy you, if you do not oppose their wicked\n attempts. They will urge the king on to set you tasks in which\n you are very likely to perish. When you bring your rich load\n to the king this evening, you will find him friendly disposed\n towards you; and then ask, as your only reward, that his\n daughter should be hidden behind the door in the evening, to\n hear what your brothers talk about together.\"\n\nWhen Slyboots came before the king with his rich booty, which was\nenough to make at least ten horse-loads, he found him extremely kind\nand friendly, and he took the opportunity to make the request which his\nold friend had advised. The king was glad that the treasure-bringer\nasked for no greater reward, and ordered his daughter to hide herself\nbehind the door in the evening, to overhear what the coachman and the\nchamberlain were talking about.\n\n The brothers had grown haughty with prosperity, and boasted of\n their good luck, and what was worse, they both boasted to each\n other of the favours of the princess in her own hearing! She\n ran to her father, flushed with shame and anger, and told him\n weeping what shameful lies she had\n [Pg 207]\n heard with her own ears, and begged him to punish the\n wretches. The king immediately ordered them both to be thrown\n into prison, and when they had confessed their guilt before\n the court next day, they were executed, while Slyboots was\n promoted to the rank of king's councillor.\n\nSome time afterwards the country was invaded by a foreign king, and\nSlyboots was sent against the enemy in the field. Then he drew the\nsword which he had brought from the under-world for the first time, and\nbegan to slaughter the hostile army, and soon none were left alive on\nthe bloody field. The king was so pleased at the victory that he made\nSlyboots his son-in-law.\n\n\n Jannsen gives an inferior variant of this story under the\n title of the House-Spirit. Here a little man who creeps\n from under the stove is permitted by the cook to taste the\n soup three times running, and every time the pot is\n emptied. His master tells him to quit his service next\n morning, and orders the steward to make soup; and the\n steward knocks down the dwarf with the spoon. Next morning,\n as the cook is leaving, the dwarf invites him to his house\n under the stove, and gives him a little box, on which he\n has only to tap, and ask for whatever he wants. The steward\n meets the cook, hears the story, puts on soup, and invites\n the dwarf to partake. In return he receives a box, which he\n takes to his master, but out of the box jumps a dwarf with\n [Pg 208]\n an iron club, who belabours them both till they are nearly\n dead, and then disappears with the box. The kitchen dwarf\n was never seen again.\n\n\nThe next story is peculiarly interesting and original. I place it here,\nbecause we find three maidens busy spinning for a witch, as the\nKalevide found them in the palace of Sarvik.\n\n\nTHE GOLD-SPINNERS.\n\n ( Kreutzwald .)\n\nI am going to tell you a beautiful story about what happened in the\nworld in ancient days, when the meadows still resounded with the wise\nsayings of birds and beasts.\n\n Once upon a time a lame old woman lived in a thick forest with\n her three beautiful daughters in a cottage hidden among the\n bushes. The three daughters were like three fair flowers,\n especially the youngest, who was as fair and delicate as a\n bean-flower, while the mother was like a withered stem. But\n there was none to look upon them in their loneliness save the\n sun\n [Pg 209]\n by day, and by night the moon and the starry eyes of heaven.\n\n\n\n Hot, like eyes of youthful lovers,\n\n Shone the sun upon their head-gear,\n\n Shining on their coloured ribands,\n\n Turning red their garment's edges.\n\n\n\n The old mother did not allow the girls to grow up in idleness,\n but kept them hard at work from morning to night spinning\n golden flax into thread. She gave the poor creatures no\n half-holidays on Thursdays or Saturdays, to provide themselves\n with anything they needed, and if they had not sometimes taken\n their needles in their hands by stealth at twilight or by\n moonlight, they would have possessed nothing. As soon as the\n distaff was empty, they were immediately furnished with a fresh\n supply, and the thread was required to be fine and regular.\n When the thread was finished, the old woman hid it away under\n lock and key in a secret chamber, where her daughters were\n never allowed to set foot. The spinners knew not how the golden\n flax came into the house, nor for what fabric the thread was\n used, for the mother never\n [Pg 210]\n replied to any questions on these subjects. The old woman went\n off on a journey two or three times every summer, and\n sometimes stayed away more than a week, but her daughters\n never knew where she went or what she brought back with her,\n for she always returned by night. When she was about to start,\n she always distributed as many days' work to her daughters as\n she expected to be away.\n\n The time came round again for the old woman to set out on her\n journey, and she gave out work to the girls for six days,\n repeating her usual admonition. \"Children, do not let your eyes\n wander, and hold your fingers carefully, that the thread on the\n reel is not broken, or the glitter of the golden thread will\n vanish, and with it all your prospects of good fortune.\" The\n girls laughed at this impressive warning, and before their\n mother had hobbled ten steps from the house on her crutches,\n all three began to make light of it. \"There is no need of this\n useless warning, which is always repeated,\" said the youngest\n sister. \"The golden threads do not break with picking, much\n less with spinning.\" The other sisters added, \"It is equally\n unlikely that\n [Pg 211]\n the golden lustre should disappear.\" The girls often ventured\n on such jests, but at last, after much merriment, tears rose\n to their eyes.\n\n On the third day after their mother's departure an unexpected\n event took place, which at first filled the daughters with\n alarm, and then with joy and happiness, but which was destined\n to cause them great trouble for a long time afterwards. A\n prince of the race of Kalev found himself separated from his\n companions while hunting in the forest,\n [129] and wandered so far out of his way that he could no\n longer hear the barking of the dogs, nor the blowing of the\n horns to direct him aright. All his shouts met with no response\n but their own echo, or were lost in the thick bush. At length\n the prince, tired and disheartened, dismounted from his horse\n and lay down to rest under a bush, while he allowed his horse\n to stray about and graze at liberty. When the prince awoke from\n his sleep, the sun was already low in the heavens. As he was\n again wandering\n [Pg 212]\n backwards and forwards in search of the right road, he came at\n length to a small footpath which led him to the cottage of the\n lame old woman. The daughters were startled when they suddenly\n saw the stranger appear, whose like they had never before\n beheld. But they had finished their day's work, and soon made\n friends with the visitor in the cool evening, feeling no\n inclination to retire to rest. And even after the elder\n sisters had lain down to sleep, the youngest still sat on the\n doorstep with their guest, and no sleep visited their eyes\n that night.\n\n We will leave the pair to exchange confidences and sweet words\n in the light of the moon and stars, and will return to the\n huntsmen who had lost their master in the wood. They searched\n unweariedly through the whole forest, until the darkness of\n night put an end to their quest. After this, two men were sent\n to carry the sad news to the city, while the others camped for\n the night under a great pine-tree, ready to renew their search\n next day. The king immediately issued orders that a regiment of\n horse and a regiment of foot should march out next morning to\n seek for his lost son. The wood was so long and broad\n [Pg 213]\n that the search lasted till the third day, when horse-tracks\n were at length discovered which they followed till they\n reached the footpath which led to the cottage. The prince had\n not found the time pass heavily in company with the maiden,\n and he was but little disposed to go home. Before he departed,\n he gave her a secret promise that he would return in a short\n time, and take her with him, either with good-will or by\n force, and would make her his bride. But although the elder\n sisters had heard nothing of the matter, it nevertheless came\n to light in a way which nobody anticipated.\n\n The youngest daughter was not a little astonished, when she sat\n down to work after the departure of the prince, to find that\n the thread on the spool was broken. She pieced the ends\n together, and set the wheel in rapid motion that she might make\n up for the time which she had lost with her lover, by diligent\n labour, but her heart fluttered at a strange and inexplicable\n event, for the gold thread had lost its former lustre. No\n terror and no sighs or tears could repair the mischief.\n According to an old proverb, misfortune springs into the house\n through the door, enters by the window, and\n [Pg 214]\n creeps in through any crevice which is not blocked up; and\n thus was it now.\n [130]\n\n The old woman returned home by night; and as soon as she came\n into the room in the morning, she perceived at once that\n something was wrong. Her heart was filled with rage, and she\n called her daughters one by one, and severely cross-questioned\n them. They could not help themselves with lies and excuses, for\n lies have short legs, and the cunning old woman soon discovered\n what the village cock had crowed in her youngest daughter's ear\n behind her back. Then the old woman began to curse so terribly\n that it seemed as if she wanted to darken heaven and earth with\n her imprecations. At last she threatened to break the neck of\n the young man and give his flesh to the wild beasts to devour\n if he ever ventured near the house again. The youngest daughter\n turned as red as a boiled crab, and found no rest by day nor\n sleep by night; for the thought oppressed her ever, that if the\n youth should return, he might meet his death. Early in the\n morning she stole quietly out of the house while her mother and\n sisters\n [Pg 215]\n were still asleep, to breathe the freshness of the dewy air.\n As luck would have it, she had learned the language of birds\n from her mother when she was still a child, and her knowledge\n now stood her in good stead. A raven was sitting in the\n branches of a pine-tree near, preening his feathers, and the\n maiden called to him, \"Dear bird of wisdom, wisest of the race\n of birds, come to my aid.\" \"What help dost thou need?\"\n answered the raven. The girl answered, \"Fly from the wood afar\n into the country, until you reach a stately city with a royal\n palace. Endeavour to find the king's son, and warn him of the\n misfortune which has come upon us.\" Then she told the raven\n the whole story, from the breaking of the thread to the\n terrible threat of her mother, and begged that the youth would\n never return to the house. The raven promised to deliver her\n message, if he could find anybody who understood his language,\n and flew away immediately.\n\n The mother would not allow the youngest daughter to work at the\n spinning-wheel again, but kept her busy winding the spun\n thread. This work would have been easier to the maiden than the\n other, but her mother's incessant cursing and\n [Pg 216]\n scolding gave her no rest from morning to night. Any attempt\n to palliate her offence only made matters worse. If a woman's\n heart overflows with anger and loosens her tongue, no power on\n earth can stay it.\n\n Towards evening the voice of the raven was heard croaking on\n the summit of the pine-tree, and the tortured girl hurried out\n to inquire what news he brought. The raven had had the good\n fortune to meet with the son of a magician in the garden of the\n king, who perfectly understood the language of birds. To him\n the bird delivered the message of the maiden, and besought him\n to convey it to the prince. \"Tell the raven,\" said the prince\n to the magician's son, \"that he must return, and say to the\n maiden, 'Sleep not on the ninth night, for a deliverer will\n then appear to rescue the chick from the claws of the hawk.'\"\n They gave the raven a piece of meat as a reward for his message\n and to strengthen his wings, and then sent him back again. The\n maiden thanked the bird for his news, but concealed his message\n carefully in her own bosom, so that the others heard nothing of\n it. But as the ninth day approached her heart grew ever\n heavier, for she dreaded\n [Pg 217]\n lest some unexpected mischance might yet ruin all.\n\n When the ninth night came, and the mother and daughters had\n retired to rest, the youngest sister stole from the house on\n tip-toe, and sat down on the grass under a tree to wait for her\n lover. Her heart was full of mingled hope and fear. The cock\n had already crowed twice, but there was not a step nor a voice\n to be heard in the wood. But between the second and third\n cockcrow she heard the distant sound of horses' hoofs. Guided\n by the sound, she made her way in their direction, lest the\n noise of their approach should rouse the sleeping household.\n She soon caught sight of the troop of soldiers, at whose head\n rode the prince himself, guiding them by the secret marks he\n had made on the trees when he departed. As soon as he perceived\n the maiden, he sprang from his horse, lifted her into the\n saddle, seated himself before her, so that she could cling to\n him, and then hastened homewards. The moon shone so brightly\n between the trees that the soldiers could not miss the track.\n Presently the birds roused up, and began to chirp and twitter\n in the dawning light. And if the maiden had had time to listen\n to their\n [Pg 218]\n warnings, they would have profited her more than the honeyed\n words of her lover, which were all that reached her ear. But\n she saw and heard nothing but the voice of her lover, who bade\n her dismiss all idle fears, and to trust in the protection of\n the soldiers. The sun was already high in the heavens when\n they left the forest and emerged into the open country.\n Fortunately the old mother did not discover her daughter's\n flight very early in the morning. It was only when she found\n that the twists of thread had not been wound that she asked\n what had become of the youngest sister, but no one could\n inform her. There were many indications to show that she had\n fled, and the mother immediately devised a crafty plan to\n punish the fugitive. She went out and gathered a handful of\n nine\n [131] different sorts of magic herbs, scattered charmed salt\n over them, and tied up the whole in a bundle. Then she muttered\n curses and imprecations over the witch-packet, and cast it to\n the winds, saying\u2014\n\n\n\n \"Lend the ball thy wings, O whirlwind!\n\n Mother of the wind, thy pinions;\n\n Drive the witch's bundle onward,\n\n [Pg 219]\n\n Let it fly with wind-like swiftness,\n\n Let it scatter death around it,\n\n Let it cast disease beyond it.\"\n\n\n\nSomewhat before noon the prince and his army arrived on the bank of a\nbroad river, over which a narrow bridge had been thrown, which only\npermitted the soldiers to pass one by one. The prince was just riding\non the middle of the bridge, when the witch's bundle came flying along,\nborne by the wind, and attacked his horse like a gadfly. The horse\nsnorted with terror, reared up on his hind-legs, and before any help\ncould be given, the maiden slid from the saddle and fell headlong into\nthe river. The prince would have leaped in after her, but the soldiers\nseized hold of him and prevented him, for the river was of unfathomable\ndepth, and no human aid could avail to remedy the misfortune which had\nhappened.\n\n The prince was almost distracted with grief and horror, and the\n soldiers forced him to accompany them home against his will. He\n lay in a quiet room for weeks mourning over the calamity, and\n at first refused all food and drink. The king summoned\n magicians from all quarters, but none of them could discover\n the nature of the disease\n [Pg 220]\n or suggest any remedy. But one day the son of the\n wind-sorcerer, who was one of the labourers in the king's\n garden, advised, \"Send to Finland for the oldest of all\n magicians, for he is wiser than the magicians of our country.\"\n\nWhen the king heard this, he sent a messenger to the old Finnish\nsorcerer, who arrived after a week on the wings of the wind. He spoke\nthus to the king: \"Mighty king, the disease which afflicts the prince\nis caused by the wind. An evil witch-packet has robbed the prince of\nthe half of his heart, and therefore he suffers unceasingly. Send him\noften into the wind that the wind may bear away his sorrows into the\nforest.\"\n\nHe was not wrong, for the health of the prince soon began to improve,\nhis appetite grew better, and he was able to sleep at night. At last he\nconfided the sorrow of his heart to his parents, and his father wished\nhim to seek out another young bride to lead home; but the prince would\nnot listen to the proposal.\n\n The young man had already passed a year in mourning, when one\n day he happened to come to the bridge where he had lost his\n betrothed, and bitter tears rose to his eyes at the\n recollection.\n [Pg 221]\n Suddenly he heard a sweet voice singing, although no living\n creature was in sight. And the voice sang:\n\n\n\n \"By the mother's curse o'ertaken,\n\n Sank in flood the hapless maiden,\n\n In the watery grave the fair one,\n\n And in Ahti's\n [132] waves thy darling.\"\n\n\n\nThe prince dismounted from his horse, and looked round everywhere to\nsee whether some one might not be hidden under the bridge, but he could\nsee no singer anywhere. The only object visible was a water-lily,\nswaying on the water amid its broad leaves. But a swaying flower could\nnot sing, and there must be something mysterious about it. He tied his\nhorse to a stump on the bank, and sat down on the bridge to listen,\nhoping that his eyes or ears would give him some solution of the\nriddle. All was still for a while, but presently the invisible singer\nsang again:\n\n\n\n \"By the mother's curse o'ertaken,\n\n Sank in flood the hapless maiden,\n\n In the watery grave the fair one,\n\n And in Ahti's waves thy darling.\"\n\n\n\n Sometimes the wind brings a fortunate idea to\n [Pg 222]\n men, and such was the case now. The prince thought, \"If I rode\n alone to the cottage in the wood, who knows but that the\n gold-spinners might be able to give me some explanation of\n this wonderful occurrence.\" He mounted his horse and rode\n towards the forest. He hoped to find his way easily by the\n former indications, but the wood had grown, and he rode for\n more than one day before he could discover the footpath. When\n he drew near the cottage, he stopped and waited, hoping that\n one of the maidens would come out. Early in the morning the\n eldest sister came out to wash her face at the spring. The\n young man went to her, and told her of the misfortune that had\n happened on the bridge the year before, and of the song which\n he had heard there a day or two ago. It happened that the old\n mother was absent from home, and the maiden invited the prince\n into the house. As soon as the two girls heard his story, they\n knew that the misfortune must have been caused by their\n mother's witch's coil, and that their sister was not dead, but\n only enchanted. The eldest sister inquired, \"Did you see\n nothing on the surface of the water from whence the song might\n have proceeded?\" \"Nothing,\" replied the\n [Pg 223]\n prince. \"As far as my eyes could reach, nothing could be\n perceived on the surface of the water but a yellow water-lily\n surrounded by its broad leaves; but leaves and flowers cannot\n sing.\" The maidens immediately suspected that the water-lily\n could be nothing but their sister, who had fallen into the\n water, and had been changed into a flower by enchantment. They\n knew that their old mother had let fly the witch's coil after\n the maiden, with her curse, and that if it had not killed her,\n it might have transformed her into any shape. But they would\n not tell the prince of their suspicions until they could\n devise some means for their sister's release, lest they might\n inspire him with fruitless hopes. As they did not expect their\n mother to return home for some days, there was plenty of time\n to consider the best course to adopt.\n\n In the evening the eldest sister gathered a sufficient quantity\n of various magic herbs, which she rubbed with flour into a\n dough; and baked a pie which she gave to the young man to eat\n before he retired to rest at night. During the night the prince\n had a wonderful dream. He thought that he was in the wood among\n the birds, and that he could understand the\n [Pg 224]\n language of them all. In the morning he related his dream to\n the maidens, and the eldest sister observed, \"You have come to\n us at a fortunate hour, and you have had your dream at a\n fortunate hour, for it will be fulfilled on your way home. The\n pork pie which I baked for your welfare yesterday, and gave\n you to eat, was mixed with magic herbs which will enable you\n to understand everything which the knowing birds say to one\n another. These little feathered people are gifted with much\n wisdom which is unknown to mankind. Turn a sharp ear to\n whatever their beaks may utter. And when your own time of\n trouble is over, do not forget us poor children, who sit here\n at the spinning-wheel as if in an eternal prison.\"\n\nThe prince thanked the maidens for their kindness, and promised to do\nhis best to release them, either by ransom or by force. He then took\nleave of them and turned his way homewards. The maidens were pleased to\nfind that the threads were not broken, and still retained their golden\nlustre, so that their mother would have no cause to reproach them when\nshe returned.\n\n The prince found his ride through the wood\n [Pg 225]\n still more pleasant. He seemed to be surrounded with a\n numerous company, for the singing and chirping of the birds\n sounded like articulate words to his ears. He was greatly\n surprised to find how much wisdom is lost to men who do not\n understand the language of birds. At first the wanderer was\n not able to understand clearly what the feathered people were\n saying, for they were talking of the affairs of various\n persons who were unknown to him; but suddenly he saw a magpie\n and a thrush sitting in a tall pine-tree, who were talking\n about himself.\n\n \"How great is the stupidity of men!\" said the thrush. \"They\n cannot rightly comprehend the most trifling matter. For a whole\n year the foster-child of a lame old woman has been sitting near\n the bridge in the form of a water-lily, lamenting her sad fate\n in song, but no one has been able to release her. A few days\n ago her lover was riding over the bridge, and heard her\n melancholy song, but he was no wiser than anybody else.\" The\n magpie answered, \"And yet the maiden was punished by her mother\n on his account. Unless he is gifted with greater wisdom that\n falls to the lot of men, she must remain a flower for ever.\"\n \"It would be a trifling matter\n [Pg 226]\n to release the maiden,\" said the thrush, \"if the matter were\n fully explained to the old magician of Finland. He could\n easily deliver her from her watery prison and flowery\n bondage.\"\n\nThis conversation made the young man thoughtful, and as he rode on, he\nbegan to consider what messenger he could send to Finland. Presently he\nheard one swallow say to another over his head, \"Let us go to Finland,\nwhere we can build our nests better than here.\"\n\n\"Stay, friends,\" cried the prince in the language of the birds. \"Please\nto convey a thousand compliments from me to the old sorcerer of\nFinland, and ask him to give me directions how to restore a maiden who\nhas been transformed into a water-lily to her original form.\" The\nswallows promised to fulfil his request, and flew away.\n\n When he came to the bank of the river, he allowed his horse to\n graze, and remained standing on the bridge, to listen whether\n he could not hear the song again. But all was still, and he\n could hear nothing but the rushing of the waters and the\n sighing of the wind. At last he mounted his horse unwillingly\n and rode home, but did not\n [Pg 227]\n say a word to any one of his excursion and his adventure.\n\n He was sitting in the garden a week afterwards, and thinking\n that the swallows must have forgotten his message, when a great\n eagle circled above him high in the air. The bird gradually\n descended, and at length alighted on the branch of a lime-tree\n near the prince, and thus addressed him: \"I bring you greetings\n from the old sorcerer in Finland, who hopes that you will not\n think ill of him that he did not reply to your message sooner,\n for he could not find a messenger who was coming this way. It\n is a very simple matter to disenchant the maiden. You have only\n to go to the bank of the river, throw off your clothes, and\n smear yourself all over with mud till not a speck remains\n white. Then take the tip of your nose between your fingers, and\n say, 'Let the man become a crayfish.' Immediately you will\n become a crayfish, when you can descend into the river without\n any fear of being drowned. Squeeze yourself boldly under the\n roots of the water-lily, and clear them from mud and reeds, so\n that no portion remains fixed. Then grasp one of the roots with\n your pincers, and the water will raise you with the flower to\n the surface. Allow\n [Pg 228]\n yourself to drift with the stream till you see a rowan-tree\n [133] with leafy branches on the left bank. Near the rowan-tree\n is a rock about as high as a small bath-house. When you reach\n the rock you must say, 'Let the water-lily become a maiden and\n the crayfish a man!' and it will be accomplished immediately.\"\n When the eagle had delivered his message, he spread his wings,\n and flew away. The young man looked after him for a time, not\n knowing what to think of the whole affair.\n\n A week passed by, and found him still undecided, for he had\n neither courage nor confidence sufficient to undertake such an\n enterprise. At length a crow said to him, \"Why do you neglect\n to follow the old man's advice? The old sorcerer has never\n given false information, and the language of birds never\n deceives. Hasten to the river, and let the maiden dry your\n tears of longing.\" This gave the young man courage, for he\n reflected, \"Nothing worse can befall me but death, and death is\n easier than constant weeping.\" He mounted his horse and took\n the well-known path to the banks of the\n [Pg 229]\n river. When he came to the bridge, he could distinguish the\n song:\n\n\n\n \"By my mother's curse o'ertaken,\n\n Here I lie in slumber sunken;\n\n Here the youthful maid must languish\n\n On the bosom of the waters,\n\n And the bed is cold and oozy\n\n Where the tender maid is resting.\"\n\n\n\nThe prince dismounted, and hobbled his horse to prevent him from\nstraying too far from the bridge. Then he took off his clothes, and\nsmeared himself over and over with mud, so that no spot remained white.\nAfter this, he caught hold of the end of his nose, and jumped into the\nwater, exclaiming, \"Let the man become a crayfish.\" There was a splash\nin the water, and then everything became as still as before.\n\n The prince, now transformed into a crayfish, immediately began\n to disentangle the roots of the water-lily from the bed of the\n river, but it took him a long time. The roots were firmly fixed\n in the sand and mud, so that the crayfish had to work for seven\n whole days before he could complete his task. Then he seized\n one of the rootlets with his pincers, and the water\n [Pg 230]\n buoyed him up to the surface with the flower. They drifted\n along slowly with the current, but although there were plenty\n of trees and bushes on the banks, it was some time before the\n prince caught sight of the rowan-tree and the rock. At last,\n however, he spied the tree with its leaves and clusters of red\n berries on the left bank, and a little farther on stood the\n rock, which was as high as a small bath-house. Upon this he\n cried out, \"Let the water-lily become a maiden and the\n crayfish a man.\" Then the youth and the maiden swam with their\n heads above the water. The water bore them to the bank, but\n they were both mother-naked, as God had created them.\n\n Then said the shame-faced maiden, \"Dear youth, I have no\n clothes to put on, and cannot come out of the water.\" But the\n prince answered, \"Go ashore near the rowan-tree, and I will\n shut my eyes while you climb up and hide yourself under the\n tree. Then I will hurry to the bridge where I left my horse and\n my clothes when I plunged into the river.\" So the maiden hid\n herself under the tree, while the prince hurried to the spot\n where he had left his horse and his\n [Pg 231]\n clothes, but he could find neither one nor the other. He did\n not know that he had passed so many days in the form of a\n crayfish, and supposed that he had only spent a few hours in\n the water. Presently he saw a magnificent chariot with six\n horses coming slowly along the bank to meet him. In the\n chariot he found everything needful both for himself and for\n the maiden whom he had released from her watery prison, as\n well as an attendant and a lady's maid. The prince kept the\n attendant with him, but sent the chariot and the maid with the\n clothes to the spot where his naked darling was waiting under\n the rowan-tree. Rather more than an hour elapsed before the\n coach returned, bringing the maiden attired as a royal bride\n to the spot where the prince was waiting. He also was richly\n dressed in wedding robes, and seated himself by her side in\n the chariot. They drove straight to the city, and stopped\n before the door of the church. In the church sat the king and\n queen in black garments, mourning for the loss of their\n beloved son, who was supposed to have been drowned in the\n river, for his horse and his clothes had been found on the\n bank. Great was their joy\n [Pg 232]\n when their lost son appeared before them, accompanied by a\n beautiful girl, both in wedding attire. The king himself led\n them to the altar, and they were married. Then a wedding-feast\n was prepared, which lasted for six whole weeks.\n\n But there is no peace nor rest in the course of time, for days\n of happiness appear to pass more quickly than hours of trouble.\n Soon after the wedding, autumn set in, followed by frost and\n snow, and the young couple did not feel much inclination to\n leave the house. But when spring returned, the prince and his\n young consort went to walk in the garden. There they heard a\n magpie crying out from the summit of a tree, \"O what an\n ungrateful creature to neglect the friends who have helped him\n so much, in his days of happiness! Must the two poor girls sit\n spinning gold thread all their lives? The lame old woman is not\n the mother of the maidens, but a wicked witch who stole them\n away from a far country when they were children. The old woman\n has committed many crimes, and deserves no mercy. Let her be\n punished with boiled hemlock, or she will perhaps direct\n another witch's coil against the child who has been rescued.\"\n [Pg 233]\n\nThis reminded the prince of all that had happened, and he told his\nconsort how he had gone to the cottage in the wood to ask the advice of\nher sisters, and how the maidens had taught him the language of birds,\nand he had promised to release them from their servitude. His wife\nbegged him with tears in her eyes to go to the aid of her sisters. When\nthey awoke next morning, she said, \"I had an important dream last\nnight. I dreamed that the old mother had left the house, and that the\ngirls were alone. No doubt this would be a good opportunity to go to\ntheir aid.\"\n\n The prince immediately equipped a troop of soldiers, and led\n them to the cottage in the wood, where they arrived on the\n following day. The maidens were alone, as the dream had\n fore-shadowed, and ran out with joyful cries to meet their\n deliverers. A soldier was ordered to gather hemlock-roots, and\n to boil them for the punishment of the old woman, so that she\n should need no more food if she came home, and ate a\n sufficiency of them. They passed the night in the cottage, and\n on the following morning set out early on the road with the\n maidens, so that they reached the town in the evening. Great\n was the joy of the\n [Pg 234]\n sisters, who had not seen each other for two years.\n\n The old woman returned home the same night, and greedily\n devoured the food which she found on the table. Then she crept\n into bed to rest, but she never awoke again, for the hemlock\n put an end to her wicked life. A week later the prince sent a\n trusty captain to see how things were going on, when he found\n the old woman dead. Fifty loads of golden thread were found in\n the secret chamber, and were divided among the sisters. As soon\n as the treasure was carried away, the captain sent the red cock\n on the roof.\n [134] But while the cock was already stretching his red comb\n out of the smoke-hole, a great cat with fiery eyes clambered\n down the wall from the roof. The soldiers chased the cat, and\n soon caught her, when a bird sang from the summit of a tree,\n \"Fix the cat in a trap by her tail, and all will come to\n light.\" The men obeyed.\n\n \"Don't torture me, good people,\" said the cat. \"I am a human\n being like yourselves, and have been changed into the shape of\n a cat by witchcraft, though it was a just return for my\n wickedness.\n [Pg 235]\n I was the housekeeper in the palace of a great king a long way\n from here, and the old woman was the queen's first\n chambermaid. We were led by avarice to plot together secretly\n to steal the king's three daughters and a great treasure, and\n then to make our escape. After we had contrived to make away\n with all the golden vessels, which the old woman changed into\n golden flax, we took the children, when the eldest was three\n years old, and the youngest six months. The old woman was\n afraid that I might repent and change my intentions, so she\n transformed me into a cat. Her death loosed my tongue, but I\n did not recover my former shape.\" When the captain heard this,\n he answered, \"You deserve no better fate than the old woman,\"\n and ordered her to be thrown into the fire.\n\nIt was not long before the two elder princesses married kings' sons,\nlike their youngest sister, and the golden thread which they had spun\nin the cottage in the wood provided them with rich dowries. But they\nnever discovered their parents, nor the place of their birth. It was\nreported that the old woman had buried many more loads of golden thread\nin the ground, but no one could find the spot.\n\n\n\n [Pg 236]\n\nSECTION II\n\n _ORPHAN AND FOUNDLING STORIES_\n\nThe Esthonians appear to be very compassionate towards orphans, for\nmany of their tales relate to the adventures of neglected or ill-used\norphan children, and the wonderful events by which their welfare was\nfinally secured. Nevertheless, wicked stepmothers and farmers' wives\nare just as common as in other folk-tales.\n\n The first story of this class which we have selected, \"The Wood\n of Tontla,\"\n [135] is specially interesting from its resemblance to Tieck's\n well-known German story of \"The Elves,\" which must originally\n have been derived from the same source as the present\n narrative.\n\nWith the Orphan Stories proper I have placed others relating to stolen\nor friendless children.\n\n\n\n [Pg 237]\n\nTHE WOOD OF TONTLA.\n\n ( Kreutzwald .)\n\n In ancient times there was a beautifully wooded region in\n Alutaga (north of Lake Peipus), which was called the Wood of\n Tontla. But no one dared to enter it, and those who had chanced\n to approach it related that they had seen an old tumbledown\n house through the thick trees, surrounded by creatures of human\n appearance, with which the grass swarmed like an anthill. These\n forms were ragged and dusky, and looked like gipsies, and there\n were many old women and half-naked children among them. A\n peasant who had wandered rather deeper into the wood than\n usual, as he was returning home one dark night after a carouse,\n beheld a strange sight. A number of women and children were\n gathered round a bright fire, and some were sitting on the\n ground while others danced. An old woman held a broad iron\n shovel in her hand, and every now and then scattered the red\n hot cinders over the grass, when the children flew up into the\n air, fluttering about like owls in the rising smoke, and then\n sinking\n [Pg 238]\n down again. Then a little old man with a long beard came out\n of the wood, carrying a sack longer than himself. The women\n and children shouted out, and ran to meet him, dancing round\n him, and trying to pull the sack off his back; but the old man\n shook himself free. After this, a black cat as large as a\n foal, which had been sitting on the doorstep glaring with\n fiery eyes, leaped upon the old man's sack, and then\n disappeared in the cottage. But as the spectator's head ached\n and everything swam before his eyes, his report was not clear,\n and people could not quite distinguish between the false and\n the true. It was remarkable that such stories were repeated\n about the Wood of Tontla from generation to generation,\n without anybody being able to give a more definite account of\n it. The King of Sweden more than once ordered the wood to be\n felled, but the people did not venture to execute his command.\n One day a rash man struck his axe into a tree, when blood\n flowed, and a cry was heard as of a man in pain.\n [136] The terrified woodcutter fled, shaking all over with\n fear; and after this, no command was so stringent\n [Pg 239]\n and no reward great enough, to induce a woodcutter to touch\n the wood of Tontla. It was also very strange that no paths led\n either into or out of the wood, and that throughout the year\n no smoke was seen to rise which might indicate the presence of\n human dwellings. The wood was not large, and it was surrounded\n by open fields, so that it lay exposed to the view of all. If\n living creatures had actually dwelt there from olden times,\n they could only get in and out of the wood by secret\n subterranean passages; or else they must fly through the air\n by night, like witches, when all around were asleep. According\n to tradition, the latter alternative seemed the most probable.\n Perhaps we shall learn more about these strange birds if we\n drive on the carriage of the story a little farther, and rest\n at the next village.\n\nThere was a large village a few versts from the Wood of Tontla, where a\npeasant who had lately been left a widower had married a young wife,\nand, as often happens, he brought a regular shrew into the house, so\nthat there was no end to the trouble and quarrelling.\n\n The first wife had left a clever and intelligent\n [Pg 240]\n girl named Elsie,\n [137]\n who was now seven years old. The wicked stepmother made the\n poor child's life more intolerable than hell; she banged and\n cuffed her from morning to night, and gave her worse food than\n the dogs. As the woman was mistress in the house, the father\n could not protect his daughter, and even the smoke of the house\n was forced to dance to the woman's tune. Elsie had now endured\n this miserable life for more than two years, and had shed many\n tears, when she went out one Sunday with the other village\n children to pluck berries. They strolled about as children do,\n till they came accidentally to the borders of the Wood of\n Tontla, where the grass was quite red with the finest\n strawberries. The children ate the sweet berries, and gathered\n as many as they could into their baskets, when all at once one\n of the older boys recognised the dreaded spot and cried out,\n \"Fly, fly, for we are in the Wood of Tontla!\" The wood was more\n dreaded than thunder and lightning, and the children rushed off\n as if all the monsters of the wood were close upon their heels.\n But Elsie, who had gone rather farther than the others, and had\n found some very\n [Pg 241]\n fine strawberries under the trees, went on plucking them,\n although she heard the boy shout. She only thought, \"The\n dwellers in the Tontla Wood cannot be worse than my stepmother\n at home.\"\n\nPresently a little black dog with a silver bell hung round its neck ran\nup to her barking. This brought a little girl dressed in fine silken\ngarments to the spot, who quieted the dog, and said to Elsie, \"It is a\ngood thing that you did not run away like the other children. Stay with\nme for company, and we will play very nice games together, and go to\npluck berries every day. My mother will not refuse her consent, if I\nask her. Come, and we will go to her at once.\" Then the beautiful\nstrange child seized Elsie by the hand, and led her deeper into the\nwood. The little black dog barked for pleasure now, and jumped upon\nElsie and licked her hand as if she were an old acquaintance.\n\n O what wonders and magnificence made Elsie open her eyes! She\n thought herself in heaven. A beautiful garden lay before her,\n filled with trees and bushes laden with fruit; birds were\n sitting on the branches, more brightly coloured than the most\n brilliant butterflies, and decked with feathers of\n [Pg 242]\n gold and silver. And the birds were not shy, but allowed the\n children to take them in their hands at pleasure. In the midst\n of the garden stood the dwelling-house, built of glass and\n precious stones, so that the roof and walls shone like the\n sun. A lady clad in beautiful robes sat on a bench before the\n door, and asked her daughter, \"Who is this guest you have\n brought with you?\" Her daughter answered, \"I found her alone\n in the wood, and brought her with me for company. Won't you\n allow her to stay here?\" The mother smiled, but did not speak,\n and scanned Elsie sharply from head to foot. Then she told\n Elsie to come nearer, patted her cheek, and asked in a\n friendly way where she lived, whether her parents were still\n alive, and if she would like to stay here. Elsie kissed the\n lady's hand and fell down and embraced her knees, and then\n answered, weeping, \"My mother has long been at rest under the\n turf\u2014\n\n\n\n \"My mother was borne to the grave,\n\n And none left to comfort or save.\n\n\n\n \"It is true that my father still lives, but this is small\n comfort to me when my stepmother hates me, and beats me\n unmercifully every day. I cannot\n [Pg 243]\n do anything to please her. O my dearest lady, let me stay\n here! Let me mind the flocks, or set me to any other work and\n I will do anything, and will be always obedient to you, but\n don't send me back to my stepmother. She would beat me almost\n to death, because I did not go back with the other village\n children.\" The lady smiled, and answered, \"We will see what we\n can do for you.\" Then she rose from the bench and went into\n the house. Meantime the daughter said to Elsie, \"Take comfort,\n for my mother is friendly to you. I can see in her face that\n she will consent to our wishes as soon as she has had time to\n think over the matter.\" She then followed her mother into the\n house, leaving Elsie waiting outside. Elsie's heart palpitated\n with hope and fear, and she waited anxiously for the decision\n which was to be announced to her.\n\n After a time the daughter came out again with a box of toys in\n her hand, and said, \"My mother says we are to play together\n while she considers what is to be done about you. I hope you\n will stay here, for I don't want to let you leave me again.\n Have you been for a row on the lake?\" Elsie stared, and asked,\n \"On the lake! What is\n [Pg 244]\n that? I never heard anything about it.\" \"You'll see\n presently,\" said the young lady, taking off the lid of the\n box. It contained a leaf of lady's-smock, a mussel-shell, and\n two fish-bones. There were a few drops of water glittering on\n the leaf, which the girl threw on the grass. Immediately the\n grass, the garden, and everything else vanished, as if they\n had sunk in the ground, and water spread around to the horizon\n in every direction. Only a small patch remained dry under the\n feet of the children. Then the young lady set the shell in the\n water, and took the fish-bones in her hand. The shell began to\n expand, until it became a pretty boat, in which a dozen\n children or more could easily have found room. The two seated\n themselves in it, Elsie not without hesitation, but her\n companion only laughed, and the fish-bones turned to oars in\n her hands. The children were rocked by the waves as if they\n were in a cradle, and presently other boats came in sight, and\n the people in them were laughing and singing. \"We should sing\n back to them,\" said the young lady; but Elsie did not know how\n to sing; so she herself began to sing very sweetly. Elsie\n could not understand much of what the others sang, but\n [Pg 245]\n she heard the word Kiisike\n [138] repeated several times, and asked what it meant, and her\n companion answered, \"That is my name.\" They floated thus\n together for a long time, till they heard a voice crying, \"Come\n home, children, for it is nearly evening.\" Kiisike took the box\n out of her pocket, and dipped the leaf in the water, so that a\n few drops lay upon it. Instantly they found themselves in the\n garden near the beautiful house: everything looked as firm and\n solid as before, and no water was to be seen anywhere. The\n shell and fish-bones were put back into the box with the leaf,\n and the children went home.\n\nHere they saw four-and-twenty ladies sitting round a dinner-table, all\nsplendidly dressed as if for a wedding. The lady of the house sat at\nthe head of the table in a golden chair.\n\n Elsie's eyes did not know how to admire sufficiently all the\n splendour which surrounded her. Thirteen gold and silver dishes\n stood upon the table, but one of these was taken up and carried\n away without the cover having been removed. Elsie ate of the\n dainty dishes, which were nicer than cakes, and again she\n thought she must be in\n [Pg 246]\n heaven, for she could not imagine anything like this on earth.\n\n During dinner, conversation was carried on in low tones, but in\n a foreign language of which Elsie did not understand a word.\n [139] At length the lady spoke to a maid who stood behind her\n chair. The latter went out, and soon returned accompanied by a\n little old man, whose beard was longer than himself.\n [140] The old man made a bow, and stood waiting at the door.\n The lady pointed to Elsie, and said, \"Look at this little\n peasant girl; I am going to adopt her as my foster-child. Make\n me an image of her, which we can send to the village to-morrow\n in her stead.\" The old man looked at Elsie sharply, as if to\n take her measure, bowed to the lady again, and left the room.\n After dinner the lady said kindly to Elsie, \"Kiisike has asked\n me to keep you here as a companion for her, and you said\n yourself that you would like to stay with us.\n [Pg 247]\n Is this really so?\" Elsie fell on her knees, and kissed the\n hands and feet of the lady in gratitude for her deliverance\n from her cruel stepmother. But the lady raised her from the\n ground, stroked her head and her tearful cheeks, and said, \"If\n you are always a good and diligent child, it shall fare well\n with you. I will take care of you, and you shall be carefully\n instructed in everything useful till you are grown up, and are\n able to shift for yourself. My governess, who teaches Kiisike,\n shall teach you all kinds of fine work, and other things\n besides.\"\n\n After a time the old man came back with a long trough on his\n shoulder filled with clay, and a covered basket in his left\n hand. He set them down on the ground, and took a piece of clay,\n which he moulded into a doll. The body was hollow, and he put\n three salt herrings and a bit of bread into it. Then he made a\n hole in the breast of the doll, took a black snake a yard long\n from the basket, and made it creep through. The snake hissed\n and lashed its tail as if it resisted, but he forced it through\n the hole. After the lady had carefully inspected the doll on\n all sides, the old man said, \"We want nothing more\n [Pg 248]\n now but a drop of the peasant girl's blood.\" Elsie turned pale\n with terror when she heard this, for she thought that her soul\n was sold to the Evil One. But the lady comforted her and said,\n \"Fear nothing. We don't want your blood for any evil purpose,\n but for a good end, and for your future happiness.\" Then she\n took a small gold needle, and pricked Elsie's arm, after which\n she gave the needle to the old man, who thrust it into the\n heart of the doll. Then he put the doll into the basket to\n grow, and promised to show the lady the result of his work\n next morning. Then they retired to rest, and a chambermaid\n showed Elsie to a room where she found a soft bed ready for\n her. When she opened her eyes next morning in the silken bed\n with soft pillows, she found herself wearing a shift of fine\n linen, and she saw rich garments lying on a chair near the\n bed. Then a girl came into the room, and told Elsie to wash\n herself and comb her hair, after which she dressed her from\n head to foot in the fine new clothes, like the proudest Saxon\n child.\n [141] Nothing delighted Elsie so much as the\n [Pg 249]\n\n shoes,\n [142] for until now she had always gone barefoot. Elsie thought\n that no king's daughter could possess the like. She was so\n delighted with the shoes that she had no time to admire the\n rest of her outfit, although everything was beautiful. The poor\n clothes which she had worn had been removed during the night,\n for a purpose which she was afterwards to discover. They were\n put on the doll, which was to be sent to the village in her\n place. The doll had grown in its case during the night, and had\n now become a perfect image of Elsie, and ran about like a\n creature which God had made. Elsie was startled when she saw\n the doll, which looked exactly like what she herself had been\n yesterday. When the lady saw Elsie's alarm, she said, \"Don't be\n afraid, child. This clay image cannot do you any harm, and we\n will send it to your stepmother, for her to beat. She may beat\n it as much as she likes, for the image is as hard as stone, and\n cannot feel pain. But if the wicked woman does not alter her\n conduct, your image will some day punish her as she deserves.\"\n [Pg 250]\n\n\n After this, Elsie lived as happily as any spoiled Saxon child\n which is rocked in a golden cradle. She had neither sorrow nor\n weariness to suffer; her lessons became easier and easier every\n day, and her hard life in the village seemed now no more than a\n bad dream. But the more happiness she found in this new life,\n the more wonderful everything appeared to her. It could not be\n natural, and some mysterious power must rule over everything\n here. A rock of granite stood in the enclosure about twenty\n paces from the house. When meal-time approached, the old man\n with the long beard went to the rock, drew a silver wand from\n his bosom, and struck the rock three times, when it gave out a\n clear sound. Then a large golden cock sprang out, and perched\n upon the rock; and as often as he clapped his wings and crowed,\n something came out of the rock. First came a long table with\n covers ready laid for all the company, and the table moved into\n the house of itself, as if on the wings of the wind. When the\n cock crowed a second time, chairs went after the table,\n followed by one dish after another. Everything leaped out of\n the rock, and flew like the wind to the table. It was the same\n with\n [Pg 251]\n\n bottles of mead and apples and pears; everything seemed alive,\n so that no one needed to fetch and carry anything. When\n everybody had eaten enough, the old man knocked on the rock a\n second time with his silver wand, and then the golden cock\n crowed, and the bottles, dishes, plates, chairs, and table went\n back into the rock. But when the thirteenth dish came, from\n which nothing was eaten, a great black cat ran after it, and\n sat on the rock with the cock, till the old man carried them\n away. He took the dish in his hand, the cat on his arm, and the\n golden cock on his shoulder, and disappeared with them under\n the rock. Not only food and drink, but everything else required\n for the household, and even clothes, came out of the rock upon\n the crowing of the cock. Although but little conversation was\n carried on at table, and even that in a foreign language, the\n lady and the governess talked and sang a great deal in the\n house and garden. In time Elsie also learned to understand\n almost everything, but years elapsed before she could attempt\n to speak the strange language herself. One day Elsie asked\n Kiisike why the thirteenth dish came to table every day,\n although nobody ate anything from it; but Kiisike could not\n tell her. However,\n [Pg 252]\n she must have asked her mother, who sent for Elsie a few days\n afterwards, and talked to her very seriously. \"Do not vex your\n soul with useless curiosity. You would like to know why we\n never eat from the thirteenth dish? Mark well, dear child;\n this is the dish of hidden blessing. We dare not touch it, or\n our happy life would come to an end. It would be much better,\n too, for men in this world if they did not grasp avariciously\n after all things without returning anything in gratitude to\n the Heavenly Dispenser. Avarice is the worst fault of\n mankind.\"\n [143]\n\n The years flew by with arrow-like swiftness, and Elsie had now\n become a blooming maiden, and had learned many things which\n would never have become known to her during her whole life, if\n she had lived in the village. But Kiisike remained the same\n little child as on the day when she first met Elsie in the\n wood. The governess who lived\n [Pg 253]\n in the house with the lady instructed Kiisike and Elsie for\n some hours daily in reading and writing, and in all kinds of\n fine work. Elsie learned everything easily, but Kiisike had\n more taste for childish games than for her lessons. When the\n whim took her, she threw her work away, caught up her little\n box, and ran out of doors to play on the lake, and nobody\n scolded her. Sometimes she said to Elsie, \"It's a pity you've\n grown so big: you can't play with me any longer.\"\n\n Nine years passed in this way, and one evening the lady sent\n for Elsie to come to her room. This surprised Elsie, for the\n lady had never sent for her before; and her heart beat almost\n to bursting. When Elsie entered, she saw that the lady's cheeks\n were red, and her eyes were filled with tears, which she\n hastily wiped away as if to hide them. \"My dear child,\" said\n the lady, \"the time has come when we must part.\" \"Part!\"\n exclaimed Elsie, throwing herself at the lady's feet. \"No, dear\n lady, we must never part till death shall separate us. I have\n always behaved well; don't drive me from you.\" But the lady\n said soothingly, \"Calm yourself, child. You do not yet know how\n much it will increase your happiness. You are now grown up, and\n I\n [Pg 254]\n must not keep you here any longer in confinement. You must go\n back among mankind, where happiness awaits you.\" Elsie still\n besought her, \"Dear lady, don't send me away; I wish for no\n other happiness than to live and die with you. Let me be your\n chambermaid, or give me any other work to do that you like,\n only don't send me out into the wide world again. It would\n have been better for you to have left me with my stepmother in\n the village than for me to have spent so many years in heaven\n only to be thrust out again into hell.\" \"Be still, dear\n child,\" said the lady. \"You cannot understand what it is my\n duty to do for your good, hard as it is for me also. But\n everything must be done as I direct. You are a child of mortal\n man,\n [144]\n and your years must come at length to an end, and therefore you\n cannot remain here any longer. I myself and those around me\n possess human forms, but we are not human beings like you, but\n beings of a higher order, whom you cannot comprehend. You will\n find a beloved husband\n [Pg 255]\n far away from here, who is destined for you, and you will live\n happily with him, until your days draw to a close. It is not\n easy for me to part with you, but so it must be, and therefore\n you must also submit quietly.\" Then she passed her golden comb\n through Elsie's hair and told her to go to bed. But how should\n poor Elsie sleep this unhappy night? Her life seemed like a\n dark starless night-sky.\n\n We will leave Elsie in her trouble, and go to the village to\n see what is taking place at her father's house, to which the\n clay image was sent for the stepmother to beat in Elsie's\n stead. It is well known that a wicked woman does not improve\n with age. It sometimes happens that a wild youth becomes a\n quiet lamb in his old age; but if a girl whose heart is bad\n assumes the matron's cap, she becomes like a raging wolf in her\n old days. The stepmother tortured the clay image like a\n firebrand from hell both day and night, but she could not hurt\n the impassive creature, whose body was impervious to pain. If\n the husband endeavoured to protect his child, she beat him too,\n as a reward for his attempts at peace-making. One day the\n stepmother had again\n [Pg 256]\n beaten her clay daughter terribly, and threatened to kill her.\n In her fury she seized the clay image by the throat with both\n hands, and was going to strangle it, when a black snake glided\n hissing from the child's mouth and bit the stepmother in the\n tongue, so that she fell dead without uttering a sound. When\n the husband returned home in the evening, he found the dead\n and swollen body of his wife lying on the floor, but his\n daughter was nowhere to be found. He cried out, and some of\n the villagers assembled. They had heard a great noise in the\n house about noon, but as this was an almost daily occurrence,\n no one had gone in. In the afternoon all was quiet, but no one\n had seen the daughter. The body of the dead woman was washed\n and shrouded, and peas were boiled in salt for those who\n should watch the dead during the night.\n [145] The weary man went to his room to rest, and sincerely\n thanked his stars that he was rid of this firebrand from hell.\n He found three salt herrings and a piece of bread on the table,\n which he ate, and then went to bed. Next morning he was found\n dead in bed, with his body swollen up like that of the woman. A\n few days\n [Pg 257]\n afterwards they were carried to the grave, where they could do\n each other no more harm. The peasants troubled themselves no\n further concerning the vanished daughter.\n\n Elsie did not close her eyes all night. She wept and lamented\n the necessity of parting with her happiness so soon and so\n unexpectedly. In the morning the lady placed a gold seal-ring\n on Elsie's finger, and hung a small golden casket round her\n neck. Then she called the old man, pointed to Elsie with her\n hand, and took leave of her in the same gesture. Elsie was just\n going to thank her for her kindness, when the old man touched\n her head gently three times with his silver wand. Elsie felt\n immediately that she was changed into a bird. Her arms became\n wings, and her legs became eagle's legs with long claws, and\n her nose became a curved beak, while feathers covered her whole\n body. Then she rose up suddenly into the air, and soared away\n below the clouds like an eagle hatched from the egg. She flew\n southwards thus for several days, and would gladly have rested\n sometimes when her wings grew weary, but she felt no hunger. It\n came to pass one day that she was flying above a low wood where\n dogs were\n [Pg 258]\n barking, which could not harm the bird, for they had no wings.\n All at once she felt her feathers pierced through with a sharp\n arrow, and she fell to the ground and fainted with terror.\n\n When Elsie awoke from her swoon and opened her eyes wide, she\n found herself lying under a bush in her human shape. How she\n came there, and all the other strange events which had happened\n to her, lay behind her like a dream. Presently a handsome young\n prince rode up, sprang from his horse, and gave his hand kindly\n to Elsie, saying, \"By good fortune I rode here this morning. I\n have dreamed, dear lady, every night for the last half-year\n that I should find you here in the wood. Although I have ridden\n this way to no purpose more than a hundred times, my longing\n and my hopes were not extinguished. I shot a great eagle\n to-day, which must have fallen here, and I went to seek the\n game, and instead of the eagle I found\u2014you!\" Then he helped\n Elsie to mount the horse, and rode with her to the town, where\n the old king gave her a friendly reception. A few days\n afterwards they prepared a splendid wedding; and on the wedding\n morning fifty loads of treasure arrived, which had been sent by\n Elsie's dear foster-mother.\n [Pg 259]\n After the old king's death, Elsie became queen, and in her old\n age she herself related the adventures of her youth. But since\n that time no one has ever seen or heard any more of the Wood\n of Tontla.\n\n\n\n The King of the Misty Hill (Kreutzwald) is a somewhat similar,\n but very inferior story. A girl who is out in a wood all night\n sees a fire on a hill, and finds an old man standing by it. He\n had a long grey beard, and only one eye, and wore an iron\n helmet. He threw it on the ground, when two girls appeared, and\n the village child stayed with them till morning, when a young\n woman gave her a brooch which would enable her to return to the\n Misty Hill whenever she pleased. On reaching home, she found\n she had been absent seven years. On the first opportunity she\n returned to the hill by night, and her friend who had given her\n the brooch told her that the old man was the King of the Misty\n Hill, and the consort of the Meadow Queen, and she was their\n daughter. The girl continued her nightly visits to the Misty\n Hill; but after her mar\n [Pg 260]\n riage, her husband discovered her disappearance, and taking her\n for a were-wolf, tried to burn her; but the King of the Misty\n Hill carried her away to his dwelling uninjured.\n\n\nIn the story of \"The Orphan's Handmill\" (Kreutzwald), a compassionate\nmagician from Finland in the guise of a beggar enables an ill-used and\noverworked orphan girl to obtain a wonderful handmill in a chest, which\nhe forbids her to open, but which grinds all the corn poured into it,\nwithout any labour on her part. Her mistress sends her to church,\nintending to discover the secret of the chest, and then to drive her\naway and keep the chest; but when she raises the lid, a bright flame\nbursts from the chest which burns her to ashes. Shortly afterwards, the\ngirl's master marries the orphan, when the chest, having done its work,\nvanishes, leaving no trace, it having been carried away to the\nunderground kingdom from which the girl had brought it in a vision,\nwith the aid of the white horse (or mare), which always figures as an\ninhabitant of P\u00f5rgu.\n\n\n\n [Pg 261]\n\n THE ORPHAN BOY AND THE HELL-HOUNDS.\n [146]\n\n\n ( Kreutzwald .)\n\n Once upon a time there lived a poor labourer and his wife, who\n dragged on a wretched existence from day to day. They had three\n children, but only the youngest survived. He was a boy of nine\n years old when he buried first his father and then his mother,\n and he had no other resource than to beg his bread from door to\n door. A year afterwards he happened to come to the house of a\n rich farmer just when they wanted a herdboy. The farmer himself\n was not such a bad man to deal with, but his wife had control\n of everything, and she was a regular brute. It may easily be\n imagined how much the poor orphan boy suffered. The blows that\n he received daily were three times more than sufficient, but he\n never got enough bread to eat. But as the orphan had nothing\n [Pg 262]\n better to look forward to, he was forced to endure his misery.\n\n One day the poor boy had the misfortune to lose a cow from the\n herd. He ran about the forest till sundown from one place to\n another, but could not find the lost cow; and although he well\n knew what awaited him when he reached home, he was at last\n obliged to gather the herd together without the missing cow.\n The sun had not set long when he already heard the voice of his\n mistress shouting, \"You lazy dog, where are you dawdling with\n the herd?\" He could not wait longer, but was forced to hurry\n home to the stick. It was already growing dusk when the herd\n arrived at the gate, but the sharp eyes of the mistress had\n already discovered that one cow was missing. Without saying a\n word, she snatched the first stake from the fence, and began to\n belabour the boy, as if she would beat him to a jelly. She was\n in such a rage that she would certainly have beaten him to\n death, or made him a cripple for life, if the farmer, hearing\n his cries and sobs, had not compassionately come to his aid.\n But as he knew the temper of the furious woman, he would not\n venture to interfere directly, but sought to\n [Pg 263]\n soften her, and said beseechingly, \"Don't beat the boy quite\n to pieces, or he won't be able to look for the lost cow. We\n shall get more profit out of him if you don't quite kill him.\"\n \"True enough,\" said the woman, \"his carrion won't be worth as\n much as the good beef.\" Then she gave him a few more good\n whacks, and packed him off to look for the cow, saying, \"If\n you come back without the cow, I'll beat you to death.\" The\n boy ran from the door sobbing and crying, and went back to the\n forest where he had been with the herd in the daytime, and\n searched all night, but could not find a trace of the cow\n anywhere. But when the sun rose next morning, he made up his\n mind what to do. \"Whatever may happen to me,\" he said, \"I\n won't go back again.\" Then he made a start, and ran straight\n forward at one stretch, till he had left the house far behind\n him. He himself could not tell how far he ran before his\n strength failed, and he sank down half dead when it was\n already almost noon. When at length he awoke from a long heavy\n sleep, he felt something cool in his mouth, and on opening his\n eyes, he saw a little old man with a long grey beard putting\n [Pg 264]\n the ladle back into a milk-can. \"Please give me a little more\n to drink,\" said the boy. \"You have had enough for to-day,\"\n answered the old man. \"If I had not been passing this way by\n accident, you would have slept your last sleep, for you were\n already half dead when I found you.\" Then the old man asked\n the boy whence he came and whither he was going. The boy\n related everything that had happened to him, as far back as he\n could remember, down to last night's beating. The old man\n listened attentively to the story, but without interrupting,\n and after a while he remarked, \"My dear child, you have fared\n neither better nor worse than many others whose dear friends\n and protectors lie beneath the sod. As you have run away, you\n must seek your fortune elsewhere in the world. But as I have\n neither house nor farm, nor wife nor child, I cannot do\n anything to help you but give you good advice gratis. Sleep\n here quietly through the night, and to-morrow morning note\n carefully the exact spot where the sun rises. You must proceed\n in that direction, so that the sun shines in your face every\n morning, and on your back every evening. Every day you will\n feel stronger, and after seven years you will see a\n [Pg 265]\n great mountain before you, so high that its summit reaches to\n the clouds. There you will find your future fortune. Take my\n wallet and my flask, and you will find as much food and drink\n in them as you require each day. But take care always to leave\n a crumb of bread and a drop of liquid untouched, or else your\n store of food will fail you.\n [147] You may give freely to a hungry bird or to a thirsty\n animal, for God is pleased when one of His creatures is kind to\n another. You will find a folded plantain-leaf at the bottom of\n the wallet, which you must take the greatest care of. When you\n come to a river or lake on your journey, spread the leaf on the\n water, and it will immediately change into a boat which will\n carry you over to the other side. Then fold the leaf together\n again, and put it into your wallet.\" After thus speaking, he\n gave the wallet and the flask to the boy, and said, \"God bless\n [Pg 266]\n you!\" The next moment he had vanished from the boy's eyes.\n\n The boy would have supposed it to be all a dream, if he had not\n held the wallet and flask in his hand to convince him that it\n was a reality. He then looked into the wallet, where he found\n half a loaf, a small case of salt herrings, another of butter,\n and a nice piece of bacon. When the boy had eaten enough, he\n lay down to sleep, with the wallet and flask under his head, so\n that no thief should be able to take them from him. Next\n morning at sunrise he awoke, refreshed himself with food and\n drink, and then set out on his journey. It was strange that he\n felt no weariness, and only hunger made him aware that it was\n nearly noon. He ate the good fare with relish, took a nap, and\n travelled on. He found that he had taken the right course when\n the sun set behind his back. He travelled for many days in the\n same direction, when he arrived on the bank of a small lake.\n Now he had an opportunity of testing the properties of the\n leaf. All befell as the old man had foretold, for a small boat\n with oars lay before him on the water. He stepped in, and a few\n good strokes of the oars\n [Pg 267]\n landed him on the other side. Then the boat changed back into\n a leaf, and he put it into his wallet.\n\n Thus the boy travelled for several years, without the\n provisions in his flask and wallet failing. Seven years may\n well have passed, for he had now become a strong youth, when\n one day he beheld afar off a lofty mountain which seemed to\n reach the clouds. But a whole week more passed before he could\n reach its foot. Then he sat down to rest, and to see whether\n the predictions of the old man would be accomplished. He had\n not sat there very long when a strange hissing fell upon his\n ear, and immediately afterwards an enormous serpent appeared,\n at least twelve fathoms long, which came quite close to the\n young man. Horror seized him, and he was unable to move, but\n the serpent passed by him in a moment. Then all was still\n awhile, but afterwards it seemed to him as if something heavy\n was moving along in sudden leaps. This proved to be a great\n toad,\n [148] as large as a foal of two years old. This ugly creature\n also passed by without taking any notice of the youth. Then he\n heard a rushing\n [Pg 268]\n noise above him, as if a great storm had arisen, and when he\n looked up, he saw a great eagle flying over his head in the\n direction which the serpent and the toad had taken. \"These are\n queer things to bring me good fortune,\" thought the youth.\n Suddenly he beheld a man on a black horse riding towards him.\n The horse seemed to have wings to his feet, for he flew like\n the wind. When the man saw the youth sitting at the foot of\n the mountain, he reined in his horse and asked, \"Who has\n passed by here?\" The youth answered, \"First of all a great\n serpent, perhaps twelve fathoms long, then a toad as large as\n a two-year-old foal, and lastly a great eagle high above my\n head. I could not guess at his size, but the sound of his\n wings was like that of a tempest.\" \"You have seen well,\"\n answered the stranger. \"These are my worst enemies, and I am\n now in pursuit of them. I might take you into my service, if\n you have nothing better in view. Climb over the mountain, and\n you will come straight to my house. I shall be there as soon\n as you, if not sooner.\" The young man promised to come, and\n the stranger rode away like the wind.\n [Pg 269]\n\n\n The youth did not find it easy to climb the mountain. It was\n three days before he could reach the summit, and three days\n more before he reached the foot of the mountain on the opposite\n side. His new acquaintance was standing in front of his house,\n and he informed him that he had succeeded in killing the\n serpent and the toad, but that he had not been able to reach\n the eagle. Then he asked the young man if he was willing to\n engage himself as his servant. \"You can have as much good food\n as you want every day, and I will give you liberal wages too,\n if you will do your duty faithfully.\" The bargain was struck,\n and the master took his new servant into the house, and showed\n him what he had to do. A cellar was hewn in the rock, and\n closed with threefold doors of iron. \"My savage dogs are\n chained in this cellar,\" said the master, \"and you must take\n care that they do not dig their way out under the door with\n their paws. For know that if one of these savage dogs got\n loose, it would no longer be possible to restrain the others,\n for each would follow the other and destroy everything which\n lives upon the earth. If the last dog should break out, the end\n of the world would come, and the\n [Pg 270]\n sun would have shone for the last time.\" Then he led his\n servant to a hill which was not created by God, but heaped\n together by human hands from immense blocks of stone.\n\n\"These stones,\" said the master, \"have been heaped together so that a\nfresh stone can always be rolled up as often as the dogs dig out a\nhole. I will show you the oxen which drag the stones, in the stall, and\ninstruct you about everything else which you have to attend to.\"\n\n In the stall were a hundred black oxen, each of which had seven\n horns, and they were fully as large as the largest oxen of the\n Ukraine.\n [149]\n \"Six yoke of oxen harnessed before the waggon will drag a stone\n easily away. I will give you a crowbar, and when you touch the\n stone with it, it will roll into the waggon of itself. You see\n that your work is not very laborious, but your vigilance must\n be great in proportion. You must look to the door three times\n during the day, and once at night, lest any misfortune should\n happen, for the mischief might be much greater than you would\n be able to answer for to me.\"\n [Pg 271]\n\nOur friend soon comprehended his duties, and his new occupation was\njust to his taste. Each day he had the best of everything to eat and\ndrink that a man could wish for. After two or three months the dogs had\nscratched a hole under the door large enough to put their tails out;\nbut a stone was immediately rolled against the breach, and the dogs\nwere forced to begin their work afresh.\n\nMany years passed by, and the young man had accumulated a good store of\nmoney. Then the desire awoke in him to mingle with other men again, for\nit was so long since he had seen any human face except his master's.\nAlthough his master was kind, the young man found the time terribly\nlong, especially when his master took the fancy to have a long sleep.\nAt such times he slept for seven weeks at a stretch, without\ninterruption, and without showing himself.\n\n It chanced that the master had fallen into one of his deep\n slumbers, when one day a great eagle descended on the hill of\n stones and began to speak. \"Are you not a great fool to\n sacrifice your pleasant life to good living? The money which\n you have saved is quite useless to you, for\n [Pg 272]\n\n there are no men here who require it. Take your master's swift\n horse from the stable, bind your bag of money to his neck, leap\n on his back, and ride away in the direction in which the sun\n sets, and after some weeks you will again find yourself among\n men. But you must bind the horse fast with an iron chain, so\n that he cannot run away, or he would return to his usual\n haunts, and your master would come to fight with you; but if he\n is without the horse, he cannot leave the place.\" \"But who will\n watch the dogs here, if I go away while my master sleeps?\"\n asked the young man. \"A fool you are, and a fool you will\n remain,\" replied the eagle. \"Are you not yet aware that God has\n created him for the express purpose of guarding the\n hell-hounds? It is from sheer laziness that he sleeps for seven\n weeks at a stretch. When he has no stranger as a servant, he\n will be obliged to rouse himself and do his own work himself.\"\n\n This advice delighted the young man. He followed the counsel of\n the eagle, took the horse, bound the bag of gold on his neck,\n leaped on his back, and rode away. He had not ridden very far\n from the mountain when he heard his master\n [Pg 273]\n calling after him, \"Stop, stop! Take your money and begone in\n God's name, but leave me my horse!\" The youth paid no heed,\n but rode away, and after some weeks he found himself once more\n among mortal men. Then he built himself a nice house, married\n a young wife, and lived happily as a rich man. If he is not\n dead, he must be still living, but the wind-swift horse died\n long ago.\n\n\nOf the next story we give only an abstract. It will be remembered that\nLinda was hatched from an egg, while the later adventures of the\nprincess in the following tale resemble those of Cinderella.\n\n\nTHE EGG-BORN PRINCESS.\n\n ( Kreutzwald .)\n\n Like many others, this story begins with a childless queen\n whose husband is absent at the wars. She is visited by an old\n woman on crutches, who gives her a little box of birch-bark\n containing a bird's egg, and tells her to foster it in her\n bosom for three months, till a live doll like a human infant is\n hatched from it. This was to be kept in\n [Pg 274]\n a woollen basket till it had grown to the size of a new-born\n child. It would not require food or drink, but the basket must\n be kept in a warm place. Nine months after the doll's birth,\n the queen herself would give birth to a son, and the king was\n to proclaim that God had sent the royal parents a son and\n daughter. The queen was to suckle the prince herself, but to\n procure a nurse for the princess; and when the children were\n christened, the old woman wished to be their godmother, and\n gave the queen a bird's feather with which to summon her. The\n matter was to be kept secret. Then the old woman departed, but\n as she went, she grew suddenly young, and seemed to fly rather\n than to walk.\n\nA fortnight afterwards the king returned victorious, and the queen was\nencouraged to hope for the best. In three months' time, a doll, half a\nfinger long, was hatched from the egg, and all came to pass as the old\nwoman had foretold. On the christening day, the queen opened one of the\nwindows and cast out the feather.\n\n When all the guests were assembled, a grand carriage drove up,\n drawn by six yolk-coloured horses, and a young lady stepped out\n in rose-\n [Pg 275]\n coloured gold-embroidered silken robes, which shone with\n sunlike radiance, though the face of the lady was concealed by\n a fine veil. She removed it on entering, when all agreed that\n she was the fairest maiden they had ever seen in their lives.\n She took the princess in her arms, and named her Rebuliina,\n [150] which puzzled everybody. A noble lord stood sponsor for\n the prince, who was named Villem. The godmother then gave the\n queen many instructions concerning the rearing of the children,\n and told her to keep the box with the eggshells always beside\n them in the cradle, to ward off evil from them. Then she took\n her leave, and the queen gave out that she was a great princess\n from a foreign country.\n\n The children throve, and the nurse observed that a strange lady\n sometimes came to gaze on the princess by night. Two years\n afterwards the queen fell sick, and gave over the princess to\n the charge of the nurse, directing her, under oath of secrecy,\n to fasten the talisman round the neck of the child when she was\n ten years old. She then sent for the king, and begged him to\n let the nurse\n [Pg 276]\n remain with the princess as long as the princess herself\n wished it, and after this she expired.\n\n The king then brought home the inevitable cruel stepmother, who\n could not endure the sight of the children. When the princess\n was ten years old, her nurse put the talisman round her neck,\n but the thoughtless girl stowed it away with some other relics\n of her mother, and forgot it till a year or two afterwards,\n when the king was absent, and her stepmother cruelly beat her.\n She ran crying into the house, and looked in the box, but\n rinding only a handful of wool and two empty eggshells in the\n box, threw them out of the window, along with a small feather\n which was under the wool. Immediately her godmother stood\n before her, and soothed and comforted her. She charged her to\n submit to her stepmother's tyranny, but always to carry the\n talisman in her bosom, for then no one could injure her, and\n when she was grown up, her stepmother would have no further\n power over her. The feather, too, would summon her godmother\n whenever she needed her. The lady then took the girl into the\n garden, pronounced a spell over the little box, and fetched out\n supper from it, teaching\n [Pg 277]\n the princess the spell by which she could obtain what she\n needed from it. But after this time her stepmother grew much\n more friendly to her.\n\n The princess grew up a peerless maiden; but at length war broke\n out, and the royal city, and even the palace, were in such\n straits that Rebuliina summoned her godmother to her aid; but\n she told her that though she could rescue her, the rest must\n abide their fate. She then led her invisibly out of the city\n through the besieging army, and next day the city was taken.\n The prince escaped, but the king and his household were made\n prisoners, and the queen was slain by a hostile spear. The\n princess was changed by her godmother into a peasant maiden,\n and instructed to wait for better times, when she could resume\n her former appearance with the aid of the casket. After\n wandering alone for some days, the princess reached a district\n unravaged by war, and engaged herself as maid at a farm-house.\n She did her work admirably with the aid of the casket, and\n after a time attracted the notice of a noble lady who was\n passing through the village, who asked her to enter her\n service. Six months afterwards came news that the prince had\n driven out the enemy with the aid of an army from abroad,\n [Pg 278]\n and had been proclaimed king, the old king having died in\n prison in the meantime.\n\n The prince was greatly grieved at his father's death, but after\n a year of mourning he resolved to take a bride, and all the\n maidens were bidden to a feast. The three daughters of\n Rebuliina's mistress were invited, and the godmother directed\n her in a dream to attire them first, and then to set out after\n them. She grew very restless, and when her mistress and the\n young ladies were gone, she sat down and wept bitter tears; but\n a voice told her to make use of the casket, and immediately\n magnificent gold-embroidered robes appeared on the bed; and as\n soon as she had washed her face, she resumed her former\n appearance, and was amazed at her own beauty when she looked in\n the glass. When she went down-stairs, she found a magnificent\n coach with four yolk-coloured horses at the door. Just as she\n reached the palace, she found to her horror that she had\n forgotten the casket, and was about to turn back, when a\n swallow brought it to her. Everything in the palace was joy and\n splendour; but as the princess entered, the other ladies paled\n like stars before the sun, and the king never left her side. At\n midnight the hall was suddenly\n [Pg 279]\n darkened, and then grew light again, when the godmother of the\n princess appeared, and presented her to the king as the\n adopted child of his father's first queen. Then there was a\n loud noise, and she disappeared. The king married the\n princess, and they lived happily together, but the casket was\n seen no more, and it was supposed that the god-mother had\n taken it with her.\n\n\nTHE ROYAL HERD-BOY.\n\n ( Kreutzwald .)\n\nOnce upon a time there lived a king who was so mild and good to his\nsubjects that there was no one who did not bless him, and pray to the\nHeavenly Father to grant him a long life.\n\n The king had lived happily with his wife for many years, but as\n yet no child had blessed his marriage. Great was the rejoicing\n of the king and all his subjects when at length the queen\n brought a fair child into the world. But their happiness was\n short-lived, for three days after the birth of the prince, the\n mother closed her eyes for ever, leaving her child an orphan\n and\n [Pg 280]\n her husband a widower. The king mourned grievously for the\n loss of his dear consort, and his subjects mourned with him,\n and there was not a cheerful face to be seen anywhere. Three\n years afterwards the king married again, in deference to the\n wishes of his subjects, but he was unfortunate in his second\n choice. He had buried a dove and married a hawk in her place,\n and unfortunately it goes thus with many widowers. The new\n consort was a wicked, hard-hearted woman, who never showed any\n good-will towards the king and his subjects. She could not\n bear the sight of the former queen's son, as she feared that\n the succession would fall to him, for the people loved him\n greatly for his mother's sake. The crafty queen conceived the\n wicked design of sending the boy to some place where the king\n would be unable to discover him, for she had not courage to\n murder him. She paid a wicked old woman a large sum to help\n her to carry out her infamous design. The child was handed\n over to the old woman at night, and she carried it far away\n along unfrequented paths, and delivered it to some poor people\n to adopt as their child. On the way, the old woman stripped\n off the child's good\n [Pg 281]\n\n clothes, and wrapped it in rags, so that no one should discover\n the deceit. The queen had bound her by a solemn oath never to\n reveal to any one the place to which she had carried the\n prince. The child-stealer did not venture to travel by day,\n because she feared pursuit, so that it was a long time before\n she found a sufficiently retired spot. At last she reached a\n lonely house in a wood, where the feet of strangers rarely\n penetrated, and she thought this a suitable abode for the\n prince, and paid the peasant a hundred roubles for the expense\n of bringing up the child. It was lucky for the prince that he\n had fallen among good people, who cared for him as if he had\n been their own dear child. The lively boy often made them\n laugh, especially when he called himself a prince. They saw\n from the liberal payment that they had received that the boy\n could be from no common stock, and that he must be of noble\n birth on either the father's or the mother's side, but their\n ideas never soared high enough to fancy the boy's sallies to be\n actual truth.\n\n It can easily be imagined how great was the consternation at\n the palace when it was discovered in the morning that the\n prince had been stolen during\n [Pg 282]\n the night, and in so strange a manner that no one had heard\n anything, and that not the slightest trace of the thief was\n left behind. The king wept bitterly for days for his son, whom\n he loved so tenderly in remembrance of his mother, and all the\n more because he was so unhappy with his new consort. Every\n place was searched thoroughly for a long time for some trace\n of the vanished child, and a great reward was offered to any\n one who could give any information; but every effort was vain,\n and it seemed as if the boy had been blown away. None of the\n searchers found his way to the lonely cottage in the wood\n where the prince lived, and no one brought the news to the\n inhabitants. No one could discover the secret, and many people\n thought that the prince had been carried away by an evil\n spirit or by witchcraft. But while the prince was wept for at\n home as if he was dead, he grew up in the lonely forest, and\n prospered wonderfully, till he grew to such an age that he was\n fit for work. Meantime he developed such wonderful\n intelligence, that his foster-parents were often obliged to\n admit that the egg was much cleverer than the hen.\n\n The prince had lived thus for more than ten years, when he\n became anxious to associate with\n [Pg 283]\n other people. He begged his foster-parents to allow him to\n earn his bread with his own hands, and said, \"I have strength\n and understanding enough to keep myself without your help. I\n find the time very long during this lonely life here.\" His\n foster-parents opposed the plan at first, but were at length\n obliged to consent and to gratify the young fellow's wish. The\n peasant himself accompanied him in search of suitable\n employment. He found a rich farmer in a village who wanted a\n herd-boy, and as his foster-son wanted just such a post, they\n soon came to an agreement. The arrangement was made for a\n year, but it was settled that the boy might leave his\n employment at any time and return to his foster-parents. It\n was also settled that if the farmer was dissatisfied with the\n boy, he might send him away during the course of the year, but\n not without informing his foster-parents.\n\n The village where the prince had thus taken service was not far\n from a great highway, along which many people passed daily,\n both high and low. The royal herd-boy often sat close to the\n road, and talked to the passers-by, from whom he learned many\n things which would otherwise\n [Pg 284]\n have remained unknown to him. So it happened one day that an\n old man with grey hair and a long white beard passed that way\n when the prince was sitting on a stone and playing the flute\n while the animals were grazing, and if one of them strayed too\n far from the others, the boy's dog drove it back. The old man\n gazed awhile at the boy and his flock, and then he went a few\n paces nearer and said, \"You don't seem to have been born a\n herd-boy.\" The boy answered, \"It may be so; I only know that I\n was born to be a ruler, and first learned the business of a\n ruler. If it goes well with the quadrupeds, I will perhaps try\n my fortune later on with the bipeds.\" The old man shook his\n head in wonder and went his way. Another time a handsome coach\n passed by, in which sat a lady and two children. There was a\n coachman on the box and a footman behind. The prince happened\n to have a basket of freshly-plucked strawberries in his hand,\n which attracted the notice of the proud Saxon lady.\n [151] She ordered the coachman to stop, and called out from the\n coach-window, \"Come here, you lout, and bring me the\n strawberries. I will give you a few copecks for\n [Pg 285]\n them, to buy wheaten bread.\" The royal herd-boy did as if he\n had heard nothing, and did not imagine that the order was\n addressed to him, while the lady called out a second and a\n third time; but it was as if she had spoken to the wind. Then\n she called to the footman behind, \"Go and give that vagabond a\n box on the ear, to teach him to listen.\" The footman jumped\n down to execute the order. But before he reached him, the\n herd-boy jumped up, seized a thick stick, and called out to\n the footman, \"If you don't want a broken head, don't come a\n step nearer, or I'll smash your face.\" The footman went back\n and reported the occurrence. Then the lady cried out angrily,\n \"What, you rascal, are you afraid of this lout of a boy? Go\n and take away his basket by force. I'll show him who I am, and\n I'll punish his parents too, for not bringing him up better.\"\n\n \"Oho!\" cried the herd-boy, who heard the order. \"As long as\n there is any life in my limbs, nobody shall deprive me of my\n rightful property by force. I'll stamp anybody to broth who\n tries to rob me of my strawberries.\" As he spoke, he spat on\n his hands, and whirled his cudgel round his head till it\n whistled. When the footman\n [Pg 286]\n saw it, he had not the least desire to attempt it, but the\n lady drove away with violent threats, declaring that she would\n not permit this insult to remain unpunished. Other herd-boys\n who had seen and heard the affair from a distance related it\n to their companions in the evening. The people were all\n frightened, for they thought it would fare ill with them also\n if the great lady complained to the authorities about the\n boy's stupid obstinacy and an inquiry was ordered. The\n prince's master scolded him, and said, \"I can't say anything\n in your favour, and what you've cooked you must eat yourself.\"\n The boy replied, \"I shall come off scatheless; that's my\n affair. God has put a mouth in my head and a tongue in my\n mouth, and I can speak for myself if necessary, and I won't\n ask you to be my advocate. If the lady had asked for the\n strawberries in a proper way, I would have given them to her;\n but how dared she call me a lout? My nose\n [152] is just as clean as hers.\"\n\n Meantime the lady drove to the royal city, where she had\n nothing more pressing to do than to complain to the authorities\n of the insolent behaviour\n [Pg 287]\n of the herd-boy. An investigation was ordered at once, and the\n youth and his master were ordered to appear before the\n authorities. When the messenger entered the village to enforce\n the order, the prince said, \"My master has nothing to do with\n this affair, and I myself must answer for what I did\n yesterday.\" They wanted to bind his hands behind his back, and\n to lead him before the court as a prisoner, but he drew a\n sharp knife from his pocket, stepped some paces back, turned\n the point against his breast, and cried out, \"No one shall\n bind me while I live! Rather than let you bind me, I will\n thrust the knife into my heart. You may then bind my corpse,\n or do whatever you please with it, but no man shall lay a cord\n or fetter on me while I live. I am quite ready to appear\n before the court and give evidence, but I will never go there\n as a prisoner.\" His boldness frightened the messengers, and\n they were afraid to approach him, for they feared that the\n blame would fall on them if the boy carried out his threat;\n and as he was ready to go with them of his own accord, they\n were obliged to be content. On the way, the messengers\n wondered more and more at the understanding and\n [Pg 288]\n cleverness of their prisoner, for he knew everything better\n than they did themselves. But much greater was the\n astonishment of the judges when they heard the account of the\n affair from the boy's own mouth. He spoke so clearly and\n reasonably that they gave judgment in his favour, and\n acquitted him of all blame. The great lady then applied to the\n king, who promised to investigate the whole affair himself;\n but he also was forced to agree with the judges and to\n pronounce the youth innocent. The lady was now ready to burst\n with rage at the thought that a peasant boy should have gained\n a verdict in her despite. She complained to the queen, knowing\n that she was very much harsher than the king. \"My consort,\"\n said the queen, \"is an old idiot, and his judges are all\n fools. It is a pity that you brought the matter before the\n court, instead of coming to me, for I would have managed the\n affair differently, and would have done you justice. Now that\n the matter has passed through the court, and the judgment is\n confirmed by the king, I am no longer in a position to put a\n better face on it openly, but we must see how we can arrange\n to punish the youth without attracting attention.\" It occurred\n [Pg 289]\n to the lady that there lived a very ill-tempered peasant woman\n on her estate, with whom no servant would stay, while her\n husband said that his life with her was more uncomfortable\n than if he was in hell. If the impudent boy could be induced\n to go to her as herd-boy, she thought the woman would give him\n a severer punishment than any judge could inflict upon him.\n \"I'll arrange the matter just as you wish,\" said the queen. So\n she summoned a trustworthy messenger, and instructed him what\n to do. If she had had the least idea that the herd-boy was the\n exiled prince, she would have had him put to death at once,\n without troubling herself about the king or the judges'\n decision.\n\n As soon as the prince's master heard the queen's desire, he at\n once released the herd-boy from his service. He thanked his\n stars that he had got out of the scrape so easily. The queen's\n messenger now took the lad to the farm to which she had\n consigned him without his consent. The wicked old woman shouted\n for joy when she heard that the queen had found her a herd-boy,\n and sent word that she might treat him as she pleased, because\n the youth was very perverse, and nothing good was to\n [Pg 290]\n be got out of him. She did not know how hard the new millstone\n was, and hoped to treat him in her usual fashion; but she was\n soon to discover that this fence was too high to jump over,\n and that the youth would not sacrifice a hair's-breadth of his\n rights. If she gave him a single bad word without cause, he\n gave her a dozen back; and if she lifted her hand against him,\n he caught up a stone or a log of wood, or anything else which\n happened to come to hand, and cried out, \"Don't dare to come a\n step nearer, or I'll split your skull and mash you to soup.\"\n The woman had never heard such language from anybody, least of\n all from her servants; but her husband rejoiced in secret when\n he heard her quarrelling, and he did not stand by his wife,\n for the boy did not neglect his duty. The woman tried to break\n the boy's spirit with hunger, and refused him food, but the\n boy helped himself by force to whatever he could find, and\n helped himself to milk from the cow besides, so that he was\n never hungry. The more difficult she found it to manage the\n boy, the more she vented her rage on her husband and others\n about her. When the prince had led this vexatious life for\n some weeks, and found that each day was like the other, he\n determined to pay the\n [Pg 291]\n old woman out for her wickedness in such a fashion that the\n world should be quite rid of such a monster. In order to carry\n out his design, he caught a dozen wolves and shut them up in a\n cave, and he threw them a beast from his flock every day, so\n that they should not starve. Who can describe the woman's rage\n when she saw her property gradually dwindling, for every day\n the boy brought home an animal less than he had taken to\n pasture in the morning, and his only answer when questioned\n was, \"The wolves have devoured it.\" She screamed like a\n maniac, and threatened to throw the boy to the wild beasts to\n devour, but he answered, laughing, \"Wouldn't your own savage\n meat be better for them?\" Then he left the wolves for three\n days without food in the cave, and at night, when every one\n was asleep, he drove the herd from their stall, and put the\n twelve wolves in instead, fastening the door securely, so that\n the wild beasts should not escape. When he had thus arranged\n everything, he turned his back on the farm, for he had long\n been tired of playing herd-boy, and now felt strong enough for\n greater undertakings.\n [153]\n [Pg 292]\n\nBut what horrors happened next morning, when the woman went into the\nstall to let out the animals and to milk the cows! The wolves, maddened\nwith hunger, rushed upon her, pulled her down, and devoured the whole\nof her, clothes and skin, and hair and all, so that nothing remained\nbut her tongue and heart, which were too poisonous for even the wild\nbeasts to touch. Neither her husband nor her servants lamented the\nmisfortune, for every one was delighted to be rid of such an infernal\nwoman.\n\n The prince wandered about the world for some years, trying his\n hand first at one trade and then at another, but he never\n stayed long in one place, for the recollections of his\n childhood, which hovered about him like vivid dreams, always\n warned him that he was born to a higher condition. From time to\n time he encountered the old man again, who had read this in his\n eyes while he was still a herd-boy. When the prince was\n eighteen years old, he engaged himself to a gardener to learn\n gardening. Just at this time an event happened which changed\n the course of his life. The wicked old woman who had\n [Pg 293]\n taken him away by the queen's orders, and had given him into\n the charge of the people at the forest-farm, confessed her\n crime to the priest on her death-bed, for her soul was\n burdened with the weight of her sins, and could not find rest\n till she had revealed it. She indicated the farmhouse to which\n she had brought the child, but could not tell whether the\n prince was now living or dead. The priest hastened to the king\n with the joyful tidings that a trace of his lost son was found\n at last. The king informed no one of what he had heard, but\n immediately ordered his horse to be saddled, and set out on\n his way with three faithful attendants. In a few days they\n reached the farm in the wood. Both the farmer and his wife\n confirmed the fact that at such and such a time a male child\n had been given into their charge to rear, and that they had\n received one hundred roubles at the same time for their\n expenses. They had concluded from this circumstance that the\n child was probably of high birth, but they had never supposed\n that he was of royal descent, and had thought that the boy was\n only jesting when he had called himself a prince. Then the\n farmer himself attended the king to the village where he had\n taken the youth as herd-boy, not, indeed, by his own wish, but\n at the request\n [Pg 294]\n of the boy, who could not live longer in that lonely place.\n But how shocked was the farmer, and still more the king, when\n they did not find the boy, who must now be grown to a young\n man, in the village, and could learn no further tidings of\n him! All that the people could tell them was that the boy was\n summoned before the court at the suit of a noble lady, and\n that he had been acquitted and set at liberty; but after this\n one of the queen's servants had taken the boy away and put him\n to service at another farm. The king hastened thither, and\n found that his son had indeed been there for a few weeks, but\n he had fled, and nothing more had been heard of him. Where\n should they now seek for advice, and who was able to direct\n their search aright?\n\n While the king was thus greatly troubled at losing all traces\n of his son, the old man who had several times encountered the\n prince presented himself and said that he knew such a young man\n as they sought for, who had first served as a herdsman and had\n afterwards worked at several other occupations, and that he\n hoped to be able to discover him. The king promised the old man\n a rich reward if he could help him to find his son, and he\n ordered one of his attendants to dismount from his\n [Pg 295]\n horse, and pressed the old man to mount, so that they could\n travel quicker; but he said, smiling, \"No matter how fast a\n horse can run, my legs can run as fast, for they have\n traversed larger districts of the world than any horse.\" In\n fact, in a week's time they came upon the traces of the\n prince, and found him in the grounds of a magnificent mansion,\n where he was engaged as gardener. The king's joy was unbounded\n when he recovered his son, whom he had mourned for so many\n years as dead. Tears of joy streamed down his cheeks as he\n strained his son to his breast and kissed him. But he heard\n tidings from his son's mouth which damped the joy of their\n meeting, and caused him fresh trouble. The gardener had a\n young and beautiful daughter, fairer than all the flowers in\n this splendid garden, and as pure and good as an angel. The\n prince had lost his heart to this maiden, and he told his\n father plainly that he would never marry a lady of higher\n rank, but would take the gardener's daughter as his consort,\n even if he should be forced to abandon his kingdom for her.\n \"Come home first,\" said the king, \"and afterwards we will talk\n the matter over.\" Then the prince asked his father for a\n costly gold ring, and\n [Pg 296]\n put it on the maiden's finger before the eyes of all, saying,\n \"With this ring I betroth thee, and I will return, whether the\n time be long or short, to claim thee as my bride.\" But the\n king answered, \"No, not so; the affair shall be arranged\n otherwise.\" He took the ring from the maiden's finger and\n clove it in twain with his sword. One half he gave to his son,\n and the other to the gardener's daughter, and said, \"If God\n has created you for one another, the two halves of the ring\n will grow together of themselves at the proper time, so that\n the point at which the ring was divided cannot be detected.\n Let each keep their half till the time shall be fulfilled.\"\n\n The queen was ready to burst with rage when she saw her\n stepson, whom she thought had disappeared for ever, suddenly\n return as the undisputed heir to the throne, for the king had\n only two daughters by his second marriage. A few years\n afterwards the king closed his eyes in death, and his son\n became king. Notwithstanding the great wrongs which he had\n received from his stepmother, he would not return evil for\n evil, but left her to the justice of God. Although she no\n longer hoped to set one of her daughters on the throne in his\n place,\n [Pg 297]\n she hoped at least to wed him to a noble lady of her own\n family; but he answered, \"I will not consent, for I have\n chosen my bride long since.\" When the queen-dowager learned\n that the young king was resolved to marry a maiden of low\n birth, she incited the highest councillors of the kingdom to\n attempt unanimously to prevent it. But the king remained firm,\n and would not yield. After the matter had been discussed for a\n long time, the king announced his final decision. \"We will\n give a great feast, and invite all the princesses and all the\n other unmarried ladies of high birth; and if I find one among\n them who surpasses my chosen bride in grace and beauty, I will\n marry her. But if this is not the case, my betrothed shall\n become my consort.\"\n\n Thereupon a magnificent feast was prepared in the royal palace,\n which was to last a fortnight, that the king might have full\n opportunity of considering whether any of the ladies surpassed\n the gardener's daughter. All the great ladies in the\n neighbourhood were invited to bring their daughters to the\n feast, and as the object of the gathering was generally known,\n every maiden hoped that the great prize would fall to her. The\n feast drew to a close, and yet the king had not met with one\n who pleased his\n [Pg 298]\n fancy. On the last day of the feast the highest councillors of\n the kingdom again presented themselves before the king, and\n said, as the queen had instructed them, that if the king did\n not make his choice before evening, an insurrection might\n break out, for all his subjects wished the king to marry. The\n king replied, \"I will accede to the wish of my subjects, and\n will announce my choice this evening.\" Then, unknown to the\n others, he sent a trustworthy messenger to bring the\n gardener's daughter away secretly, and to keep her in\n concealment till evening. In the evening the royal palace was\n ablaze with light, and all the great ladies were robed in\n their most elegant attire, expecting the moment which should\n bring them good fortune or the reverse. But the king advanced\n to a young lady in the hall who was so muffled up that you\n could hardly see the tip of her nose. All were struck with the\n simple dress of the stranger. She was clothed in fine white\n linen, and wore neither silk, satin, nor gold, while all the\n other ladies were robed from head to foot in silks and satins.\n Some curled their lips, and others turned up their noses, but\n the king took no notice, but loosed the maiden's head-gear,\n and led her to the\n [Pg 299]\n queen-dowager, saying, \"Here is my chosen bride, whom I will\n take as my consort, and I invite all who are here assembled to\n my wedding.\" The queen-dowager cried out angrily, \"What better\n could be expected of a man who was reared as a herd-boy? If\n you want to go back to your business, take the maid with you,\n who may perhaps understand tending swine, but is quite unfit\n for a king's consort. Such a peasant girl can only disgrace\n the throne of a king.\" These words moved the king to anger,\n and he answered sternly, \"I am king, and can do what I will,\n but woe to you who have brought my former condition to my\n remembrance; and you have also reminded me who reduced me to\n this. However, as no sensible man buys a cat in a sack, I will\n show you all before we separate that I could nowhere have\n found a more suitable bride than this very maiden, who is as\n pure and good as an angel from heaven.\" As he spoke, he left\n the room, but soon returned with the old man whom he had known\n ever since he was a herd-boy, and who had afterwards put the\n king on the track of his son. The old man was a famous\n sorcerer from Finland, who knew many secret arts. The king\n said, \"Mighty sorcerer, show us by your\n [Pg 300]\n art the inmost character of the maidens here present, that we\n may know which of them is most worthy to become my bride.\" The\n sorcerer took a bottle filled with a liquid that looked like\n wine, muttered a spell over it, and directed the maidens to\n gather in the midst of the hall. He then sprinkled a few drops\n on the head of each, and they all fell asleep as they stood.\n But what a wonderful thing now happened! In a short time they\n were all so transformed that none retained her human shape,\n but some were changed into snakes, wolves, bears, toads,\n swine, or cats, and others became hawks or other birds of\n prey. But among all these bestial forms was a beautiful\n rose-bush, covered with flowers, and with two doves nestling\n on its branches. And this was the gardener's daughter whom the\n king had chosen as his consort. Then said the king, \"We have\n now seen the inmost kernel of each, and I am not going to let\n myself be dazzled by the outer shell.\" The queen-dowager could\n not contain herself for rage, but the matter was so clear that\n she was unable to help herself. Then the sorcerer fumigated\n all the maidens with magic herbs, which roused them from their\n sleep and restored them to their human shapes. The\n [Pg 301]\n king received his beloved from the rose-bush, and asked for\n her half-ring, and when the maiden drew it from her bosom, he\n took his own half-ring, and laid them together on the palm of\n his hand, when the two halves immediately united, and no eye\n could perceive a crack or any indication of the spot where the\n sword-stroke had cleft the ring. \"Now my honoured father's\n wish has come to pass,\" said the young king, and celebrated\n his union with the gardener's daughter on the same evening. He\n invited all those present to a wedding-feast, but the noble\n ladies had learned what wonders had taken place during their\n sleep, and they returned home full of shame. But so much the\n greater was the joy of the king's subjects that their queen\n was a perfect woman both in form and character.\n\n When the wedding festivities were ended, the king assembled all\n the leading judges of the kingdom and asked them what\n punishment was fitting for a criminal who had secretly stolen\n away the king's son, and had him brought up in a peasant's cot\n as a herd-boy, and had afterwards treated the youth with\n insolent contempt after he had recovered his former position.\n All the judges answered with one accord, \"Such a criminal is\n worthy to die on the\n [Pg 302]\n gallows.\" Then said the king, \"Good! let the queen-dowager be\n brought to trial.\" The queen-dowager was summoned, and the\n sentence was announced to her. When she heard it, she turned\n as white as the wall, and fell on her knees before the young\n king pleading for mercy. The king said, \"I give you your life,\n and I should never have brought you before the court if it had\n not happened that you lately insulted me respecting the\n misfortunes which I endured through your crime; but you cannot\n remain in my kingdom any longer. You must pack up your goods\n this very day, and quit my city before sundown. An escort will\n accompany you to the frontier. But beware lest you ever set\n foot again in my territories, for any man, even the meanest,\n has leave to kill you like a mad dog. Your daughters, who are\n also the daughters of my honoured father, may remain here, for\n they are innocent of the crimes which rest upon your soul.\"\n\n Now that the queen-dowager was banished, the young king built\n two pretty houses near his city, one of which he assigned to\n the parents of his bride, and the other to his own\n foster-father, who had so carefully brought up the helpless\n prince.\n [Pg 303]\n The prince who had grown up as a herd-boy and his low-born\n bride lived happily to the end, and ruled their subjects with\n as much affection as parents their children.\n\n\n\n The story of Tiidu\n [154] the Flute-player introduces us to a mysterious old man,\n and is therefore given a place after the narrative of the\n stolen prince. It contains many points of interest, including\n the cosmopolitan incident of the Nose-tree (which, however,\n some critics suggest is probably a recent addition); but it is\n long and tedious in the original, and therefore only an\n abstract is given here.\n\n\nTIIDU THE FLUTE-PLAYER.\n\n A poor man with a large family had among them a lazy useless\n son who would do nothing but play tunes on a willow-pipe. One\n day a strange old man passed by, and asked what trade he would\n prefer. He replied that he would like to be rich and\n independent. The old man advised him to make use of the gift he\n had, and to earn money\n [Pg 304]\n enough by playing on his willow-flute to buy a flute.\n [155] So Tiidu left his home without telling his parents of his\n intention, but they were glad enough to be rid of him. He\n wandered from village to village till he had earned enough\n money to buy a good flute, and in a few years he became a\n famous and prosperous flute-player. But his avarice left him no\n peace, and he heard so much of the wealth of the land of\n Kungla, that he longed to go there to make his fortune.\n\n One day he arrived at the town of Narva, where he found a ship\n just sailing for Kungla; but as he could not afford to pay his\n passage, he contrived to smuggle himself on board with the aid\n of one of the sailors. On the following night, Tiidu's friend\n threw him into the sea with a rope round his body, when Tiidu\n began to cry for help, and his friend roused the other sailors.\n The captain crossed himself thrice, and on being assured by the\n sailors that it was not a spirit but a mortal man, ordered a\n rope to be thrown to the aid of the swimmer. As soon as\n [Pg 305]\n\n Tiidu seized the rope, he cut away that which was fastened\n round him, and on being hauled on board, pretended to have swum\n from the shore. On this the captain offered him a free passage,\n and he amused the crew with his flute during the voyage.\n\nWhen Tiidu reached Kungla, he set out for the capital, which he found\nto be a city of great wealth and splendour. He was afraid to try his\nluck with his flute, and after many days he succeeded in obtaining a\npost as kitchen-boy. All the utensils were of gold and silver, the food\nwas cooked in silver pots, the cakes were baked in silver pans, and\ndinner was served up in golden cups and dishes, and even the pigs fed\nfrom silver pails. Tiidu's month's wages were larger than he would have\nearned in a year at home, but still he was very discontented.\n\n One day Tiidu's master gave a christening, and distributed fine\n clothes to his servants; and next Sunday Tiidu put them on and\n went to a pleasure-garden, where he met his old friend who had\n advised him to play the flute, and who now reproached him for\n having neglected to use it in Kungla. He made him fetch it and\n begin to play, when a crowd gathered round, who made a good\n collection for\n [Pg 306]\n Tiidu. The old man gave Tiidu full instructions how to follow\n the vocation of a flute-player profitably, and Tiidu followed\n his advice and grew very rich.\n\nAt last he decided to return home, and chartered a ship to convey\nhimself and his treasures to his native land; but a great storm arose,\nthe ship was wrecked, and only Tiidu contrived to struggle ashore. He\nlay dazed for a time, and dreamed that the old man visited him, and\ngave him a pull from his flask. Next morning, much refreshed, he\nwandered into the country, which he found to be an uninhabited island.\nHe now repented of his undutiful conduct in leaving his parents, and\nfelt his sad plight to be a fitting punishment for his fault.\n\n All at once he saw a tree with beautiful red apples, feasted on\n them, lay down to sleep for the night, breakfasted on the\n apples, and walked on; but on stooping down to drink at a\n spring, he saw to his horror that his nose hung down to his\n middle, and looked like the wattles of an enraged turkey-cock;\n and the more he lamented his misfortune, the bigger and bluer\n became his nose. At last he discovered a nut-tree, and found\n that eating a few nuts restored his nose to its natural state.\n So he laid in a stock\n [Pg 307]\n of nuts, wove himself a basket, which he filled with apples,\n and then slept under the tree, when the old man appeared to\n him in a dream, advised him to return to the shore, and gave\n him a new flute.\n\nWhen he reached the shore, he was picked up by a passing vessel, and\nreturned to Kungla, where he disguised himself, sold the apples at the\npalace, and next day presented himself in another guise as a learned\nforeign physician to cure the king and the royal family of the\nturkey-disease. In return, Tiidu asked only as much reward as would\nenable him to purchase an estate on which he could live comfortably for\nthe rest of his life, but the king cheerfully gave him three times as\nmuch as he asked, and Tiidu then went to the harbour and sailed home.\nFirst, however, he paid his passage-money to the captain who had\nrescued him from the desert island.\n\n On reaching home, Tiidu found his father and several brothers\n and sisters still living, but his mother and some of his\n brothers were dead. He bought an estate, invited the whole\n family to a great feast, and revealed himself to them, and he\n insisted that they should all settle on his estate,\n [Pg 308]\n and that his father should stay with him in his own house as\n long as he lived.\n\nA little later he married a good and pretty but dowerless girl, and on\nentering the bridal chamber they found that it contained all the\ntreasures which Tiidu had lost at sea, with a paper attached: \"Even the\ndepths of the sea restore the treasures which they have stolen to a\ngood son who cares for parents and relatives.\" But Tiidu never\ndiscovered anything about the aged enchanter who had been his friend\nand protector.\n\n\nTHE LUCKY EGG.\n\n ( Kreutzwald .)\n\n Once upon a time a poor man lived in a great forest with his\n wife. God had given them eight children, and the elder ones\n were already earning their living with strangers. So the\n parents were not much rejoiced when a ninth little son was born\n to them in their old age. But as God had given it to them, they\n were obliged to accept it, and to have it christened according\n to Christian usage. But they could find no one willing to stand\n sponsor for\n [Pg 309]\n the child, for everybody thought that if the parents died, the\n child would be left a burden on their hands. Then said the\n father, \"I will take the child and carry it to church next\n Sunday, and say that although I can find no sponsors for the\n child, the parson may please himself. Then, whether he\n christens the child or not, no sin can rest on my soul.\"\n\n When he set out on Sunday, he found a beggar sitting by the\n wayside near his house, who asked for alms. The father said, \"I\n have nothing to give you, dear brother, for I must pay out the\n few copecks which I have in my pocket for the christening. But\n if you will do me a kindness, come and stand godfather to my\n child, and afterwards go home with me, and share the\n christening feast which my good wife has prepared.\" The beggar,\n who had never before been invited to stand godfather to\n anybody's child, joyfully accepted the man's proposal, and went\n with him to the church. Just as they arrived, a magnificent\n carriage and four drove up, and a young Saxon lady alighted\n from it. The poor man thought, \"Now I'll try my luck for the\n last time.\" He bowed respectfully to the unknown lady, and\n said, \"Noble lady, whoever\n [Pg 310]\n you may be! will you not have the kindness to stand godmother\n to my child?\" The lady consented.\n\n When the child was brought up to be baptized after the sermon,\n the parson and the congregation were much surprised to see a\n poor beggar-man and a proud handsome lady standing together as\n sponsors for the child. The child was baptized by the name of\n P\u00e4rtel.\n [156] The rich lady paid the christening fees, and also made a\n christening present of three roubles, which much rejoiced the\n child's father. The beggar went home to the christening feast.\n Before leaving in the evening, he took from his pocket a small\n box wrapped in a piece of rag, and gave it to the child's\n mother, saying, \"My christening gift is poor enough, but do not\n despise it, for it may possibly bring your son good fortune\n some day. I had a very clever aunt, who understood all sorts of\n magic arts, and before she died she gave me the bird's egg in\n this little box, saying, 'When something quite unexpected\n happens to you, which you could never have imagined, then part\n with this egg. If it comes into the possession of him for whom\n it is destined, it may bring him great good\n [Pg 311]\n fortune. But guard the egg like the apple of your eye, that it\n does not break, for the shell of fortune is tender.' But\n although I am nearly sixty years old, nothing unexpected has\n happened to me till to-day, when I was invited to stand as\n godfather, and my first thought was, You must give the egg to\n the child as a christening gift.\"\n\n The little P\u00e4rtel grew and prospered, and became the delight of\n his parents, and at the age of ten he was sent to another\n village to become herd-boy to a rich farmer. All the people of\n the household were well satisfied with the herd-boy, as he was\n a good quiet fellow, who never gave any annoyance to his\n companions. When he left home, his mother put his christening\n gift in his pocket, and charged him to keep it as safe as the\n apple of his eye, and P\u00e4rtel did so. There was an old lime-tree\n in the pasturage, and a large granite rock lay under it. The\n boy was very fond of this place, and every day in summer he\n used to go and sit on the stone under the lime-tree. Here he\n used to eat the lunch which was given him every morning, and he\n quenched his thirst at a little brook hard by. P\u00e4rtel had no\n friendship with the other herd-boys, who were up to all sorts\n of pranks. It was remarkable that there was no such fine grass\n [Pg 312]\n anywhere as between the stone and the spring, and although the\n flocks grazed here every day, next morning the grass looked\n more like that of an enclosed meadow than of a pasturage.\n\n When P\u00e4rtel slept a little while on the stone on a hot day, he\n had wonderfully pleasant dreams, and when he awoke, the sounds\n of music and song were still in his ears, so that he dreamed on\n after his eyes were open. The stone was like a dear friend to\n him, and he parted from it every day with a heavy heart, and\n returned to it next day full of longing. Thus P\u00e4rtel lived till\n he was fifteen years old, and was no longer to be herd-boy. His\n master now employed him as a farm-labourer, but did not give\n him any heavier work than he was able to accomplish. On Sundays\n and summer evenings, the other young men used to go to visit\n their sweethearts, but P\u00e4rtel did not join their company. He\n stole away, in deep meditation, to his favourite lime-tree in\n the pasturage, and often sat under it for half the night. One\n Sunday evening he was sitting on the stone playing the flute,\n when a milk-white snake crept out from under the stone. It\n raised its head as if to listen, and looked at P\u00e4rtel with its\n bright eyes, which shone like fire. This\n [Pg 313]\n happened often, and whenever P\u00e4rtel had any time to spare, he\n used to hasten to the stone to see the beautiful white snake,\n which at last became so familiar with him that it often coiled\n round his leg.\n\n P\u00e4rtel was now growing up to be a young man; his father and\n mother were dead, and his brothers and sisters lived widely\n scattered, and seldom heard any tidings of each other, and\n still more rarely met. But the white snake had grown dearer to\n him than his brothers and sisters, and his thoughts were with\n her by day, and he dreamed of her almost every night. This made\n the wintertime seem very long to him, when the earth was frozen\n and the snow lay deep on the ground. When the sun-rays melted\n the snow in spring and the ground was thawed, P\u00e4rtel's first\n walk was to the stone under the lime-trees, though there was\n not a leaf to be seen upon the tree as yet. O what joy! As soon\n as he breathed forth his longing in the notes of the flute, the\n white snake crept out from under the stone, and played about\n his feet. But it seemed to P\u00e4rtel to-day that the snake shed\n tears, and this made his heart sad. He now let no evening pass\n without visiting the stone, and the snake grew continually\n tamer, and she would let [Pg 314] him stroke her; but if he\n tried to hold her fast, she slipped through his fingers, and\n crept back under the stone.\n\n On Midsummer Eve all the villagers, old and young, went\n together to St. John's fire. P\u00e4rtel was not allowed to stay\n behind, though his heart drew him in another direction. But in\n the midst of the fun, when all the others were singing,\n dancing, and amusing themselves, he slipped away to the\n lime-tree, the only place where his heart was at ease. When he\n drew near, he saw a clear bright fire shining from the stone,\n which surprised him very much, for, as far as he knew, nobody\n but himself ever visited the spot. But when he reached the\n stone, the fire had disappeared, without leaving either ashes\n or sparks behind it. He sat down on the stone, and began to\n play on his flute as usual. All at once the fire blazed up\n again, and it was nothing else than the sparkling eyes of the\n white snake. She played about his feet again, allowed him to\n stroke her, and gazed at him as wistfully as if she was going\n to speak. It must have been almost midnight when the snake\n crept back to her nest under the stone, and did not reappear\n while P\u00e4rtel was playing. As he took the\n [Pg 315]\n\n instrument from his mouth and put it in his pocket and prepared\n to go home, the leaves of the lime-tree rustled in the breeze\n so strangely that it sounded like a human voice, and he thought\n he heard the following words repeated several times:\n\n\n\n \"Thin-shelled is the egg of Fortune,\n\n And the heart is full of sorrow;\n\n Venture not to spoil your fortune.\"\n\n\n\nThereupon he experienced such a painful longing that his heart was like\nto break, and yet he did not know himself what he pined for. He began\nto weep bitterly, and lamented, \"What does the lucky egg avail me, when\nno happiness is permitted me in this world? I have felt from childhood\nthat I was unfit to mix with men, for they do not understand me, and I\ndo not understand them. What causes pleasure to them is painful to me,\nwhile I myself know not what could make me happy, and how then should\nothers know it? Riches and poverty stood together as my sponsors, and\ntherefore nothing will go right with me.\"\n\n Suddenly it became as bright around him as if the mid-day sun\n was shining on the lime-tree and the rock, and he could not\n open his eyes for a time,\n [Pg 316]\n until he had got used to the light. Then he beheld a lovely\n female figure sitting beside him on the stone, clad in\n snow-white raiment, as if an angel had flown down from heaven.\n The maiden's voice sounded sweeter to him than the song of the\n nightingale as she addressed him. \"Dear youth, fear nothing,\n but give heed to the prayer of an unhappy girl. I am\n imprisoned in a miserable dungeon, and if you do not pity me,\n I can never hope to escape. O dear youth, take pity on me, and\n do not cast me off! I am the daughter of a king of the East,\n possessed of fabulous riches in gold and silver, but all this\n avails me nothing, for an enchanter has compelled me to live\n under this stone in the form of a white snake. I have lived\n thus for many centuries, without ever growing older. Although\n I never injured any human being, all fled before my shape, as\n soon as they beheld me. You are the only living being who did\n not fly at my approach; you have even allowed me to play about\n your feet, and have often kindly stroked me with your hand.\n Your kindness has led me to hope that you might be able to\n effect my deliverance. Your heart is as pure as that of a\n child, as yet ignorant of falsehood and deception. You have\n [Pg 317]\n all the signs which point to my rescue; a noble lady and a\n beggar stood together as your sponsors, and your christening\n gift was the egg of Good Fortune. I am only permitted to\n resume my human form once in twenty-five years on Midsummer\n Eve, and to wander about the earth for an hour, and if I\n should meet with a youth pure in heart, and with your\n peculiarities, who would listen to my request, I might be\n released from my long imprisonment. Save me, O save me from\n this endless imprisonment! I beseech you in the name of all\n the angels.\"\n\nHaving thus spoken, she fell at P\u00e4rtel's feet, embraced his knees, and\nwept bitterly.\n\nP\u00e4rtel's heart was melted by her tears and supplications, and he begged\nthe maiden to stand up, and to tell him what he could do to rescue her.\n\"If it was possible for me to save you,\" said he, \"I would go through\nfire and water. I am filled with an unknown longing which allows me no\npeace; but what I long for, I cannot tell.\"\n\n The maiden answered, \"Come here again to-morrow evening about\n sunset, and if I meet you in my snake-form, and wind myself\n round your body like a girdle, and kiss you three times, do not\n start or shrink back, or I shall again be overwhelmed by\n [Pg 318]\n the waters of enchantment, and who knows for how many\n centuries?\"\n\nAs she spoke, the maiden vanished from the youth's sight, and he again\nheard the sighing in the leaves of the lime-tree:\n\n\n\n \"Thin-shelled is the egg of Fortune,\n\n And the heart is full of sorrow;\n\n Venture not to spoil your fortune.\"\n\n\n\n P\u00e4rtel went home and lay down to sleep before dawn, but his\n rest was disturbed by wonderfully varied dreams, some\n beautiful, some hideous. He sprang up with a shriek, for a\n dream showed him the white snake coiling round his breast and\n suffocating him. But he thought no more of this horrible\n picture, and firmly resolved to release the princess from the\n bonds of enchantment, even if he himself should perish.\n Nevertheless his heart failed him more and more as the sun sank\n nearer the horizon. At the appointed time he stood by the stone\n under the lime-tree, and gazed, sighing, towards heaven,\n praying for strength and courage, that he might not tremble\n with weakness when the snake should coil round his body and\n kiss him. Suddenly he remembered the lucky egg: he took the\n little box from his pocket, opened it, and took\n [Pg 319]\n the little egg, which was not larger than that of a sparrow,\n between his fingers.\n\nAt this moment the snow-white snake glided from under the stone, wound\nround his body, and had just raised her head to kiss him, when\u2014he\nhimself knew not how it happened\u2014he pushed the lucky egg into her\nmouth. His heart froze within him, but he stood firm, without\nshrinking, till the snake had kissed him three times. A tremendous\nflash and crash followed, as if the stone had been struck by lightning,\nand amid the loud pealing of the thunder, P\u00e4rtel fell on the ground\nlike one dead, and knew nothing more of what happened to him.\n\n But at this terrible moment the bondage of the enchantment was\n loosened, and the royal maiden was released from her long\n captivity. When P\u00e4rtel awakened from his heavy swoon, he found\n himself lying on cushions of white silk in a magnificent glass\n room of a sky-blue colour. The fair maiden knelt by his\n bedside, patted his cheek, and cried out, when he opened his\n eyes, \"Thanks to the Heavenly Father who has heard my prayer,\n and a thousand thousand thanks to you, dear youth, who released\n me from my long enchantment! Take my kingdom as your reward,\n along with this beautiful palace, and\n [Pg 320]\n all my treasures, and if you will, accept me also as your\n bride into the bargain! You shall always live here in\n happiness, as befits the lord of the lucky egg. Hitherto your\n lot has been as that of your godfather, but now you succeed to\n a better lot, such as fell to your godmother.\"\n\nNo one could now come between P\u00e4rtel and his happiness and good\nfortune, and all the unknown longings of his heart, which constantly\ndrew him back under the lime-tree, were finally laid to rest. He lived\napart from the world with his dear bride in the enjoyment of the\ngreatest happiness until his death.\n\nBut great sorrow was caused by his disappearance, both in the village,\nand in the farm-house where he had worked, and where he was much loved\nfor his steady quiet ways. All the people went out to look for him, and\ntheir first visit was to the lime-tree which P\u00e4rtel was accustomed to\nvisit so often, and towards which they had seen him going on the\nprevious evening. Great was the amazement of the people when they found\nno trace of either P\u00e4rtel, the lime-tree, or the stone. The little\nspring near was dried up, and no trace of anything that had thus\nvanished was ever again beheld by human eyes.\n\n\n\n [Pg 321]\n\nKreutzwald relates several other stories of young adventurers who go\nforth into the world to seek their fortunes with the aid of powerful\nprotectors.\n\nIn one of these, \"The Magician in the Pocket,\" a young man releases a\nmagician who had been imprisoned by his enemy under a great stone,\nafter which the magician accompanies him in his wanderings in the form\nof a flea, and helps him to deliver four princesses from enchantment,\none of whom he marries. In another, \"The God-Daughter of the\nRock-Maidens,\" a young girl named Maasika (Strawberry) is taken down\ninto an underground region by her godmothers, the rock-spirits, one of\nwhom her mother had once aided when in distress. When she is grown up,\nshe goes out into the world, kills the king of the serpents, and\ndisenchants a king, queen, and prince, who prove to be the parents and\nbrother of her godmothers, and she marries the prince. In a third\nstory, \"The Foundling,\" the hero likewise goes out in a similar manner,\nand meets with various adventures before marrying a princess.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n\n\n [1]\n This is specially noticeable in the manner in which\n the story of the Great Oak Tree is scattered in\n disjointed fragments through three cantos; and in the\n unsuccessful result of the Kalevide's voyage, when he\n reaches his goal after his return by a land journey.\n\n\n\n [2]\n Kirby in \"Papers and Transactions of International\n Folk-lore Congress of 1891,\" p. 429.\n\n\n\n [3]\n Further information on most of the subjects discussed\n in the Introduction will be found in the Notes and\n Index.\n\n\n\n [4]\n The names of the others are not mentioned, but later\n in the poem we meet with three heroes, the sons of\n Alev, Olev, and Sulev respectively, associated with\n the son of Kalev, and spoken of as his cousins. Alev\n and Sulev may have been the brothers of Kalev.\n\n\n\n [5]\n The Prince of Hades, literally Hornie.\n\n\n\n [6]\n Hades or Hell.\n\n\n\n [7]\n Linda's Bosom, the Kalevide's capital, named in honour\n of his mother; now Revel.\n\n\n\n [8]\n Ukko, the principal god of the Finns and Esthonians,\n is frequently called Taara in the _Kalevipoeg_. This\n name is not used in Finnish; but Tora is the name of\n God among the Chuvash of Kasan.\n\n\n\n [9]\n In the Finnish _Kalevala_, V\u00e4in\u00e4m\u00f6inen is represented\n as a culture-hero, and as the father of his people; in\n Esthonia Vanemuine is usually a demi-god. He is always\n the inventor and patron of music and the harp. He\n plays no part in the _Kalevipoeg_, where his name is\n only mentioned once or twice.\n\n\n\n [10]\n If this is a Scriptural allusion, it is almost the\n only one in the book. The _Kalevipoeg_ is essentially\n a pre-Christian poem, and nowhere exhibits the curious\n mixture of pre-Christian and Christian ideas that we\n meet with in many parts of the Kalevala, and notably\n in Runo 50.\n\n\n\n [11]\n In the _Kalevala_ (= the country of Kaleva), the hero\n himself does not appear in person, though we\n constantly read of his sons and daughters. Some\n critics, however, identify him with the dead giant,\n Antero Vipunen, in Runo 17 of the _Kalevala_.\n\n\n\n\n [12]\n The eagle of the North plays a conspicuous part in\n Finnish and Esthonian literature. It is this bird for\n whose resting-place V\u00e4in\u00e4m\u00f6inen spares the birch-tree,\n and which afterwards rescues him from the waves and\n carries him to Pohjola. In several cosmogonic ballads,\n too, it is the eggs of this bird and not of the blue\n duck which contribute to the formation of the world:\n for the Mundane Egg plays a part here as well as in\n other cosmogonies. The passage in the _Kalevipoeg_, to\n which this note refers, corresponds almost exactly to\n one in the _Kalevala_ (xxx. 1-10), which ushers in the\n adventures of Kullervo.\n\n\n\n [13]\n A province in Western Esthonia, called Wiek by the\n Germans.\n\n\n\n [14]\n Esthonia proper; specially applied to the\n north-eastern province.\n\n\n\n [15]\n God: this word is applied to the Christian God in\n Esthonia, Finland, and Lapland, as well as to the\n local divinities.\n\n\n\n [16]\n There are many tales and ballads about the miraculous\n birth and wooing of Salme and Linda. (Compare Neus,\n _Ehstnische Volkslieder_, p. 9; Latham's\n _Nationalities of Europe_, i. p. 142.) In the story of\n the \"Milky Way,\" which commences Part II. of this\n volume, Linda is represented as the daughter of Uko,\n and the queen of the birds. We also read of a blue\n bird, Siuru, the daughter of Taara, in the ballads.\n The name Linda or Lindu is evidently derived from the\n word _Lind_, a bird.\n\n\n\n [17]\n The Sun and Moon are both male deities in Finnish and\n Esthonian. In the _Kalevala_ (Runo 11) the sun, moon,\n and a star seek the hand of Kyllikki, the fair maid of\n Saari, for their sons, but she rejects them all as\n unceremoniously as Salme. In the _Kanteletar_ (iii.\n 6), a maiden called Suometar (= Finland's daughter)\n plays a similar part. Suometar is born from a duck's\n egg, found by a young girl named Katrina.\n\n\n\n [18]\n _Muru eit_, the meadow-queen (literally grass-mother),\n is regarded as one of the tutelary divinities of the\n house. Esthonian houses generally stand in a _grass\n field_, entered by a gate. Within the enclosure are the\n storehouses, cattle-pens, and other outbuildings.\n\n\n\n [19]\n This is somewhat inconsistent with the rather\n undignified appearance of the Sun and Moon in person a\n little while before.\n\n\n\n [20]\n The cross-dance is still danced in out-of-the-way\n parts of the country; it is a kind of quadrille. Four\n couples station themselves in such a manner as to form\n a cross. The opposite pairs advance and retire several\n times, and then they dance round, when the second\n pairs dance in the same manner, and another dance\n round follows, till they have danced enough. The dance\n is accompanied with a song, in which the dancers, and\n sometimes the bystanders, join.\n\n\n\n [21]\n Arju or Harju (German, Harrien) one of the provinces\n of Esthonia.\n\n\n\n [22]\n Kungla is described as a country of untold wealth and\n the land of adventures\u2014a kind of fairyland. It\n appears, however, to have been a real country,\n separated from Esthonia by sea, of which fabulous\n tales were told. Some writers identify it with the\n Government of Perm; but this is improbable, as it is\n generally described as an island. Others think that\n the island of Gottland is meant.\n\n\n\n [23]\n According to various traditions, Kalev and Linda are\n said to have had seven or twelve sons.\n\n\n\n [24]\n This is what Jacobs calls \"junior right;\" the\n patriarchal custom of the elder children going forth\n into the world to seek their fortunes, and the\n youngest remaining at home to look after his parents\n and inherit their possessions. Hence the rivalry\n between Esau and Jacob.\n\n\n\n [25]\n Has this anything to do with boys spinning cockchafers\n on a thread? The beetle alluded to in the text is said\n to be the ladybird, but the ladybird has no particular\n connection with the alder. When a brooch is thus spun\n on a thread, a question is asked, and if the motion\n stops, the answer is unfavourable, but favourable if\n it continues. The flight of the beetle is fortunate\n towards the south, but unfortunate towards the north.\n\n\n\n [26]\n It is curious that the Esthonians always regarded the\n Finns, and the Finns the Lapps, as great sorcerers;\n each nation attributing special skill in magic to\n those living north of themselves.\u2014But there is a\n Finnish ballad ( _Kanteletar_, iii. 2) in which we\n read of the sun and moon being stolen by German and\n Esthonian sorcerers.\n\n\n\n [27]\n This reminds us of Ariel's well-known song\u2014\n\n\n\n \"Full fathom five thy father lies,\n\n Of his bones are coral made,\" &c.\n\n\n\n\n\n [28]\n The origin of stone blocks is usually ascribed to\n non-human beings in many countries, but most\n frequently to the devil, especially in Northern\n Europe. Compare also the church-stories, &c., in a\n later part of this work.\n\n\n\n [29]\n The usual place employed on such occasions in Finland\n and Esthonia.\n\n\n\n [30]\n Ukko or Taara commonly appears as the principal god of\n the Finns and Esthonians; R\u00f5ugutaja usually as an\n accoucheur, but occasionally also as a malicious\n demon. R\u00f5ugutaja is also called the God of the Wind.\n Other authorities consider him a water-god.\n (Kreutzwald und Neus, _Mythische und Magische Lieder_,\n p. 108.)\n\n\n\n [31]\n Kullervo in the _Kalevala_ (Runo 30) bursts his\n swaddling-clothes and smashes his cradle in the same\n way.\n\n\n\n [32]\n The Esthonian Thunder-God goes by a variety of names,\n but is usually called Pikker or Pikne, evidently the\n Perkunas of the Lithuanians. He resembles Thor in\n driving about in a chariot, waging war with the evil\n demons; but one of his attributes, not appertaining to\n Thor, is his flute (or bagpipe, as some critics regard\n it). It will be seen in many places that the\n Esthonians, like all other peoples among whom the\n belief in fairies, demons, &c., survives, do not share\n the absurd modern notion that such beings must\n necessarily be immortal.\n\n\n\n [33]\n Peter, in the story of the Lucky Rouble, is also\n attended by three black dogs. The dogs of the sons of\n Kalev were named Irmi, Armi, and Mustukene; the last\n name means Blackie, not Throttler, as Reinthal\n translates it.\n\n\n\n [34]\n In the _Maha-Bharata_ Bhima is represented as carrying\n enormous loads, and in one passage Yudhishthira is\n searching for his brother in the Himalayas, when he\n comes to a place where slaughtered lions and tigers\n are lying about by thousands, which convinces him that\n he is on the right track.\n\n\n\n [35]\n This passage would seem to indicate that the daughter\n of the king of Kungla was sometimes looked upon rather\n as a fairy than as a human princess.\n\n\n\n [36]\n Visits to a father's grave for counsel are very common\n in the literature of Northern Europe.\n\n\n\n [37]\n The story in the _Kalevipoeg_ is very confused, but\n this maiden evidently corresponds to the lost sister\n of Kullervo ( _Kalevala_,\n Runo 35), whom he meets casually, and seduces. When\n they discover the truth, the girl throws herself into a\n torrent. In the _Kalevipoeg_,\n Canto 7, the Kalevide and the maiden are actually\n spoken of as brother and sister. There are many\n versions of this story; in one of them (Neus,\n _Ehstnische Volkslieder_, pp. 5-8; Latham's\n _Nationalities of Europe_,\n i. p. 138), the maiden is represented as slaying her\n brother, who is called indifferently the son of Kalev\n or of Sulev, to the great satisfaction of her father\n and mother.\n\n\n\n [38]\n In the _Kalevala_, Runo 15, Lemminkainen's mother\n collects together the fragments of his body from the\n River of Death with a long rake.\n\n\n\n [39]\n This song and story (except for the incident of the\n man of copper) resembles that of the drowning of Aino\n in the _Kalevala_, Runo 4.\n\n\n\n [40]\n It was a copper man who rose from the water to fell\n the great oak-tree ( _Kalevala_, Runo 2). Compare also\n the variant in Canto 6\n of the _Kalevipoeg_. We may also remember the copper\n men connected with the mountain of loadstone (\n _Thousand and One Nights_, Third Calendar's Story).\n\n\n\n [41]\n Literally a \"house-hen;\" one of those idiomatic terms\n of endearment which cannot be reproduced in another\n language.\n\n\n\n [42]\n We find this great oak-tree over and over again in\n Finnish and Esthonian tales. Compare _Kalevala_, Runo\n 2, and Cantos 4,\n 5,\n 6, and 16 of the _Kalevipoeg_. Neus, _Ehstnische\n Volkslieder_, p. 47; Kreutzwald and Neus, _Mythische\n und Magische Lieder_, p. 8, &c. Could this oak have any\n connection, direct or indirect, with the ash\n Yggthrasil? or could the story have originated in some\n report or tradition of the banyan?\n\n\n\n [43]\n The tremendous exploits of the Kalevide and his\n weariness afterwards give him much of the character of\n a Berserk.\n\n\n\n [44]\n In the 26th Runo of the _Kalevala_ Lemminkainen\n creates a flock of birds from a handful of feathers,\n to appease the fiery eagle who obstructed his way to\n Pohjola. We may also remember Jason and the dragon's\n teeth.\n\n\n\n [45]\n In the _Kalevala_ (Runo 34) an old woman directs\n Kullervo to the house of his parents.\n\n\n\n [46]\n The smith is sometimes called the uncle of Kalev; but\n the term may only mean that he was an old friend.\n\n\n\n [47]\n The cuckoo is a sacred bird, but more often alluded to\n in Finnish than in Esthonian literature.\n\n\n\n [48]\n This lake (Saad j\u00e4rv) lies a little north of Dorpat.\n\n\n\n [49]\n Nothing is said as to how the government was carried\n on during the Kalevide's minority.\n\n\n\n [50]\n White horses constantly occur in Esthonian tales; and\n the devil's mother or grandmother usually appears as a\n white mare. One of the commentators remarks that as\n the white horse was sacred in pre-Christian times, the\n missionaries represented it as peculiarly diabolical.\n It will be remembered with what severity the early\n missionaries suppressed the horse feasts among the\n Teutonic tribes.\n\n\n\n [51]\n This is a little like the formation of the world from\n the body of the giant Ymir, as described in the Edda.\n As W. Herbert paraphrases it,\n\n\n\n \"Of his bones the rocks high swelling,\n\n Of his flesh the globe is made,\n\n From his veins the tide is welling,\n\n And his locks are verdant shade.\"\n\n\n\n \"Helga\" is a somewhat poor production, containing but few\n striking passages except the description of the appearance\n of the Valkyrior before the fight between Hialmar and\n Angantyr. But the shorter poems at the end, \"The Song of\n Vala\" and \"Brynhilda,\" ought to be alone sufficient to\n remove the name of this forgotten poet from oblivion.\n\n\n\n [52]\n The Esthonian demons are often represented as\n contemptible creatures, very easily outwitted. Later\n in the present canto the personage in question is\n distinctly called a water-demon.\n\n\n\n [53]\n A common proverb in Esthonian tales. We also find it\n in Italian, in almost the same words.\n\n\n\n [54]\n The money is sometimes called roubles, and sometimes\n thalers.\n\n\n\n [55]\n Visits to Hades or Hell (P\u00f5rgu) are common in the\n _Kalevipoeg_ and in the popular tales, some of which\n we shall afterwards notice.\n\n\n\n [56]\n The term \"Lett,\" which the Kalevide himself afterwards\n applies to the demon, seems to be used in contempt;\n otherwise the passage in the text might have been\n taken as equivalent to our old-fashioned expression,\n \"It's all Greek to me.\"\n\n\n\n [57]\n Usually the devil's mother (or grandmother) is\n represented as a white mare. Compare Canto 14 of the\n _Kalevipoeg_, and also the story of the Grateful\n Prince.\n\n\n\n\n [58]\n This Air-Maiden, who seems to be only a mischievous\n sprite, must not be confounded with Ilmatar, the\n creatrix of the world in the first Runo of the\n _Kalevala_.\n\n\n\n\n [59]\n Finn, the Irish hero, was once entrapped by a\n sorceress on a similar pretext into plunging into an\n enchanted lake, which changed him into an old man.\n (See Joyce's _Old Celtic Romances_, \"The Chase of\n Slieve Cullin.\") The story is also related in one of\n Kenealy's ballads.\n\n\n\n [60]\n This is a well-known Mongol characteristic; and it is\n rather oddly attributed by Arabic writers to the Jinn.\n \"Two of them appeared in the form and aspect of the\n Jarm, each with one eye slit endlong, and jutting\n horns and projecting tusks.\"\u2014Story of Tohfat-el-Kulub\n ( _Thousand and One Nights_, Breslau edition).\n\n\n\n [61]\n This reminds us of the help given to Hiawatha by the\n woodpecker during his fight with Megissogwun; but the\n one incident can hardly be copied from the other.\n _Hiawatha_ was published some years before the\n _Kalevipoeg_.\n\n\n\n\n [62]\n This is the only passage in the _Kalevipoeg_ in which\n one of the heroes of the _Kalevala_ is personally\n introduced.\n\n\n\n [63]\n Emptiness; probably the Contemptible One; a name often\n used for one of the principal demons.\n\n\n\n [64]\n The rock is still shown, bearing the imprints of the\n hero's fingers, each cleft large enough to hold a man.\n\n\n\n [65]\n This was the fate of Kullervo himself in the\n _Kalevala_.\n Orphans, for whom much sympathy is expressed,\n constantly appear in Esthonian tales. Compare p. 236 of\n the present volume.\n\n\n\n [66]\n We have a similar series of transformations (mouse,\n cat, dog, ass, buffalo) in the story of Noor Ed-Deen\n and Shes Ed-Deen in the _Thousand and One Nights_.\n\n\n\n\n [67]\n We meet with this big ox elsewhere in the _Kalevipoeg_\n ( Canto 19 ), as well as in the _Kalevala_, Runo 20.\n\n\n\n [68]\n Old Hornie, the name of the ruler of P\u00f5rgu (Hell).\n\n\n\n [69]\n The word used for lion is \" _l\u00f5wi_, \" undoubtedly\n derived from the German. The Finns generally call the\n lion \" _jalopeura_, \" which also denotes the lynx.\n\n\n\n [70]\n Compare the story of the Gold Spinners.\n\n\n\n\n [71]\n We meet with a similar hat in other stories. Many\n Esthonians and Lithuanians still hide their\n nail-parings as carefully as possible, or else make a\n cross over them lest the devil should find them and\n use them to make a wishing-hat. Can this hat have any\n connection with the white straw hat of the devil in a\n Deptford rhyme?\u2014Gomme's _Traditional Games_, I. p. 4.\n In the Edda, we are told that Naglfar, the largest\n ship in the world, which is to bring the giants to the\n fight at Ragnar\u00f6k, is similarly constructed, and as\n both gods and men wish that it should be completed as\n late as possible, every one should be very careful not\n to die with unpared nails, lest he should supply\n materials for its construction.\n\n\n\n [72]\n Golden is often used in Finnish and Esthonian, as in\n many other languages, as a term of endearment.\n\n\n\n [73]\n The maidens were afterwards married to the relatives\n of the Kalevide, giants like himself, and are\n described as walking arm-in-arm with them, nothing\n being then said of any difference in their stature.\n\n\n\n [74]\n This reminds us of a well-known feudal custom, more\n honoured in the breach than in the observance, which\n also prevailed among the old kings of Scotland for\n several reigns. The second sister was ultimately\n married, not to the cup-bearer, but to the son of\n Olev.\n\n\n\n [75]\n A mythical blue bird, the daughter of Taara. Two songs\n respecting her will be found in another part of the\n book. Reinthal improperly translates the word\n \"griffin.\" \"Ph\u0153nix\" or \"Seemurgh\" would have been a\n more appropriate rendering.\n\n\n\n [76]\n These bath-whisks, which are dried birch-twigs with\n the leaves left on, are often alluded to in the\n _Kalevala_.\n\n\n\n\n [77]\n Or T\u00fchja. See _ante_,\n p. 84.\n\n\n\n\n [78]\n Compare Canto 10 of the _Kalevipoeg_, and the story of\n the Grateful Prince, as well as _ante_,\n p. 58 note. Sarvik seems to have belonged to the same\n family as the water-demon who was tricked by the\n Alevide in Canto 10.\n\n\n\n\n [79]\n Compare the similar scene in the story of \"Slyboots,\"\n later in this volume.\n\n\n\n [80]\n This incident resembles an adventure attributed to\n Thor. In the legends of all countries, sorcerers or\n fugitives are represented as raising magic floods,\n either to sweep away their enemies or to baffle\n pursuit. There are three instances in this very canto.\n\n\n\n [81]\n This is the usual Esthonian euphemism for setting a\n house on fire. I understand that there is also some\n connection between red cocks and fire in Scottish\n folk-lore; and in Scandinavian mythology two of the\n three cocks which are to crow before Ragnar\u00f6k are red.\n May they not have some connection with the fire of\n Surtur?\n\n\n\n [82]\n Here we have the great oak-tree mentioned in Cantos 5\n and 6 reappearing in another connection.\n\n\n\n [83]\n The Flyer.\n\n\n\n [84]\n In the present canto the Kalevide is never spoken of\n as of gigantic size, unless we may consider feats like\n this as implying it.\n\n\n\n [85]\n Baring Gould considers this country to be the North\n Cape, but the geography of the voyage is confused.\n\n\n\n [86]\n The Maelstr\u00f6m?\n\n\n\n [87]\n The commentators identify this island with Iceland,\n but the voyagers were apparently on the wrong side of\n Scandinavia to reach either the Maelstr\u00f6m or Iceland.\n Still we have both geysers and volcanoes in the text.\n\n\n\n [88]\n Here the Kalevide's sun begins to decline, for the\n first of his faithful companions leaves his side, as\n Hylas left Heracles.\n\n\n\n [89]\n This is Chamisso's Alsatian legend, \"Das\n Riesenspielzeug,\" \"The Giant's Toy,\" usually called in\n English translations \"The Giant's Daughter and the\n Peasant.\" The girl in the poem seems to have far\n exceeded even the Kalevide in stature; and we may\n remember Gulliver's remark respecting the\n Brobdingnagians\u2014\"Who knows but that even this\n prodigious race of mortals might be equally\n overmatched in some distant part of the world whereof\n we have yet no discovery?\"\n\n\n\n [90]\n Throughout this passage the giant is usually called\n simply the magician, and the other \"the wise man.\"\n\n\n\n [91]\n Asking riddles of this kind was a common amusement in\n Northern Europe. Compare Prior's _Danish Ballads_, i.\n 185, 334.\n\n\n\n [92]\n Baring-Gould ingeniously suggests that this country is\n Greenland, and that the Dog-men are Esquimaux, clad in\n furs, and riding in dog-sledges. The end of this canto\n is inconsequential, for the hero should have reached\n his goal during this voyage, not by a land-journey\n afterwards.\n\n\n\n [93]\n Linda's bosom, now Revel.\n\n\n\n [94]\n The bells of the dwarfs are often of great importance\n in Northern fairy mythology.\n\n\n\n [95]\n This incident is common in Esthonian tales.\n\n\n\n [96]\n This song will be included in a later section of the\n book.\n\n\n\n [97]\n Some of the commentators regard this book as a\n palladium on which the independence of Esthonia\n depended; and the thoughtlessness of the Kalevide in\n parting with the book which contained the wisdom of\n his father as a sacrilegious action which precipitated\n his ruin.\n\n\n\n [98]\n These are identified by the commentators with the\n Teutonic Knights of the Sword, who conquered Esthonia\n in the eleventh century.\n\n\n\n [99]\n Here we have a reminiscence of the Giallar horn of\n Heimdall, and of the horn of Roland (or Orlando).\n\n\n\n [100]\n Compare the much longer story in the 9th Runo of the\n _Kalevala_.\n\n\n\n\n [101]\n A similar adventure happened to the naturalist\n Macgillivray in the Solomon Islands during the voyage\n of the _Herald_.\n He turned round and shot the savage dead.\n\n\n\n [102]\n There is a curious variant relating how the Kalevide\n waded across Lake Peipus with a bridle in his hand to\n look for a horse, and the water threatened to rise\n above his boots, when he said, \"Don't think to drown\n this man.\" Then the devil brought him first his\n daughter and then his son in the shape of horses; but\n they both broke down under him. Then the devil brought\n him his mother, in her usual shape of a white mare,\n and she galloped away with the hero, and he could not\n rein her in. Then a voice from heaven cried, \"Godson,\n godson, strike your hand into the oak!\" The hero\n seized a great oak-tree as they were passing, when it\n came away in his hand, roots and all. Then the mare\n rushed to P\u00f5rgu, and the voice again bade the hero\n strike his hand into the doorpost. He did so, and his\n hand was caught fast, and the mare galloped away to\n hell from between his legs, and left him hanging\n there.\n\n\n\n [103]\n The God of Death.\n\n\n\n [104]\n The guardian hero of every nation is looked for to\n return in a similar manner; even William Tell.\n\n\n\n [105]\n L\u00f6we suggests that Kungla is meant, which appears not\n improbable.\n\n\n\n [106]\n This has been a common _motif_ in folk-tales from the\n time of Jephthah downwards; but the manner in which\n the different stories are worked out is very various.\n\n\n\n [107]\n The usual Esthonian euphemism for the Devil.\n\n\n\n [108]\n The moral tone of some of these Esthonian tales is\n much higher than usual in folk-tales. In the story of\n the \"Northern Frog,\" we shall see that it is\n considered a wrong action, involving Karmic\n punishment, even to steal a talisman from a demon who\n is trying to entrap your soul. In most folk-tales, the\n basest cruelty and treachery is looked upon as quite\n laudable when your own interests require it, even\n against your best friend or most generous benefactor,\n and much more so against a Jew or a demon. But there\n are other Esthonian tales ( \"Slyboots,\" for instance),\n in which the morality is not much superior to that of\n average folk-tales.\n\n\n\n [109]\n Here we find the Devil compared to a Tartar, just as\n in the 10th canto of the _Kalevipoeg_ a water-demon is\n compared to a Lett.\n\n\n\n [110]\n Boiled peas and salt are provided on such occasions,\n as mentioned in other stories.\n\n\n\n [111]\n The Kalevide was directed to stamp with his right foot\n to open the gates of P\u00f5rgu.\n\n\n\n [112]\n In Esthonian legends, the wolf is the great enemy of\n the devil. See vol. ii. Beast-stories.\n\n\n\n\n [113]\n We meet with similar miraculously swift animals in\n other Esthonian tales.\n\n\n\n [114]\n The outhouses in Sarvik's palace ( _Kalevipoeg_,\n Canto 14 ) contained mere ordinary stores.\n\n\n\n [115]\n A not very unusual incident in folk-tales, though it\n often takes the form of offering an iron bar instead\n of your own hand to a giant who wishes to shake hands\n with you.\n\n\n\n [116]\n A visit to any description of non-human intelligent\n beings in Esthonian tales almost always extends to\n years, though it may have apparently lasted for only a\n day or two.\n\n\n\n [117]\n In most stories of this class, the hero forgets his\n companion on reaching home, either by a charm or by\n breaking a taboo.\n\n\n\n [118]\n Another instance of a child being asked for by an\n ambiguous request is to be found in the story of the\n Clever Countrywoman (Jannsen), which must not be\n confounded with one in Kreutzwald's collection with a\n nearly similar title, and of which we append an\n abstract. The story ends, rather unusually, in a\n subterfuge. A herd-boy returned one evening, and\n reported to his mistress that a cow was missing. The\n woman went herself, but everything round her was\n changed by magic, and she could not find her way home.\n However, as the mist rose from the moor, a little\n white man appeared, whom she recognised as one of the\n moor-dwellers. He took her home, and returned her cow,\n on her promising him what she would carry night and\n day under her heart. From thenceforth she took care\n always to wear her apron. A year afterwards, she\n became the mother of a fine boy, and when he was nine\n weeks old, the window was opened one night, and the\n intruder cried out, \"Give me what you have carried\n night and day under your heart, as you promised.\" The\n woman flung him her apron, crying out, \"In the name of\n the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, receive\n what I promised you;\" and he instantly vanished with\n the apron.\n\n\n\n [119]\n These great public periodical feasts are Eastern\n rather than Western. Compare the story of Ali Shar and\n Zumurrud ( _Thousand and One Nights_ ).\n\n\n\n [120]\n A similar feat is performed by Sarvik in the\n _Kalevipoeg_,\n Canto 17.\n\n\n\n\n [121]\n See page 13.\n\n\n\n\n [122]\n As in the _Kalevipoeg_,\n Canto 13 ; and the story of the Gold-Spinners, &c.\n\n\n\n [123]\n Compare p. 121 (ante\u00e0). The bell is not mentioned\n elsewhere in this story.\n\n\n\n [124]\n A beer-barrel with a tap, for general use, often\n stands in the houses of the Esthonian peasantry.\n\n\n\n [125]\n \"And as to the sword, if it be drawn against an army,\n and its bearer shake it, he will rout the army; and if\n he say to it at the time of his shaking it, 'Slay this\n army,' there will proceed from that sword a lightning\n which will slay the whole army.\"\u2014 _Story of Joodar_\n ( _Thousand and One Nights_ ).\n\n\n\n [126]\n Compare the scene between the Kalevide and T\u00fchi, in\n Canto 15 of the poem.\n\n\n\n [127]\n This old man may have been the consort of the\n Meadow-Queen. _Cf._ pp. 188,\n 259.\n\n\n\n\n [128]\n We shall find mussel-shells used as boats in other\n tales.\n\n\n\n [129]\n \"These forests are very useful in delivering princes\n from their courtiers, like a sieve that keeps back the\n bran. Then the princes get away to follow their\n fortunes.\"\u2014 _George MacDonald_, \" _The Light\n Princess_. \"\n\n\n\n [130]\n Compare the scene with the four Grey Women in the\n second part of _Faust_.\n\n\n\n\n [131]\n Nine is a mystical number as well as seven.\n\n\n\n [132]\n Ahti, the God of the Waters.\n\n\n\n [133]\n A sacred tree in Eastern Europe, as it is in the\n British Isles.\n\n\n\n [134]\n See page 108.\n\n\n\n\n [135]\n _Tont_ is a common name for a house-spirit.\n\n\n\n [136]\n Talking trees are common in Esthonian tales; I do not\n remember another instance of bleeding trees.\n\n\n\n [137]\n Else.\n\n\n\n [138]\n Pussy.\n\n\n\n [139]\n It must be remembered that the dominant race in\n Esthonia is German, and that the gentry, even if not\n fairies, would be expected to speak a language\n unintelligible to the people. It is significant that\n the very word for lady in Esthonian is _proua_, a\n corruption of _Frau_.\n Everything particularly fine is called \"Saxon.\"\n\n\n\n [140]\n In some countries the beard is regarded as a symbol of\n power, as well as of age and wisdom. Compare the\n account of Schaibar in the story of Prince Ahmed (\n _Thousand and One Nights_ ).\n\n\n\n [141]\n The Germans are generally represented in Esthonian\n tales as rich, and sometimes as very haughty people.\n\n\n\n [142]\n Compare _Goody Two-Shoes_ ; but this is a modern tale,\n believed to have been written by Goldsmith.\n\n\n\n [143]\n There is a story (French, I think) of a king who\n overheard a poor man and his wife abusing Adam and Eve\n for their poverty. The king took them home, and\n entertained them. They had a grand feast of many\n covers every day, but there was always one, the\n largest of all, which they were forbidden to open. The\n wife soon persuaded her husband to do so, when a mouse\n ran out, and the king turned them out of doors.\n\n\n\n [144]\n This expression shows the late date of the present\n story, for no people uninfluenced by the modern\n Christian notion that all reasoning beings except men\n must be necessarily angels or devils, and therefore\n immortal, represent superhuman beings as immortal,\n with the exception of the gods, and not always even\n these.\n\n\n\n [145]\n See page 157.\n\n\n\n\n [146]\n The original title of this story is, \"How an orphan\n made his fortune unexpectedly.\" Some commentators\n identify the keeper of the hounds with Othin. In the\n Scandinavian mythology the breaking loose of the\n monsters, the most terrible of whom is Garm, the\n watch-dog of Helheim, precedes the cataclysms of\n Ragnar\u00f6k.\n\n\n\n [147]\n This is the usual condition attached to such gifts, as\n in the Swiss story of a chamois-hunter who received an\n inexhaustible cheese from a mountain-spirit. But in\n the case of the magic saddlebags of the Moor in the\n story of Joodar ( _Thousand and One Nights_ ), it was\n a condition that all the dishes should be put back\n empty. The Jews, too, were forbidden to leave anything\n over from the Passover Feast.\n\n\n\n [148]\n Or frog: the word is the same.\n\n\n\n [149]\n Either the extinct urus or the nearly extinct aurochs\n must be here intended.\n\n\n\n [150]\n Yolk-Carrie.\n\n\n\n [151]\n Compare pages 246 and 248.\n\n\n\n\n [152]\n The word translated \"lout\" means literally\n \"filthy-nose.\"\n\n\n\n [153]\n In the _Kalevala_, Runo 33, Kullervo revenges himself\n in the same manner upon the wife of Ilmarinen, whom he\n has been serving as herd-boy, and who has treated him\n with great cruelty and harshness.\n\n\n\n [154]\n Titus.\n\n\n\n [155]\n Here, as well as in the stories relative to the\n Thunder-God's musical instrument, L\u00f6we calls it a\n bagpipe; but I do not find this meaning for the word\n in the dictionaries. Still, in the present story, it\n appears to have been a rather expensive instrument.\n\n\n\n [156]\n Bartholomew.\n\n\n\n[Pg 1]\nPART II\n\nESTHONIAN FOLK-TALES\n\n(_continued_)\n\nSECTION III\n\n_COSMOPOLITAN STORIES_\n\nUnder this heading we propose to notice a series of tales which are\nalmost the common property of all nations, and the origin of which is\nlost in remote antiquity. These we have arranged under their most\nfamiliar names in alphabetical order.\n\nBLUEBEARD.\n\n(Kreutzwald.)\n\nThe Esthonian version of \"Bluebeard\" (the Wife-Murderer) is very\nsimilar to the usual story. A[Pg 2] rich lord, reported to have vast\ntreasure-vaults under his castle, lost his wives very fast, and\nmarried, as his twelfth wife, the youngest of the three daughters of a\nreduced gentleman in the neighbourhood. An orphan boy had been brought\nup in the household, and had served first as gooseherd, and then as\npage; but he was always known as \"Goose-Tony.\" He was nearly of the\nsame age as the young lady, who had been his playmate, and he declared\nthat the rich suitor was a murderer; his heart told him so, and his\npresentiments had never yet deceived him. The boy was scolded and\nthreatened, but his warnings made so much impression that he was\nallowed to accompany the bride to her new home.\n\nThree weeks afterwards, the husband set out on a journey, leaving his\nkeys with his wife, among which was the gold key of the forbidden\nchamber. He warned her that if she even looked in, he would be forced\nto behead her with his own hand. She begged him in vain to take charge\nof it himself; but he refused, and left it with her.\n\nNext morning one of the lady's sisters came to stay with her; but a day\nor two afterwards the page gave her another warning, after which he[Pg\n3] suddenly disappeared, and no trace of him could be found. The two\nsisters looked over the house, and at last encouraged each other to\nenter the secret chamber. In the middle stood an oaken block with a\nbroad axe upon it, and the floor was splashed with blood. In the\nbackground against the wall stood a table, with the bloody heads of the\nsquire's former wives ranged upon it. The lady dropped the key in her\nhorror, and on picking it up found it covered with blood-stains, which\nnothing could remove, while the door stood a handbreadth open, as if an\ninvisible wedge had fallen between the door and the door-post.\n\nThe squire was not expected to return for a week, but he came back next\nmorning, and rushed upstairs in a frenzied rage, dragged his wife to\nthe block by her hair, and was just lifting the axe, when he was struck\ndown by Goose-Tony with a heavy cudgel, and bound. He was brought to\njustice, and sentenced to death, and his property was adjudged to his\nwidow, who shortly after married the page who had saved her life.[Pg 4]\n\nCINDERELLA.\n\n(Kreutzwald.)\n\nThe Esthonian story of Tuhka-Triinu (Ash-Katie[1]), as given by\nKreutzwald, is more on the lines of the German _Aschenputtel_ than on\nthose of the French _Cendrillon_.\n\nOnce upon a time there lived a rich man with his wife and an only\ndaughter. When the mother dies, she directs her daughter to plant a\ntree on her grave, where the birds can find food and shelter.[2] The\nfather marries a widow with two daughters, who ill-treat the motherless\ngirl, declaring that she shall be their slave-girl. A magpie cries from\nthe summit of the tree, \"Poor child, poor child! why do you not go and\ncomplain to the rowan-tree? Ask for counsel, when your hard life will\nbe lightened.\"\n\nShe goes to the grave at night, and a voice asks[Pg 5] her to whom she\nshould appeal, and in whom she should trust, and she answers, \"God.\"\nThen the voice tells her to call the cock and hen to help her, when she\nhas work to do which she cannot perform by herself.\n\nWhen the king's ball is announced, Cinderella has to dress her sisters,\nafter which the eldest throws lentils into the ashes, telling her to\npick them up; but this is done by the cock and hen. She is left at home\nweeping, and a voice tells her to go and shake the rowan-tree. When she\nhad done so, a light appeared in the darkness, and she saw a woman\nsitting on the summit of the tree. She was an ell high, and clothed in\ngolden raiment, and she held a small basket and a gold wand in her\nhands. She took a hen's egg from her basket, which she turned into a\ncoach; six mice formed the horses, a black beetle[3] formed the\ncoachman, and two speckled butterflies the footmen.\n\nThe little witch-maiden then dressed Tuhka Triinu as magnificently as a\nSaxon lady. She then sent her to the ball, warning her to leave before\nthe cock crows for the third time, as everything will then resume its\noriginal shape. On the second[Pg 6] night Tuhka Triinu took to flight,\nand lost one of her little gold shoes, which the prince found next\nmorning. When it came to be tried on, Tuhka Triinu's sisters, who\nthought they had small feet, tugged and squeezed without success. But\nthe shoe fitted Tuhka Triinu. Her guardian again robed her\nmagnificently, and she married the prince.[4]\n\nTHE DRAGON-SLAYER.\n\nWe find this story in a familiar form in that of \"The Lucky Rouble\"\n(Kreutzwald). The father of three sons, before his death, gives\nPeter,[5] the youngest, a magic silver rouble, which always returns to\nthe pocket of its possessor. Peter afterwards meets a one-eyed old man,\nwho sells him three black dogs, named Run-for-Food, Tear-Down, and\nBreak-Iron. Afterwards, when passing through a forest, he meets a grand\ncoach, in which a princess, who has been chosen by lot to be delivered\nover to a monster, is being conveyed to her doom. Peter abides the\nissue, and encounters the[Pg 7] monster, which is described as like a\nbear, but much bigger than a horse, covered with scales instead of\nhair, with two crooked horns on the head, two long wings, long boars'\ntusks, and long legs and claws.[6] With the assistance of the dog\nTear-Down, Peter kills the monster, cuts off his horns and tusks, and\nleaves the princess with the coachman, promising to return in three\nyears. The coachman compels the princess by threats to say that he\nkilled the dragon; but the princess contrives to delay her marriage\nwith the coachman, and on the wedding-day Peter returns, is imprisoned\nby order of the king, but released by Break-Iron. Then he sends\nRun-for-Food to the princess, who recognises him, and reveals the\nsecret to her father. The coachman is condemned to death, and Peter\nproduces the horns and claws of the dragon, and marries the princess,\nwhen the dogs, whose mission is accomplished, assume the forms of\nswans, and fly away.\n\n[Pg 8]\nTHE DWARF'S CHRISTENING.\n\n(Jannsen.)\n\nThis story takes a very similar form in Esthonia to that familiar to us\nnearer home. A young lady out walking with her maid encounters a snake,\nwhich the maid wishes to destroy, but the lady remonstrates. A few days\nafterwards, a little man enters her room and asks her to become\ngodmother to his child. She at last consents, and he promises to fetch\nher at the right time, and informs her that he lives under the kitchen\nsteps in the subterranean kingdom.\n\nNext Thursday evening, the dwarf leads her down a long flight of stairs\nto a great house with many rooms, all lit up with tapers and full of\ncompany. She was invited to take her seat at table, but on looking up,\nshe saw a sharp sword suspended over her head. She wanted to flee, but\nthe master ordered the sword to be removed, and the child's mother told\nher that her own life lately hung on a hair, for she was the snake\nwhose life she had saved. When the young lady left, the[Pg 9] master\nfilled her apron with earth, but she shook it out, whereupon he raked\nit up, and pressed it on her again, saying, \"Don't despise the least\ngift from a grateful heart.\" In the morning, of course, it had turned\nto gold and silver.\n\nAfter this, the dwarf often visited the young lady, and at length asked\nher to pour a jug of milk under the kitchen-stairs every morning. But\none day the wicked maid ordered a dishful of boiling milk to be poured\ndown very early. Presently the dwarf came weeping to the young lady,\nsaying that his child had been scalded to death by the hot milk. But he\nknew who was to blame; let her put what she most valued together, and\nleave the house at once. She did so, and on looking back, she saw the\nwhole house in flames, and in a few hours nothing remained of it and\nits inhabitants but a heap of ashes. But the lady took another house,\nmarried happily, and lived to see her children's children.\n\nTHE ENVIOUS SISTERS.\n\nThe Esthonian version of this story (the last in Galland's original\ntranslation of the _Thousand_[Pg 10] _and One Nights_, and also found\nin Germany and elsewhere), is peculiarly fantastic as \"The Prince who\nrescued his Brothers\" (Kreutzwald). A young king was very ill, and the\nsoothsayers and magicians could not cure him. One of the magicians,\nhowever, at length finding that the king's hands and arms were\ngold-coloured to the elbows, his legs silver-coloured to the knees, and\nhis belly of the colour of blue glass, told him that he would only be\ncured by marrying a young bride similarly coloured. Such a bride was\ndiscovered in the daughter of one of the king's generals, and she was\nmade queen. The queen was confined of six boys at once; but her elder\nsister was jealous of her, and availed herself of the services of an\nold witch, who carried the children away by night, and handed them over\nto the Old Boy, replacing them with puppies. The queen was confined a\nsecond and a third time, each time of three princes, who suffered the\nsame fate, but the nurse contrived to hide one of the last three\nprinces. Nevertheless, the king was now so enraged that he ordered the\nmother and child to be thrown into the sea on an iron bed for a boat.\nBut it floated away with them; and when the prince was seven weeks old,\nhe had[Pg 11] grown to be a young man, and he began to talk to his\nmother. Soon afterwards they reached an island, when the prince kicked\nthe bed to pieces, and they went ashore. The prince met an old man, who\ngave him a hatchet which would build houses, and a wand which would\nchange ants into men; whereupon the prince built and populated a city.\nThe prince then changed himself into a flea, and went to his father's\npalace. The king had married the wicked sister-in-law, and she was\ntrying to persuade him not to visit the island where the queen and\nprince had settled, but to visit another country, where he would see\nmore wonderful things. He went; but his son had already removed the\nwonders to his own island, and he returned disappointed. As the king\nwas still bent on visiting the island, the new queen advised him\ninstead to visit a country where he would see eleven men, coloured like\nhimself. When the prince told his mother what he had heard, she knew\nthat they were her sons. Then the queen prepared three cakes, one\npoisoned, and the others mixed with milk from her breast. The prince\nset out, gave the poisoned cake to the old devil who guarded his\nbrothers, and divided the other cakes with them. They then[Pg 12]\nescaped to the prince's island in the form of doves, and presently the\nking and queen arrived, and the king was informed of the whole plot.\n\nThen the king ordered the wicked queen and the sorceress to be put to\ndeath, and settled down in his son's island with his wife and children.\n\nTHE GIFTED BROTHERS.\n\n(Kreutzwald.)\n\nThis familiar story appears in the form of Swiftfoot, Quickhand, and\nSharpeye. It begins with the lamentation of a rich but childless wife,\nwho is consoled by a pretty little girl,[7] who suddenly appeared, and\ndirected her to boil three eggs of a black hen for her husband's\nsupper, and then to send him to bed, but to walk in the open air\nherself before retiring. In due course, three strong boys were born,\nand the fairy came to see them in their cradles. She took a ball of red\nthread from her pocket, and tied threads round the ankles of one boy,\nthe wrists of another, and the temples of the third. She directed the\nmother not to disturb[Pg 13] the threads till the children were taken\nto the christening, and then to burn the threads, collect the ashes in\na spoon, and moisten them with milk from her breast; and as soon as the\nchildren were brought home from the christening, to give each two drops\nof the mixture on his tongue. Of course one boy was gifted with great\nswiftness, and another with great strength and skill in handiwork, and\nanother with great sharpness of sight.\n\nWhen they grew up, the youths separated to seek their fortunes,\nagreeing to meet at home in three years' time, and Swiftfoot went\neastwards, and entered into the service of a king as groom, and made\nhimself famous in that capacity.\n\nQuickhand, who went southwards, could take up any trade without\nlearning it, and could turn out twenty coats or pairs of shoes in a\nday, better made than the best tailor or shoemaker. He too made himself\nfamous by supplying a whole army with a full outfit at the shortest\nnotice, when all the workmen in the kingdom were unable to do so by the\ntime required.\n\nThe adventures of Sharpeye may be given more in detail.\n\nSharpeye, the third brother, set out westwards.[Pg 14] He wandered\nabout for a long time from one place to another without meeting with\nany profitable employment. He could easily earn enough anywhere for his\ndaily expenses as a good shot, but what could he make in this way to\nbring home? At length he reached a large city, where everybody was\ntalking about a misfortune which had befallen the king thrice already,\nbut which no one was able to comprehend or guard against. The king had\na valuable tree in his garden, which bore golden apples, many of which\nwere as large as a great ball of thread, and might have been worth many\nthousand roubles. It may be imagined that such fruit was not left\nuncounted, and that guards were stationed around night and day to\nprevent any attempt at robbery. Nevertheless one of the largest apples,\nvalued at six thousand roubles, had been stolen every night for three\nnights running. The guards had neither seen the thief nor been able to\ndiscover any trace of him. It immediately occurred to Sharpeye that\nthere must be some very strange trick in the affair, which his piercing\nsight might perhaps enable him to discover. He thought that if the\nthief did not approach the tree incorporeally and invisibly, he would\nnever be able[Pg 15] to escape his sharp eyes. He therefore asked the\nking to allow him to visit the garden to make his observations without\nthe knowledge of the guards. On receiving permission, he prepared\nhimself a place of concealment in the summit of a tree not far from the\ngolden apple-tree, where no one could see him, while his sharp eyes\ncould pierce everywhere, and see everything that happened. He took with\nhim a bag of bread and a bottle of milk, so that there would be no need\nfor him to leave his hiding-place. He now kept close watch on the\ngolden apple-tree, and on everything around it. The guards were posted\nround the tree in three rows, so close that not a mouse could have\ncrept between them unobserved. The thief must have wings, for he could\nnot reach the tree by the ground. But Sharpeye could detect nothing all\nday which looked like a thief. Towards sunset a little yellow moth\nfluttered round the tree, and at last settled on a branch which bore a\nvery fine apple. Everybody could understand just as well as Sharpeye\nthat a little moth could not carry a golden apple away from the tree,\nbut as he could see nothing bigger, he kept his eyes fixed upon it. The\nsun had set long ago, and the last traces[Pg 16] of twilight were\nfading from the horizon, but the lanterns round the tree gave so much\nlight that he could see everything distinctly. The yellow moth still\nsat motionless on the branch. It was about midnight when the eyes of\nthe watchman in the tree closed for a moment. How long he dozed, he\ncould not tell, but when his eyes fell next upon the apple-tree, he saw\nthat the yellow moth was no longer sitting on the branch, and was still\nmore startled to discover that the beautiful golden apple on that\nbranch had also disappeared. He could not doubt that a theft had been\ncommitted, but if the concealed watchman had related the affair, people\nwould have thought him mad, for even a child might know that a moth\ncould not carry away a golden apple. In the morning there was again a\ngreat uproar when it was discovered that another apple was missing\nwithout any of the guards having seen a trace of the thief. But\nSharpeye went to the king again and said, \"It is true that I have seen\nas little of the thief as your guards; but if there is a skilful\nmagician in or near the town, let me know, and I hope with his aid to\ncatch the thief to-night.\" As soon as he learned where the magician\nlived, he[Pg 17] went straight to him. The two men consulted what was\nbest to be done, and at length Sharpeye cried out, \"I have hit upon a\nplan. Can you make a woven net so strong by magic that the thread will\nhold the most powerful creature fast, and then we can chain up the\nthief so that he cannot escape again?\" The magician said it was\npossible, and took three large spiders, which he made so strong by\nsorcery that no creature could escape from their meshes, and put them\nin a little box, which he gave to Sharpeye, saying, \"Place these\nspiders wherever you like, and point with your finger where they shall\nspin their net, and they will immediately spin a cage round the\nprisoner, which only Mana's[8] power can loosen; and I will come to\nyour aid myself, if needful.\"\n\nSharpeye hid the box in his bosom, and crept back to his tree to wait\nthe upshot of the affair. He saw the yellow moth fluttering round the\napple-tree at the same time as the day before; but it waited much\nlonger before settling on a branch which bore a large golden apple.\nSharpeye immediately slid down from his tree, went up to the golden\napple-tree, set a ladder against it, and climbed[Pg 18] up carefully,\nso as not to scare the moth, and set each of his small weavers on\nseparate branches. One spider was a few spans above the moth, a second\nto the right, and a third to the left, and then Sharpeye drew lines\nwith his finger backwards and forwards round the moth, which sat\nmotionless with raised wings. At sunset the watcher was back in his\nhiding-place in the tree, from whence he saw to his joy that his three\nweavers had woven a net round the moth on all sides, from which it\ncould not hope to escape, if the magician possessed the power which he\npretended. The man in the tree did his best to keep awake, but\nnevertheless his eyes closed all at once. How long he slept he knew\nnot, but he was roused up by a great noise. When he looked round, he\nsaw that the soldiers on guard were running about the apple-tree like\nants, and shouting, and in the tree sat an old grey-bearded man with a\ngolden apple in his hand in an iron net. Sharpeye jumped hastily from\nhis tree, but before he reached the apple-tree the king himself\narrived. He had sprung from his bed at the shouts of the guards, and\nhurried to see what unusual event was happening in the garden. There\nsat the thief in the tree, and could not get away.[Pg 19] \"Most noble\nking,\" said Sharpeye, \"you can now go quietly to rest again, and sleep\ntill to-morrow morning, for the thief cannot now escape us. If he was\nas strong again as he is, he could not break the magic meshes of his\ncage.\" The king thanked him, and ordered the greater part of the\nsoldiers to retire to rest also, leaving only a few on guard under the\ntree. Sharpeye, who had kept watch for two nights and two days, also\nwent away to sleep.\n\nNext morning the magician went to the king's palace. He was glad when\nhe saw the thief in the cage, and would not let him out till the fellow\nshowed himself in his real form. At last he cut off half his beard\nunder his chin, called for a light and began to singe the hairs.[9] Oh,\nhow the bird in the iron cage suffered now! He shrieked pitifully and\nbeat himself with pain, but the magician went on singeing fresh hairs\nto make the thief manageable. At last he said, \"Confess who you are.\"\nThe fellow answered, \"I am the servant of the sorcerer Piirisilla,[10]\nwho sent me here to steal.\" The magician[Pg 20] began again to singe\nthe hairs. \"Ow! ow!\" shouted the sorcerer; \"give me time and I will\nconfess. I am not the servant, but the sorcerer's son.\" Again they\nsinged his hairs, when the prisoner yelled out, \"I'm the sorcerer\nPiirisilla himself.\" \"Show yourself in your proper form or I'll singe\nyou again,\" said the mighty magician. Then the little man in the cage\nbegan to expand, and grew in a few minutes to the size of an ordinary\nman, who could have carried off a golden apple easily. He was taken\ndown from the tree in the cage, and asked where the stolen apples were\nhidden. He offered to show the place himself, but Sharpeye begged the\nking not to let the thief out of the cage, or he would become a moth\nagain, and escape. They were obliged to singe his hair many times\nbefore he would give up all the stolen property; and at last, when all\nthe golden apples had been recovered, the thief was burned in the cage,\nand his ashes scattered to the winds.\n\nThere was great rejoicing when the three brothers returned home at the\nend of the term agreed upon. Shortly afterwards, hearing that the[Pg\n21] daughter of a rich king in the North was destined as the bride of\nany one who could perform three wonderful feats, they set out to the\ncourt of her father.\n\nThe first feat was to watch a swift reindeer cow for a whole day, and\nbring her back to the stable at night; the second to bolt the palace\ndoor in the evening; and the third was to shoot an arrow straight\nthrough the middle of an apple, which a man, standing on the top of a\nhigh hill, held in his mouth by the stalk.\n\nThe three brothers were so much alike that as each could accomplish one\nof the feats only, they decided to personate the same man, which was\nnot difficult, when they trimmed their beards to exactly the same\npattern.\n\nSwiftfoot went first to the king, and the princess peeped at him\nthrough the crack of the door, and fell in love with him, wishing she\ncould hobble the reindeer's feet that the handsome man might win her.\nHowever, he found that he was easily a match for the reindeer, though\nshe could have run across the world in a single day. In the evening he\nbrought the cow back to her stable, and after supper returned to his\nbrothers.[Pg 22]\n\nNext day, Quickhand dressed himself up like his brother, and went to\nthe court, where every one took him for Swiftfoot. The princess again\npeeped at him, and wished she could drive away the witch from the\npalace door. This witch was accustomed to change herself into the iron\ndoor bar, and if any one climbed a ladder to close it, she would grasp\nhis hand, and set the folding doors swinging backwards and forwards\ntill morning, while the man swung helpless in her grasp. But Quickhand\nordered an iron hand to be made,[11] which he heated red hot, and\nmounting the ladder, held it out to the witch, and shot the bolt at the\nmoment that she grasped it; and the door remained bolted till the king\nrose in the morning. Quickhand spent that day with the king, and\nreturned to his brothers in the evening.\n\nNext day, Sharpeye went to the palace, and it was arranged that the\nshooting feat should come off on the following morning; and the\nprincess declared that she would part with all she possessed to ensure\nhis success. The man who held the apple on the mountain looked no\nbigger than a crow, and fearing for his own safety, did not hold[Pg 23]\nthe apple by the stalk, but in his mouth, thinking that the marksman\nwould be more likely to shoot the arrow at a safe distance from him.\nBut Sharpeye struck the apple precisely in the middle, carrying away a\nbit of flesh from each cheek of the holder with it.\n\nSharpeye declined the king's proposal to betroth him to his daughter\nimmediately, and he returned to his brothers, when they rejoiced in\ntheir success like children, and then cast lots[12] for the\nprincess.[13] The lot fell to Sharpeye, who married the princess, while\nhis two brothers returned home, when they bought large estates and\nlived like princes.\n\nThe brothers are once spoken of as \"Swedes,\" for what reason does not\nappear. Another story on similar lines is that of the Swift-footed\nPrincess (Kreutzwald); but here the various feats, including the race\nagainst the princess, who will not marry[Pg 24] unless she is worsted\nin a foot-race, are performed by the gifted servants in the train of\nthe prince who seeks her in marriage.\n\nTHE IDIOT'S LUCK.\n\nWe find this form of the story of the despised younger son in the\n\"Strange Tale of an Ox\" (Kreutzwald). A dying father leaves an ox to\nhis third son, a simpleton, who goes to sell it, and when passing\nthrough a wood he hears a noise in a tree, and thinks it is an offer to\nbuy the ox; so he ties it to the tree, and takes a log home with him as\nsecurity for the money. Not receiving it when he expected, he breaks\nopen the log, and finds a jar of money inside. He afterwards kills a\nshepherd who tries to cheat him out of it; and it is given out that the\nshepherd has been carried away by the devil.\n\nTHE MAGICIAN'S HEIRS.\n\n(Kreutzwald.)\n\nThe story of the traveller who appropriates the magical properties over\nwhich the sons of a dead[Pg 25] magician are quarrelling is widely\ndistributed, and frequently occurs as a mere incident in a story; as,\nfor example, in that of Hasan of El Basrah in the _Thousand and One\nNights_. In the Esthonian story of the \"Dwarf's[14] Quarrel,\" the\narticles form the leading _motif_, but mixed up with details curiously\nresembling some Celtic fairy tales.\n\nA man passing through a wood came upon a small clearing, where he found\nthree dwarfs beating, pushing, kicking, and biting each other, and\ntearing each other's hair so that it was shocking to see them. They\nproved to be fighting over an old hat, composed of the parings of\nfinger-nails[15], the wearer of which could see everything taking place\nin the world, whether near or far; a pair of bast shoes, which would\ncarry the wearer anywhere at a step; and a stick which would demolish\neverything before it. Each of the dwarfs wanted to take all these\narticles, to go to a great wedding which was just taking place in\nCourland. The referee put on the hat, saw the wedding, and told the\ndwarfs to stand with their backs to him, when he demolished them[Pg 26]\nwith the stick, only three drops of water being left where they had\nbeen standing. Then he went to the wedding in Courland, where he found\na great number of people assembled, both high and low, for the\nentertainer was a very rich householder.\n\nAs the wearer of the magic hat could see everything hidden as well as\nobvious, he saw when he lifted his eyes to the crossbeams[16] that\nthere were a vast crowd of little guests both there and on the\ndoor-posts, who seemed to be far more numerous than the invited guests.\nBut no one else could see the little people. Presently some of them\nbegan to whisper, \"Look there; our old uncle's come to the feast too.\"\n\"No,\" answered others, \"it seems that this stranger has our uncle's\nhat, shoes, and stick, but uncle himself isn't here.\" Meantime, covered\ndishes were brought in for the feast. Then the stranger saw what nobody\nelse could perceive, that the good food was abstracted from the dishes\nwith wonderful quickness, and worse put in its place. It went just the\nsame with the jugs and bottles. Then the stranger asked for the master\nof the house, greeted him politely, and said, \"Don't be offended that I\nhave come to the feast as an uninvited stran[Pg 27]ger.\" \"You are\nwelcome,\" returned the host. \"We have plenty to eat and drink, so that\nwe are not inconvenienced by a few uninvited guests.\" The stranger\nrejoined, \"I can well believe that one or two uninvited guests would\nmake no difference, but if the uninvited guests are far more numerous\nthan those who are invited, the richest host may run short.\" \"I don't\nunderstand you,\" said the host. The stranger gave him the hat, saying,\n\"Put my hat on, and raise your eyes to the crossbeams, and then you'll\nsee them.\" The host did so, and when he saw the tricks that the little\nguests were playing with the feast, he turned as pale as death, and\ncried out with a trembling voice, \"Ah! my friend, my heart never\ndreamed of such guests; and now I've taken off your hat, they've all\nvanished. How can I ever get rid of them?\" The owner of the hat\nreturned, \"I will soon rid you of these little guests, if you will ask\nthe invited guests to step out for a short time, closing the doors and\nwindows carefully, and taking care that no chink or crack in the wall\nremains unstopped.\" Although the founder of the feast did not quite\nunderstand what he meant, he consented to the stranger's offer, and\nasked him to get rid of the little nuisances.[Pg 28]\n\nIn a short time the room was cleared of all the invited guests, the\ndoors, windows, and other openings were carefully closed, and the\nstranger was left alone with the little guests. Then he began to swing\nhis cudgel towards the crossbeams and corners of the room so vigorously\nthat it was a pleasure to behold. In a few moments the whole mob of\nlittle guests was annihilated, and as many drops of water were left on\nthe floor as if it had been raining heavily. Only one auger-hole had\nbeen accidentally left unstopped, through which one of the dwarfs\nslipped out, although the cudgel might still have reached the fugitive.\nHe fled across the enclosure, bellowing, \"Oh, oh, what a calamity! Many\na time have I been terrified at the arrows of old father Pikne,[17] but\nthey are nothing to this cudgel!\"\n\nWhen the host had convinced himself, by the aid of the magic hat, that\nthe room was cleared of the dwarfs, he invited the guests to re-enter.\nDuring the feast the omniscient man read the secret thoughts of the\nwedding-guests, and learned much which the others did not suspect. The\nbridegroom thought more of the wealth of his father-in-law than[Pg 29]\nof his young wife; and she, who was not altogether faultless, hoped\nthat her husband and her matron's cap would protect her from scandal.\nIt's a great pity that such a hat is no longer to be met with in our\ntimes.\n\nTHE MAN IN THE MOON.\n\nStories of the Man in the Moon are generally common. In Esthonia it is\ngenerally the Woman in the Moon, as may be seen in the two beautiful\nlegends of Videvik, and of the Maiden at the Vaskjalla Bridge. The\nshort legend which follows these resembles that in the Prose Edda\nrelative to two children carrying a bucket (Jack and Jill?) who were\ntaken to himself by the Moon. The story of the Moon-Painter might have\nbeen inserted here; but it seemed to come in more appropriately in\nanother place.\n\nWe meet with sons and daughters of the Sun and Moon among the Finns and\nLapps, as well as among the Esthonians.\n\n[Pg 30]\nVIDEVIK, KOIT, AND \u00c4MARIK[18]\n\n(_Twilight, Dawn, and Evening Twilight_).\n\nThe Creator had three diligent servants\u2014two fair and lovely maidens,\nVidevik and \u00c4marik, and the slender youth Koit. They fulfilled his\norders and looked after his affairs. One evening at sunset, Videvik,\nthe eldest, came back from ploughing with her oxen, and led them to the\nriver to drink. But maidens are always accustomed to think first of\ntheir own bright faces, and so was it with the charming Videvik. She\nthought no more of the oxen, but stepped to the water's edge and looked\ndown. And behold, her brown eyes and red cheeks looked back upon her\nfrom the surface of the stream, and her heart beat with pleasure. But\nthe Moon, whom the Creator had ordered to take the place of the setting\nsun to enlighten the world, forgot his duty, and hurried down to the\nearth to the bed of the stream. Here he stayed with Videvik, mouth to\nmouth and lip to lip.[Pg 31]\n\nBut while the Moon thus forgot his duty, his light became extinguished,\nand thick darkness covered the land as he lay on Videvik's heart. And\nnow a great misfortune happened. The wolf, the wild beast of the\nforest, who could work mischief when no eye could see him, attacked one\nof Videvik's oxen and tore him to pieces. The nightingale sang loudly\nthrough the dark thicket, \"Idle maid, idle maid, long is the night.\nBlack stripes to the yoke, to the yoke! Bring the whip, bring the whip,\nwhip, whip, whip.\" But Videvik heard nothing. She had forgotten\neverything but her love.\n\nEarly in the morning, when Koit rose from his couch, Videvik awakened\nat last from her dream of love. When she saw the evil deed that the\nwolf had wrought, she began to weep bitterly. But the tears of her\ninnocent affliction were not hidden from the Creator. He descended from\nhis heaven to punish the evil-doer and to bring the criminal to\njustice. He dealt out severe punishment to the wolf, and yoked him high\nin heaven with the ox, to draw water for ever, driven by the iron rod\nof the pole-star.[19] But to Videvik he said, \"As the Moon has touched\nthee with the light of his beauty[Pg 32] and has wooed thee, I will\nforgive thee, and if thou lovest him from thy heart, I will not hinder\nyou, and you shall be wedded. But from thee, Videvik, I look for\nfaithful watch and vigilance that the Moon begins his course at the\nright time, and that deep darkness falls no more on earth at night,\nwhen the evil powers can work mischief at their pleasure. Rule over the\nnight, and take care that a happy peace prevails in its course.\"\n\nThus the moon received Videvik as his wife. Her friendly countenance\nstill smiles down upon us, and is reflected in the mirror of the brook,\nwhere she first enjoyed the love of her consort.\n\nThen the Creator summoned Koit and \u00c4marik to his presence, and said, \"I\nwill guard against any further negligence respecting the light of the\nworld, lest darkness should again get the upper hand, and I will\nappoint two watchers under whose care all shall run its course. The\nMoon and Videvik shall illumine the night with their radiance at the\nappointed time. Koit and \u00c4marik, to your watch and ward I intrust the\nlight of day beneath the firmament. Fulfil your duty with diligence. To\nthy care, my daughter \u00c4marik, I entrust the sinking sun. Receive him on\nthe horizon, and care[Pg 33]fully extinguish all the sparks every\nevening, lest any harm should ensue, and lead him to his setting. Koit,\nmy active son, let it be thy care to receive the sun from the hands of\n\u00c4marik when he is ready to begin his course, and to kindle new light,\nthat there may never be any deficiency.\"\n\nThe two servants of the sun did their duty with diligence, so that the\nsun was never absent from the sky for a day. Then began the long summer\nnights when Koit and \u00c4marik join their hands, when their hearts beat\nand their lips meet in a kiss, while the birds in the woods sing sweet\nsongs each according to his note, when flowers blossom, the trees\nflourish, and all the world rejoices. At this time the Creator\ndescended from his golden throne to earth to celebrate the festival of\nLijon.[20] He found all his works and affairs in good order, and\nrejoiced in his creation, and said to Koit and \u00c4marik, \"I am well\npleased with your management, and desire your lasting happiness. From\nhenceforth be husband and wife.\"\n\nBut the two exclaimed with one voice, \"Father, let us enjoy our\nhappiness undisturbed. We are[Pg 34] content with our lot, and will\nremain lover and beloved, for thus we enjoy a happiness which is ever\nyoung and new.\"\n\nThen the Creator granted them their desire, and returned to his golden\nheaven.\n\nThe versions given by Boecler and Jannsen differ slightly.\n\nTHE MAIDEN AT THE VASKJALA BRIDGE.\n\n(Kreutzwald.)\n\nOn a beautiful and quiet summer evening many years ago, a pious maiden\nwent to the Vaskjala[21] Bridge to bathe and refresh herself after the\nheat of the day. The sky was clear, and the song of the nightingale\nre-echoed from the neighbouring alder thicket. The Moon ascended to his\nheavenly pavilion, and gazed down with friendly eyes on the wreath of\nthe maiden with the golden hair and rosy cheeks. The maiden's heart was\npure and innocent, and modest and clear as the waters of the spring[Pg\n35] to its very depths. Suddenly she felt her heart beat faster, and a\nstrange longing seized her, and she could no longer turn her eyes away\nfrom the face of the Moon. For because she was so good and pure and\ninnocent, she had won the love of the Moon, who desired to fulfil her\nsecret longings and the wish of her heart. But the pious maiden\ncherished but one wish in her heart, which she could not venture to\nexpress or to ask the Moon to fulfil, for she longed to depart from\nthis world and to dwell for ever beneath the sky with the Moon, but the\nMoon knew the unexpressed thoughts of her heart.\n\nIt was again a lovely evening. The air was calm and peaceful, and again\nthe song of the nightingale resounded through the night. The Moon gazed\ndown once more into the depths at the bottom of the river near the\nVaskjala Bridge, but no longer alone as before. The fair face of the\nmaiden gazed down with him into the depths, and has ever since been\nvisible in the Moon. Above in the far sky she lives in joy and\ncontentment, and only desires that other maidens might share her\nhappiness. So on moonlight nights her friendly eyes gaze down on her\nmortal sisters, and she seeks to invite them[Pg 36] as her guests. But\nnone among them is so pure and modest and innocent as herself, and\ntherefore none is worthy to ascend to her in the Moon. Sometimes this\ntroubles the maiden in the Moon, and she hides her face sorrowfully in\na black veil. Yet she does not abandon all hope, but trusts that on\nsome future day one of her earthly sisters may be found sufficiently\npious and pure and innocent for the Moon to call her to share this\nblessed life. So from time to time the Moon-maiden gazes down on the\nearth with increasing hope and laughing eyes, with her face unveiled,\nas on the happy evening when she first looked down from heaven on the\nVaskjala Bridge. But the best and most intelligent of the daughters of\nearth fall into error and wander into by-paths, and none among them is\npious and innocent enough to become the Moon's companion. This makes\nthe heart of the pious Moon-maiden sorrowful again, and she turns her\nface from us once more, and hides it under her black veil.\n\n[Pg 37]\nTHE WOMAN IN THE MOON.\n\n(Jannsen.)\n\nOne Saturday evening a woman went very late to the river to fetch\nwater. The Moon shone brightly in the heavens, and she said to him,\n\"Why do you stand gaping up there? You'd better come and help me carry\nwater. I must work here, and you dawdle about above!\"\n\nSuddenly the Moon came down from above, but he seized the woman and\ntook her with him into the sky. There she still stands with her two\npails as a warning to everybody not to work too late in the evening on\nholidays. But the Moon knows no rest, and can never dawdle about, for\nhe must wander from land to land, and everywhere illumine the darkness\nof night with his light.[22]\n\n[Pg 38]\nPOLYPHEMUS.\n\n(Jannsen.)\n\nIn the Esthonian version the Devil visits a locksmith, who promises to\ncast him new eyes. When the Devil calls for them, he binds him to a\nbench on his back, telling him that his name is Myself. He then pours\nmolten tin into his eyes, and the Devil jumps up with the pain, and\nrushes out with the bench on his back, telling his companions that\n\"Myself\" has done it. He dies miserably, and the dog, fox, rat, and\nwolf bury him under the dung of a white mare. \"Since this,\" adds the\nnarrator, \"there has been no devil more.\" There is a very similar story\nfrom Swedish Lappmark, in which the man who outwits and blinds a giant\ntells him that his own name is \"Nobody.\"[23]\n\nRED RIDING-HOOD.\n\nOne of the most fantastic stories of this series is \"The Devil's Visit\"\n(Jannsen: Veckenstedt), which, notwithstanding its subject, has an\nabsurd[Pg 39] resemblance in some of its details to \"Little Red\nRiding-Hood.\"\n\nTwo men and their wives lived together in a cottage; one couple had\nthree children, the others were childless. One day, both husbands were\nabsent, and the Devil and his son knocked at the door in their\nsemblance, and sat down to supper. But the eldest child said secretly,\n\"Mother, mother, father's got long claws!\" The second said, \"Mother,\nmother, he's got a tail too!\" And the youngest added, \"Mother, mother,\nhe's got iron teeth in his mouth.\" The woman comforted the children,\nand while the childless woman went with one of the devils, the mother\nput the children to bed on the stove, laid juniper twigs in front, and\nmade the sign of the cross over them.\n\nShe then gave the Devil the end of her girdle to hold, by which to draw\nher to him, but she fastened the other end to a log of wood, and\nclimbed on the roof for safety, taking with her a three-pronged fork.\nAs soon as the devils began to devour the supposed women,[24] the elder\ndiscovered that he had[Pg 40] been deceived; and his son advised him to\ndevour the children; but he could not get at them. Then his son advised\nhim to look for the mother; and he tried to climb on the roof, but the\nwoman struck him back with the fork, and he called to his son for help.\nThe son immediately rushed out of the cottage to get his share of the\nprey, when a red cock crew, and the Devil cried out, \"He's my\nhalf-brother,\" and tried again to get on the roof. Then crowed a white\ncock, and the Devil cried out, \"He's my godfather,\" and scrambled on\nthe corner of the gable. Then crowed a black cock, when the Devil cried\nout, \"He's my murderer!\" and both devils vanished, as if they had sunk\ninto the ground.\n\nSNOWWHITE, THE GLASS MOUNTAIN, AND THE DESPISED YOUNGEST SON.\n\nWe have these tales combined in the story of the \"Princess who slept\nfor seven years\" (Kreutzwald).\n\nA princess falls into a deep sleep, and is placed by a magician in a\nglass coffin. A glass mountain is prepared, on which the coffin is\nfixed. Up the[Pg 41] glass mountain the successful suitor must ride\nwhen seven years and seven days have expired, when the princess will\nawake and give him a ring.\n\nMeanwhile an old peasant dies, leaving his house and property to his\ntwo elder sons, and charging them to take care of the third, who is\nconsidered rather lazy and stupid, but who has a good heart.[25] He\ncharges his three sons to watch, one each night, by his grave; but the\nelder ones excuse themselves, leaving the duty to the youngest son. The\neldest brother proposes to turn the youngest out of the house, but is\ndissuaded by the other, who thinks it would look too bad.\n\nWhen the king promises his daughter to whoever can climb the glass\nmountain,[26] the two elder brothers dress themselves in fine clothes,\nand set off, leaving the youngest at home, lest he should disgrace them\nby his shabby appearance. But he receives from his father a bronze\nhorse and bronze armour, and rides a third of the way up the mountain.\nOn the second day he receives a silver steed[Pg 42] and silver armour,\nand rides more than half-way up; and on the third day he receives a\ngolden steed and golden armour, and rides to the summit. Then the lid\nof the glass case flies open, the maiden raises herself and gives the\nknight a ring, and he rides down with her to her father.\n\nNext day it is proclaimed that whoever can produce the ring shall marry\nthe princess; and, to the astonishment of the two elder brothers, the\nyoungest claims the prize. The magician explains to the king that the\nyoung man is in reality the son of a powerful monarch, but was stolen\naway in infancy and brought up as a peasant, and the king accepts him\nas his son-in-law. His indolence was not an inherent defect, but had\nbeen imposed upon him by the witch who had stolen him. On Sunday he\nappeared before the people in his golden armour and mounted on his\ngolden horse, but his reputed brothers died of rage and envy.\n\n[Pg 43]\nTHE THREE SISTERS.[27]\n\n(Jannsen.)\n\nThis is the familiar story of an ill-used younger sister. A countryman\nwas taking game to market, and his two elder daughters asked him to\nbring them fine clothes, but the youngest asked him to bring her\nanything he got gratis. A shopkeeper offered him a kitten, which he\nbrought to the youngest girl, who treated it kindly. On the two\nfollowing Sundays, the elder sisters went to church to show off their\nfine clothes, leaving the younger one at home. She went into the\ngarden, and a pied magpie settled on the fence, which the cat pursued,\nand on the first Sunday it dropped a gold brooch, and on the second two\ngold rings.\n\nAs the third Sunday was wet, the two elder sisters stayed at home, but\nsent the youngest to church; so she adorned herself with her finery and\nset out, and at church she attracted general attention. When her\nsisters heard of it, they insisted[Pg 44] on knowing her secret; and\nthey carried the kitten into the garden several times, to no purpose,\nfor as they had always ill-treated it before, it only bit and scratched\nthem. At last they killed it, and threw it among the rushes by the side\nof the lake.\n\nWhen the youngest sister missed the kitten, she went out weeping into\nthe wood. Her sisters followed her, murdered her, and buried her under\na heap of sand, covering the grave with reeds, and when they went home\nthey told their father that she had been carried away by gipsies. A\nshepherd, passing that way made himself a flute, and it sang the\nmaiden's sorrowful end. When this reached the ears of the prince, he\nordered the body to be exhumed and carried to his castle, and by\ndirection of the flute, it was reanimated with water from the healing\nwell in the prince's courtyard. The maiden immediately begged the life\nof her sisters, who were released. Her hand was then sought for in\nmarriage by a young nobleman, whom she accepted. After this, she begged\nthe prince to restore her kitten to life too with the healing water,\nand the two sisters were sent to fetch it; but the reed-bed by the lake\ngave way under their feet, and they both perished miserably; for\nneither they nor the kitten were ever[Pg 45] seen again. But the\ndescendants of the youngest sister still bear a cat on their\nescutcheon.\n\nTHE THREE WISHES.\n\nThis well-known story appears in one of its commonest forms in the tale\nof \"Loppi and Lappi\" (Kreutzwald), a quarrelsome couple who are granted\nthree wishes by a fairy. At supper-time the wife wishes for a sausage,\nwhich is wished on and off her nose, and the couple remain as poor as\nbefore.\n\nTHE WITCH-BRIDE.\n\nVersions of this story are common in Finland as well as in Esthonia.\nOne of the latter is \"R\u00f5ugutaja's Daughter\" (Kreutzwald). Old\nR\u00f5ugutaja[28] lived with his wife and daughter in a wood. The daughter\nhad a beautiful face, but it was reported that her skin was of bark,\nand she could find no suitors. At last the mother contrived to inveigle\na youth into marrying her daughter by means of a love-philtre, but on\nthe first night he ran away, and shortly afterwards married another\nbride. On the birth[Pg 46] of a child, the witch-mother transforms the\nyoung mother into a wolf, and substitutes her own daughter. The nurse\nis ordered to take the crying child for a walk; she meets the wolf; the\ndeceit is discovered, and the husband inveigles the witch-mother and\ndaughter into the bathhouse, and burns it down.\n\nThere is little in this story except the bark-skin of the witch-bride\nto distinguish it from the numerous variants among other peoples.\n\nAnother story belonging to the class of the witch-bride is\n\nTHE STEPMOTHER.\n\n(Kreutzwald.)\n\nHere the two girls are half-sisters, not step-sisters; and the younger\none is dressed up, and married, veiled, to the suitor of the other.\nWhen the husband discovers the deception, he throws the false bride\nunder the ice of a river on the way, and takes his own bride instead.\nNext year, the mother, on her way to visit her supposed daughter and\nher child, gathers a water-lily, which tells her that[Pg 47] it is her\nown daughter. Then the mother and daughter are transformed into a black\ndog and a black cat, with the aid of a magician; but their attempts at\nrevenge are frustrated by a sorceress, who had previously befriended\nthe young mother.\n\n[Pg 48]\nSECTION IV\n\n_FAMILIAR STORIES OF NORTHERN EUROPE_\n\nUnder this heading we include variants of well-known but not\ncosmopolitan tales, some of which are of considerable interest. Among\nthem is a variant of \"Melusina,\" close in some points, but presenting\nmany features of difference.\n\nTHE FISHERMAN AND HIS WIFE.\n\nKreutzwald's story of \"The Powerful Crayfish and the Insatiable Wife\"\nis almost identical with that of Grimm. At last the woman wishes to be\nGod, and the crayfish sends the foolish couple back to their poverty.\n\n[Pg 49]\nTHE MERMAID.[29]\n\n(Kreutzwald.)\n\nIn the happy days of old, better men lived on earth than now, and the\nHeavenly Father revealed many wonders to them which are now quite\nconcealed, or but rarely manifested to a child of fortune. It is true\nthat the birds sing and the beasts converse as of old, but unhappily we\nno longer comprehend their speech, and what they say brings us neither\nprofit nor wisdom.\n\nIn old days a fair mermaid dwelt on the shores of the province of\nL\u00e4\u00e4ne. She often appeared to the people, and my grandfather's father,\nwho was reared in the neighbourhood, sometimes saw her sitting on a\nrock, but the little fellow did not venture to approach her. The maiden\nappeared in various forms, sometimes as a foal or a calf, and sometimes\nunder the form of some other animal. In the evening she often came\namong the children, and let them play with her, until some little boy\nmounted her back,[Pg 50] when she would vanish as suddenly as if she\nhad sunk into the ground.\n\nAt that time old people said that in former days the maiden was to be\nseen on the borders of the sea almost every fine evening in the summer,\nsitting on a rock, and combing her long fair hair with a golden comb,\nand she sang such beautiful songs that it melted the hearts of her\nlisteners. But she could not endure the gaze of men, and vanished from\ntheir sight or fled into the sea, where she rocked on the waves like a\nswan. We will now relate the cause of her flying from men, and no\nlonger meeting them with her former confidence.\n\nIn old times, long before the invasion of the Swedes, a rich farmer\nlived on the coast of L\u00e4\u00e4ne with his wife and four sons. They obtained\ntheir food more from the sea than from the land, for fishing was a very\nproductive industry in their days. The youngest son was very different\nfrom his brothers, even from a child. He avoided the companionship of\nmen, and wandered about on the sea-shore and in the forest. He talked\nmuch to himself and to the birds, or to the winds and waves, but when\nhe was in the company of others he hardly opened his mouth, but stood\nlike one dreaming.[Pg 51] When the storms raged over the sea in autumn,\nand the waves swelled up as high as a house and broke foaming on the\nbeach, the boy could not contain himself in the house, but ran like one\npossessed, and often half-naked, to the shore. Neither wind nor weather\nharmed his robust body. He sprang into his boat, seized the oars, and\ndrove like a wild goose over the crest of the raging billows far out to\nsea, without incurring any harm by his rashness. In the morning, when\nthe storm had spent its fury, he was found sound asleep on the beach.\nIf he was sent anywhere on an errand, to herd cattle in summer, or to\ndo any other easy employment, he gave his parents only trouble. He lay\ndown under the shadow of a bush without minding the animals, and they\nstrayed away or trampled down the meadows and cornfields, and his\nbrothers had often to work for hours before they could find the lost\nanimals. The father often let the boy feel the rod severely enough, but\nit had no more effect than water poured on the back of a goose. When\nthe boy grew up into a youth, he did not mend his ways. No work\nprospered in his negligent hands; he hacked and broke the tools,\nwearied out the draught cattle, and yet never did anything right.[Pg\n52]\n\nHis father sent him to neighbouring farmers to work, hoping that a\nstranger's whip might improve the sloven, but whoever had the fellow\nfor one week on trial sent him back again on the next. His parents\nrated him for a sluggard, and his brothers dubbed him \"Sleepy Tony.\"\nThis soon became his nickname with everybody, though he had been\nchristened J\u00fcri.[30] Sleepy Tony brought no one any good, but was only\na nuisance to his parents and relatives, so that they would gladly have\ngiven a sum of money if anybody would have rid them of the lazy fellow.\nAs nobody would put up with him any longer, his father engaged him as\nservant to a foreign captain, because he could not run away at sea, and\nbecause he had always been so fond of the water from a child. However,\nafter a few weeks, nobody knows how, he escaped from the ship, and\nagain set his lazy feet on his native soil. But he was ashamed to enter\nhis father's house, where he could not expect to meet with a friendly\nreception, so he wandered about from one place to another, and sought\nto get his living as he could, without working. He was a strong\nhandsome fellow, and could talk very agreeably if he liked, although\nhe[Pg 53] had never been accustomed to talk much in his father's house.\nHe was now obliged to use his handsome appearance and fine tongue to\ningratiate himself with the women and girls.\n\nOne fine summer evening after sunset it happened that he was wandering\nalone on the beach when the clear song of the mermaid reached his ears.\nSleepy Tony thought to himself, \"She is a woman, at any rate, and won't\ndo me any harm.\" He did not hesitate to approach nearer, to take a view\nof the beautiful bird. He climbed the highest hill, and saw the mermaid\nsome distance off, sitting on a rock, combing her hair with a golden\ncomb, and singing a ravishing song. The youth would have wished for\nmore ears to listen to her song, which pierced his heart like a flame,\nbut when he drew nearer he saw that he would have needed just as many\neyes to take in the beauty of the maiden. The mermaid must have seen\nhim coming, but she did not fly from him, as she was always wont to do\nwhen men approached. Sleepy Tony advanced to within ten paces of her,\nand then stopped, undecided whether to go nearer. And oh, wonderful!\nthe mermaid rose from the stone and came to meet him with a friendly\nair. She gave him her hand in[Pg 54] greeting, and said, \"I have\nexpected you for many days, for a fateful dream warned me of your\narrival. You have neither house nor home among those of your own race.\nWhy should you be dependent upon strangers when your parents refuse to\nreceive you into their house? I have known you from a child, and better\nthan men have known you, for I have often watched over and protected\nyou when your rashness would otherwise have destroyed you. I have often\nguarded the rocking boat with my hands, when it would otherwise have\nsunk in the depths. Come with me, and you shall enjoy every happiness\nwhich your heart can desire, and you shall want for nothing. I will\nwatch over and protect you as the apple of my eye, so that neither wind\nnor rain nor frost shall touch you.\"\n\nSleepy Tony stood for a time uncertain what to answer, though every\nword of the maiden was like a flaming arrow in his heart. At last he\nstammered out an inquiry as to whether her home was very far away. \"We\ncan reach it with the speed of the wind, if you have confidence in me,\"\nanswered the mermaid. Then Sleepy Tony remembered many sayings which he\nhad heard about the mermaid, and his heart failed him, and he asked for\nthree days to[Pg 55] make up his mind. \"I will agree to your wish,\"\nsaid the mermaid, \"but lest you should again be doubtful, I will put my\ngold ring on your finger before we part, that you may not forget to\nreturn. When we are better acquainted, this pledge may serve as an\nengagement ring.\" She then drew off the ring, placed it on the youth's\nlittle finger, and vanished as if she had melted into air. Sleepy Tony\nstood staring with wide-open eyes, and would have supposed it was all a\ndream, if the sparkling ring on his finger had not been proof to the\ncontrary. But the ring seemed like a strange spirit, which left him no\npeace or rest anywhere. He wandered aimlessly about the shore all\nnight, and always returned to the rock on which the maiden had been\nsitting; but the stone was cold and vacant. In the morning he lay down\nfor a short time, but uneasy dreams disturbed his sleep. When he awoke,\nhe felt neither hunger nor thirst, and all his thoughts were directed\ntowards the evening, when he hoped to see the mermaid again. The day\nwaned at last, and evening approached, the wind sank, the birds in the\nalder-bushes left off singing and tucked their tired heads under their\nwings, but that evening he saw the mermaid nowhere.[Pg 56]\n\nHe wept bitter tears of sorrow and trouble, and reflected bitterly on\nhis folly in having hesitated to seize the good fortune offered to him\nthe evening before, when a cleverer fellow would have grasped at it\nwith both hands. But regret and complaint were useless now. The night\nand the day which followed were equally painful to him, and his trouble\nweighed upon him so much that he never felt hunger. Towards sunset he\nsat down with an aching heart on the rock where the mermaid had sat two\nevenings ago. He began to weep bitterly, and exclaimed, sobbing, \"If\nshe does not come back to me, I will live no longer, but either die of\nhunger on this rock, or cast myself headlong into the waves, and end my\nmiserable life in the depths of the sea.\"\n\nI know not how long he sat thus on the rock in his distress, but at\nlast he felt a soft warm hand laid upon his forehead. When he looked\nup, he saw the maiden before him, and she said tenderly, \"I have seen\nyour bitter suffering and heard your longing sighs, and could not\nwithdraw myself longer, though the time does not expire till to-morrow\nnight.\"\n\n\"Forgive me, forgive me, dear maiden,\" stammered Sleepy Tony. \"Forgive\nme; I was a mad[Pg 57] fool not to accept the proffered happiness. The\ndevil only knows what folly came into my head two nights ago. Carry me\nwhither you please. I will oppose you no longer, and would joyfully\ngive up my very life for your sake.\"\n\nThe mermaid answered smiling, \"I do not desire your death, but I will\ntake you living as my dear companion.\" She took the youth by the hand,\nled him a few paces nearer to the sea, and bound a silk handkerchief\nover his eyes. Immediately Sleepy Tony felt himself embraced by two\nstrong arms, which raised him up as if in flight, and then plunged\nheadlong into the sea. The moment the cold water touched his body, he\nlost all consciousness, and knew nothing more of what was happening\naround him; nor was he afterwards able to tell how long this\ninsensibility lasted.\n\nWhen he awoke, he was to experience something stranger still.\n\nHe found himself lying on soft cushions in a silken bed, which stood in\na beautiful chamber, with walls of glass covered on the inside with\ncurtains of red satin, lest the glaring light should wake the sleeper.\nSome time passed before he could make out whether he was still alive,\nor whether he was in[Pg 58] some unknown region of the dead. He rocked\nhis limbs to and fro, took the end of his nose between his fingers, and\nbehold, he was quite unchanged. He was dressed in a white shirt, and\nhandsome clothes lay in a chair in front of his bed. After lying in bed\nfor some time, and feeling himself all over to make sure that he was\nreally alive, he got up and dressed himself.\n\nPresently he coughed, when two maids entered, who greeted him as \"his\nlordship,\" and wished to know what he would like for breakfast. One\nlaid the table, and the other went to prepare the food. In a short time\nthe table was loaded with dishes of pork, sausage, black puddings, and\nhoney, with jugs of beer and mead, just the same as at a grand\nwedding-feast. Sleepy Tony, who had eaten nothing for several days\nbefore, now set to work in earnest, and ate his fill, after which he\nlaid down on the bed to digest it. When he got up again, the\nwaiting-maids came back, and invited his lordship to take a walk in the\ngarden while her ladyship was dressing. He heard himself called \"your\nlordship\" so often, that he already began to feel himself such in\nreality, and forgot his former station.[Pg 59]\n\nIn the garden he met with beauty and elegance at every step; gold and\nsilver apples glittered among the green leaves, and even the fir and\npine cones were of gold, while birds of golden plumage hopped among the\ntwigs and branches. Two maids came from behind a bush, who were\ncommissioned to show his lordship round the garden, and to point out\nall its beauties. They went farther, and reached the edge of a pond\nwhere silver-feathered geese and swans were swimming. A rosy flush as\nof dawn filled all the sky, but the sun was not visible. The bushes\nwere covered with flowers which exhaled a delicious odour, and bees as\nlarge as hornets flew among the flowers. All the flowers and shrubs\nwhich our friend beheld here were far more beautiful than he had ever\nseen before. Presently two elegantly dressed girls appeared, who\ninvited his lordship to meet her ladyship, who was expecting him. But\nfirst they threw a blue silken shawl over his shoulders. Who would have\nrecognised the former Sleepy Tony in such a guise?\n\nIn a beautiful hall, as large as a church, and built of glass like the\nbedroom, sat twelve fair maidens on silver chairs.[31] Against the wall\nbehind them was a[Pg 60] da\u00efs on which two golden thrones were placed.\nOn one throne sat the august queen, and the other was unoccupied. When\nSleepy Tony crossed the threshold, all the maidens rose from their\nseats and saluted him respectfully, and did not sit down again until\ndesired to do so. The lady herself remained seated, bent her head to\nthe youth in salutation, and signed with her finger, upon which Sleepy\nTony's attendants took him between them, and conducted him to their\nmistress. The youth advanced with faltering steps, and did not venture\nto lift his eyes, for he was dazzled with all the unaccustomed\nsplendour and magnificence. He was shown to his place on the golden\nthrone next to the lady, and she said, \"This young man is my beloved\nbridegroom, to whom I have plighted myself, and whom I have accepted as\nmy consort. You must show him every respect, and obey him as you obey\nme. Whenever I leave the house, you must amuse him and look after him\nand guard him as the apple of my eye. You will be severely punished if\nyou neglect to carry out my orders exactly.\"\n\nSleepy Tony looked round him like one dazed, for he did not know what\nto make of the adventures of the night, which were more wonderful\nthan[Pg 61] wonder itself. He continually turned the question over in\nhis mind as to whether he was awake or dreaming. The lady noticed his\nconfusion, and rose from her throne, took him by the hand, and led him\nfrom one room to another, all of which were untenanted. At last they\narrived at the twelfth chamber, which was rather smaller, but handsomer\nthan the others. Here the lady took her crown from her head, cast aside\nthe gold-embroidered mantle, and when Sleepy Tony ventured to raise his\neyes, he recognised that it was the mermaid at his side, and no strange\nlady. Oh, how quickly his courage rose and his hopes revived! He cried\nout joyfully, \"O dear mermaid!\"\u2014but the maiden laid her hand on his\nmouth, and spoke very earnestly, \"If you have any regard for your own\nhappiness or for mine, never call me by that name, which has only been\ngiven to me in mockery. I am one of the daughters of the Water-Mother.\nThere are many sisters of us, but we all live apart, each in her own\nplace, in the sea, or in lakes and rivers, and we only see each other\noccasionally by some fortunate chance.\" She then explained to him that\nshe had hitherto remained unmarried, but now that she was an\nestablished ruler, she must assume the dignity[Pg 62] of a royal\nmatron. Sleepy Tony was so bewildered with this unimagined good fortune\nthat he did not know how to express his happiness. His tongue seemed\nparalysed, and he could not manage to say more than Yes or No. But\nwhile he was enjoying a capital dinner and delicious beverages, his\ntongue was loosened, and he was not only able to talk as well as\nbefore, but to indulge in many pleasant jests.\n\nThis agreeable life was continued on the next and on the third day, and\nSleepy Tony thought he had been exalted to heaven in his living body.\nBut before retiring to rest the mermaid said to him, \"To-morrow will be\nThursday, and every week I am bound by a vow to fast, and to remain\napart from every one. You cannot see me at all on Thursdays until the\ncock has crowed thrice in the evening. My attendants will sing to you\nto pass the time away, and will see that you want for nothing.\"\n\nNext morning Sleepy Tony could not find his consort anywhere. He\nremembered what she had told him the evening before, that he must pass\nthis and all future Thursdays without her. The waiting-maids exerted\nthemselves to amuse him in every[Pg 63] possible manner; they sang,\nplayed, and performed elegant dances, and then set before him such food\nand drink that no prince by birthright could have enjoyed better, and\nthe day passed quicker than he had expected. After supper he laid\nhimself to rest, and when the cock had crowed three times, the fair one\nreturned to him. The same thing happened on every following Thursday.\nHe often implored his beloved to allow him to fast with her on\nThursdays, but all to no purpose. He troubled his consort again on a\nWednesday with this request, and allowed her no rest; but the mermaid\nsaid, with tears in her eyes, \"Take my life, if you please; I would lay\nit down cheerfully; but I cannot and dare not yield to your wish to\ntake you with me on my fast-days.\"\n\nA year or more might have passed in this manner, when doubts arose in\nthe mind of Sleepy Tony, which became always more tormenting, and\nallowed him no peace. His food became distasteful to him and his sleep\nrefreshed him not. He feared lest the mermaid might have some other\nlover in secret besides himself, in whose arms she passed every\nThursday, while he was obliged to pass his time with the waiting-maids.\nHe had long ago discovered the room in which the mermaid hid herself[Pg\n64] on Thursdays, but how did that help him? The door was always\nlocked, and the windows were so closely hung with double curtains on\nthe inside that there was not an opening left as large as a needle's\neye through which a sunbeam, much less a human eye, could penetrate.\nBut the more impossible it seemed to penetrate this secret, the more\neager grew his longing to get to the very bottom of it. Although he\nnever breathed a word of the weight upon his mind to the mermaid, she\ncould see from his altered manner that all was not as it should be.\nAgain and again she implored him with tears in her eyes not to torment\nboth himself and her with evil thoughts. \"I am free from every fault\nagainst you,\" she declared, \"and I have no secret love nor any other\nsin against you on my conscience. But your false suspicion makes us\nboth miserable, and will destroy the peace of our hearts. I would\ngladly give up every moment of my life to you if you wished it, but I\ncannot allow you to come near me on my fast-days. It cannot be, for it\nwould put an end to our love and happiness for ever. We are able to\nlive quietly and happily together for six days in the week, and how\nshould the separation of one day be so heavy that you cannot bear\nit?\"[Pg 65]\n\nShe talked in this sensible way for six days, but when the following\nThursday came, and the mermaid did not show herself, Sleepy Tony lost\nhis wits, and behaved as if he was half-mad. He knew no peace, and at\nlast one Thursday he refused to have any one with him. He ordered the\nwaiting-maids to bring him his food and drink, and then to leave him\ndirectly, so that he remained alone like a spectre.\n\nThis great alteration in his conduct astonished everybody, and when the\nmermaid heard of the matter, she almost wept her eyes out of her head,\nthough she only gave way to her grief when no one was present. Sleepy\nTony hoped that when he was alone he might have a better opportunity of\ninspecting the secret fasting chamber, and perhaps he might find some\ncrack through which he could spy upon what was going on. The more he\ntormented himself, the more depressed became the mermaid, and although\nshe still maintained a cheerful countenance, her friendliness no longer\ncame from the heart as before.\n\nSome weeks passed by, and matters remained at a standstill, neither\nworse nor better, when one Thursday Sleepy Tony found a small space\nnear the window where the curtains had slightly shifted, so[Pg 66] that\nhe could look into the chamber. The secret chamber had no floor, but\nlooked like a great square tank, filled with water many feet deep.\nHerein swam his much-loved mermaid. From her head to her middle she was\na beautiful woman, but from the navel downwards she was wholly a fish,\ncovered with scales and provided with fins. Sometimes she threshed the\nwater with her broad fish's tail and it dashed high up.\n\nThe spy shrunk back confounded and made his way home very sorrowfully.\nWhat would he not have given to have blotted the sight from his memory!\nHe thought of one thing and another, but could not decide on what to\ndo.\n\nIn the evening the cock crowed three times as usual, but the mermaid\ndid not come back to him. He lay awake all night, but the fair one\nnever came. She did not return till morning, when she was clad in black\nmourning garments and her face was covered with a thin silk\nhandkerchief. Then she said, weeping, \"O thou unhappy one! to have\nbrought our happy life to an end by thy folly! Thou seest me to-day for\nthe last time, and must return to thy former condition, and this thou\nhast brought upon thyself. Farewell, for the last time.\"[Pg 67]\n\nThere was a sudden crash and a tremendous noise, as if the floor was\ngiving way beneath his feet, and Sleepy Tony was hurled down stunned,\nand could not perceive what was happening to himself or about him.\n\nNo one knows how long afterwards it may have been when he recovered\nfrom his swoon, and found himself on the sea-shore close to the rock on\nwhich the fair mermaid had sat when she entered into the bond of\nfriendship with him. Instead of the magnificent robes which he had worn\nevery day in the dwelling of the mermaid, he found himself dressed in\nhis old clothes, which were now much older and more ragged than he\ncould possibly have supposed. Our friend's happy days were over, and no\nremorse, however bitter, could bring them back.\n\nHe walked on till he reached the first houses of his village. They were\nstanding in the same places, but yet looked different. But what\nappeared to him much more wonderful when he looked round, was that the\npeople were all strangers, and he did not meet a single face which he\nknew.\n\nThe people all looked strangely at him, too, as though he was a\nmonster. Sleepy Tony went on to the farm of his parents, but here too\nhe[Pg 68] encountered only strangers, who knew him not, and whom he did\nnot know. He asked in amazement for his father and brothers, but no one\ncould tell him anything about them. At length an infirm old man came\nup, leaning on a stick, and said, \"Peasant, the farmer whom you ask\nafter has been sleeping in the ground for more than thirty years, and\nhis sons must be dead too. How comes it, my good old man, that you ask\nafter people who have been so long forgotten?\" The words \"old man\" took\nSleepy Tony so much aback that he was unable to ask another question.\nHe felt his limbs trembling, turned his back on the strange people, and\nwent out at the gate. The expression \"old man\" left him no peace; it\nfell upon him with a crushing weight, and his feet refused him their\noffice.\n\nHe hurried to the nearest spring and gazed in the water. The pale\nsunken cheeks, the hollow eyes, the long grey beard and grey hair,\nconfirmed what he had heard. This worn-out, withered form no longer\nbore the slightest resemblance to the youth whom the mermaid had chosen\nas her consort. Now he fully realised his misery for the first time,\nand knew that the few years that[Pg 69] he appeared to have been absent\nhad comprised the greater part of his life, for he had entered the\nmermaid's house as a vigorous youth, and had returned as a spectre-like\nold man. There he had felt nothing of the course of time or of the\nwasting of his body, and he could not comprehend how the burden of old\nage had fallen upon him so suddenly, like the passing of a bird's wing.\nWhat could he do now, when he was a grey stranger among strangers?\n\nHe wandered about on the beach for a few days, from one farm to\nanother, and good people gave him a piece of bread out of charity. He\nchanced to meet with a friendly young fellow, to whom he related all\nthe adventures of his life, but the same night he disappeared. A few\ndays afterwards the waves cast up his body on the shore. It is not\nknown whether he threw himself into the sea, or was drowned by\naccident.\n\nAfter this the behaviour of the mermaid towards mankind entirely\nchanged. She sometimes appears to children only, most often in another\nform, but she does not permit grown-up people to approach her, but\nshuns them like fire.\n\nOther stories relative to the Water-Mother, mer[Pg 70]maids, and other\nbeings of the water will be found in a later section.\n\nHOW THE SEA BECAME SALT.\n\n(Jannsen.)\n\nThis is an interesting variant of a story known from Iceland to\nFinland.\n\nThere were two brothers, one rich and one poor. One Christmas the rich\nbrother gave the other a ham, on condition that he should go to P\u00f5rgu.\nOn his way, he met an old man who told him that ham was a rarity there,\nbut he must not sell it for money, but only for what was behind the\ndoor, which proved to be a wishing-mill. The rich brother bought it for\na high price, and set it to grind herrings and milk-soup; but he was\nsoon forced to give his brother another great sum to induce him to take\nit back, and to save him and his wife, and indeed the whole village,\nfrom being overwhelmed by the torrents of herrings and soup. Afterwards\nit was sold to a sea-captain, who set it to grind salt, and it ground\non till the ship sank, and it now lies at the bottom of the sea,\ngrinding salt for ever.[32][Pg 71]\n\nThe next story, which belongs to the same class as Grimm's \"Devil with\nthe Three Golden Hairs,\" introduces us to the personified Frost, who is\nhere a much less malevolent being than in the _Kalevala_, Runo xxx. It\nalso combines two familiar classes of tales: those in which a man\nreceives gifts which are stolen from him, and which he afterwards\nrecovers by means of another, often a magic cudgel; and those in which\na man visiting the house of a giant or devil in his absence is\nconcealed by the old mother in order to listen to the secrets revealed\nby her son when he comes home.\n\nTHE TWO BROTHERS AND THE FROST.\n\n(Jannsen.)\n\nOnce upon a time there were two brothers, one of whom was rich and the\nother poor. The rich brother had much cornland and many cattle, but the\npoor one had only a little corner of a field, in which[Pg 72] he sowed\nrye. Then came the Frost and destroyed even this poor crop. Nothing was\nleft to the poor brother, so he set out in search of the Frost. When he\nhad gone some distance, he arrived at a small house and went in. He\nfound an old woman sitting there, who asked what he wanted. The man\nanswered, \"I had tilled a small field, and the Frost came and took away\neven the little that I had. So I set out in search of him, to ask why\nhe has done me this mischief.\" The old woman answered, \"The Frosts are\nmy sons, and they destroy everything; but just now they are not at\nhome. If they came home and found you here, they would destroy you\nlikewise. Get up on the stove, and wait there.\" The man crept up, and\njust then the Frost came in. \"Son,\" said the old woman, \"why did you\nspoil the field of a poor man who was sufficiently pinched without\nthis?\" \"Oh,\" said the Frost, \"I was only trying whether my cold would\nbite.\" Then said the poor man on the stove, \"Only give me so much back\nthat I can just scrape through, or I must soon die of hunger, for I\nhave nothing to break and bite.\" The Frost said, \"We will give him\nenough to last him all his life.\" Then he gave him a knapsack, saying,\n\"When you are hungry, you have only to[Pg 73] say, 'Open, sack,' and\nyou will have food and drink in abundance. But when you have had\nenough, say, 'Sack, shut,' and all will immediately return into the\nknapsack, and it will shut of itself.\"\n\nThe man thanked him heartily for his gift, and went his way. When he\nhad gone some distance, he said, \"Open, sack,\" and immediately the\nknapsack opened of itself, and supplied him with food in plenty. When\nhe had had enough, he said, \"Sack, shut,\" and the food sprang into the\nknapsack, which closed of itself. When he got home, he continued to use\nit as the Frost directed.\n\nWhen he and his wife had lived comfortably thus for some time, the rich\nbrother began to covet the knapsack, and wanted to buy it. He gave his\npoor brother a hundred oxen and cows, and as many horses and sheep.\nThus the poor brother became rich, but he was not much better off, for\nhe had to feed the animals. They all gathered round him, and he was now\nas poor as before. He did not know what to do, except to go back to the\nFrost and ask for a new sack. The Frost said, \"Why were you so\nthoughtless as to give away such a knapsack? You are now just as poor\nas before.\" But at length he gave him a new knapsack, much handsomer\nthan[Pg 74] the first. The poor brother thanked him heartily, and went\naway joyful, for he thought he had got a knapsack like the first.\n\nWhen he felt hungry, he said as before, \"Open, sack.\" Immediately the\nknapsack opened, and two fellows sprang out with thick cudgels in their\nhands, who beat him as if it was a fine art. The man was so overwhelmed\nthat he could hardly utter the words, \"Sack, shut!\" Then the two\nretired and the knapsack shut. The man thought to himself, \"Have\npatience! I'll exchange this with my brother.\" When he got home, his\nbrother noticed what a fine knapsack he had, and wanted to exchange.\nThe other had no objection, and the exchange was soon effected. Then\nthe rich brother invited all his relatives and the distinguished people\nof the neighbourhood, for he thought to use the knapsack first to\nprovide a grand feast.\n\nAs soon as all these people were assembled, the host cried out, \"Open,\nsack!\" Then the knapsack indeed opened, but the men with the cudgels\nleaped out among the people, and belaboured them so lustily that they\nall fled in different directions, and some barely escaped with their\nlives. They all caught it hot, both the host and his guests. When[Pg\n75] at length the host cried out in his distress, \"Sack, shut!\" the men\nsprang back, and the sack closed. But now the bolder guests themselves\ngave the host a good beating before they left. After this, things went\nas badly with the rich brother as with the poor one before. He kept the\nhandsome knapsack, but the men with the cudgels were in it, and if he\nonly thought of opening it, they laid them on his back. But the poor\nbrother had enough for himself and his wife from the first knapsack as\nlong as he lived.\n\nVersions of this story are current throughout Europe; but in general,\nthe magical properties (of which there are usually two or three) are\nstolen or exchanged by a designing innkeeper, or other person, without\nthe knowledge of the owner.\n\nThe next story, that of the Devil being pounded in a sack, is current\nin various forms throughout Northern Europe.\n\n[Pg 76]\nTHE SOLDIER AND THE DEVIL.\n\n(Jannsen.)\n\nThe Devil encountered a soldier outside the town, and said to him,\n\"Good friend, please help me to get through the town. I can't go alone,\nthough I should be very glad to do so, for the two-eyed dogs[33] would\nsurround me in every street. They attack me as soon as I enter the\ntown.\"\n\n\"I'd be glad to help you,\" said the soldier, \"but one can't do any\nbusiness without money.\"\n\n\"What do you want then?\" said the Devil.[Pg 77]\n\n\"Not a great deal,\" returned the soldier, \"for you've plenty of money.\nIf you'll fill my gauntlet, I shall be quite satisfied.\"\n\n\"I've as much as that in my pocket,\" said the Devil, and filled the\nglove to the brim.\n\nThe soldier reflected, and said, \"I really don't know where to put you.\nStop! just creep into my knapsack; you'll be safer there than\nanywhere.\"\n\n\"That'll do! But your knapsack has three straps. Don't buckle the\nthird, or it might be bad for me.\"[34]\n\n\"All right! Squeeze in.\"\n\nSo the Devil crept into the knapsack.\n\nBut the soldier was one of those people who don't keep their word as\nthey ought. As soon as the devil was in the knapsack, he buckled all\nthree straps tight, saying, \"A soldier mustn't go through the town with\nloose straps. Do you think that the corporal would excuse me on your\naccount if he saw me so untidy?\"\n\nBut the soldier had a friend on the other side of the town who was a\nsmith. He marched straight[Pg 78] off to him with the Devil in his\nknapsack, and said, \"Old friend, please beat my knapsack soft on your\nanvil. The corporal always scolds me because he says that my knapsack\nis as hard and angular as a dry bast shoe.\"\n\n\"Pitch it on the anvil,\" said the smith.\n\nAnd he hammered away at the knapsack till the wool flew from the hide.\n\n\"Won't that do?\" asked he after a while.\n\n\"No,\" said the soldier, \"harder still.\"\n\nAnd again the blows hailed on the knapsack.\n\n\"That's enough,\" said the soldier at last. \"I'll come to you again, if\nit's necessary.\"\n\nThen he took the knapsack on his shoulder, and went back to the town,\nwhere he pitched the Devil out of the knapsack in the middle of the\nstreet.\n\nThe Devil was crushed as flat as a mushroom. He could hardly stand on\nhis legs. It had never gone so ill with him before; but the soldier had\nmoney enough and to spare, and there was some left over for his heirs.\n\nWhen he died and arrived in the other world, he went to hell and\nknocked at the door.\n\nThe Devil peeped through the door to see who it was, and yelled out,\n\"No, no, you scamp, you're[Pg 79] not wanted here; you may go wherever\nyou like, but you won't get in here.\"\n\nSo the soldier went to the Old God, and told him how it had fared with\nhim. He replied, \"Stay here now; there's plenty of room for soldiers.\"\n\nSince that time the Devil has admitted no more soldiers into hell.\n\n[Pg 80]\nSECTION V\n\n_STORIES OF THE GODS, AND SPIRITS OF THE ELEMENTS_\n\nVanemuine appears in the _Kalevala_, under his Finnish name of\nV\u00e4in\u00e4m\u00f6inen, as a culture-hero, though in the first recension of the\npoem, as well as in most of the creation-myths of the Finns, the\ncreation is ascribed to him, and not to his mother, Ilmatar. He is,\nhowever, always a great musician, and in Esthonian tales usually\nappears rather in the character of a god than of a patriarch.\n\nWe read much of V\u00e4in\u00e4m\u00f6inen's playing and singing in the _Kalevala_,\nespecially in Runo 46, where he charms all nature by his playing and\nsinging, like Orpheus. In Runo 50 he is described as leaving Finland on\naccount of his authority departing at the coming of Christ; though it\nis said by an old writer that the favourite deities[Pg 81] of the Finns\nin his time were V\u00e4in\u00e4m\u00f6inen and the Virgin Mary.\n\nTHE SONG-GOD'S DEPARTURE.\n\n(Jannsen.)\n\nAll living beings gathered round Vanemuine on the Hill of Taara, and\neach received his language, according to what he could comprehend and\nretain of the song of the god. The sacred stream Ema had chosen for her\nlanguage the rustling of his garments, but the trees of the forest\nchose the rushing of his robes as he descended to the earth. Therefore\ndo we feel the presence of Vanemuine most nearly in the woods and on\nthe banks of the murmuring brooks, and then are we filled with the\nspirit of his lays. The loudest tones are heard in the wind. Some\ncreatures preferred the deep tones of the god's harp, and others the\nmelody of the strings. The singing birds, especially the nightingale\nand the lark, deemed the holy songs and melodies of the god to be the\nmost beautiful. But it fared very badly with the fishes. They stretched\ntheir heads out of the water to[Pg 82] the eyes, but kept their ears\nunder. So they saw well how Vanemuine moved his lips, and they imitated\nhim, but they remained dumb. Only man could learn all notes and\nunderstand everything; therefore his song moves the soul most deeply,\nand lifts it towards the throne of God. Vanemuine sang of the grandeur\nof heaven and the beauty of earth, of the banks of the Ema and her\nbeauty, and of the joy and sorrow of the children of men. And his song\nwas so moving that he himself began to weep bitterly, and the tears\nsank through his sixfold robe and his sevenfold vest. Then he rose\nagain on the wings of the wind, and went to the abode of God to sing\nand play.\n\nLong did his divine song linger in the mouths of the sons and daughters\nof Esthonia. When they wandered in the leafy shades of the holy forest,\nthey comprehended the gentle rustling of the trees, and the rippling of\nthe brooks filled them with joyous thoughts. The song of the\nnightingale melted their hearts, and the whistling of the larks lifted\ntheir minds to the abodes of God. Then it seemed to them as if\nVanemuine himself wandered through the creation with his harp. And thus\nhe did; and when the bards of the whole country assembled[Pg 83]\ntogether to sing, Vanemuine was always among them, though they did not\nknow him, and he ever kindled afresh in their bosoms the true fire of\nsong.\n\nIt came to pass, at one of these festivals, that a strange old maid\ntook her place among the singers. Her face was full of wrinkles, her\nchin trembled, and one foot was supported by crutches. The old woman\nbegan her song in a grating voice. She sang of her beautiful youth, the\nhappy days in the house of her parents, and the pitiful ways of the\npresent, when all joy had vanished. Then she sang of her lovers, who\ncame in hosts to woo her, and how she had repulsed them all. She\nconcluded her song with the words\u2014\n\n\"Sulev's son came here from Southland,\nFurther Kalev's son had wandered;\nSulev's son would fain have kissed me,\nKalev's son my hand had taken;\nBut I smote the son of Sulev,\nAnd in scorn the son of Kalev,\nI the fairest of the maidens.\"\n\nScarcely had the old woman finished her song, when there arose a loud\nshout of laughter among the people, which sounded far over the plain\nand was echoed back from the forest. The people sang the[Pg 84] old\nwoman's last words in derision, and their laughter was unceasing till\nthe eldest of the company stopped it with stern interference. All was\nstill around. Then an old man on a decorated seat began a magnificent\nsong, which filled all around with holy joy. But suddenly they heard a\nvoice behind him, which took up the witch's song afresh. Laughter again\narose among the ranks of people. Again the elder sternly commanded\nsilence, and those who were gathered round the old man and had heard\nhis song likewise commanded silence. Then the people were quiet once\nmore.\n\nThe old man on the throne of song now raised his voice, and the people\nlistened to him with delight. It was a genuine song, for it met with a\nresponse in all hearts, and moved their nobler being to heavenly\nthoughts. But again a loud voice rose in the throng, which took up the\nugly chant of the old woman, and again loud laughter echoed through the\nassembly. Then the old man on the throne grew angry, gazed wrathfully\ndown on the foolish throng, and immediately vanished from their eyes.\nOnly a mighty rushing and clanging was heard, so that all trembled, and\ntheir blood froze in their veins. Who was the hoary singer?[Pg 85] Was\nit not Vanemuine himself? Where had he vanished to? They talked and\nasked each other. But the singer remained invisible, and no one saw him\nagain.\n\nThis was Vanemuine's last farewell to the Esthonian people. Only a few\nminstrels now enjoy the happiness of listening to his singing and\nplaying in the far distance, and such minstrels only are able to move\ntheir brothers with the divine voice of song.\n\nIn the _Kalevala_, V\u00e4in\u00e4m\u00f6inen has neither wife nor child, but the\nEsthonians ascribe to him a foster-daughter, of whom the following\nstory is related.\n\nJUTTA.\n\n(Jannsen.)[35]\n\nOnce upon a time the God of Song wandered musing by the banks of Lake\nEndla, and his harp[Pg 86] clanged in unison with the thoughts which\nmoved his heart. There he saw a little child lying near him in the\ngrass, which stretched out its hands to him. He looked round everywhere\nfor the child's mother, but she was nowhere to be seen. So he lifted up\nthe beautiful little girl, and went to Taara, and begged him to give\nhim the child as his own. Ukko consented, and as he gazed graciously at\nhis daughter, her eyes shone like stars, and her hair glittered like\nbright gold.\n\nUnder the divine protection the child grew up from the tender infant to\nthe maiden Jutta. The God of Song taught her the sweet art of speech,\nand Ilmarine wrought the girl a veil, wondrously woven of silver\nthreads. He who gazed through her veil saw everything of which the\nmaiden spoke as if it were passing before his eyes. She is said to have\ndwelt by the Lake of Endla, where she was often seen, planning the\nflights of the birds of passage, and showing them the way; and also\nwhen she[Pg 87] wandered by the shores of the lake, and wept for the\ndeath of Endla,[36] her beloved. But she took the wonderful veil, and\ngazed upon the happy past, and then was she happy, for she thought she\npossessed what her eyes saw. She has also lent her veil to mortal men,\nand then it is that the songs and legends of the past become living to\nus.\n\nWe will now proceed to stories relative to the nature-spirits,\ncommencing with those of the water, who are both numerous and powerful\namong the Finns and Esthonians. Other stories concerning them will be\nfound in different parts of the book.\n\nTHE TWELVE DAUGHTERS.\n\n(Kreutzwald.)\n\nOnce upon a time there lived a poor labourer who had twelve daughters,\namong whom were two pairs of twins. They were all charming girls,\nhealthy, ruddy, and well made. The parents were very poor, and the\nneighbours could not understand how[Pg 88] they managed to feed and\nclothe so many children. Every day the children were washed and their\nhair combed, and they always wore clean clothes, like Saxon children.\nSome thought that the labourer had a treasure-bringer, who brought him\nwhatever he wanted;[37] others said that he was a sorcerer, and others\nthought he was a wizard who knew how to discover hidden treasures in\nthe whirlwind. But the real explanation was very different. The\nlabourer's wife had a secret benefactress who fed and washed and combed\nthe children.\n\nWhen the mother was a girl, she lived in service at a farmhouse, where\nshe dreamed for three nights running that a noble lady came towards\nher, and desired her to go to the village spring on St. John's Eve.\nPerhaps she would have forgotten all about the dream; but on St. John's\nEve she heard a small voice like the buzzing of a gnat always singing\nin her ear, \"Go to the spring, go to the spring, whence trickle the\nwatery streams of your good fortune!\" Although she could not listen to\nthis secret summons without a shudder, yet she fortified her heart at\nlength, and leaving the other maidens,[Pg 89] who were amusing\nthemselves with the swing and round the fire, she went to the spring.\nThe nearer she came, the more her heart failed her, and she would have\nturned back if the gnat-like voice had allowed her any rest; but it\ndrove her unwillingly onwards. When she reached the spot, she saw a\nlady in white robes sitting on a stone by the spring. When the lady\nperceived the girl's alarm, she advanced a few steps to meet her, and\noffered her her hand, saying, \"Fear nothing, dear child; I will do you\nno harm. Give good heed to what I tell you, and remember it. In the\nautumn you will be sought in marriage. Your bridegroom will be as poor\nas yourself; but do not concern yourself about this, and accept his\noffered brandy.[38] As you are both good people, I will bring you\nhappiness, and help you to get on; but do not neglect thrift and\nlabour, without which no happiness is lasting. Take this bag, and put\nit in your pocket; there is nothing in it but a few milk-can\npebbles.[39] When you have given birth to your first child, throw a\npebble into the well, and I will come[Pg 90] to see you. When the child\nis baptized, I will be the sponsor. Let no one know of our nocturnal\nmeeting. For the present I say farewell.\" At these words the wonderful\nstranger vanished from the girl's eyes as suddenly as if she had sunk\ninto the ground. Very likely the girl might have thought that this\nadventure was a dream too, if the bag in her hand had not testified to\nits reality: it contained twelve stones.\n\nThe prediction was fulfilled, and the girl was married in the autumn to\na poor labourer. Next year the young wife gave birth to her first\nchild, and remembering what had happened to her on St. John's Eve, she\nrose secretly from her bed, and threw a pebble into the well. It\nsplashed into the water, and immediately the friendly white-robed lady\nstood before her, and said, \"I thank you for not forgetting me. Take\nthe child to be baptized on Sunday fortnight, and I will come to church\ntoo, and stand sponsor.\"\n\nWhen the child was brought into church on the appointed day, an unknown\nlady entered, who took it on her lap and had it baptized. When this was\ndone, she tied a silver rouble in the child's swaddling clothes, and\ngave it back to the mother. The same thing happened at the birth of\neach successive child, until there were twelve. On the birth of the\nlast[Pg 91] child, the lady said to the mother, \"Henceforward you will\nsee me no more, though I shall invisibly watch over you and your\nchildren daily. The water of the well will benefit the children more\nthan the best food. When the time comes for your daughters to marry,\nyou must give each the rouble which I brought as their godmother's\ngift. Until then, do not let them dress finely, but let them wear clean\ndresses and clean linen both on week-days and Sundays.\"\n\nThe children grew and throve so well that it was a delight to see them.\nThere was plenty of bread in the house, though sometimes little else,\nbut both parents and children seemed to be chiefly strengthened by the\nwater of the well. In due time the eldest daughter was married to the\nson of a prosperous innkeeper. Although she brought him nothing beyond\nher most needful clothing, yet a bridal chest was made, and her clothes\nand her godmother's rouble put into it. But when the men lifted the\nchest into the cart, they found it so heavy that they thought it must\nbe full of stones, for the poor labourer could not have given his\ndaughter anything of value. But great was the young bride's amazement\nwhen she opened the chest in her husband's house and found it filled\nwith pieces of linen,[Pg 92] and at the bottom a leathern purse\ncontaining a hundred silver roubles. The same thing happened after\nevery fresh marriage, and the daughters were soon all betrothed when it\nbecame known that each received such a bridal portion.\n\nOne of the sons-in-law was a very avaricious man, and was not satisfied\nwith his wife's bridal portion. He thought that the parents themselves\nmust be possessed of great riches, if they could bestow so much on each\ndaughter. So he went one day to his father-in-law, and began to pester\nhim about his supposed treasure. The labourer told him the exact truth.\n\"I have nothing but my body and soul, and could not give my daughters\nanything but the chests. I have nothing to do with what each found in\nher chest. It is the gift of the godmother, who gave each of the\nchildren a rouble at her christening, and this has multiplied itself in\nthe chests.\" The avaricious son-in-law would not believe him, and\nthreatened to denounce the old man as a wizard and wind-sorcerer, who\nhad amassed a large treasure in this manner. But as the labourer had a\nclear conscience, he did not fear his son-in-law's threats. The latter,\nhowever, actually made his complaint to the authorities, and the court\nsent for the other sons-in-law of[Pg 93] the labourer, and inquired\nwhether each of their brides had received the same portion. The men\ndeclared that each had received a chest of linen and a hundred silver\nroubles. This caused great surprise, for the whole neighbourhood knew\nthat the labourer was a poor man, and had no other treasure but his\ntwelve pretty daughters. The people knew that the daughters had always\nworn clean white linen from their earliest years, but nobody had seen\nthem wear any other ornaments, neither brooches nor coloured\nneckerchiefs. The judge now determined to investigate this wonderful\naffair more closely, and to find out whether the old man was really a\nsorcerer.\n\nOne day the judge left the town, attended by his police. They wished to\nsurround the labourer's house with guards, so that no one could get out\nand carry away the treasure. The avaricious son-in-law accompanied them\nas guide. When they reached the wood in which the labourer's house\nstood, guards were posted on all sides, with strict orders not to allow\nany one to pass till the matter had been fully investigated. The rest\nleft their horses behind, and followed the footpath to the cottage. The\nson-in-law warned them to advance slowly and silently, for fear the\nsorcerer might see them coming[Pg 94] and escape on the wings of the\nwind. They had already nearly reached the cottage, when they were\nsuddenly dazzled by the wonderful splendour which shone through the\ntrees. As they advanced, a large and splendid palace became visible. It\nwas entirely built of glass, and illuminated by hundreds of tapers,\nalthough the sun shone, and the day was perfectly light. Two sentries\nstood at the door, wholly cased in brazen armour, and holding long\ndrawn swords in their hands. The officials did not know what to make of\nit, and everything looked more like a dream than reality. Then the door\nopened, and a young man gaily attired in silken garments, came forth\nand said, \"Our queen has commanded that the chief-justice shall appear\nbefore her.\" Although the judge felt some alarm, he decided to follow\nthe young man into the house.\n\nWho can describe the splendour which he beheld! In a magnificent hall\nas large as a church sat a lady enthroned, robed in silk, satin, and\ngold. Some feet lower sat twelve beautiful princesses on smaller golden\nseats. They were dressed as magnificently as the queen, except that\nthey wore no golden crowns. On both sides stood numerous attendants,\nall in bright silken attire and with golden necklaces. When the chief\njudge came forward bowing, the[Pg 95] queen demanded, \"Why have you\ncome out to-day with a host of police, as if you were about to arrest\ncriminals?\" The judge was about to answer, but terror stopped his\nutterance and he could not speak a word. \"I know the base lying\ncharges,\" continued the queen, \"for nothing is concealed from my eyes.\nLet the false accuser enter, but chain him hand and foot, and I will\npronounce just sentence. Let the other judges and attendants enter too,\nthat the matter may be done publicly, and that they may bear witness\nthat no one suffers injustice here.\" One of the servants hastened out\nto fulfil the order, and after some time the accuser was led in,\nchained hand and foot, and guarded by six soldiers in armour. The\nremaining judges and attendants followed. Then the queen addressed the\nassembly.\n\n\"Before I pronounce the well-deserved sentence on the offender, I must\nbriefly explain the real state of the case. I am the most powerful Lady\nof the Waters, and all the springs of water which rise from the earth\nare subject to my authority.[40] The eldest son of the King of the\nWinds was my lover, but as[Pg 96] his father would not allow him to\ntake a wife, we were obliged to keep our marriage secret as long as his\nfather lived.[41] As I could not venture to bring up my children at\nhome, I exchanged them with the children of the labourer's wife, as\noften as she was confined. The labourer's children were reared as\nfoster-children by my aunt, and whenever one of the labourer's\ndaughters was about to marry, another change was effected.\n\n\"Each time, on the night before the wedding, I had my daughter carried\naway, and that of the labourer substituted. The old King of the Winds\nhad been lying ill for a long time, and knew nothing of our\nproceedings. On the christening-day I gave each child a silver rouble\nto form the marriage portion in her bridal chest. All the sons-in-law\nwere satisfied with their young wives and with what they brought them,\nexcept this avaricious scoundrel whom you see before you in chains, who\ndared to bring false accusations against his father-in-law, in hopes of\nenriching himself thereby. The old King of the[Pg 97] Winds died a\nfortnight ago, and my consort succeeded to the throne. It is no longer\nnecessary for us to conceal our marriage and our children. Here sit my\ntwelve daughters, and their foster-parents, the labourer and his wife,\nshall dwell with me as my pensioners till their death. But you,\nworthless scamp, whom I have put in chains, shall also receive your\njust reward. You shall sit chained in a mountain of gold, so that your\ngreedy eyes shall ever behold the gold without your being able to touch\na particle. For seven hundred years you shall endure this torment\nbefore death shall have power to bring you rest. This is my decree.\"\n\nWhen the queen had finished speaking, a noise was heard like a violent\nclap of thunder; the earth quaked, and the magistrates and their\nservants fell down stunned. When they recovered their senses, they\nfound themselves in the wood to which their guide had led them, but on\nthe spot where the palace of glass had stood in all its splendour,\nclear cold water now gushed forth from a small spring. Nothing more was\never heard of the labourer, his wife, or his avaricious son-in-law. The\nwidow of the latter married another husband in the autumn, and lived\nhappily with him for the rest of her life.\n\n[Pg 98]\nTHE FOUR GIFTS OF THE WATER-SPRITE.\n\n(Jannsen.)\n\nFour boys were playing one Sunday on the banks of Lake Peipus, when the\nwater-spirit appeared to them in the form of an old man with long grey\nhair and beard, and gave each of them a present\u2014a boat, a hammer, a\nploughshare, and a little book. As they grew up, one became a smith,\nanother a fisherman, another a farmer, and the last a great king, who\nconquered the Danes and Swedes.\n\nAfter this story, of which we have only given a brief abstract, we\nplace another, descriptive of the dwellings of the lake-spirits.\n\nTHE LAKE-DWELLERS.[42]\n\n(Jannsen.)\n\nMany years ago a man was driving over a lake with his little son before\nthe ice was properly[Pg 99] formed. It broke, and they all sank in the\nwater, when an old man with silver-grey hair came up, and upbraided\nthem for breaking through the winter roof of his palace. He told the\nman that he must stay with him, but he would give him a grey horse and\na sledge with golden runners, that he might drive about under the ice\nin autumn, and make a noise to warn others that it was unsafe until\nFather Taara had strengthened it sufficiently. But he would help the\nboy and the horse above the ice, for they were not to blame. When the\nwater-god had brought them from under the ice, he told the boy to go\nhome, and not to mourn for his father, who would be very happy under\nthe water, and to be careful not to drop anything out of the sledge. On\nreaching home, he found two lumps of ice in the sledge, and threw them\nout, but when they struck against a stone and did not break, he\ndiscovered that they were lumps of pure silver. He had now plenty to\nlive upon comfortably; but every autumn when the lake was covered with\nyoung ice, he went to it, hoping to see or hear something of his\nfather. The ice often cracked and heaved just before his footsteps, as\nif his father was trying to speak to him, but there was no other\nsign.[Pg 100]\n\nMany years passed by, and the son grew old and grey. One day he went to\nthe lake as usual, and sat down sorrowfully on a stone, just where the\nriver falls into it, and great tears rolled down his cheeks. Suddenly\nhe saw, on raising his eyes, a great door of silver with golden\nlattice-work close to the mouth of the river. He rose up and went to\nit, and he had scarcely touched it when it sprang open. He hesitated a\nmoment and then entered, and found himself in a gloomy gallery of\nbronze. He went some distance, and presently reached a second door like\nthe former, but much higher. Before it stood a dwarf with a broad stone\nhat on his head and bronze armour. He wore a copper girdle round his\nwaist, and held in his hand a copper halbert about six feet long. \"I\nsuppose you have come to see your father?\" he said in a friendly\nmanner. \"Yes, indeed, my good man,\" answered the other. \"Can you not\nhelp me to see him or meet him? I am already an old man myself, and my\nlife grows ever more lonely.\" \"I must not make any promises,\" said the\ndwarf, \"and it is about time for your father to fulfil his office.\nHark, he is just driving off in his golden sledge with the grey horse,\nto warn mortals against treading incautiously on our delicate[Pg 101]\nsilver roof. But as you have once before been our guest, and have\nventured to come again, I will show you the house and grounds of the\nwater-world. None of our people are at home to-day, neither the gentry\nnor the household, so that we can go through the rooms without\ninterference.\" As he spoke he touched the door, and the old man and his\nguide entered a vast and splendid palace of crystal. There they saw a\ngreat crowd of men, women, and children walking about, or sitting\ntalking, or amusing themselves; but none of them noticed or addressed\nthe newcomers. Presently the dwarf led the old man farther into the\nhall. All the fittings were of bright gold and silver, and the floor\nwas of copper, and the farther they advanced the brighter everything\nshone, without any apparent end. At last the old man asked to turn\nback, and the dwarf said, \"It is well that you mentioned it, for a\nlittle farther on the gold shines so brilliantly that the eyes of\nmortal men cannot endure it. And there dwells our good and mighty king,\nwith his noble consort, surrounded by the bold heroes and lovely dames\nof our realm.\" \"You told me the gentry and dependants were not at\nhome,\" said the old man, \"but who were all the people who were talking\nand laughing[Pg 102] near the door, and the children who were playing\nwith all manner of costly toys of gold and silver? Don't they belong to\nyour people?\" \"Half-way indeed, but not quite,\" said the dwarf. \"They\nare, if I may be permitted to tell you, people from your world, who all\nsank into our kingdom, sooner or later. But they live a very pleasant\nlife here, and have no wish to return to your world, even if they were\npermitted. For whoever comes to our kingdom must stay with us.\" \"Must I\nstay here too?\" asked the old man startled, not knowing what\npreparations he had to make for the life below. \"Do you find our home\nso bad?\" asked the dwarf. \"But fear nothing, and don't alarm yourself.\nThis day you can go or stay, as you please. I led you in freely, and\nwill lead you out freely. But this is the first time that a mortal man\nhas been permitted to leave our abode.\" Then the old man asked, \"Shall\nI never see my father again?\" and tears stood in his eyes once more.\nThe dwarf answered, \"You would not see him again till after three\nweeks, when the ice has become strong and firm. Your father will then\nhave finished his work for the year, and can pass his time pleasantly\nwith us till another year has passed, and he must again perform his[Pg\n103] office for a month.\" \"Must he then do this work for ever, and\nremember his misfortune every year?\" asked the old man sadly. The dwarf\nanswered, \"He must perform this duty till another mortal accidentally\ndamages our roof and sinks down himself. Then is the first man released\nfrom his journeying under the young ice, and the other must henceforth\ntake the work upon himself.\"\n\nAs they were thus conversing, the old man and his guide reached the\ngate. Then they looked in each other's faces, and the dwarf gave the\nold man two rods of copper with a friendly smile, and said, \"If you\never come to this gate, and don't find me on guard, but some one whom\nyou don't know, strike these rods together, and I will do what you\nwish, as far as I can.\" Then he led his guest through the lofty gate,\nand accompanied him through the bronze passage to the outer gate, and\nopened it. Then the old man found himself standing again on the banks\nof the lake near the mouth of the river, as if he had fallen from the\nclouds. The door had vanished, but the rods in his hand showed him that\nwhat he had seen was a reality. He put them in his pocket, and wandered\nhome sunk in deep thought, and dazed like a drunken man. But here he\nfound[Pg 104] no rest or pleasure in anything. He went to the mouth of\nthe river on the lake daily for three weeks, and sat on the rock as if\nin a dream; and at last he disappeared, and never came home again.\n\nKreutzwald relates that every autumn a little grey man, who lives in\nthe \u00dclemiste j\u00e4rv, rises from it to see if the new buildings are\nsufficiently decorated. When he has finished his inspection, he returns\nto the lake; but if he was so dissatisfied as to turn his head in the\nopposite direction, evil would come on Tallin (Revel), for the\nlow-lying country would be inundated, and the town would be destroyed.\n\nThe following tales relate to beings inhabiting the sea.\n\nTHE FAITHLESS FISHERMAN.\n\n(Jannsen.)\n\nA fisherman was sleeping on the sand, by the Baltic, when a stranger\nroused him, telling him that the sea was full of fish. They fished\ntogether all day, when the boat was filled, and the stranger sent the\nfisherman to sell the fish, insisting that he[Pg 105] should bring him\nhalf the profits, and give the other half to his own wife. Next day\nthey would go fishing again. This went on day after day, and the\nstranger regularly received half the proceeds of the work, giving back\na trifle to the fisherman in return for the use of the boat and tackle.\nWhen everything was arranged, he used to disappear behind a large\nstone.\n\nThus the fisherman became rich. He built himself a cottage, and bought\na new boat, and sometimes he indulged in a glass to quench his thirst.\n\nOne day it occurred to him to give his partner less than his due; but\nnext day the results of their fishing were much smaller, and the\nstranger looked at him sorrowfully. In the evening the fisherman went\nto sell the fish, but gave his partner still less than the day before.\nNext day, when they cast the nets, they did not take a single fish, and\nthe stranger said, \"You have cheated me two days running, and now you\nmust die.\" He then threw the fisherman overboard, and two days\nafterwards his body was found on the beach and buried. As his wife\nstood weeping by his grave, a tall, strong man approached, who told her\nto dry her tears; for if he had not drowned her husband, he would\nhave[Pg 106] died on the gallows. He then gave her a bag of money,\ntelling her that her husband had gained it honestly, and that he was\nthe water-sprite. Then he disappeared, leaving the money, and the widow\nwent home and lived happily with her children.\n\nAnother curious story relative to water-sprites is that of the mermaid\nand the lord of Pahlen (Kreutzwald). The latter found the maiden\nsitting on a stone by the sea-shore, and lamenting because her father,\nthe king of the sea, compelled her to raise storms, in which many\npeople perished, in order to please the Mother of the Winds. The\nnobleman freed her from her trouble by breaking the ring with which she\nraised the storms with his teeth, and she rewarded him with two large\nbarrels of gold.\n\nThe following short stories relate to different classes of spirits of\nthe air.\n\n[Pg 107]\nTHE SPIRITS OF THE NORTHERN LIGHTS.\n\n(Jannsen.)[43]\n\nA certain nobleman was in the habit of driving away from his mansion\nevery Thursday during hard winters, and not returning till towards\nmorning. But he had strictly forbidden all his people to accompany him,\nor to receive him on his return. He himself harnessed the horse to the\nsledge, and unharnessed him when he returned. But no one was permitted\nto see the horse and carriage, and he threatened every one with death\nwho should venture into his secret stable in the evening. During the\nday he carried the stable key in his bosom, and at night he hid it\nunder his pillow.\n\nBut the nobleman's coachman heeded not the strict prohibition of his\nmaster, for he was much too anxious to know where his master went every\nThursday, and what the horse and carriage were like. So he contrived\none Thursday to get into the stable, and he hid himself in a dark\ncorner near the door.[Pg 108]\n\nHe had not long to wait before his master came and opened the door. All\nat once it became as light as if many candles had been kindled in the\ngreat stable. The coachman crouched together in his corner like a\nhedgehog, for if his master had seen him, he would certainly have\nsuffered the threatened punishment.\n\nThen the master pushed the sledge forward, and it shone like a red-hot\nanvil.\n\nBut while the master went to fetch the horse, the coachman crept under\nthe sledge.\n\nThe nobleman harnessed the horse, and threw cloths over the horse and\nthe sledge, that the people about the yard should not see the wonderful\nradiance.\n\nThen the coachman crept quietly from under the sledge, and hid himself\nbehind on the runners, where by good luck his master did not notice\nhim.\n\nWhen all was ready, the nobleman sprang into the sledge, and they went\noff so rapidly that the runners of the sledge resounded, always due\nnorth. After some hours, the coachman saw that the cloths were gone\nfrom the horse and sledge, which shone again like fire.\n\nNow, too, he perceived that ladies and gentlemen[Pg 109] were driving\nup from all directions with similar sledges and horses. That was a rush\nand rattle! The drivers rushed past each other as though it was for a\nvery heavy wager, or as if they were on their wedding journey. At last\nthe coachman perceived that their course lay above the clouds, which\nstretched below them like smooth lakes.\n\nAfter a time, the racers fell more and more behind, and the coachman's\nmaster said to his nearest companion, \"Brother, the other spirits of\nthe Northern Lights are departing. Let us go too!\"\n\nThen the master and coachman drove fast home. Next day people said they\nhad never seen the Northern Lights so bright as the night before.\n\nThe coachman held his tongue, and trusted no one with the story of his\nnocturnal journey. But when he was old and grey he told the story to\nhis grandson, and so it became known to the people. And it was said\nthat such spirits still exist, and that when the Northern Lights flame\nin the heavens in winter they hold a wedding in the sky.\n\n[Pg 110]\nTHE SPIRIT OF THE WHIRLWIND.\n\n(Jannsen.)\n\nTwo men were walking together when they saw a haystack carried away by\nthe wind. The elder man said it was the Spirit of the Whirlwind; but\nthe other would not believe him till they saw a cloud of dust, when\nthey turned their backs to it, and the young man repeated a spell after\nthe old one. When they turned round, they saw an old grey man with a\nlong white beard, a broad flapping coat, and streaming hair,\ndevastating the woods. He took no notice of them, but the elder one\ncautioned the other not to forget to repeat the spell whenever he saw\nhim. However, he forgot it, and the whirlwind in a fury carried him\nmany miles from home, and ever afterwards persecuted him till he went\nto his friend and learned the spell again. Next time he saw the\nwhirlwind he was fishing; and on his repeating the spell, the spirit\npassed him angrily, and a great wave surged up from the river, and\nwetted the man to the skin. But after that the spirit never reappeared\nto him, and left him in peace.\n\n[Pg 111]\nTHE WILL O' THE WISPS.\n\n(Jannsen.)\n\nA farmer was driving home one winter evening from Fellin across the\nParika heath, when he suddenly saw a little blue flame on one side, and\nhis horse stopped short and would not move. It was as if he had been\nstopped by a ditch. He dismounted, and found not a ditch, but an open\npit; and he could not drive round it, because there was deep water on\nall sides. Presently he saw a light flare up like a torch, and then\nanother, till many of them were flitting about everywhere. In\nconsternation, the farmer cried out, \"Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,\nwhat's going on here tonight?\" The horse sprang forward, as if somebody\nhad stuck a pin into him, and the farmer had only just time to tumble\non the sledge, when they went off at full gallop; and the farmer could\nsay that the name of God had occurred to him just at the right time.\n\n[Pg 112]\nTHE FOUNDLING.\n\n(Jannsen.)[44]\n\nOne evening a little boy was sleeping restlessly in a village on the\nisland of Dag\u00f6. His father saw a small hole which had been bored in the\nwall, and thinking that the draught disturbed the child, he stopped it\nup. He then saw a beautiful little girl playing with the boy, and\npreventing him from sleeping quietly. As she could not get away again,\nshe remained in the house; and when the children grew up, they married,\nand had two children. One Sunday they went to church, and the wife\nlaughed; but when her husband asked why, she replied that she would\ntell him if he told her how she came into his house. Thinking no harm,\nhe promised to tell her, as he had heard the story from his father.\nThen she told him that she saw a great horse-skin spread on the wall of\nthe church, on which the devil wrote the names of all the people who\nslept or talked in church instead of attending to the word of God. When\nit was full, he tried to stretch it with his[Pg 113] teeth, but in\ndoing so, he knocked his head against the wall and made a wry face, and\nshe laughed. When they got home, he took the wooden plug from the hole,\nand showed it to his wife, but she instantly disappeared through it and\nnever returned. The man wept himself blind, but the children grew up\nand prospered all their lives. People said their mother visited them\nsecretly and brought treasures to the house.\n\nThe next story introduces us to the Gnomes, who appear to come more\nfrequently into contact with human beings than any of the other\nnature-spirits, perhaps because their nature may be more akin to that\nof man. They are seen with more or less similar characteristics in all\nthe mining countries of Northern Europe, whether Celtic, as Ireland and\nthe Isle of Man; Teutonic, as England, Germany, and Scandinavia; or\nFinnish-Ugrian. They were well known to the old Norsemen as the\nDvergar.\n\n[Pg 114]\nTHE CAVE-DWELLERS.\n\n(Kreutzwald.)\n\nOnce upon a time a man lost his way on a stormy night between Christmas\nand New Year. He wore out his strength plunging through the deep\nsnowdrifts, until, by good luck, he found some protection from the wind\nunder a thick juniper bush. Here he resolved to pass the night, hoping\nto find his way easier by the clear light of the morning. He rolled\nhimself together like a hedgehog in his warm fur-cloak and fell asleep.\nI don't know how long he lay there before he was roused by somebody\nshaking him, and a stranger's voice said in his ear, \"Get up, farmer,\nor the snow will bury you, and you will never get out again.\" The\nsleeper pushed his head out of his fur, and opened his sleepy eyes\nwide. He saw a tall thin man before him, who carried a young fir-tree,\ntwice as high as himself, as his staff.\n\n\"Come with me,\" said the man; \"we have made a fire under the trees,\nwhere you can rest better than in this open field.\" The traveller could\nnot refuse such a friendly invitation, so he got up[Pg 115] directly,\nand walked on quickly with the stranger. The snowstorm raged so\nfuriously that they could not see a step before them, but when the\nstranger lifted his fir staff and cried with a loud voice, \"Ho there,\nmother of the snowstorm, make way!\" a broad pathway appeared before\nthem, on which no snowflakes fell. A dreadful snowstorm raged on either\nside of the wanderers and behind them, but it did not touch them. It\nappeared as if an invisible wall held back the storm on either hand.\nThe men soon reached the wood, and they had already seen the light of\nthe fire from afar off. \"What is your name?\" asked the man with the fir\nstaff, and the peasant answered, \"Hans, the son of tall Hans.\"\n\nThree men sat at the fire, clothed in white linen garments, as if it\nhad been midsummer. For thirty paces or more around them, everything\nlooked like summer; the moss was dry, the herbage was green, and the\ngrass swarmed with ants and small beetles; but afar off Hans heard the\nblasts of wind and the raging of the storm. Still stranger seemed the\nburning fire, which spread a bright light around, but threw up no\nsmoke. \"What think you, tall Hans' son? isn't this a better\nresting-place for the night than under the juniper bush in the open\nfield?\"[Pg 116] Hans assented, and thanked the stranger for bringing\nhim there. Then he took off his fur-cloak, rolled it up as a pillow for\nhis head, and lay down in the glow of the fire. The man with the fir\nstaff took his flask from under a bush and offered Hans a drink, which\ntasted most excellent, and warmed his heart. He then lay down too, and\nbegan conversing with his companions in a foreign language, of which\nHans could not understand a word; and Hans presently fell asleep.\n\nWhen he awoke, he found himself lying in a strange place, where was\nneither wood nor fire. He rubbed his eyes, and tried to recollect what\nhad happened to him the night before, and thought he must have been\ndreaming, but he could not understand how he came to be lying in quite\na strange place. A great noise resounded from a distance, and he felt\nthe ground under his feet tremble. Hans listened for some time to find\nout where the noise came from, and then determined to follow it, hoping\nto find some people. Presently he reached the entrance to a cavern,\nfrom which the noise proceeded, and where a fire was shining. When he\nentered, he found a huge smithy filled with bellows and anvils, and\nseven workmen stood round each[Pg 117] anvil. But stranger smiths were\nnot to be found in the world. They were not higher than the knee of an\nordinary man, and their heads were larger than their own bodies, and\nthey wielded hammers more than twice as large as themselves. But they\nsmote on the anvil so lustily with these huge iron hammers that the\nstrongest man could not have struck harder. The little smiths were clad\nin leathern aprons which reached from the neck to the feet; but at the\nback their bodies were as naked as God had made them. In the background\na high bench stood against the wall, on which sat Hans' friend with the\nfir staff, and looked sharply after the work of the little journeymen.\nA large can stood at his feet, from which the workmen took a drink now\nand then. The master of the smithy was no longer dressed in white, as\non the previous day, but wore a black sooty coat, and round his waist a\nleathern belt with a great buckle. Now and then he made a sign to the\nworkmen with his fir staff, for the noise was so great that no human\nvoice could have been heard. Hans was uncertain whether any one had\nnoticed him, for both master and men continued their work without\npaying any attention[Pg 118] to the stranger. After some hours, the\nlittle smiths were allowed to rest; the bellows were stopped, and the\nheavy hammers thrown on the ground. When the workmen had left, the\nmaster rose from the bench, and called to Hans to approach.\n\nOh, what riches and treasure Hans beheld there! All sorts of gold and\nsilver lay about everywhere, and glittered and gleamed before his eyes.\nHans amused himself by counting the bars of gold in a single heap, and\nhad just counted up to five hundred and seventy, when the master turned\nround and said, smiling, \"You'd better leave off, for it will take up\ntoo much time. You would do better to take some bars from the heap, for\nI will give you them as a remembrance.\"\n\nOf course Hans needed no second invitation. He grasped one of the bars\nof gold with both hands, but could not even move it, much less lift it\nfrom its place. The master laughed, and said, \"Poor delicate flea! you\ncannot carry off even the least of my treasures, so you must feast your\neyes on them instead.\" He then led Hans into another room, and through\na third, fourth, fifth, and sixth of these treasure-caverns, till they\nreached the seventh, which was as big as a large church, and, like the\nothers,[Pg 119] was crammed with heaps of gold and silver from floor to\nceiling. Hans marvelled at these immeasurable riches, which could\neasily have bought up all the kingdoms in the world, but which were now\nlying useless underground. So he asked the master, \"Why do you store up\nthese vast treasures here, where no human being can derive any benefit\nfrom the gold and silver? If these treasures came into the hands of\nmen, they would all be rich, and nobody would have to work or suffer\ndistress.\"\n\n\"It is for this very reason,\" answered the master, \"that I cannot hand\nover these treasures to mankind. The whole world would perish from\nsloth, if no one needed longer to work for his daily bread. Man is\ncreated to sustain himself by toil and thrift.\"\n\nBut Hans did not like this view of the matter, and disputed\nenergetically with the master. At last he asked him to explain how it\nwas that all this gold and silver was the property of one man and was\nleft to rust, and why the master of the treasure incessantly laboured\nto increase it when he had already such an amazing superfluity of\nriches. The master answered, \"I am not a man, although I have the form\nand appearance of one. I belong to a nobler race, which was formed by\nthe decree of the[Pg 120] Creator to rule the world.[45] By his decree,\nI must work constantly with my little companions to prepare gold and\nsilver under the earth, and every year a small portion is assigned to\nthe use of men, but not more than just sufficient for their\nnecessities. No one is allowed to receive the gift without trouble. So\nwe are obliged to pound up the gold first, and mix the grains with\nearth, clay, and sand, and they are afterwards found by chance in this\nmass, and must be diligently sought for. But, my friend, we must break\noff our conversation, for it is almost noon. If you would like to look\nat my treasures longer, stay here, and rejoice your heart with the\nglitter of gold till I come to call you to dinner.\" Thereupon he left\nHans alone.\n\nHans wandered about again from one treasure-chamber to another, and now\nand then he attempted to lift one of the smaller pieces of gold, but\nfound it quite impossible. In former times, he had often heard clever\npeople say how heavy gold was, but he would never believe it. Now,\nhowever, he learned it from his own experience. After a time the master\nreturned, but he was so much altered that Hans did not recognise him at\nfirst sight. He wore red flame-[Pg 121]coloured silken robes, richly\ndecorated with golden lace and golden fringes. He wore a broad gold\nbelt round his waist, and a gold crown adorned his head, sparkling with\njewels like stars on a clear winter's night. Instead of the fir staff,\nhe now held a small gold sceptre in his hand, which branched in such a\nway that it looked like a shoot of the great fir staff.\n\nAfter the royal master of the treasure had locked the doors of the\ntreasure-chambers and put the key in his pocket, he took Hans by the\nhand and led him from the smithy to another room where dinner was set\nout. The seats and tables were of silver, and in the midst of the room\nstood a beautiful dinner-table, with a silver chair on each side. All\nthe utensils, such as cups, dishes, plates, jugs, and mugs, were of\ngold. When the master and his guest had seated themselves at the table,\ntwelve dishes were presented in succession. The waiters were just like\nthe little men in the smithy, only that they were not naked, but wore\nclean white clothes. Their quickness and dexterity was very remarkable,\nfor although they did not appear to be provided with wings, they moved\nabout as lightly as birds. They were not tall enough to reach the\ntable, and[Pg 122] were obliged to skip up to it like fleas. Meantime\nthey held the great dishes and tureens in their hands, and were so\nskilful that they did not spill a drop of the contents. During dinner\nthe little waiters poured mead and delicate wines into the mugs, and\nhanded them to the company. The master carried on a friendly\nconversation, and explained many mysteries to Hans. Thus, when they\ncame to talk over his nocturnal meeting with Hans, he said, \"Between\nChristmas and New Year I am accustomed to amuse myself by wandering\nabout the world, to watch the doings of men, and to make myself\nacquainted with some of them. I cannot say anything very remarkable\nabout those whom I have seen and talked to. Most men live only to\ninjure and plague each other. Everybody complains more or less of\nothers. Nobody regards his own faults and failings, but lays the blame\non others for what he has done himself.\"\n\nHans tried his best to dispute the truth of these words, but his\nfriendly host made the waiters fill his glass so heedfully that his\ntongue became too heavy at last to utter another word, and he was\nequally unable to understand what his host said. Presently he fell\nasleep in his chair, and knew nothing more of what happened.[Pg 123]\n\nWhile he slept, he had wonderfully vivid dreams, in which the gold bars\nconstantly floated before him. As he felt much stronger in his dreams,\nhe took a few gold bars on his back, and easily carried them away. But\nat last his strength failed under the heavy burden, and he was obliged\nto sit down and take breath. Then he heard loud voices, which he took\nto be the singing of the little smiths, and the bright fire from their\nforges shone in his eyes. When he looked up, blinking, he saw the green\nwood around him. He was lying on the flowery herbage, and it was not\nthe forge fires, but the sun-rays which shone cheerfully on his face.\nHe shook off his drowsiness, but it was some time before he could fully\nrecall what had happened to him.\n\nAt last, when he had fully recovered his recollection, everything\nseemed so strange and wonderful to him that he could not reconcile it\nwith the ordinary course of events. Hans reflected how he had wandered\nfrom the path during a stormy winter night between Christmas and New\nYear, and what had happened to him afterwards came back to his\nrecollection. He had slept by a fire with a stranger, and next day the\nstranger, who carried a fir staff,[Pg 124] had received him as his\nguest. He had dined with him and had drunk a good deal; in short, he\nhad spent a few days in jollity and carousal. But now it was the height\nof summer all around him; there must be magic in it all. When he stood\nup, he found that he was close by the ashes of an extinguished fire,\nwhich shone wonderfully in the sun. But when he examined the place more\ncarefully, he saw that the supposed heap of ashes was fine silver dust,\nand the remaining sticks were bright gold. Oh, what luck! where could\nhe find a bag in which to carry the treasure home? Necessity is the\nmother of invention. Hans pulled off his winter fur coat, swept the\nsilver ashes together, so that not a particle was left, put the gold\nfaggots and silver ashes into the fur, and tied it together with his\nbelt like a bag, so that nothing could fall out. Although it was not a\nlarge bundle, he found it awfully heavy, so that he had to drag it\nmanfully before he could find a suitable place to hide his treasure.\n\nThus Hans became suddenly enriched by an unexpected stroke of good\nfortune, and might have bought himself an estate. But after taking\ncounsel with himself, he decided that it was better for him[Pg 125] to\nleave his old dwelling-place, and to look for a fresh one at some\ndistance, where the people did not know him. There he bought himself a\nnice piece of land, and he had still a good stock of money left over.\nThen he took to himself a wife, and lived happily like a rich man to\nthe end of his days. Before his death he told his children his secret,\nand how he had visited the master of the underground treasures, who had\nmade him rich. The story was spread about by his children and\ngrandchildren.\n\nLeaving the gnomes, we will now proceed to the wood-spirits, who may\nproperly be classed among the nature-spirits, though they are not\nexactly spirits of the elements.\n\nTHE COMPASSIONATE WOODCUTTER.\n\n(Jannsen.)\n\nThis is a story of a man who went into the forest to fell wood, but\neach tree begged for mercy in a human voice, and he desisted.\nAfterwards an old man emerged from the thicket. He had a long grey\nbeard, a shirt of birch-bark, and a coat of pine-bark, and[Pg 126] he\nthanked the woodcutter for sparing his children, and gave him a golden\nrod, which would fulfil all wishes that were not so extravagant as to\nbe impossible.\n\nIf he wanted a building erected, he was to bend the rod down three\ntimes towards an ant-hill, but not to strike it, for fear of hurting\nthe ants. If he wanted food, he must ask the kettle to prepare what he\nwanted; and if he wanted honey, he must show the rod to the bees, who\nwould bring him more than he needed, and the trees should yield sap,\nmilk, and salve. If he needed fabrics, the loom would prepare all he\nneeded. Then the old man declared himself to be the wood-god and\ndisappeared.\n\nBut the man found a quarrelsome wife at home, who abused him for\nbringing no wood, and wished that all the birch twigs in the forest\nwould turn to rods for the lazy hide. \"Let it be so,\" said the man to\nthe rod, and his wife got a sound birching.\n\nThen he ordered the ants to build him a new storehouse in the\nenclosure, and next morning it was finished. He now lived a happy life,\nand left the rod to his children; but in the third generation it fell\nto a foolish man, who began to demand all sorts of absurd and\nimpossible things. At length he[Pg 127] ordered the rod to fetch the\nsun and stars from heaven to warm his back. But although the sun did\nnot move, God sent down such hot rays from it, that the offender and\nall his house and goods were burned up, so that no trace of them was\nleft. What became of the rod is unknown, but it is thought that the\ntrees in the wood were so terrified by the fire that they have never\nspoken a word since.\n\nThere is a short Christian variant of this story (Jannsen:\nVeckenstedt), in which the woodcutter meets not Tapio, but Jesus, who\ndeprives the trees of speech. But a gentle sighing and rustling of\nleaves is still to be heard in the woods when the trees whisper\ntogether. When the first fir-tree was felled, she shed bitter tears,\nwhich hardened into resin. But her children, the fir cones, vowed to\navenge her wrongs on men, so they transformed themselves into bugs,\nwhich crept into men's houses, and still plague and torment them.\n\nOur next story is a very odd one about a hat.\n\n[Pg 128]\nTHE GOOD DEED REWARDED.\n\n(Kreutzwald.)\n\nOnce upon a time a young countryman was busy raking up his hay in the\nmeadow, when a threatening thundercloud which arose on the horizon\ncaused him to hasten with his work. He was lucky enough to complete it\nbefore the rain began, and he then turned his steps homewards. On his\nway he perceived a stranger asleep under a tree. \"He'll get his hide\npretty well soaked if I leave him asleep here,\" thought the countryman,\nso he went to the stranger, and shook him till he roused him from a\nsound sleep. The stranger stood up, and turned pale when he saw the\nadvancing thundercloud. He felt in his pocket, intending to give\nsomething to the man who had roused him, but unfortunately he found it\nempty. So he said hurriedly, \"For the present I must remain your\ndebtor, but a day will come when I shall be able to show you my\ngratitude for your kindness. Do not forget what I tell you. You will\nbecome a soldier. After you have been parted from your friends for\nyears, a day will come when you will be seized with home-[Pg\n129]sickness in a foreign country. When you look up, you will see a\ncrooked birch-tree a few steps before you. Go to this tree, knock on\nthe trunk three times, and say, 'Is the Humpback at home?' Then the\nrest will follow.\" As soon as he had finished speaking, the stranger\nhurried away and disappeared in an instant. The countryman went home\ntoo, and soon forgot his meeting with the sleeper on the road.\n\nSome time afterwards the first part of the prophecy was fulfilled, for\nthe countryman became a soldier, without his remembering anything of\nhis adventure in the wood. He had already worn the uniform of a cavalry\nregiment for four years, when he was stationed with his regiment in\nNorth Finland. It fell to the turn of our friend to bring home the\nhorses on a Whitsunday, while his jolly comrades off duty went singing\nto enjoy themselves at the inns. Suddenly the solitary groom was seized\nwith such a fit of home-sickness as he had never known before. Tears\nfilled his eyes, and charming pictures of home floated before his\nvision. Now, too, he remembered his sleeping friend in the wood, and\nhis speech. Everything came before him as plainly and distinctly as if\nit had happened only yesterday.[Pg 130] He looked up, and saw before\nhim, oddly enough, an old crooked birch-tree. More in jest than\nexpecting any result, he went up to the tree, and did what he had been\ninstructed. But the question, \"Is the Humpback at home?\" had scarcely\npassed his lips, when the stranger stood before him, and said, \"My\nfriend, it is good that you have come, for I was afraid that you had\nquite forgotten me. Isn't it true that you would be glad to be at\nhome?\" The cavalry soldier sobbed out, \"Yes.\" Then the Humpback called\ninto the tree, \"Boys, which of you can run fastest?\" A voice answered\nfrom the birch, \"Father, I can run as fast as a grouse can fly.\"\u2014\"Very\nwell, I want a quicker messenger to-day.\" A second voice answered, \"I\ncan run like the wind.\"\u2014\"I want a quicker messenger still,\" replied the\nfather. Then a third voice answered, \"I can run as fast as the thoughts\nof men.\"\u2014\"You are just to my mind. I want you now. Fill a\nfour-hundredweight sack with money, and carry it home with my friend\nand benefactor.\" Then he seized hold of the soldier's hat and cried\nout, \"Let the hat become a man, and let the man and the sack go home!\"\nThe soldier felt his hat fly off his head. He turned round to look for\nit, and found himself in his own father's room,[Pg 131] dressed like a\ncountryman as before, and the great sack of money by his side.[46]\n\nAt first he thought it was a dream, till he found that his good luck\nwas real. As nobody made any inquiries after the deserter, he began to\nthink at last that his lost hat had remained behind to do soldier's\nservice in his stead. He related the wonderful story to his children\nbefore his death, and as the money had brought him happiness and\nprosperity, he could not suppose that it had been the gift of an evil\nspirit.\n\n[Pg 132]\nSECTION VI\n\n_HEATH LEGENDS._\n\n(Jannsen.)\n\nJannsen gives the following account of heath-spirits, &c. Abstracts of\nstories not included under other headings we have appended to his\ngeneral observations.\n\nIn former days, when trees and bushes talked, animals and birds\nunderstood a wonderful language, and the Old Boy wandered about openly\nand unabashed, and wonderful things often happened on the heaths. He\nwho wished to cross a heath must keep his eyes open day and night. In\nthe daytime, indeed, no spectre dared to appear; but it often happened\nat night that people were teased and frightened on the heath. If any\none was on the heath on a summer or autumn evening, he often heard a\nrustling and tapping in the bushes, and perhaps water suddenly spurted\nout under his feet. On winter evenings, or at midnight, he saw[Pg 133]\nlittle flames dancing on the moor, and if he went towards them, they\ndisappeared suddenly, and danced up again in the distance. But if a man\nwas on the moor at night-time, he could not escape from it till\ncockcrow. If a man had to fetch anything from the heath during\nhay-harvest, he heard strange voices, or heard a bird singing with a\nhuman voice; and whoever drove across the moor in winter with a light\nsledge must have heard an invisible hand striking against the\ntree-trunks or the ice. Then you whip up your horse, and hasten across\nthe moor, if you can.\n\nJannsen also relates a story of a herd-boy who was scolding at some\ngirls who were gathering berries on the heath, and defying the devil;\nwhen he was suddenly seized by the feet and dragged down into the\nground, crying for help.\n\nTHE WONDERFUL HAYCOCK.\n\n(Jannsen.)\n\nOne autumn evening a girl was going home across a frozen heath, but\nthough she walked fast, she shivered. Presently she was pestered by a\nmoving[Pg 134] haycock without a band, which pressed upon her so\nclosely that the hay pricked her face. This continued till midnight;\nbut when a cock crew in the village, the haycock vanished, and the girl\nmade her way home exhausted, and died within a week. Since then, the\npeople say that cries for help have been heard from the heath by night.\nBut they are very particular that every haycock shall be tied with a\nband. If thus secured, no evil spirit can interfere with it.\n\nTHE MAGIC EGG.\n\n(Jannsen.)\n\nIn former days, people used to find bits of leather, and fragments of\nold gloves, shoes, and hats on the moor; but if anybody took them home,\nsome misfortune befell him. One day a man found what he thought was a\nduck's egg, and boiled and ate it; but the more he ate, the more there\nseemed to be, and he could not finish it. Next morning the portion left\nproved to be not an egg, but half his neighbour's cat.\n\n[Pg 135]\nSECTION VII\n\n_LAKE LEGENDS._\n\nAlthough Esthonia is not so distinctly a lake-country as Finland,[47]\nwhich is often called \"The Land of Ten Thousand Lakes,\" yet it is a low\nswampy country, with many small lakes besides the great Lake Peipus, on\nthe south-east, and lake stories of various kinds are numerous in\nEsthonian tales.\n\nJannsen relates that Lake Kork\u00fcll or Oiso, in the district of Fellin in\nLivonia, stands on the site of a castle, the lord of which insisted on\nmarrying his sister. He bribed a priest to perform the ceremony, but\nthe castle sank into the ground with all present, and a lake arose in\nits stead.\n\nWe add a selection of Esthonian lake-stories.\n\n[Pg 136]\nLAKE PEIPUS.\n\n(Jannsen.)\n\nIn former ages, a great and famous king named Karkus ruled over\nEsthonia. In his days, fierce bears and bison lurked in the thick\nforests, and elk and wild horses careered swiftly through the bushes.\nNo merchants had yet arrived in ships from foreign parts, nor invading\nhosts with sharp swords, to set up the cross of the Christian God, and\nthe people still lived in perfect freedom.\n\nThe palace of King Karkus was built of costly sparkling stones, and\nshone far off in the sun like gold. The palace lay near the holy\nforest, where dwelt three good white gods and three black evil ones.\nThere dwelt the king and his court. His enemies feared him greatly, but\nhis people loved him as a father.\n\nAlthough the king had gold and honour in abundance, yet one thing was\nwanting to complete his happiness, for his wife had brought him no\nchild. He promised immense gifts to the white gods if[Pg 137] they\nwould only listen to his prayer and grant his wish. And behold, after\nseven years his prayer was answered, for the queen gave birth to twins.\nOne was a boy, as bold and impetuous as his father, and one was a girl,\nwith golden hair and eyes like blue harebells, which already smiled\nfrom the cradle on her mother. The king was full of joy, and made great\nofferings to the white gods, as he had vowed. But the black gods, who\ndeemed themselves worthy of equal honour, were greatly offended at\nbeing despised by the king. So they went to the God of Death, and urged\nhim to gaze on the king's son with his evil countenance and to destroy\nhim.\n\nMeantime the boy grew rapidly, and became the delight of his parents.\nBut when he came to lisp the first word, he was struck by the evil\nglance of Death. From this hour he pined away, and at length died. But\nhis sister, who was named Rannapuura, lived and flourished like a rose,\nas the only joy of her parents.\n\nBut the hatred of the evil powers was not appeased by the partial\nrevenge which they had taken. So they contrived that when the king's\ndaughter was seven years old, she fell into the power of the wicked\nwitch Peipa. The witch carried Rannapuura[Pg 138] away to her horrible\nabode, which was in a rock beneath a lofty mountain ridge in\nIngermanland. Here the poor child was compelled to pass ten years of\nher life. But notwithstanding her hard servitude to the witch, she grew\nup to maidenhood, and no maiden in the whole world was so fair as she.\nAs the dawn shines ruddy on the borders of the horizon at daybreak and\npromises fine weather, so shone her gentle face in quiet restfulness,\nand her eyes proclaimed the angel heart in her bosom.\n\nThe king knew where his daughter was imprisoned, for a good spirit had\ninformed him, but, mighty as he was, he could accomplish nothing\nagainst the craft and malice of the witch. So he abandoned all hope of\nrescuing his daughter from this place of suffering. At length the white\ngods took pity on the king's daughter and her parents; for the king\nsought their aid continually, and made them rich offerings. But even\nthe gods did not venture to contend openly with the mighty Peipa; so\nthey sought to effect their purpose by stratagem. They secretly sent a\ndove to Rannapuura with a silver comb, a carder, a golden apple, and a\nsnow-white linen robe, and sent her this message: \"Take the gifts of\nthe white gods, and flee from your[Pg 139] prison as soon as you can.\nIf Peipa pursues you, call on the white gods, and first cast the comb\nbehind you; but if this is of no effect, drop the carder; but if this\ndoes not detain her, and she still follows on your heels, then throw\nthe apple, and lastly the robe behind you. But be very careful not to\nmake a mistake, and throw down the gifts in the right order.\"\n\nRannapuura promised the dove to obey her instructions exactly, thanked\nthe white gods for their favours, and sent the dove home.\n\nOn the first Tuesday after the new moon, Peipa jumped upon an old broom\nat midnight, as the witches are accustomed to do, both here and in\nIngermanland, every year, on the third, sixth, ninth, and twelfth new\nmoon, and thus flew away from the house. The maiden stole softly from\nher room long before dawn, and took the four gifts of the gods with her\non her way. She ran straight towards her father's castle, as swiftly as\nshe could. At mid-day, when she had already gone a good part of the\nway, she chanced to look round, and saw to her horror that the witch\nPeipa was pursuing her. In her right hand she swung a formidable bar of\niron, and she was[Pg 140] mounted on a huge cock, who was close behind\nthe princess. Then she cried aloud on the white gods, and cast the\nsilver comb behind her. Instantly the comb became a rushing river, deep\nand broad and many miles long. Peipa gazed furiously after the\nfugitive, who was running swiftly on the opposite bank of the stream,\nand soon left her far behind. But after a time, the witch found a ford\nthrough the water, hurried across, and was soon close behind the maiden\nagain. Now Rannapuura dropped the carder, and behold, a forest sprang\nup from it so thick and lofty that the witch and her hellish steed\ncould not penetrate it, and she was forced to ride round it for a whole\nday.\n\nThe unfortunate princess had now been wandering for two nights and a\nday, without tasting a morsel of bread or daring to sleep an instant.\nThen her strength failed her, and on the second day the witch was again\nclose on her heels, when she threw down the apple in her need; and this\nbecame a lofty mountain of granite. A narrow path, as if traced by a\nsnake, wound up to the summit, and showed the witch her way. Before she\ncould overcome this obstacle, another day had passed; but the princess\nhad only gone a short distance farther, for sleep had[Pg 141] closed\nher weary eyes, and when she awoke, and could see her father's castle\nin the distance at last, the witch was so close upon her that she never\nhoped to escape. In great terror she flung the linen robe on the ground\nbehind her. It fell broadside, and soon rushed forth into a vast lake,\nwhose foaming waves raged wildly round the witch. A howling storm flung\nwater and spray into the witch's face; her wickedness could not save\nher, nor could her steed, the hellish cock, escape. He raised his neck\nabove the water, thrust up his beak, and beat the water with his wings,\nbut it was all to no purpose, and he was miserably drowned. Peipa\ncalled on all the spirits of hell to aid her, with curses, but none of\nthem appeared, and she sank into the depths howling. There she lies to\nthis day in pain and torment. The pikes and other horrible creatures of\nthe depths gnaw upon her and torture her incessantly. She strikes about\nher with her hands and feet, and twists and stretches her limbs in her\ngreat distress. Thence comes it that the lake, which is named Peipus\nafter her, always rises in billows and stormy waves.\n\nRannapuura reached her father's castle in safety, and soon became the\nbride of a prince. But the king's name is still perpetuated in that of\nthe church[Pg 142] at Karkus, and the estate of Rannapungern, which\nlies north of Peipus, on the boundary between Livonia and Esthonia, is\nnamed after Rannapuura. The river which rose from the silver comb is\nthe river Pliha, with its shining waters. He who knows it now may\nunderstand its origin. It cannot run straight, but twists right and\nleft like the teeth of a double comb, unites with the Narova, and falls\nwith that river into the sea. The forest, too, remained until two\nhundred years ago, when the Swedes and Poles brought war into the land.\nThe Poles concealed themselves in the forest, but the Swedes set fire\nto it and burned it down. The mountain formed by the apple of the\nprincess is likewise standing, but its granite has become changed to\nsandstone.\n\nTHE LAKE AT EUSEK\u00dcLL.\n\n(Jannsen.)\n\nIn former times there was no lake at Eusek\u00fcll, for it was carried there\nfrom the district of Oiso in Esthonia. One day a great black cloud[Pg\n143] like a sack rolled up from the north, and drew up all the water\nfrom the lake of Oiso. Before the cloud ran a black bull bellowing\nangrily, and above in the cloud flew an old man crying incessantly,\n\"Lake, go to Eusek\u00fcll!\" When the bull came to Eusek\u00fcll, where the\ntavern now stands, he dug his horns into the ground, and formed two\ndeep trenches, which any one may still see to the right of the path\nwhich leads to the tavern at Kersel.\n\nThen the cloud rolled on farther, till it reached the district of\nEusek\u00fcll. All the people were making hay in the meadow, and when they\nsaw the black cloud, they hastened with their work, to bring the hay\nunder cover. Presently the cloud stood above them. First a great knife\nwith a wooden handle fell down, and next all kinds of fish, and then it\nbegan to rain heavily.\n\nThe people hurried from the field to take shelter. But one girl who had\nleft her string of beads on a haycock, and wanted to save it, neglected\nto escape. Suddenly the waves of the lake fell from above, and buried\nher beneath them. Since that time the lake at Eusek\u00fcll has been\ninhabited by a water-nymph, who requires the offering of a human life\nevery year.\n\n[Pg 144]\n\nThere are several other Esthonian tales of lakes moving from one spot\nto another.\n\nEMMU LAKE AND VIRTS LAKE.\n\n(Kreutzwald.)\n\nSoon after the Creation, Vanaisa[48] formed a beautiful lake, called\nthe Emmu Lake, which was intended to furnish men with refreshing water\nat all times, but owing to the wickedness of men, he caused all the\nwater to be absorbed by a waterspout. Now men had nothing but\nrain-water, and although rain-water and melted snow sometimes filled\nthe old Emmu Lake, it was dirty and unrefreshing, and people called it\nthe Virts Lake. But at length Vanaisa, took pity on the people, who had\nsomewhat improved, and formed narrow channels in the earth, through\nwhich the waters of the old Emmu lake flow as springs. But to prevent\ntheir being too warm in summer and too cold in winter, a cold stone is\nput into the springs in spring, and replaced by a warm one in autumn.\n\n[Pg 145]\nTHE BLUE SPRING.\n\n(Jannsen.)\n\nAt the foot of the Villina hill, near the church of Lais,[49] is a\nswamp where rises a spring of water, called from its colour the Blue\nSpring. It is said that the spring can produce rain or drought, and\nthus cause dearth or plenty. In time of drought three widows of the\nsame name must go to the spring on a Sunday during service-time, to\nclean it out and to enlarge the opening. Each must take a spade, hoe,\nrake, a cake of bread, and a hymn-book with her. But if too much rain\nfalls, the spring must be closed up to a mere crevice, and this is at\nonce efficacious.\n\nOne day three widows named Anna opened the spring too wide, when a\ndreadful rain spread over the country. Sometimes it has happened that\nwomen who were about to clean the spring have failed to finish the work\nduring church-time, and it has been fruitless. Another time the people\nwished[Pg 146] to find out how deep was the spring. They let down a\nstone with a long cord, but drew the cord up without the stone. They\nthen let down a kettle filled with stones, but, to their horror, they\ndrew up a bleeding human head instead. They were about to make another\ntrial, when a voice cried from the depths, \"If you attempt this again,\nyou will all sink!\" So the depth of the Blue Spring is still unknown.\n\nTHE BLACK POOL.\n\n(Jannsen.)\n\nIn time of war, a rich lord tried to escape from the country with his\nfamily and goods in a coach drawn by six horses. In their haste, the\nhorses swerved from the path, and all were lost in a deep lake of black\nwater. Since that time it has been haunted, and sometimes a black dog\ntries to entice boys in, or cats and birds are seen about it. One day a\nman was walking by the pool when his leg was seized, and he was dragged\ndown, but he contrived to seize a bush of juniper, and saved him[Pg\n147]self.[50] Then he saw some maidens sporting in the water like white\nswans; but presently they vanished. One day a fisherman caught a black\ntail-less pike, when the voice of the old nobleman was heard asking,\n\"Are all the swine safe?\" And another voice answered, \"The old\ntail-less boar is missing.\" Many people, too, have seen a great hoop\nfrom a coach-wheel, as sharp as the edge of an axe, rise from the\nwater.\n\n[Pg 148]\nSECTION VIII\n\n_STORIES OF THE DEVIL AND OF BLACK MAGIC._\n\nStories relating to the Devil are very frequent in Esthonian\nliterature, and notwithstanding the universal notion that you sell\nyourself to him by giving him three drops of your blood, or by signing\na compact with your blood, yet many stories of this class are evidently\npre-Christian. He is generally represented as a buffoon, and easily\noutwitted. Further particulars respecting him will be found in the\nIntroduction. The stories incidentally referred to in this section of\nour work are mostly related by Jannsen.\n\nAs regards sorcery, the Esthonians appear to have regarded the Finns,\nand the Finns the Lapps, as proficient in magic, each people\nattributing most skill to those living north of themselves. However, it\nshould be mentioned that there is a ballad in the Finnish _Kanteletar_\nin which the sun and moon are[Pg 149] represented as stolen by German\nand Esthonian sorcerers. In the _Kalevala_ they are stolen by Louhi,\nthe witch-queen of Lapland.\n\nThe first story of this series, \"The Son of the Thunder-God,\"\nrepresents this demigod as actually selling his soul to the Devil, and\ntricking the Devil out of it. The Thunder-God is here called Paristaja,\nand also Vana K\u00f5u; but in other tales he is usually called Pikne, and\nis no doubt identical with the Perkunas of the Lithuanians. In this\nstory the Devil is called Kurat, the Evil One; and also Vanapois (the\nOld Boy), as in other tales.\n\nThe primitive manner in which the undutiful son tickles the nose of his\naugust father is amusing. Vana (old) seems to be a term of respect\napplied to gods and devils alike.\n\nTHE SON OF THE THUNDER-GOD.[51]\n\n(Kreutzwald.)\n\nOnce upon a time the son of the Thunder-God made a compact with the\nDevil. It was agreed that the[Pg 150] Devil was to serve him faithfully\nfor seven years, and to do everything which his master required of him,\nafter which he was to receive his master's soul as a reward. The Devil\nfulfilled his part of the bargain faithfully. He never shirked the\nhardest labour nor grumbled at poor living, for he knew the reward he\nhad to expect. Six years had already passed by, and the seventh had\nbegun; but the Thunderer's son had no particular inclination to part\nwith his soul so easily, and looked about for some trick by which he\ncould escape the necessity of fulfilling his share of the bargain. He\nhad already tricked the Devil when the compact was signed, for instead\nof signing it with his own blood, he had signed it with cock's blood,\nand his short-sighted adversary had not noticed the difference. Thus\nthe bond which the Devil thought perfectly secure was really a very\ndoubtful one. The end of the time was approaching, and the Thunderer's\nson had not yet attempted to regain his freedom, when it happened one\nday that a black cloud arose in the sky, which[Pg 151] foreboded a\nviolent thunderstorm. The Devil immediately crept down underground,\nhaving made himself a hiding-place under a stone for that purpose.\n\"Come, brother,\" said he to his master, \"and keep me company till the\ntempest is over.\" \"What will you promise me if I fulfil your request?\"\nsaid the Thunderer's son. The Devil thought they might settle this down\nbelow, for he did not like to talk over matters of business just then,\nwhen the storm was threatening to break over them at any moment. The\nThunderer's son thought, \"The Old Boy seems quite dazed with terror\nto-day, and who knows whether I may not be able to get rid of him after\nall?\" So he followed him into the cave. The tempest lasted a long time,\nand one crash of thunder followed another, till the earth quaked and\nthe rocks trembled. At every peal the Old Boy pushed his fists into his\nears and screwed up his eyes tight; a cold sweat covered his shaking\nlimbs, and he was unable to utter a word. In the evening, when the\nstorm was over, he said to the Thunderer's son, \"If your old dad did\nnot make such a noise and clatter now and then, I could get along with\nhim very well, for his arrows could not hurt me underground. But this\nhorrible clamour upsets me so[Pg 152] much that I am ready to lose my\nsenses, and hardly know what I am about. I should be willing to offer a\ngreat reward to any one who would release me from this annoyance.\" The\nThunderer's son answered, \"The best plan would be to steal the\nthunder-weapon from my old dad.\"[52] \"I'd do it if it were possible,\"\nanswered the Devil, \"but old K\u00f5u is always on the alert. He keeps watch\non the thunder-weapon day and night; and how is it possible to steal\nit?\" But the Thunderer's son still maintained that the feat was\npossible. \"Ay, if you would help me,\" cried the Devil, \"we might\nperhaps succeed, but I can't manage it by myself.\" The Thunderer's son\npromised to help him, but demanded no less a reward than that the Devil\nshould abandon his claim to his soul. \"You may keep the soul with all\nmy heart,\" cried the Devil delighted, \"if you will only release me from\nthis shocking worry and anxiety.\" Then the Thunderer's son began to\nexplain how he thought the business might be managed, if they both\nworked well together. \"But,\" he added, \"we must wait till my old dad\nagain tires himself out so much as to fall into a[Pg 153] sound sleep,\nfor he generally sleeps with open eyes, like the hares.\"\n\nSome time after this conversation, another violent thunderstorm broke\nout, which lasted a great while. The Devil and the Thunderer's son\nagain retreated to their hiding-place under the stone. Terror had so\nstupefied the Old Boy, that he could not hear a word of what his\ncompanion said. In the evening they both climbed a high mountain, when\nthe Old Boy took the Thunderer's son on his shoulders, and began to\nstretch himself out by his magic power higher and higher, singing\u2014\n\n\"Higher, brother, higher,\nTo the Cloudland nigher,\"\n\ntill he had grown up to the edge of the clouds. When the Thunderer's\nson peeped over the edge of the clouds, he saw his father K\u00f5u sleeping\nquietly, with his head resting on a pillow of clouds, but with his\nright hand resting across the thunder-instrument. He could not seize\nthe weapon, for he would have roused the sleeper by touching his hand.\nThe Thunderer's son now crept from the Devil's shoulder along the\nclouds as stealthily as a cat, and taking a louse from behind his own\near, he set it on his father's nose. The old man raised his hand to[Pg\n154] scratch his nose, when his son grasped the thunder-weapon, and\njumped from the clouds on to the back of the Devil, who ran down the\nmountain as if fire was burning behind him, and he did not stop till he\nreached P\u00f5rgu. Here he hid the stolen property in an iron chamber\nsecured by seven locks,[53] thanked the Thunderer's son for his\nfriendly aid, and relinquished all claims upon his soul.\n\nBut now a misfortune fell upon the world and men which the Thunderer's\nson had not foreseen, for the clouds no longer shed a drop of moisture,\nand everything withered away with drought.[54] \"If I have thoughtlessly\nbrought this unexpected misery on the people,\" thought he, \"I must try\nto repair the mischief as best I can.\" So he travelled north to the\nfrontiers of Finland, where a noted sorcerer lived, and told him the\nwhole story, and where the thunder-weapon was now hidden. Then said the\nsorcerer, \"First of all, you must tell your old father K\u00f5u where the\nthunder-weapon is hidden, and he will be able to find means for\nrecovering his property himself.\" And he sent the Eagle of[Pg 155] the\nNorth to carry the tidings to the old Father of the Clouds. Next\nmorning K\u00f5u himself called upon the sorcerer to thank him for having\nput him on the track of the stolen property. Then the Thunderer changed\nhimself into a boy, and offered himself to a fisherman as a summer\nworkman. He knew that the Devil often came to the lake to catch fish,\nand he hoped to encounter him there. Although the boy Pikker watched\nthe net day and night, it was some time before he caught sight of his\nenemy. It often happened to the fisherman that when he left his nets in\nthe lake at night, they had been emptied before the morning, but he\ncould not discover the cause. The boy knew very well who stole the\nfish, but he would not say anything about it till he could show his\nmaster the thief.\n\nOne moonlight night, when the fisherman and the boy came to the lake to\nexamine the nets, they found the thief at work. When they looked into\nthe water over the side of their boat, they saw the Old Boy taking the\nfishes from the meshes of the net and putting them into a bag over his\nshoulder. Next day the fisherman went to a celebrated sorcerer and\nasked him to use his magic to cause the thief to fall into the net, and\nto enchant him so that he could[Pg 156] not escape without the owner's\nconsent. This was arranged just as the fisherman wished. Next day, when\nthe net was drawn up, they drew up the Devil to the surface and brought\nhim ashore. And what a drubbing he received from the fisherman and his\nboy; for he could not escape from the net without the consent of the\nsorcerer. The fisherman gave him a ton's weight of blows on the body,\nwithout caring where they fell. The Devil soon presented a piteous\nsight, but the fisherman and his boy felt no pity for him, but only\nrested awhile, and then began their work afresh. Entreaties were\nuseless, and at last the Devil promised the fisherman the half of all\nhis goods if he would only release him from the spell. But the enraged\nfisherman would listen to nothing till his own strength failed so\ncompletely that he could no longer move his stick. At length, after a\nlong discussion, it was arranged that the Old Boy should be released\nfrom the net with the sorcerer's aid, and that the fisherman and his\nboy should accompany the Devil to receive his ransom. No doubt he hoped\nto get the better of them by some stratagem.\n\nA grand feast was prepared for the guests in the hall of P\u00f5rgu, which\nlasted for a whole week, and[Pg 157] there was plenty of everything.\nThe aged host exhibited his treasures and precious hoards to his\nvisitors, and made his players perform before the fisherman in their\nvery best style. One morning the boy Pikker said to the fisherman, \"If\nyou are again feasted and f\u00eated to-day, ask for the instrument which is\nin the iron chamber behind seven locks.\" The fisherman took the hint,\nand in the middle of the feast, when everybody was half-seas over, he\nasked to see the instrument in the secret chamber. The Devil was quite\nwilling, and he fetched the instrument, and tried to play upon it\nhimself. But although he blew into it with all his strength, and\nshifted his fingers up and down the pipe, he was not able to bring a\nbetter tone from it than the cry of a cat when she is seized by the\ntail, or the squeaking of a decoy-pig at a wolf-hunt. The fisherman\nlaughed, and said, \"Don't give yourself so much trouble for nothing. I\nsee well enough that you'll never make a piper. My boy can manage it\nmuch better.\" \"Oho,\" said the Devil, \"you seem to think that playing\nthis instrument is like playing the flageolet, and that it is mere\nchild's play. Come, friend, try it; but if either you or your boy can\nbring anything like a tune out of the[Pg 158] instrument, I won't be\nprince of hell any longer. Only just try it,\" said he, handing the\ninstrument to the boy. The boy Pikker took the instrument, but when he\nput it to his mouth and blew into it, the walls of hell shook, and the\nDevil and his company fell senseless to the ground and lay as if dead.\nIn place of the boy the old Thunder-god himself stood by the fisherman,\nand thanked him for his aid, saying, \"In future, whenever my instrument\nis heard in the clouds, your nets will be well filled with fish.\" Then\nhe hastened home again.\n\nOn the way his son met him, and fell on his knees, confessing his\nfault, and humbly asking pardon. Then said Father K\u00f5u, \"The frivolity\nof man often wars against the wisdom of heaven, but you may thank your\nstars, my son, that I have recovered the power to annihilate the traces\nof the suffering which your folly has brought on the people.\" As he\nspoke, he sat down on a stone, and blew into the thunder-instrument\ntill the rain-gates were opened, and the thirsty earth could drink her\nfill. Old K\u00f5u took his son into his service, and they live together\nstill.\n\nIn our next story we shall see the Devil and his[Pg 159] companions\noverreaching themselves in a manner worthy of the _Ingoldsby Legends_,\nwhile in the Polyphemus story already referred to under Cosmopolitan\nTales we find the Devil blinded and perishing miserably.\n\nTHE MOON-PAINTER.\n\n(Jannsen.)\n\nWhen the Lord God had created the whole world, the work did not turn\nout so complete as it ought to have done, for there was an\ninsufficiency of light. In the daytime the sun pursued his course\nthrough the firmament, but when he sank at evening, when the evening\nglow faded into twilight, and all grew dark, thick darkness covered\nheaven and earth, until the morning redness took the dawn from the hand\nof the evening glow and heralded a new day. There was neither moonlight\nnor starlight, but darkness from sunset to sunrise.\n\nThe Creator soon perceived the deficiency, and sought to remedy it. So\nhe ordered Ilmarine[55] to[Pg 160] see that it should be light on earth\nby night as well as by day. Ilmarine listened to the command, and went\nto his forge, where he had already forged the firmament. He threw in\nsilver, and cast it into a large round ball. He covered it with thick\ngold, lighted a bright fire inside, and ordered it to proceed on its\ncourse across the sky. Then he forged innumerable stars, covered them\nthinly with gold, and fixed each in its place in the firmament.\n\nNow began a new life for the earth. The sun had hardly set, and was\nborne away by the evening glow, when the golden moon arose from the\nborders of the sky, set out on his blue path, and illuminated the\ndarkness of night just as the sun illumines the day. Around him\ntwinkled the innumerable host of stars, and accompanied him like a\nking, until at length he reached the other side of the heavens. Then\nthe stars retired to rest, the moon quitted the firmament, and the sun\nwas conducted by the[Pg 161] morning redness to his place, in order\nthat he should give light to the world.\n\nAfter this, ample light shone upon the earth from above both by day and\nby night; for the face of the moon was just as clear and bright as that\nof the sun, and his rays diffused equal warmth. But the sun often shone\nso fiercely by day that no one was able to work. Thus they preferred to\nwork under the light of the nocturnal keeper of the heavens, and all\nmen rejoiced in the gift of the moon.\n\nBut the Devil was very much annoyed at the moon, because he could not\ncarry on his evil practices in his bright light. Whenever he went out\nin search of prey, he was recognised a long way off, and was driven\nback home in disgrace. Thus it came about that during all this time he\nonly succeeded in bagging two souls.\n\nSo he sat still day and night pondering on what he could do to better\nhis prospects. At last he summoned two of his companions, but they\ncould not give him any good advice. So the three of them consulted\ntogether in care and trouble, but nothing feasible occurred to them. On\nthe seventh day they had nothing left to eat, and they sat there[Pg\n162] sighing, rubbing their empty stomachs, and racking their brains\nwith thought. At last a lucky idea occurred to the Devil himself.\n\n\"Comrades,\" he exclaimed, \"I know what we can do. We must get rid of\nthe moon, if we want to save ourselves. If there's no moon in the sky,\nwe shall be just as valiant heroes as before. We can carry out our\ngreat undertakings by the dim starlight.\"\n\n\"Shall we pull down the moon from heaven?\" asked his servants.\n\n\"No,\" said the Devil, \"he is fixed too tight, and we can't get him\ndown. We must do something more likely to succeed. The best we can do\nis to take tar and smear him with it till he's black. He may then run\nabout the sky as he pleases, but he can't give us any more trouble. The\nvictory then rests with us, and rich booty awaits us.\"\n\nThe fiendish company approved of the plan of their chief, and were all\nanxious to get to work. But it was too late at the time, for the moon\nwas just about to set, and the sun was rising. But they worked\nzealously at their preparations all day till late in the evening. The\nDevil went out and stole a barrel of tar, which he carried to his\naccomplices[Pg 163] in the wood. Meantime, they had been engaged in\nmaking a long ladder in seven pieces, each piece of which measured\nseven fathoms. Then they procured a great bucket, and made a mop of\nlime-tree bast, which they fastened to a long handle.\n\nThen they waited for night, and as soon as the moon rose, the Devil\ntook the ladder and the barrel on his shoulder and ordered his two\nservants to follow him with the bucket and the mop. When they reached a\nsuitable spot, they filled the bucket with tar, threw a quantity of\nashes into it, and dipped in the mop. Just at this moment the moon rose\nfrom behind the wood. They hastily raised the ladder, and the Devil put\nthe bucket into the hand of one of his servants, and told him to make\nhaste and climb up, while he stationed the other under the ladder.\n\nNow the Devil and his servant were standing under the ladder to hold\nit, but the servant could not bear the weight, and it began to shake.\nThe other servant who had climbed up missed his footing on a rung of\nthe ladder, and fell with the bucket on the Devil's neck. The Devil\nbegan to pant and shake himself like a bear, and swore frightfully. He\npaid no more attention to the ladder, and[Pg 164] let it go, so it fell\non the ground with a thundering crash, and broke into a thousand\npieces.\n\nWhen the Devil found that his work had prospered so ill, and that he\nhad tarred himself all over instead of the moon, he grew mad with rage\nand fury. He washed and scoured and scraped himself, but the tar and\nsoot stuck to him so tight that he keeps his black colour to the\npresent day.\n\nBut although the first experiment had failed, the Devil would not give\nup his plan. Next day he stole seven more ladders, bound them firmly\ntogether, and carried them to the edge of the wood where the moon\nstands lowest. In the evening, when the moon rose, the Devil planted\nthe ladder firmly on the ground, steadied it with both hands, and sent\nthe other servant up to the moon, cautioning him to hold very tight and\nbeware of slipping. The servant climbed up as quickly as possible with\nthe bucket, and arrived safely at the last rung of the ladder. Just\nthen the moon rose from behind the wood in regal splendour. Then the\nDevil lifted up the whole ladder, and carried it hastily to the moon.\nWhat a great piece of luck! It was really just so long that its end\nreached the moon.\n\nThen the Devil's servant set to work in earnest.[Pg 165] But it's not\nan easy task to stand on the top of such a ladder and to tar the moon's\nface over with a mop. Besides, the moon didn't stand still at one\nplace, but went on his appointed course steadily. So the servant tied\nhimself to the moon with a rope, and being thus secure from falling, he\ntook the mop from the bucket, and began to blacken the moon first on\nthe back. But the thick gilding of the pure moon would not suffer any\nstain. The servant painted and smeared, till the sweat ran from his\nforehead, until he succeeded at last, with much toil, in covering the\nback of the moon with tar. The Devil below gazed up at the work with\nhis mouth open, and when he saw the work half finished he danced with\njoy, first on one foot, and then on the other.\n\nWhen the servant had blackened the back of the moon, he worked himself\nround to the front with difficulty, so as to destroy the lustre of the\nguardian of the heavens on that side also. He stood there at last,\npanted a little, and thought, when he began, that he would find the\nfront easier to manage than the other side. But no better plan occurred\nto him, and he had to work in the same way as before.\n\nJust as he was beginning his work again, the[Pg 166] Creator woke up\nfrom a little nap. He was astonished to see that the world had become\nhalf black, though there was not a cloud in the sky. But, when he\nlooked more sharply into the cause of the darkness, he saw the Devil's\nservant perched on the moon, and just dipping his mop into the bucket\nin order to make the front of the moon as black as the back. Meantime\nthe Devil was capering for joy below the ladder, just like a he-goat.\n\n\"Those are the sort of tricks you are up to behind my back!\" cried the\nCreator angrily. \"Let the evil-doers receive the fitting reward of\ntheir offences. You are on the moon, and there you shall stay with your\nbucket for ever, as a warning to all who would rob the earth of its\nlight. My light must prevail over the darkness, and the darkness must\nflee before it. And though you should strive against it with all your\nstrength, you would not be able to conquer the light. This shall be\nmade manifest to all who gaze on the moon at night, when they see the\nblack spoiler of the moon with his utensils.\"\n\nThe Creator's words were fulfilled. The Devil's servant still stands in\nthe moon to this day with his bucket of tar, and for this reason the\nmoon[Pg 167] does not shine so brightly as formerly. He often descends\ninto the sea to bathe, and would like to cleanse himself from his\nstains, but they remain with him eternally. However bright and clear he\nshines, his light cannot dispel the shadows which he bears, nor pierce\nthrough the black covering on his back. When he sometimes turns his\nback to us, we see him only as a dull opaque creature, devoid of light\nand lustre. But he cannot bear to show us his dark side long. He soon\nturns his shining face to the earth again, and sheds down his bright\nsilvery light from above; but the more he waxes, the more distinct\nbecomes the form of his spoiler, and reminds us that light must always\ntriumph over darkness.\n\nIn the following narrative we have a horrible story of black magic,\nwhich, however, is extremely interesting as showing the prevalence of\nfetishism, which probably preceded the worship of the powers of nature\namong the Finns and Esthonians. The Kratt seems originally to have been\nnothing worse than Tont, the house-spirit, who robbed the neighbours\nfor the benefit of his patrons, and it is probably only after the\nintroduction of Christianity that he assumed the[Pg 168] diabolical\ncharacter attributed to him in the present story.\n\nTHE TREASURE-BRINGER.\n\n(Jannsen.)\n\nOnce upon a time there lived a young farmer whose crops had totally\nfailed. His harvest had been spoiled, his hay parched up, and all his\ncattle died, so that he was unable to perform his lawful obligations to\nhis feudal superior. One Sunday he was sitting at his door in great\ntrouble, just as the people were going to church. Presently Michel, an\nold fellow who used to wander about the country, came up. He had a bad\nreputation; people said that he was a wizard, and that he used to suck\nthe milk from the cows, to bring storms and hail upon the crops, and\ndiseases upon the people. So he was never allowed to depart without\nalms when he visited a farm.\n\n\"Good day, farmer,\" said Michel, advancing.\n\n\"God bless you,\" answered the other.\n\n\"What ails you?\" said the old man. \"You are looking very miserable.\"[Pg\n169]\n\n\"Alas! everything is going with me badly enough. But it is a good thing\nthat you have come. People say that you have power to do much evil, but\nthat you are a clever fellow. Perhaps you can help me.\"\n\n\"People talk evil of others because they themselves are evil,\" answered\nthe old man. \"But what is to be done?\"\n\nThe farmer told him all his misfortunes, and Michel said, \"Would you\nlike to escape from all your troubles, and to become a rich man all at\nonce?\"\n\n\"With all my heart!\" cried the other.\n\nOld Michel answered, with a smile, \"If I were as young and strong as\nyou, and if I had sufficient courage to face the darkness of night, and\nknew how to hold my tongue, I know what I'd do.\"\n\n\"Only tell me what you know. I will do anything if I can only become\nrich, for I am weary of my life at present.\"\n\nThen the old man looked cautiously round on all sides, and then said in\na whisper, \"Do you know what a Kratt is?\"\n\nThe farmer was startled, and answered, \"I don't know exactly, but I\nhave heard dreadful tales about it.\"[Pg 170]\n\n\"I'll tell you,\" said the old man. \"Mark you, it is a creature that\nanybody can make for himself, but it must be done so secretly that no\nhuman eye sees it. Its body is a broomstick, its head a broken jug, its\nnose a piece of glass, and its arms two reels which have been used by\nan old crone of a hundred years. All these things are easy to procure.\nYou must set up this creature on three Thursday evenings at a\ncross-road, and animate it with the words which I will teach you. On\nthe third Thursday the creature will come to life.\"\n\n\"God preserve us from the evil one!\" cried the farmer.\n\n\"What! you are frightened? Have I told you too much already?\"\n\n\"No, I'm not frightened at all. Go on.\"\n\nThe old man continued, \"This creature is then your servant, for you\nhave brought him to life at a cross-road. Nobody can see him but his\nmaster. He will bring him all kinds of money, corn, and hay, as often\nas he likes, but not more at once than a man's burden.\"\n\n\"But, old man, if you knew all this, why haven't you yourself made such\na useful treasure-carrier, instead of which you have remained poor all\nyour life?\"[Pg 171]\n\n\"I have been about to do it a hundred times, and have made a beginning\na hundred times, but my courage always failed me. I had a friend who\npossessed such a treasure-carrier, and often told me about it, but I\ncould not screw up courage to follow his example. My friend died, and\nthe creature, left without a master, lived in the village for a long\ntime, and wrought all manner of tricks among the people. He once tore\nall a woman's yarn to pieces; but when it was discovered, and they were\ngoing to remove it, they found a heap of money underneath. After this\nno more was seen of the creature. At that time I should have been glad\nenough to have a treasure-bringer, but I am now old and grey, and think\nno more of it.\"\n\n\"I've plenty of courage,\" said the farmer; \"but wouldn't it be better\nfor me to consult the parson about it?\"\n\n\"No; you mustn't mention it to anybody, but least of all to the parson;\nfor if you call the creature to life, you sell your soul to the devil.\"\n\nThe farmer started back in horror.\n\n\"Don't be frightened,\" said the old man. \"You are sure of a long life\nin exchange, and of all your heart desires. And if you feel that your\nlast hour[Pg 172] is approaching, you can always escape from the\nclutches of the evil one, if you are clever enough to get rid of your\nfamiliar.\"[56]\n\n\"But how can this be done?\"\n\n\"If you give him a task which he is unable to perform, you are rid of\nhim for the future. But you must set about it very circumspectly, for\nhe is not easy to outwit. The peasant of whom I told you wanted to get\nrid of his familiar, and ordered him to fill a barrel of water with a\nsieve. But the creature fetched and spilled water, and did not rest\ntill the barrel was filled with the drops which hung on the sieve.\"\n\n\"So he died, without getting rid of the creature?\"\n\n\"Yes; why didn't he manage the affair better? But I have something more\nto tell you. The creature must be well fed, if he is to be kept in\ngood-humour. A peasant once put a dish of broth under the roof for his\nfamiliar, as he was in the habit of doing. But a labourer saw it, so he\nate the broth, and filled the dish with sand. The familiar came that\nnight, and beat the farmer unmercifully, and continued to do so every\nnight till he discovered the reason, and[Pg 173] put a fresh dish of\nbroth under the roof. After this he let him alone. And now you know\nall,\" said the old man.\n\nThe farmer sat silent, and at last replied, \"There is much about it\nthat is unpleasant, Michel.\"\n\n\"You asked for my advice,\" answered the old man, \"and I have given it\nyou. You must make your own choice. Want and misery have come upon you.\nThis is the only way in which you can save yourself and become a rich\nman; and if you are only a little prudent, you will cheat the devil out\nof your soul into the bargain.\"\n\nAfter some reflection, the farmer answered, \"Tell me the words which I\nam to repeat on the Thursdays.\"\n\n\"What will you give me, then?\" said the old man.\n\n\"When I have the treasure-bringer, you shall live the life of a\ngentleman.\"\n\n\"Come, then,\" said the old man, and they entered the house together.\n\nAfter this Sunday the young farmer was seen no more in the village. He\nneglected his work in the fields, and left what little was left there\nto waste, and his household management went all astray.[Pg 174] His man\nloafed about the public-houses, and his maid-servant slept at home, for\nher master himself never looked after anything.\n\nIn the meantime the farmer sat in his smoky room. He kept the door\nlocked, and the windows closely curtained. Here he worked hard day and\nnight at the creature in a dark corner by the light of a pine-splinter.\nHe had procured everything necessary, even the reels on which a crone\nof a hundred years old had spun. He put all the parts together\ncarefully, fixed the old pot on the broomstick, made the nose of a bit\nof glass, and painted in the eyes and mouth red. He wrapped the body in\ncoloured rags, according to his instructions, and all the time he\nthought with a shudder that it was now in his power to bring this\nuncanny creature to life, and that he must remain with him till his\nend. But when he thought of the riches and treasures, all his horror\nvanished. At length the creature was finished, and on the following\nThursday the farmer carried it after nightfall to the cross-roads in\nthe wood. There he put down the creature, seated himself on a stone,\nand waited. But every time he looked at the creature he nearly fell to\nthe ground with terror. If only a breeze sprung up,[Pg 175] it went\nthrough the marrow of his bones, and if only the screech-owl cried afar\noff, he thought he heard the croaking of the creature, and the blood\nfroze in his veins. Morning came at last, and he seized the creature,\nand slunk away cautiously home.\n\nOn the second Thursday it was just the same. At length the night of the\nthird Thursday came, and now he was to complete the charm. There was a\nhowling wind, and the moon was covered with thick dark clouds, when the\nfarmer brought the creature to the cross-roads at dead of night. Then\nhe set it up as before, but he thought, \"If I was now to smash it into\na thousand pieces, and then go home and set hard at work, I need not\nthen do anything wicked.\"\n\nPresently, however, he reflected: \"But I am so miserably poor, and this\nwill make me rich. Let it go as it may, I can't be worse off than I am\nnow.\"\n\nHe looked fearfully round him, turned towards the creature trembling,\nlet three drops of blood fall on it from his finger, and repeated the\nmagic words which the old man had taught him.\n\nSuddenly the moon emerged from the clouds and shone upon the place\nwhere the farmer was standing before the figure. But the farmer stood\npetrified[Pg 176] with terror when he saw the creature come to life.\nThe spectre rolled his eyes horribly, turned slowly round, and when he\nsaw his master again, he asked in a grating voice, \"What do you want of\nme?\"\n\nBut the farmer was almost beside himself with fear, and could not\nanswer. He rushed away in deadly terror, not caring whither. But the\ncreature ran after him, clattering and puffing, crying out all the\ntime, \"Why did you bring me to life if you desert me now?\"\n\nBut the farmer ran on, without daring to look round.\n\nThen the creature grasped his shoulder from behind with his wooden\nhand, and screamed out, \"You have broken your compact by running away.\nYou have sold your soul to the devil without gaining the least\nadvantage for yourself. You have set me free. I am no longer your\nservant, but will be your tormenting demon, and will persecute you to\nyour dying hour.\"\n\nThe farmer rushed madly to his house, but the creature followed him,\ninvisible to every one else.\n\nFrom this hour everything went wrong with the farmer which he\nundertook. His land produced nothing but weeds, his cattle all died,\nhis sheds fell[Pg 177] in, and if he took anything up, it broke in his\nhand. Neither man nor maid would work in his house, and at last all the\npeople held aloof from him, as from an evil spirit who brought\nmisfortune wherever he appeared.\n\nAutumn came, and the farmer looked like a shadow, when one day he met\nold Michel, who saluted him, and looked scoffingly in his face.\n\n\"Oh, it's you,\" cried the farmer angrily. \"It is good that I have met\nyou, you hell-hound. Where are all your fine promises of wealth and\ngood luck? I have sold myself to the devil, and I find a hell on earth\nalready. But all this is your doing!\"\n\n\"Quiet, quiet!\" said the old man. \"Who told you to meddle with evil\nthings if you had not courage? I gave you fair warning. But you showed\nyourself a coward at the last moment, and released the creature from\nyour service. If you had not done this, you might have become a rich\nand prosperous man, as I promised you.\"\n\n\"But you never saw the horrible face of the creature when he came to\nlife,\" said the farmer in anguish. \"Oh, what a fool I was to allow\nmyself to be tempted by you!\"\n\n\"I did not tempt you; I only told you what I knew.\"[Pg 178]\n\n\"Help me now.\"\n\n\"Help yourself, for I can't. Haven't I more reason to complain of you\nthan you of me? I have not deceived you; but where is my reward, and\nthe fine life you promised me? You are the deceiver.\"\n\n\"All right! all right! Only tell me how I can save myself, and advise\nme what to do. I will perform everything.\"\n\n\"No,\" said the old man, \"I have no further advice to give you. I am\nstill a beggar, and it is all your fault;\" and he turned round and left\nhim.\n\n\"Curse upon you!\" cried the farmer, whose last hope had vanished.\n\n\"But can't I save myself in any way?\" said he to himself. \"This\ncreature who sits with the Devil on my neck is after all nothing but my\nown work, a thing of wood and potsherds. I must needs be able to\ndestroy him, if I set about it right.\"\n\nHe ran to his house, where he now lived quite alone. There stood the\ncreature in a corner, grinning, and asking, \"Where's my dinner?\"\n\n\"What shall I give you to get rid of you?\"\n\n\"Where's my dinner? Get my dinner, quick. I'm hungry.\"[Pg 179]\n\n\"Wait a little; you shall have it presently.\"\n\nThen the farmer took up a pine-faggot which was burning in the stove,\nas if pondering and then ran out, and locked all the doors on the\noutside.\n\nIt was a cold autumn night. The wind whistled through the neighbouring\npine forest with a strange sighing sound.\n\n\"Now you may burn and roast, you spirit of hell!\" cried the farmer, and\ncast the fire on the thatch. Presently the whole house was wrapped in\nbright flames.\n\nThen the farmer laughed madly, and kept on calling out, \"Burn and\nroast!\"\n\nThe light of the fire roused the people of the village, and they\ncrowded round the ill-starred spot. They wished to put out the fire and\nsave the house, but the farmer pushed them back, saying, \"Let it be.\nWhat does the house matter, if he only perishes? He has tormented me\nlong enough, and I will plague him now, and all may yet be well with\nme.\"\n\nThe people stared at him in amazement as he spoke. But now the house\nfell in crashing, and the farmer shouted, \"Now he's burnt!\"[Pg 180]\n\nAt this moment the creature, visible only to the farmer, rose unhurt\nfrom the smoking ruins with a threatening gesture. As soon as the\nfarmer saw him, he fell on the ground with a loud shriek.\n\n\"What do you see?\" asked old Michel, who had just arrived on the scene,\nand stood by smiling.\n\nBut the farmer returned no answer. He had died of terror.\n\nTHE WOODEN MAN AND THE BIRCH-BARK MAID.\n\n(Kreutzwald.)\n\nThis is another story which relates how a stingy farmer starved all his\nservants, till no one would live with him. He applied to a sorcerer,\nwho directed him to take a black hare in a bag to a cross-road for\nthree Thursdays running, just before midnight, and whistle for the\nDevil. The farmer took a black cat instead, and on the third Thursday\nagreed with the Devil to receive a man-servant and a maid, who should\nwork for him for twice seven years, and who would require no food,\nnothing but a little water. To ratify the bargain, the farmer gave the\nDevil[Pg 181] three drops of blood from his index-finger. At the end of\nthe time the servants disappeared, and the farmer could only find a\nrotten stump and a heap of birch-bark, as their names signified\n(Puul\u00e4ne and Tohtl\u00e4ne). Then the Devil seized the farmer by the throat\nand strangled him, and his wife could find no trace of him but three\ndrops of blood, while all the corn-bins were empty, and the money-chest\ncontained only withered birch-leaves.\n\nA farmer who had unthinkingly devoted his lazy horse to the Devil, was\nmuch annoyed by three, who appeared successively, and demanded it. At\nlast he was obliged to invite them to his Christmas-dinner, and to\npromise to feed them on blood, flesh, and corn. But a Finnish sorcerer\ntaught him a charm by which he transformed them respectively into a\nbug, a wolf, and a rat.\n\nAnother story, in which the Devil gets the worst of it, is\n\n[Pg 182]\nTHE COMPASSIONATE SHOEMAKER.\n\n(Jannsen.)\n\nOnce upon a time, when God himself was still on earth, it happened that\nhe went to a farm-house disguised as a beggar,[57] while a christening\nwas going forward, and asked for a lodging. But the people did not\nreceive him, and declared that he might easily be trodden under the\nfeet of the guests in the confusion. The poor man offered to creep\nunder the stove, and lie still there; but they would not heed his\nprayer, and showed him the door, telling him he might go to the mud\nhovel, or where-ever he liked.\n\nIn the hovel lived a shoemaker, who was always very compassionate\ntowards the poor and needy, and would rather suffer hunger himself than\nallow[Pg 183] a poor man to leave his threshold unrelieved. God went to\nhim, and begged for a night's lodging. The shoemaker gave him a\nfriendly reception and something to eat, and offered him his own bed,\nwhile he himself lay on straw.\n\nNext morning, when God took his departure, he thanked his host, and\nsaid, \"I am he who has power to fulfil whatsoever the heart can desire.\nYou have given me a friendly and most hospitable reception and I am\ngrateful to you from my heart, and will reward you. Speak a wish, and\nit shall be fulfilled.\"\n\nThe shoemaker answered, \"Then I will wish that whenever a poor man\ncomes to ask my aid, I may be able to give him what he most requires,\nand that I myself may never want for daily bread as long as I live.\"\n\n\"Let it be so!\" answered God, who took leave of him and departed.\n\nMeantime the people in the farmhouse were feasting and drinking, not\nremembering the proverbs, \"A large piece strains the mouth,\" and \"The\nmouth is the measure of the stomach.\" They set the house on fire by\ntheir recklessness, and only escaped with bare life. All their goods\nand chattels were reduced[Pg 184] to ashes, and they were left without\na roof to shelter them. The guests hastened home, but the farmer and\nhis people were forced to take refuge in the shoemaker's hut. He\nreceived them in the most friendly way, and gave them clothes and\nshoes, and food and drink, and saw to it that they wanted for nothing\ntill they could again provide themselves with shelter.\n\nBesides this, needy people came every day to the shoemaker, and each\nreceived an abundant allowance.\n\nAs he thus doled out everything, and refused no one relief, low people\njeered at him, saying, \"What is your object in giving everything away?\nYou cannot make the world warm.\" He answered, \"We should love our\nneighbours as ourselves.\"\n\nAt length the shoemaker felt that his last hour had come. So he dressed\nhimself neatly, took with him a staff of juniper, and set off on the\nway to hell. The warden trembled when he saw him, and cried out, \"Throw\ndown the staff! No one may bring such a weapon to hell.\" The shoemaker\ntook no heed of this speech, but pressed on his way. At length the\nPrince of Hell himself met him, and cried out, \"Throw down your staff\nand let us wrestle. If you overcome me, I will be your[Pg 185] slave;\nbut if I should overcome you, then you must serve me.\"\n\nThis did not please the shoemaker, who answered, \"I will not wrestle\nwith you, for you have such very clumsy hands, but come against me with\na spear.\"\n\nAs the Devil continued talking, and again advised him to throw away the\nstaff, the shoemaker struck him a heavy blow with it behind the ear.\nUpon this, all hell shook, and the Devil and his companions vanished\nsuddenly, as lead sinks in water.\n\nThen the shoemaker proceeded farther, and cautiously explored the\ninterior of the underworld. In one hall lay a great book, in which the\nsouls of all children who died unbaptized were recorded. Near the book\nlay many keys, which opened the rooms in which the children's souls\nwere imprisoned. So he took the keys, released the innocent captive\nsouls, and went with them to heaven, where he was received with honour,\nand a thanksgiving feast was instituted in remembrance of his good\ndeed.\n\nAmong other stories of devils is one of a forester who gave the Devil\nthree drops of blood for a magic powder which would heal all wounds.\nBut when[Pg 186] he died, his corpse rushed out at the door, and was\nnever seen again. Another time, a dull schoolboy, who was always beaten\nby his master, met the Devil, who drew blood from three punctures, and\nwrote a compact with it; but the boy was rescued by a clever student,\nwho afterwards died from the bursting of the \"blood-vessel of wisdom,\"\nas was ascertained by autopsy.\n\nThe Devil is sometimes represented as driving about in a coach drawn by\ntwelve black stallions, and annoying the neighbourhood.\n\nAnother time, a charitable orphan-girl stayed late one Saturday evening\nin the bath-house,[58] after washing the poor and helpless, when the\nDevil and his mother and three sons drove up in a coach drawn by four\nblack stallions, with harness adorned with gold and silver, and asked\nher hand for one of his sons. But the maiden fled back into the\nbath-house, after making the sign of the cross on the threshold, and\nreplied that she was not ready, as she had no shoes nor dress. The\nDevil desired her to ask for whatever she wanted; but a mouse called to\nher to ask for each article separately.[Pg 187] One of the sons fetched\neach article as it was asked for; and the maiden was at last fully\nattired, when the cock crew, and everything vanished. Next day the\ngirl's mistress and her daughter were envious of her fine clothes and\nornaments; and next Saturday evening the daughter went to the\nbath-house. But she despised the warning of the mouse, and asked for\neverything at once, when she was taken into the coach and carried away.\n\nTales of minor dealings with the Devil are common. A farmer taking flax\nto market, invoked the Devil to enable him to sell it well. The Devil\ndid so, and rode home with him from market, made him drunk, and tempted\nhim to commit a burglary at the house of a rich man in the\nneighbourhood. He put his hat on the farmer's head, which made him\ninvisible, and broke open the iron bars of the door with his teeth. On\nthe way home, the farmer cried out, while crossing the ford where he\nhad first met the Devil, \"Good God! how much money I've got!\" The Devil\nvanished, and all the treasure fell into the stream, and was lost. On\nanother occasion, a labourer devoted his horse to the Devil, at a time\nwhen an old Devil and his son overheard him. The son wanted to lay\nclaim to it, but his father warned[Pg 188] him that it was no use, for\nsuch people did not mean what they said, and did not keep their word.\nNevertheless, the imp went to unharness it, and the peasant in terror\ninvoked the Trinity, when the imp ran away, and his father laughed at\nhim.\n\nThe stories which follow, like several of the preceding, are mostly\ntold by Jannsen, and deal with various forms of black magic. The first\nis an instance of something very like Vampyrism.\n\nMARTIN AND HIS DEAD MASTER.\n\nMartin was a young fellow who was very fond of amusing himself with the\ngirls, and often sat up talking and joking with them till very late in\nthe evening. One Sunday, when he had slept very little the night\nbefore, he went to church, and there he fell asleep and did not awake\ntill dark night. He rubbed his eyes, and could not imagine where he\nwas, for the church was full of people, and they were all fine\ngentlemen. Martin looked about, and recognised among them his former\nmaster, who had been buried three months before. He also knew[Pg 189]\nhim, and asked, \"Well, Martin, when did you die?\" \"Three months after\nyou were buried,\" answered Martin. \"Oh, indeed,\" said the gentleman;\n\"but what do you think? Shouldn't we go home now for a short visit?\nWon't you accompany me?\" \"I'm ready,\" said Martin, and he rose and\nfollowed his master. On the way he found a frozen glove, which he put\nin his pocket. They came to the mansion, and the master went first to\nthe stable, for he intended to torment the horses, and thought Martin\nwould help him. When the gentleman entered, the horses made no sound,\nbut when Martin came in, they neighed. The master turned round and\nsaid, \"Listen, Martin! you can't be really dead. Give me your hand to\nfeel.\" Martin thrust his hand into the frozen glove which he had found\non the road, and extended it to his master, who said, \"Yes, you are\nreally dead; your hand is shockingly cold.\" Then he tormented the\nhorses till they were covered with white foam. Martin was sorry, but\ncould do nothing but stand and look on. At last the master ceased his\nspiteful work, and said, \"Let us go into the house. Go you into the\nkitchen and frighten the maids, and I will torment the lady. When it is\ntime to depart, I will come for you.\"[Pg 190] The lady screamed and\nsobbed with terror as if she was mad, and the maids screamed too, but\nwith fun and frolic.\n\nAfter a long time, the master came to the kitchen, and said, \"Come,\nMartin, let us make haste, for the cocks will soon crow.\" He would have\nliked to have run away, but he was too much afraid, so he went with his\nmaster. On the way his master talked a great deal to him about how his\nwife had searched everywhere for the treasure which he had hidden\nbefore his death, and what she had done to banish the nightly\nhauntings, but everything was useless. \"Yes,\" said Martin, \"it must be\na great sorcerer who can lay spectres and discover treasures in the\nground. Perhaps she will never meet with one.\"\n\n\"Ha! ha!\" laughed the gentleman, \"no great cleverness is needed. If a\nliving person was to stamp three times on my grave with his left heel,\nand say each time, 'Here shall you lie,' I couldn't get out again. But\nthe money which I hid in my lifetime is under the floor of my bedroom,\nnear the stove.\"\n\nMartin was delighted to hear this, and would have shouted for joy, but\nhe thought it too dangerous.[Pg 191] They now came to the churchyard,\nand the gentleman asked Martin to show him his grave. But Martin said,\n\"We shall have another opportunity, I'm afraid the cocks are just about\nto crow.\" The gentleman slipped quickly into his grave, when Martin\nstamped three times with his left heel on the mound, and said three\ntimes, \"Here shall you lie.\"\n\n\"Oh, you liar and scoundrel!\" cried the dead man from the grave; \"if I\nhad known that you were still alive, I should have crushed and mangled\nyou. Now I can do nothing more to you.\"\n\nThen Martin returned home full of joy, and told the lady all that he\nhad seen and heard and done. The lady did not know how to thank him\nenough. She took him as her husband, and they lived together happily\nand honourably; and if they could have got on as well with Death as\nwith the nocturnal spectre, they might be living still.\n\nFree-shooters, so well known in Germany, are not unknown in Esthonia.\nIn the story of the \"Hunter's Lost Luck\" (Kreutzwald), we find a hunter\nwhose usual skill had deserted him selling himself to the Devil with\nthree drops of blood for a magic[Pg 192] bullet which should kill the\nauthor of his bad luck. His good luck depended on his not shooting at\nthe leader of a flock or herd; but one evening, having drunk too much,\nhe fired at the leader of a troop of foxes, and fell down dead. The\nvillagers took his body home; but when he was put into the coffin, a\ngreat black cat, which was supposed to be the Old Boy himself, carried\nhim away.\n\nThe story of \"The Coiners of Leal\" relates to the ruins of an old\ncastle, which was said to be haunted by a hell-hound.[59] One night a\nyoung nobleman set out to explore it, and was warned off by a tall man\nin black clothes, but, on advancing, sank into the vaults, where he\nfound a number of men coining gold and silver. They bound him by an\noath of secrecy as to their proceedings, warning him that if he broke\nit, their master, the dog, would fetch him, and make him coin gold and\nsilver for ever with them; and he received a sackful of treasure to\nremind him of his oath. Some years after, he drank too much at a feast,\ntold his story, and immediately disappeared, and was never seen again.\n\n[Pg 193]\nTHE BEWITCHED HORSE.\n\nA farmer's old horse had died, so he skinned it, and threw it behind\nthe threshing-floor, intending to bury it next day. He saw a great toad\ncreep under it as he went away. At night he went into the barn to\nsleep, and hearing a noise outside, kept watch for thieves; but, to his\nhorror, he saw the door slowly open, and his dead horse enter. The\nhorse came in snuffling and snorting, and broke down several of the\nposts that supported the loft where his master had been sleeping; but\nthe farmer contrived to scramble into the rafters. At last the cock\ncrew, when the horse fell down like a lump of meat, and the farmer too\nlost his hold and fell upon him. Next morning the farmer buried the\nhorse, and stamped three times with his left heel on the grave; so the\nhorse remained quiet.\n\nBut it was a sorcerer who had a grudge against the farmer who had sent\nthe toad into the carcass of the horse.\n\n[Pg 194]\nSECTION IX\n\n_HIDDEN TREASURES_\n\nIn Esthonia, as elsewhere, we meet with many stories of hidden\ntreasures, frequently in connection with devils, and hence we place\nthis section next to the Devil-stories. The stories of \"The Courageous\nBarn-keeper\" and of the \"Gallows Dwarfs\" are curious and interesting;\nthose which follow are given here only in abstract. In all countries\nwhich have been devastated by war, traditions of hidden treasure are\ncommon. I remember once reading a story in a newspaper (but I do not\nknow if the report was true) of a quantity of coins of Edward the\nConfessor and Harold being dug up in a field respecting which there was\na tradition in the neighbourhood that a great treasure was concealed in\nit. In Esthonian as well as in Oriental tales, hidden treasures are\nusually under the care of non-human guardians, even when it is not said\nthat they were specially placed under their protection. This notion[Pg\n195] probably persists in many countries to the present day. It is said\nthat when Kidd, the famous pirate, buried a hoard of treasure, he used\nto slaughter a negro at the place, that the ghost might guard it.\nStories of his hidden treasure (more or less probable) are still rife\nin America.\n\nTHE COURAGEOUS BARN-KEEPER.\n\n(Kreutzwald.)\n\nOnce upon a time there lived a barn-keeper who had few to equal him in\ncourage. The Old Boy himself admitted that a bolder man had never yet\nappeared on earth. In the evening, when the threshers were no longer at\nwork in the barn, he often paid a visit to the barn-keeper, and never\ntired of talking with him. He was under the impression that the\nbarn-keeper did not recognise him, and supposed him to be only an\nordinary peasant; but his host knew him well enough, though he\npretended not, and had made up his mind to box Old Hornie's ears if he\ncould. One evening the Old Boy began to complain of the hard life of a\nbachelor, and how he had nobody to knit him a[Pg 196] pair of stockings\nor to hem a handkerchief. The barn-keeper answered, \"Why don't you go\na-wooing, my brother?\" The Old Boy returned, \"I've tried my luck often\nenough, but the girls won't have me. The younger and prettier they are,\nthe more they laugh at me.\"\n\nThe barn-keeper advised him to court old maids or widows, who would be\nmuch easier to win, and who would not be so likely to despise a suitor.\nThe Old Boy took his advice, and some weeks afterwards married an old\nmaid; but it was not long before he came back to the barn-keeper to\ncomplain of his troubles. His newly-married wife was full of tricks;\nshe left him no rest night or day, and tormented him continually. \"What\nsort of a man are you,\" laughed the barn-keeper, \"to allow your wife to\nwear the trousers? If you marry a wife, you must take care to be\nmaster.\" The Old Boy answered, \"I couldn't manage her. If she chose to\nbring anybody else into the house, I couldn't venture to set foot in\nit.\" The barn-keeper sought to comfort him, and advised him to try his\nluck elsewhere; but the Old Boy thought that the first trial was\nenough, and had no inclination to put his neck under a woman's yoke\nagain.[Pg 197]\n\nIn the autumn of the following year, when threshing had begun again,\nthe old acquaintance of the barn-keeper paid him another visit. The\nlatter saw that the peasant had something on his mind, but he asked no\nquestions, thinking it best to wait till the other broached the matter\nhimself. He had not long to wait before he heard all the old fellow's\nmisfortunes. During the summer he had made the acquaintance of a young\nwidow who cooed like a dove, so that the little man again thought of\ncourtship. In short, he married her, but discovered afterwards that she\nwas a shocking scold at home, who would gladly have scratched his eyes\nout of his head, and he had cause to thank his stars that he had\nescaped from her hands. The barn-keeper remarked, \"I see you're good\nfor nothing as a husband, for you are chicken-hearted, and don't know\nhow to manage a wife.\" The Old Boy was forced to acknowledge that it\nwas true. After they had talked awhile about women and marriage, the\nOld Boy said, \"If you are really such a bold man as you pretend, and\ncould tame the most hellish[60] woman that exists, I will show you a\nway by which you can turn your courage to better[Pg 198] account than\nby subduing a violent woman. Do you know the ruins of the old castle on\nthe mountain? A great treasure lies there since ancient times, which no\none has been able to get at, just because nobody has had enough courage\nto dig it up.\" The barn-keeper said, smiling, \"If nothing more is\nneeded than courage, the treasure is already as good as in my pocket.\"\nThen the Old Boy told him that he must go to dig up the treasure next\nThursday night, when the moon would be full; but added, \"Take good care\nthat you are not a bit afraid, for if your heart fails you, or if only\na muscle of your body trembles, you will not only lose the expected\ntreasure, but may even lose your life, like many others who have tried\ntheir luck before you. If you don't believe me, you may go into any\nfarmhouse, and the people will tell you what they have heard about the\nwalls of the old castle. Many people even profess to have seen\nsomething with their own eyes. But once more, if you value your life,\nand wish to possess the treasure, beware of all fear.\"\n\nOn the morning of the appointed Thursday, the barn-keeper set out, and\nalthough he did not feel the slightest fear, he turned into the village\ninn,[Pg 199] hoping to find somebody there who could give him some kind\nof information about the ruins of the old castle. He asked the landlord\nwhat the old ruins on the hill were, and whether people knew anything\nabout who built them, and who destroyed them. An old farmer, who\noverheard the question, gave him the following information: \"The report\ngoes that a very rich squire lived there many centuries ago, who was\nlord over vast territories and a great population. This lord ruled with\nan iron hand, and treated his subjects with great severity, but he had\namassed vast wealth by their sweat and blood, and gold and silver\npoured into his castle on all sides in hogsheads. Here he stored his\nwealth in deep cellars, where it was secure from thieves and robbers.\nNo one knows how the wealthy miscreant came to his end. One morning the\nattendants found his bed empty and three drops of blood on the floor. A\ngreat black cat, which was never seen before or afterwards, was sitting\non the canopy of the bed. It is supposed that this cat was the Evil\nSpirit[61] himself, who had[Pg 200] strangled the squire in his bed in\nthis form, and had then carried him off to P\u00f5rgu to expiate his crimes.\nAs soon as the relatives of the squire heard of his death, they wished\nto secure his treasures, but not a single copeck was to be found. It\nwas at first thought that the servants had stolen it, and they were\nbrought to trial; but as they knew that they were innocent, nothing\ncould be extracted from them, even under the torture. In the meantime,\nmany people heard a chinking like money deep under ground at night, and\ninformed the authorities; and as this was investigated and the report\nconfirmed, the servants were set at liberty. The strange nocturnal\nchinking was often heard afterwards, and many people dug for the\ntreasure, but nothing was discovered, and no one returned from the\ncaverns under the castle, for they were doubtless seized upon by the\nsame power which had brought the owner of the money to such a dreadful\nend. Every one saw that there was something uncanny about it, and no\none dared to live in the old castle. At length the roof and walls fell\nin from long exposure to rain and wind, and nothing was left[Pg 201]\nbut an old ruin. No one dares to spend the night near it, and still\nless would any one be rash enough to seek for the ancient treasure\nthere.\" So said the old farmer.\n\nWhen the barn-keeper had heard the story, he said, half joking, \"I\nshould like to try my luck. Who'll go with me to-morrow night?\" The men\nmade the sign of the cross, and declared that their lives were more to\nthem than all the treasures in the world, and that no one could reach\nthese treasures without losing his soul. Then they begged the stranger\nto recall his words, and not to pledge himself to the Evil One. But the\nbold barn-keeper gave no heed to their entreaties and expostulations,\nand resolved to attempt the adventure alone. In the evening he asked\nthe host for a bundle of pine-splinters, that he might not be in the\ndark, and then inquired the nearest way to the ruins.\n\nOne of the peasants, who seemed to be a little bolder than the others,\nwent with him for some distance as his guide with a lighted lantern. As\nthe sky was cloudy, and it was quite dark, the barn-keeper was obliged\nto grope his way. The whistling of the wind and the screeching of the\nowls[Pg 202] were terrible to hear, but could not frighten his bold\nheart. As soon as he was able to strike a light under the shelter of\nthe masonry, he lit a splinter and looked about for a door or an\nopening through which he could get down underground. After looking\nabout fruitlessly for some time, at last he discovered a hole at the\nfoot of the wall, which seemed to lead downwards. He put the burning\nsplinter in a crack in the wall, and cleared out so much earth and\nrubbish with his hands that he could creep through. After he had gone\nsome distance, he came to a flight of stone stairs, and there was now\nroom enough for him to stand upright. He descended the stairs with his\nbundle of splinters on his shoulder and one burning in his hand, and at\nlast reached an iron door, which was not locked. He pushed the heavy\ndoor open, and was about to enter, when a large black cat with fiery\neyes dashed through the door like the wind and rushed up the stairs.\nThe barn-keeper thought, \"That must be what strangled the lord of the\ncastle;\" so he pushed the door to, threw down the bundle of splinters,\nand then examined the place more carefully. It was a great wide hall,\nwith doors everywhere in the walls; he[Pg 203] counted twelve, and\nconsidered which he should try first. \"Seven's a lucky number,\" said\nhe, so he counted till he came to the seventh door, but it was locked,\nand would not yield. But when he pushed at the door with all his\nstrength, the rusty lock gave way and the door flew open. When the\nbarn-keeper entered, he found a room of moderate size; on one side\nstood a table and bench, and at the opposite wall was a stove, with a\nbundle of faggots lying on the ground near the hearth. The inspector\nthen lit a fire, and by its light he found a small pot and a cup of\nflour standing on the stove, and some salt in a salt-cellar. \"Look\nhere!\" cried the barn-keeper. \"Here I find something to eat\nunexpectedly; I have some water with me in my flask, and can cook some\nwarm porridge.\" So he set the pot on the fire, put some flour and water\ninto it, added some salt, stirred it with a splinter of wood, and\nboiled his porridge well, after which he poured it into the cup, and\nset it on the table. The bright fire lit up the room, and he did not\nneed to light a splinter. The bold barn-keeper seated himself at the\ntable, took the spoon, and began to eat the warm porridge. All at once\nhe looked up and saw the black[Pg 204] cat with the fiery eyes sitting\non the stove. He could not comprehend how the beast had come there, as\nhe had seen it running up the stairs with his own eyes. After this,\nthree loud knocks were struck on the door, till the walls and floor\nshook. The barn-keeper did not lose his presence of mind, but cried out\nloudly, \"Let anybody enter who has a head on his shoulders!\"\nImmediately the door flew wide open, and the black cat sprang from the\nstove and darted through, while sparks of fire flew from its eyes and\nmouth. As soon as the cat had disappeared, four tall men entered, clad\nin long white coats, and wearing caps of flame-colour, which shone so\nbrightly that the room became as bright as day. The men carried a bier\non their shoulders, and a coffin stood upon it, but still the bold\nbarn-keeper did not feel the least bit afraid. The men set the coffin\non the ground without speaking a word, and then one after another went\nout at the door, and closed it behind them. The cat whined and\nscratched at the door, as if it wanted to get in, but the barn-keeper\ndid not concern himself, and only ate his warm porridge. When he had\neaten enough, he stood up, and looked at the coffin. He broke open the\nlid, and beneath it[Pg 205] he beheld a little man with a long white\nbeard. The barn-keeper lifted him out, and carried him to the fire to\nwarm him. It was not long before the little old man began to revive,\nand to move his hands and feet. The bold barn-keeper was not a bit\nafraid; he took the porridge-pot and the spoon from the table, and\nbegan to feed the old man. The latter said presently, \"Thank you, my\nson, for taking pity on such a poor creature as I am, and reviving my\nbody, which was stiff with cold and hunger. I will give you such a\nprincely reward for your good deed that you shall not forget me as long\nas you live. Behind the stove you will find some pitch-torches, light\none and come with me. But first make the door securely fast, that the\nfurious cat may not get in to break your neck. We will afterwards make\nit so tame that it cannot hurt anybody again.\"\n\nAs he spoke, the old man raised a square trap-door about three feet\nbroad from the floor, and it was plain that the stone covered the\nentrance to a cellar. The old man went down the steps first, and the\nbarn-keeper followed him with the torch till they reached a terribly\ndeep cavern.\n\nIn this great cellar-like arched cavern lay an[Pg 206] enormous heap of\nmoney, as big as the largest haycock, half silver and half gold. The\nlittle old man took from a cupboard in the wall a handful of\nwax-candles, three bottles of wine, a smoked ham, and a loaf of bread.\nThen he said to the barn-keeper, \"I give you three days' time to count\nand sort this heap. You must divide the heap into two equal parts,\nexactly alike, and so that nothing remains over. While you are busy\nwith this, I will lie down by the wall to sleep, but take care not to\nmake the least mistake or I'll strangle you.\"\n\nThe barn-keeper at once set to work, and the old man lay down. In order\nto guard against any mistake, the barn-keeper always took two similar\ncoins to divide, whether thalers or roubles, gold or silver, and he\nlaid one on his right, and the other on his left, to form two heaps.\nWhen he found his strength failing, he took a pull at one of the\nbottles, ate some bread and meat, and then set to work with renewed\nstrength. As he only allowed himself a short sleep at night, in order\nto get on with his work, he had already finished the sorting on the\nevening of the second day, but one small piece of silver remained over.\nWhat was to be done? This did not trouble the bold barn-keeper; he drew\nhis[Pg 207] knife from his pocket, laid the blade on the middle of the\ncoin, and struck the back of the knife so hard with a stone that the\ncoin was split in two halves. One half he laid to the right heap, and\nthe other to the left, after which he roused up the old man, and asked\nhim to inspect the work. When the old man saw the two halves of the\nlast coin lying on the heap to the right and left, he uttered a cry of\njoy, and fell on the neck of the barn-keeper, stroked his cheeks, and\nat last exclaimed, \"A thousand and again a thousand thanks to you,\nbrave youth, for releasing me from my long, long captivity. I have been\nobliged to watch over my treasure here for many hundred years, because\nthere was no one who had sufficient courage or sense to divide the\nmoney so that nothing was left over. I was therefore forced by a\nbinding oath to strangle one after another, and as no one returned, for\nthe last two hundred years no one has dared to come here, though there\nwas not a night which I allowed to pass without jingling the money. But\nit was destined for you, O child of good luck! to become my deliverer,\nafter I had almost abandoned all hope, and fancied myself doomed to\neternal imprisonment. Thanks, a thousand thanks, for your good deed![Pg\n208] Take now one of these heaps of money as the reward for your\ntrouble, but the other you must divide among the poor, as an atonement\nfor my grievous sins; for when I lived on earth in this castle I was a\ngreat libertine and scoundrel. You have still to accomplish one task\nfor my benefit, and for your own. When you go upstairs again, and you\nmeet the great black cat on the stairs, seize it and hang it up. Here\nis a noose from which it cannot escape again.\"\n\nHereupon he took from his bosom a chain woven of fine gold thread, as\nthick as a shoe-string, which he handed to the barn-keeper, and then\nvanished, as if he had sunk into the ground. A tremendous crash\nfollowed, as if the earth had cloven asunder beneath the barn-keeper's\nfeet. The light went out, and he found himself in thick darkness, but\neven this unexpected event did not shake his courage. He contrived to\ngrope his way till he came to the stairs, which he ascended till he\nreached the first room, where he had boiled his porridge. The fire in\nthe hearth had long been extinguished, but he found some sparks among\nthe ashes, which he succeeded in blowing into a flame. The coffin was\nstill standing on the ground, but instead of[Pg 209] the old man, the\ngreat black cat was sleeping in it. The barn-keeper seized it by the\nhead, slipped the gold chain round its neck, hung it on a strong iron\nnail in the wall, and then laid down on the floor to rest.\n\nNext morning he made his way out of the ruins, and took the nearest\npath to the inn from whence he had started. When the host saw that the\nstranger had escaped unhurt, his joy and astonishment knew no bounds.\nBut the barn-keeper said, \"Get me a few dozen sacks to hold a ton, for\nwhich I will pay well, and hire horses, so that I can fetch away my\ntreasure.\" Then the host perceived that the stranger's expedition had\nnot been fruitless, and he immediately fulfilled the rich man's orders.\n\nWhen the barn-keeper learned from the people what part of the old man's\ndomains was formerly under the authority of the lord of the castle, he\nassigned one-third of the money destined for the poor to this district,\nhanded over the remaining two-thirds to the local authorities for\ndistribution, and settled himself with his own money in a distant\ncountry, where nobody knew him. His descendants live there as rich\npeople to this day, and[Pg 210] extol the bravery of their ancestor,\nwho carried off the treasure.\n\nTHE GALLOWS-DWARFS.\n\n(Kreutzwald.)\n\nOnce upon a time a parson was looking out for a servant who would\nundertake to toll the church bell at midnight in addition to his other\nduties. Many men had already made the attempt, but whenever they went\nto toll the bell at night, they disappeared as suddenly as if they had\nsunk into the ground, for the bell was not heard to toll, and the\nbell-ringer never came back. The parson kept the matter as quiet as\npossible, but the sudden disappearance of so many men could not be\nconcealed, and he could no longer find anybody willing to enter his\nservice.\n\nThe more the matter was talked about, the more seriously it was\ndiscussed, and there were even malicious tongues to whisper that the\nparson himself murdered his servants. Every Sunday the parson\nproclaimed from the pulpit after the sermon, \"I am in want of a good\nservant, and offer double[Pg 211] wages, good keep,\" &c.; but for many\nmonths no one applied for the post. However, one day the crafty\nHans[62] offered his services. He had been last in the employment of a\nstingy master, and the offer of good keep was therefore very attractive\nto him, and he was quite ready to enter on his duties at once. \"Very\nwell, my son,\" said the parson, \"if you are armed with courage and\ntrust in God, you may make your first trial to-night, and we will\nconclude our bargain to-morrow.\"\n\nHans was quite content, and went into the servants' room without\ntroubling his head about his new employment. The parson was a miser,\nand was always vexed when his servants ate too much, and generally came\ninto the room during their meals, hoping that they would eat less in\nhis presence. He also encouraged them to drink as much as possible,\nthinking that the more they drank, the less they would be able to eat.\nBut Hans was more cunning than his master, for he emptied the jug at\none draught, saying, \"That makes twice as much room for the food.\" The\nparson thought this was really the case, and no longer urged his[Pg\n212] people to drink, while Hans laughed in his sleeve at the success\nof his trick.\n\nIt was about eleven o'clock at night when Hans entered the church. He\nfound the interior lighted up, and was rather surprised when he saw a\nnumerous company, who were not assembled for purposes of devotion. The\npeople were sitting at a long table playing cards. But Hans was not a\nbit frightened, or, if he secretly felt a little alarm, he was cunning\nenough to show nothing of it. He went straight to the table and sat\ndown with the players. One of them noticed him, and said, \"Friend, what\nbusiness have you here?\" Hans gave him a good stare, and presently\nanswered, \"It would be better for a meddler like you to hold his\ntongue. If anybody here has a right to ask questions, I think I'm the\nman. But if I don't care to avail myself of my right, I certainly think\nit would be more polite of you to hold your jaw.\" Hans then took up the\ncards, and began to play with the strangers as if they were his best\nfriends. He had good luck, for he doubled his stakes, and emptied the\npockets of many of the other players. Presently the cock crew. Midnight\nmust have come; and in a moment the lights were extinguished,[Pg 213]\nand the players, with their table and benches, vanished. Hans groped\nabout in the dark church for some time before he could find the door\nwhich led to the belfry.\n\nWhen Hans had nearly reached the top of the first flight, he saw a\nlittle man without a head sitting on the top step. \"Oho, my little\nfellow! what do you want here?\" cried Hans, and, without waiting for an\nanswer, he gave him a good kick and sent him rolling down the long\nflight of stairs. He found the same kind of little sentinel posted on\nthe top stair of the second, third, and fourth flights, and pitched\nthem down one after another, so that all the bones in their bodies\nrattled.\n\nAt last Hans reached the bell without further hindrance. When he looked\nup, to make sure that all was right, he saw another headless little man\nsitting crouched together in the bell. He had loosened the clapper, and\nseemed to be waiting for Hans to pull the bell-rope, to drop the heavy\nclapper on his head, which would certainly have killed him. \"Wait a\nwhile, my little friend,\" cried Hans; \"we haven't bargained for this.\nYou may have seen how I rolled your little comrades downstairs without\ntiring their own legs! You your[Pg 214]self shall follow them. But\nbecause you sit the highest, you shall make the proudest journey. I'll\npitch you out of the loophole, so that you'll have no wish to come back\nagain.\"\n\nAs he spoke, he raised the ladder, intending to drag the little man out\nof the bell and fulfil his threat. The dwarf saw his danger, and began\nto beg, \"Dear brother, spare my wretched life, and I promise that\nneither my brothers nor I will again interfere with the bellringer at\nnight. I may seem small and contemptible, but who knows whether I may\nnot some day be able to do more for your welfare than offer you a\nbeggar's thanks?\"\n\n\"Poor little fellow!\" laughed Hans. \"Your ransom wouldn't be worth a\ngnat. But as I'm in a good humour just now, I'm willing to spare your\nlife. But take care not to come in my way again, for I might not be\ninclined to trifle with you another time.\"\n\nThe headless dwarf gave him his humble thanks, clambered down the\nbell-rope like a squirrel, and bolted down the belfry-stairs as if he\nwas on fire, while Hans tolled the bell to his heart's content.\n\nWhen the parson heard the bell tolling at midnight he was surprised and\npleased at having at last found a servant who had withstood the\nordeal.[Pg 215]\n\nAfter Hans had finished his work he went into the hayloft, and lay down\nto sleep.\n\nThe parson was in the habit of getting up early in the morning, and\ngoing to see whether his people were about their work. All were in\ntheir places except the new servant, and nobody had seen anything of\nhim. When eleven o'clock came, and Hans still made no appearance, the\nparson became anxious, and began to fear that the bell-ringer had met\nhis death like those before him. But when the rattle was used to call\nthe workmen to dinner, Hans likewise appeared among them.\n\n\"Where have you been all morning?\" asked the parson.\n\n\"I've been asleep,\" answered Hans, yawning.\n\n\"Asleep?\" cried the parson in amazement. \"You don't mean that you sleep\nevery day till this hour?\"\n\n\"I think,\" answered Hans, \"it's as clear as spring-water. Nobody can\nserve two masters. He who works at night must sleep during the day, for\nnight was meant for labourers to rest. If you relieve me from tolling\nthe bell at night, I'm quite ready to set to work at daybreak. But if I\nhave to toll the bell at night, I must sleep in the daytime, at any\nrate till mid-day.\"[Pg 216]\n\nAfter disputing over the matter for some time, they finally agreed on\nthe following conditions:\u2014Hans was to be relieved of his nocturnal\nduties, and was to work from sunrise to sunset. He was to be allowed to\nsleep for half-an-hour after nine o'clock in the morning, and for a\nwhole hour after dinner, and was to have the whole of Sunday free.\n\"But,\" said the parson, \"you might sometimes help with odd jobs at\nother times, especially in winter, when the days are short, and the\nwork would then last longer.\"\n\n\"Not at all,\" cried Hans, \"for that's why the days are longer in\nsummer. I won't do any more than work from sunrise to sunset on\nweek-days, as I promised.\"\n\nSome time afterwards the parson was asked to attend a grand christening\nin town. The town was only a few hours from the parsonage, but Hans\ntook a bag of provisions with him. \"What's that for?\" said the parson.\n\"We shall get to town before evening.\" But Hans answered, \"Who can\nforesee everything? Many things may happen on the road to interfere\nwith our journey, and you know that our bargain was that I am only\nobliged to serve you till sunset. If the sun sets before we reach town,\nyou'll have to finish your journey alone.\"[Pg 217]\n\nThey were in the middle of the forest when the sun set. Hans stopped\nthe horses, took up his provision-bag, and jumped out of the sledge.\n\"What are you doing, Hans? Are you mad?\" asked the pastor of souls. But\nHans answered quietly, \"I'm going to sleep here; for the sun has set,\nand my time of work is over.\" His master did his utmost to move him\nwith alternate threats and entreaties, but it was all of no use, and at\nlast he promised him a good present and an increase in his wages. \"Are\nyou not ashamed, Mr. Parson?\" said Hans. \"Would you tempt me to stray\nfrom the right way and break my agreement? All the treasures of the\nearth would not induce me, for you hold a man by his word, and an ox by\nhis horns. If you want to go to town to-night, travel on alone, in\nGod's name; for I can't go any farther with you, now that my hours of\nservice have expired.\"\n\n\"But, my good Hans, my dear fellow,\" said the parson, \"I really can't\nleave you here all alone by yourself. Don't you see the gallows close\nby, with two evil-doers hanging on it, whose souls are now burning in\nhell? Surely you wouldn't venture to pass the night in the\nneighbourhood of such company?\"[Pg 218]\n\n\"Why not?\" said Hans. \"These gallows-birds are hanging up in the air,\nand I shall sleep on the ground below, so we can't interfere with each\nother.\" As he spoke he turned his back to his master and went off with\nhis provision-bag.\n\nIf the parson would not miss the christening, it was necessary for him\nto go to town alone. The people were much astonished to see him arrive\nwithout a coachman; but when he had related his astonishing altercation\nwith Hans, they could not make up their minds whether the master or the\nservant was the biggest fool of the two.\n\nHans cared nothing about what the people thought or said of him. He ate\nhis supper, lit himself a pipe to warm his nose, made himself a bed\nunder a great branching pine-tree, wrapped himself in his warm rug, and\nwent to sleep. He might have slept for some hours when he was roused by\na sudden noise. It was a bright moonlight night, and close by stood two\nheadless dwarfs under the pine-tree exchanging angry words. Hans raised\nhimself to look at them better, when they both cried out at once, \"It\nis he! it is he!\" One of them drew nearer to Hans' sleeping place and\nsaid, \"Old friend, we have met again by a lucky chance. My bones\nstill[Pg 219] ache from the steps in the church tower, and I dare say\nyou haven't forgotten the story. We'll deal with your bones now in such\na fashion that you won't forget our meeting for weeks. Hi! there,\ncomrades; come on and set to work!\"\n\nUpon this a crowd of the headless dwarfs rushed together from all sides\nlike a swarm of gnats. They were all armed with thick cudgels, bigger\nthan themselves. The number of these little enemies threatened danger,\nfor they struck as hard as any strong man could have done. Hans thought\nhis last hour was come, for he could not make any defence against such\na host of enemies. But by good luck another dwarf made his appearance,\njust as the blows were falling fastest. \"Stop, stop, comrades!\" he\nexclaimed. \"This man has been my benefactor, and I owe him a debt of\ngratitude. He gave me my life when I was in his power. Although he\npitched some of you downstairs, he didn't cripple any of you. The warm\nbath cured your broken limbs long ago, and you had better forgive him\nand go home.\"\n\nThe headless dwarfs were easily persuaded by their comrade, and went\nquietly away. Hans now recognised his deliverer as the apparition who\nhad sat in the church-bell at night. The dwarf sat down[Pg 220] with\nHans under the pine-tree, and said, \"You laughed at me once when I said\nthat a time might come in which I might be useful to you. That time has\nnow arrived, and let it teach you not to despise even the smallest\ncreature in the world.\" \"I thank you with all my heart,\" returned Hans.\n\"My bones are almost pulverised with their blows, and I should hardly\nhave escaped with life if you had not arrived in the very nick of\ntime.\"\n\nThe headless dwarf continued, \"My debt is now paid, but I will do more,\nand give you something to indemnify you for your thrashing. You need no\nlonger toil in the service of a stingy parson. When you reach home\nto-morrow go straight to the north corner of the church, where you will\nfind a great stone fixed in the wall, which is not secured with mortar\nlike the others. It is full moon on the night of the day after\nto-morrow. Go at midnight, and take this stone out of the wall with a\nlever. Under the stone you will find an inestimable treasure, which\nmany generations have heaped together; there are gold and silver church\nplate, and a large amount of money, which was once concealed in time of\nwar. Those who hid the treasure have all died more than a hundred years\nago, and not a living[Pg 221] soul knows anything about the matter. You\nmust divide one-third of the money among the poor of the parish, and\nall the rest is yours, to do what you like with.\" At this moment a cock\ncrew in a distant village, and the headless dwarf vanished as if he had\nbeen wiped out.\n\nHans could not sleep for a long time for the pain in his limbs, and\nthought much of the hidden treasure, but he dropped asleep at last\ntowards morning.\n\nThe sun was high in the heavens when his master returned from town.\n\"Hans,\" said the parson, \"you were a great fool not to go with me\nyesterday. Look here! I've had plenty to eat and drink, and got money\nin my pocket into the bargain.\" Meantime he jingled the money to vex\nhim more. But Hans answered quietly, \"Worthy Mister Parson, you have\nhad to keep awake all night for that bit of money, but I've earned a\nhundred times as much in my sleep.\" \"Show me what you earned,\" cried\nthe parson. But Hans answered, \"Fools jingle their copecks, but wise\nmen hide their roubles.\"\n\nWhen they reached home, Hans did his duty zealously, unharnessed and\nfed the horses, and then walked round the church till he found the\nstone in the wall that was not mortared.[Pg 222]\n\nOn the first night after the full moon, when everybody else was asleep,\nHans crept quietly out of the house with a pickaxe, wrenched out the\nstone with much difficulty, and actually found the hole with the money,\njust as the dwarf had described it to him. Next Sunday he divided the\nthird part among the poor of the parish, and gave notice to the parson\nthat he was about to quit his service, and as he asked no wages for so\nshort a time, he got his discharge without any demur. But Hans\ntravelled a long way off, bought himself a nice farm-house, married a\nyoung wife, and lived quietly and comfortably for many years.\n\nAt the time when my grandfather was a shepherd-boy, there were many old\npeople living in our village who had known Hans, and who bore witness\nto the truth of this story.\n\nTHE TREASURE AT KERTELL.\n\n(Jannsen.)\n\nDuring a great war, the people of Kertell, in the island of Dag\u00f6,\ncaused a great iron chest to be made,[Pg 223] wherein they stored all\ntheir gold and silver, and sunk it in the river near the old bridge.\nBut they all perished without recovering it. Many years afterwards, a\nman who was passing by in the evening saw a small flame flickering in\nthe air. He laid his pipe on a stone and followed the flame; but it\ndisappeared, and on going to pick up his pipe, he found it gone, and\nmoney lying on the stone. But afterwards, whenever he passed the stone,\nhe found money. His companions advised him to consult a magician with\nrespect to raising the treasure, of which the tradition had persisted;\nand the magician directed him to go to the place where he had seen the\nflame on three successive Thursdays, and sacrifice a cock, but not to\nspeak of it to any one.[63] On the third Thursday, he took some\ncompanions with him; and when the cock was sacrificed, the\ntreasure-chest appeared above water, and they dragged it to shore with\ngreat labour. But one of the party looked towards the bridge, and saw a\nlittle boy mounted on a pig riding over it. He exclaimed to his\ncompanions, when the figures disappeared, the stakes and ropes gave\nway, and the treasure fell[Pg 224] back into the river, and was\nirrecoverably lost to them.\n\nTHE GOLDEN SNAKES.\n\n(Jannsen.)\n\nTwo woodcutters found a number of snakes in the wood, and one of the\nmen killed some, and he and his comrade followed them up till they came\nto a vast mass of snakes, among which was one with a golden crown. They\nfled, but were pursued by the snake-king, when one of them turned round\nand hit him on the head with an axe, when he changed into a heap of\ngold. They then returned to the cluster of snakes, but they had all\ndisappeared, and they found only another heap of gold. They divided the\nmoney, and with half of it they built a church.\n\nThe previous story is Lithuanian rather than Esthonian in character.\nThe next has a more diabolical character than any of the preceding.\n\n[Pg 225]\nTHE DEVIL'S TREASURE.\n\n(Jannsen.)\n\nA travelling Swedish shoemaker saw a fire burning one night on the Sand\nMountain, and on reaching the spot, found an iron chest, which he\nopened, and finding it to contain a pot of gold, helped himself to a\ngood supply. He then left his situation, and wandered about till he\ncame to Ringen, where he was appointed shoemaker to the castle. One\nevening he was alone in his room when he heard a horn blown twice, but\neach time he went out and found nothing. He then took his prayerbook in\nhis hand, ate his supper, and went to bed, but was awakened by a\ntremendous noise in the castle. On opening his eyes, he saw that his\nroom was lit up with tapers, and two women, one in a red and the other\nin a green dress, stood by his bed, who invited him to dance. Half\nasleep, he cried out, \"To hell with you! Is this a time to dance?\" They\nreminded him of the money which he had taken, left the room, and banged\nthe door after them,[Pg 226] so that the whole castle shook. The lights\nwent out, and the shoemaker turned over and went to sleep again. Next\nmorning he found himself lying terribly bruised, with his head and body\nin the hall, and his legs in the room. On his breast were the impress\nof two hands, showing prints of all the fingers. Shortly afterwards he\ndied, having confessed to the priest, and left all his money for a\nchurch-bell. The chest was found empty, the demons having carried off\ntheir treasure again; but the shoemaker was buried under the pulpit in\nthe church at Ringen.\n\nWe may end this section with the story of a man who failed to raise a\ntreasure through fear.\n\nTHE NOCTURNAL CHURCH-GOERS.\n\n(Kreutzwald.)\n\nOne Christmas Eve the people at a farm-house a couple of versts from a\nchurch went to bed early, intending to go to early morning service by\ncandle-light. The farmer woke up, and on going out to see[Pg 227] how\nthe weather was, he saw the church lit up, and thinking he had\noverslept himself, called his people and they set out. They found the\nchurch lit up and full of people, but the singing sounded rather\nstrange. When they reached the open door, the lights and people\ndisappeared, and a stranger came out, who told them to return, saying,\n\"This is our service; yours begins to-morrow.\" But he took one youth of\nthe party aside, and told him to come again at midnight three days\nbefore St. John's Eve and he would make his fortune, but he warned him\nto keep it secret.\n\nAs the party returned to the farm-house, the sky cleared, and they saw\nfrom the position of the stars that it was midnight. When the matter\ncame to the pastor's ears, he tried to persuade the people that it was\nonly a dream; but the matter could not be hushed up.\n\nThe youth who had received an invitation from the stranger felt very\ndoubtful about keeping the appointment, especially as he had been\ncommanded to keep it secret; but a fortnight before the time, he was\ngoing home one evening after sunset, when he saw an old woman sitting\nby the roadside, who asked him what he was thinking about so deeply.[Pg\n228] He made no answer, and then she asked to see his hand to tell his\nfortune, assuring him that she meant him well. She put on her\nspectacles, and after examining his hand for some time, promised him\ngreat good fortune, and told him to go with the stranger without fear.\nBut if he wished to take a wife, let him not do so without great\nconsideration, or he might fall into misfortune. She refused any\npayment, and hurried away as lightly as a young girl.\n\nThree days before St. John's Eve, the youth set out a little before\nmidnight. A voice cried in his ear, \"You are not going right!\" and he\nwas about to turn back when he heard voices singing in the air, which\nurged him not to throw away his good fortune, and encouraged him to\nproceed. He found the church-door closed, but the stranger came from\nbehind the left side of the church. He told the youth he feared he\nmight not have come; and that the church service was held at Christmas\nonly once in seven years, at a time when men are all asleep. The\nstranger then told the youth that there was a grave mound in a certain\nmeadow on which grew three junipers, and under the middle one a great\ntreasure was buried. In order to propitiate the[Pg 229] guardians of\nthe treasure, it was needful to slaughter three black animals, one\nfeathered and two hairy, and to take care that not a drop of the\nsacrificial blood was lost, but all offered to the guardians. A bit of\nsilver was to be scraped from the youth's buckle that the gleam of the\ncostly silver might lead him to that which was buried. \"Then cut a\nstick from the juniper three spans long, turn the point three times\ntoward the grass where you have offered the blood, and walk nine times\nround the juniper bush from west to east. But at every round strike the\ngrass under the bush three times with the stick, and at every blow say\n'Igrek!'[64] At the eighth round you will perceive a subterranean\njingling of money, and after the ninth round you will see the gleam of\nsilver. Then fall on your knees, bend your face to the ground, and cry\nout nine times 'Igrek,' when the treasure will rise.\" The seeker must\nwait patiently till the treasure has risen, and not allow himself to be\nfrightened by the spectres which would appear, for they were only\nsoulless phantoms,[65] to try the seeker's courage. If it failed, he\nwould return home with empty hands.[Pg 230] The seeker must go to the\nhill on St. John's Eve, when the bonfires were burning and the people\nmerrymaking. A third of the treasure was to be given to the poor; the\nrest belonged to the finder.\n\nThe stranger repeated his directions three times word for word that the\nyouth should not forget them, when the sexton's cock crew and the\nstranger vanished suddenly.\n\nNext day the youth obtained a black cock and a black dog from some\nneighbours, and next night he caught a mole. On St. John's Eve he took\nthe three animals, and carried out his instructions at midnight,\nslaughtering first the cock, then the mole, and lastly the dog, taking\ncare that every drop of blood should fall on the appointed spot. But\nwhen he had called \"Igrek!\" at the conclusion of the ceremony, a\nfiery-red cock rose suddenly under the juniper, flapped his wings,\ncrowed and flew away. A shovelful of silver was then cast up at the\nyouth's feet. Next a fiery-red cat with long golden claws rose from\nunder the juniper, mewed, and darted away, when the earth opened and\nthrew up another shovelful of silver. Next appeared a great fiery-red\ndog, with a golden head and tail, who barked, and ran away, when a\nshovelful of roubles was cast[Pg 231] up at the youth's feet. This was\nfollowed by a red fox with a golden tail, a red wolf with two golden\nheads, and a red bear with three golden heads; and behind each animal\nmoney was thrown out in the grass, but behind the bear there came about\na ton of silver, and the entire heap rose to the height of a haycock.\nWhen the bear had disappeared, there was a rushing and roaring under\nthe juniper as if fifty smiths were blowing the bellows at once. Then\nappeared from the juniper a huge head, half man, half beast, with\ngolden horns nine feet long, and with golden tusks two ells long. Still\nmore dreadful were the flames which shot from mouth and nostrils, and\nwhich caused the rushing and roaring. The youth was now beside himself\nwith terror, and rushed away, fancying himself closely pursued by the\nspectre, and at last he fell down in his own farmyard and fainted. In\nthe morning the sunbeams roused him; and when he came to himself, he\ntook six sacks with him from the barn to carry off the treasure. He\nfound the hill with the three junipers, the slaughtered animals, and\nthe wand; but the earth showed no signs of having been disturbed, and\nthe treasure had vanished. Probably it still rests beneath the hill,\nwaiting for a bolder man to raise it.[Pg 232]\n\nThe grandson of the unlucky treasure-seeker, who relates this story,\ncould not say if his grandfather had been equally unfortunate in his\nmarriage, as he never alluded to the subject.\n\n[Pg 233]\nSECTION X\n\n_ORIENTAL TALES_\n\nUnder this heading I propose to notice two stories only. The first of\nthese is called the \"Maidens who Bathed in the Moonlight\" (Kreutzwald),\nand is peculiarly tame and inconsequential, but yet exhibits one or two\nfeatures of special interest which forbid its being passed over\naltogether.\n\nA young man who had already learned the language of birds and other\nmysteries, and was still desirous to peer into all sorts of secret\nknowledge, applied to a famous necromancer[66] to initiate him into the\nsecrets hidden under the veil of night. The Finnish sorcerer\nendeavoured to dissuade him from his purpose; but as he persisted, he\ntold him that on the evening of St. Mark's Day, which was not far off,\nthe king of the serpents would hold his[Pg 234] court at a place which\nhe indicated, as was the custom every seven years. There would be a\ndish of heavenly goat's-milk before the king, and if the young man\ncould dip a bit of bread in it, and put it in his mouth before taking\nto flight, he would gain the secret knowledge which he desired.\n\nAt the appointed time, the young man went at dusk to a wide moor, where\nhe could see nothing but a number of hillocks. At midnight a bright\nlight shone from one of the hillocks; it was the king's signal, and all\nthe other snakes, which had been lying like motionless hillocks,\nuncoiled themselves, and began to move in that direction[67]. At last\nthey gathered themselves into a great heap as large as a haycock. The\nyouth at first feared to approach, but at last crept up on tiptoe, when\nhe saw thousands of snakes clustered round a huge serpent with a gold\ncrown on his head. The youth's blood froze in his veins and his hair\nstood on end, but he sprang over the heap of hissing serpents, who\nopened their jaws as he passed, but[Pg 235] could not disengage\nthemselves quickly enough to strike him. He secured his prize and fled,\npursued by the hissing serpents, till he fell senseless; but at the\nfirst rays of the sun he woke up, having left the moor four or five\nmiles behind him, and all danger was now over. He slept through the\nday, to recover himself from the fatigue and fright, and went into the\nwoods in the following night, where he saw golden bathing benches\narranged, with silver bath whisks[68] and silver basins. Presently the\nloveliest naked maidens assembled from all quarters, and began to wash\nthemselves in the bright moonlight, while the youth stood behind a bush\nlooking on. They were the wood-nymphs, and the daughters of the\nMeadow-Queen.[69] Towards morning they disappeared suddenly from his\nsight, and though he visited the woods again night after night, he\nnever again saw either the bathing utensils or the maidens, and pined\naway in hopeless longing.\n\nThe next story is extremely interesting, and it contains a more\nelaborate description of the Seal[Pg 236] of Solomon (which we should\nhardly expect to be known in the legends of a country like Esthonia)\nthan any other which I have seen, except that given by Weil in his\n_Biblische Legenden der Muselm\u00e4nner_. Weil, however, represents it as a\ncluster of stones, possessing different virtues, and not as a single\nstone. The symbol called the Seal of Solomon by the Freemasons, &c.,\nconsists of two equilateral triangles intersecting each other within a\ncircle, and is regarded by mystics of every class as one of the most\nsacred of all symbols. In Eastern legends the mystical name of God is\nsaid to have been inscribed on the Seal. Arabian writers say that the\nembalmed body of Solomon, with the ring on his finger, sits enthroned\non one of the islands of the Circumambient Ocean. Cf. the story\n\"Bulookiya\" (_Thousand and One Nights_), and Kirby's poem of\n_Ed-Dimiryaht_.\n\n[Pg 237]\nTHE NORTHERN FROG[70].\n\n(Kreutzwald).\n\nOnce upon a time, as old people relate, there existed a horrible\nmonster which came from the north. It exterminated men and animals from\nlarge districts, and if nobody had been able to arrest its progress, it\nmight gradually have swept all living things from the earth.\n\nIt had a body like an ox and legs like a frog; that is to say, two\nshort ones in front, and two long ones behind. Its tail was ten fathoms\nlong. It moved like a frog, but cleared two miles at every bound.\nFortunately it used to remain on the spot where it had once alighted\nfor several years, and did not advance farther till it had eaten the\nwhole neighbourhood bare. Its body was entirely encased in scales\nharder than stone or bronze, so that nothing could injure it. Its two\nlarge eyes[Pg 238] shone like the brightest tapers both by day and\nnight, and whoever had the misfortune to meet their glare became as one\nbewitched, and was forced to throw himself into the jaws of the\nmonster. So it happened that men and animals offered themselves to be\ndevoured, without any necessity for it to move from its place. The\nneighbouring kings offered magnificent rewards to any one who could\ndestroy the monster by magic or otherwise, and many people had tried\ntheir fortune, but their efforts were all futile. On one occasion, a\nlarge wood in which the monster was skulking was set on fire. The wood\nwas destroyed, but the noxious animal was not harmed in the slightest\ndegree. However, it was reported among old people that nobody could\novercome the monster except with the help of King Solomon's Seal, on\nwhich a secret inscription was engraved, from which it could be\ndiscovered how the monster might be destroyed. But nobody could tell\nwhere the seal was now concealed, nor where to find a sorcerer who\ncould read the inscription.\n\nAt length a young man whose head and heart were in the right place\ndetermined to set out in search of the seal-ring, trusting in his good\nfortune.[Pg 239] He started in the direction of the East, where it is\nsupposed that the wisdom of the ancients is to be sought for. After\nsome years he met with a celebrated magician of the East, and asked him\nfor advice. The sorcerer answered, \"Men have but little wisdom, and\nhere it can avail you nothing, but God's birds will be your best guides\nunder heaven, if you will learn their language. I can help you with it\nif you will stay with me for a few days.\"\n\nThe young man thankfully accepted this friendly offer, and replied, \"I\nam unable at present to make you any return for your kindness, but if I\nshould succeed in my enterprise, I will richly reward you for your\ntrouble.\" Then the sorcerer prepared a powerful charm, by boiling nine\nkinds of magic herbs which he had gathered secretly by moonlight.[71]\nHe made the young man drink a spoonful every day, and it had the effect\nof making the language of birds intelligible to him. When he departed,\nthe sorcerer said, \"If you should have the good luck to find and get\npossession of Solomon's Seal, come back to me, that I may read you the\ninscription on the ring, for there is no one else now living who can do\nso.\"[Pg 240]\n\nOn the very next day the young man found the world quite transformed.\nHe no longer went anywhere alone, but found company everywhere, for he\nnow understood the language of birds, and thus many secrets were\nrevealed to him which human wisdom would have been unable to discover.\nNevertheless, some time passed before he could learn anything about the\nring. At length one evening, when he was exhausted with heat and\nfatigue, he lay down under a tree in a wood to eat his supper, when he\nheard two strange birds with bright coloured plumage talking about him\nin the branches. One of them said, \"I know the silly wanderer under the\ntree, who has already wandered about so much without finding a trace of\nwhat he wants. He is searching for the lost ring of King Solomon.\" The\nother bird replied, \"I think he must seek the help of the\nHell-Maiden,[72] who would certainly be able to help him to find it.\nEven if she herself does not possess the ring, she must know well\nenough who owns it now.\" The first bird returned, \"It may be as you\nsay, but where can he find the Hell-Maiden, who has no fixed abode, and\nis here to-day and there to-morrow? He might as well try to fetter[Pg\n241] the wind.\" \"I can't say exactly where she is at present,\" said the\nother bird, \"but in three days' time she will come to the spring to\nwash her face, as is her custom every month on the night of the full\nmoon, so that the bloom of youth never disappears from her cheeks, and\nher face never wrinkles with age.\" The first bird responded, \"Well, the\nspring is not far off; shall we amuse ourselves by watching her\nproceedings?\" \"Willingly,\" said the other.\n\nThe young man resolved at once to follow the birds and visit the\nspring; but two difficulties troubled him. In the first place, he\nfeared he might be asleep when the birds set out; and secondly, he had\nno wings, with which he could follow close behind them. He was too\nweary to lie awake all night, for he could not keep his eyes open, but\nhis anxiety prevented him from sleeping quietly, and he often woke up\nfor fear of missing the departure of the birds. Consequently he was\nvery glad when he looked up in the tree at sunrise, and saw the\nbright-coloured birds sitting motionless with their heads under their\nwings. He swallowed his breakfast, and then waited for the birds to\nwake up. But they did not seem disposed to go anywhere[Pg 242] that\nmorning; but fluttered about as if to amuse themselves, in search of\nfood, and flew from one tree-top to another till evening, when they\nreturned to roost at their old quarters. On the second day it was just\nthe same. However, on the third morning one bird said to the other, \"We\nmust go to the spring to-day, to see the Hell-Maiden washing her face.\"\nThey waited till noon, and then flew away direct towards the south. The\nyoung man's heart beat with fear lest he should lose sight of his\nguides. But the birds did not fly farther than he could see, and\nperched on the summit of a tree. The young man ran after them till he\nwas all in a sweat and quite out of breath. After resting three times,\nthe birds reached a small open glade, and perched on a high tree at its\nedge. When the young man arrived, he perceived a spring in the midst of\nthe opening, and sat down under the tree on which the birds were\nperched. Then he pricked up his ears, and listened to the talk of the\nfeathered creatures.\n\n\"The sun has not set,\" said one bird, \"and we must wait till the moon\nrises and the maiden comes to the well. We will see whether she notices\nthe young man under the tree.\" The other bird replied, \"Nothing escapes\nher eyes which concerns a[Pg 243] young man. Will this one be clever\nenough to escape falling into her net?\" \"We will see what passes\nbetween them,\" returned the first bird.\n\nEvening came, and the full moon had already risen high above the wood,\nwhen the young man heard a slight rustling, and in a few moments a\nmaiden emerged from the trees, and sped across the grass to the spring\nso lightly that her feet hardly seemed to touch the ground. The young\nman perceived in an instant that she was the most beautiful woman he\nhad ever seen in his life, and he could not take his eyes from her.\n\nShe went straight to the well, without taking any heed of him, raised\nher eyes to the moon, and then fell on her knees and washed her face\nnine times in the spring. Every time she looked up at the moon, and\ncried out, \"Fair and round-cheeked, as now thou art, may my beauty\nlikewise endure imperishably.\" Then she walked nine times round the\nspring, and each time she sang\u2014\n\n\"Let the maiden's face not wrinkle,\nNor her red cheeks lose their beauty;\nThough the moon should wane and dwindle,\nMay my beauty grow for ever,\nAnd my joy bloom on for ever!\"\n\n[Pg 244]Then she dried her face with her long hair, and was about to\ndepart, when her eyes suddenly fell upon the young man who was sitting\nunder the tree, and she turned towards him immediately. The young man\nrose up to await her approach. The fair maiden drew nearer, and said to\nhim, \"You have exposed yourself to severe punishment for spying on the\nprivate affairs of a maiden in the moonlight, but as you are a\nstranger, and came here by accident, I will forgive you. But you must\ninform me truly who you are, and how you came here, where no mortal has\never before set foot.\"\n\nThe youth answered with much politeness, \"Forgive me, fair lady, for\nhaving offended you without my knowledge or intention. When I arrived\nhere, after long wanderings, I found this nice place under the tree,\nand prepared to camp here for the night. Your arrival interrupted me,\nand I remained sitting here, thinking that I should not disturb you if\nI looked on quietly.\"\n\nThe maiden answered in the most friendly manner, \"Come to our house\nto-night. It is better to rest on cushions than on the cold moss.\"\n\nThe young man hesitated for a moment, uncertain whether he ought to\naccept her friendly invitation or[Pg 245] to decline it. One of the\nbirds in the tree remarked to the other, \"He would be a fool if he did\nnot accept her offer.\" Perhaps the maiden did not know the language of\nbirds, for she added, \"Fear nothing, my friend. I have not invited you\nwith any ill intention, but wish you well with all my heart.\" The birds\nresponded, \"Go where you are asked, but beware of giving any blood,\nlest you should sell your soul.\"\n\nThen the youth went with her. Not far from the spring they arrived at a\nbeautiful garden, in which stood a magnificent mansion, which shone in\nthe moonlight as if the roof and walls were made of gold and silver.\nWhen the youth entered, he passed through very splendid apartments,\neach grander than the last; hundreds of tapers were burning in gold\nchandeliers, and everywhere diffused a light like that of day. At\nlength they reached a room where an elegant supper was laid out, and\ntwo chairs stood at the table, one of silver and the other of gold. The\nmaiden sat down on the golden chair, and invited the youth to take the\nother. White-robed damsels served up and removed the dishes, but they\nspoke no word, and trod as softly as if on cats' feet. After supper the\nyouth remained[Pg 246] alone with the royal maiden, and they kept up a\nlively conversation, till a woman in red garments appeared to remind\nthem that it was bedtime.\n\nThen the maiden showed the young man to another room, where stood a\nsilken bed with cushions of down, after which she retired. He thought\nhe must have gone to heaven with his living body, for he never expected\nto find such luxuries on earth. But he could never afterwards tell\nwhether it was the delusion of dreams or whether he actually heard\nvoices round his bed crying out words which chilled his heart\u2014\"Give no\nblood!\"\n\nNext morning the maiden asked him whether he would not like to stay\nhere, where the whole week was one long holiday. And as the youth did\nnot answer immediately, she added, \"I am young and fair, as you see\nyourself, and I am under no one's authority, and can do what I like.\nUntil now, it never entered my head to marry, but from the moment when\nI saw you, other thoughts came suddenly into my mind, for you please\nme. If we should both be of one mind, let us wed without delay. I\npossess endless wealth and goods, as you may easily convince yourself\nat every step, and thus I can live in royal state day by day. What[Pg\n247]ever your heart desires, that can I provide for you.\"\n\nThe cajoleries of the fair maid might well have turned the youth's\nhead, but by good fortune he remembered that the birds had called her\nthe Hell-Maiden, and had warned him to give her no blood, and that he\nhad received the same warning at night, though whether sleeping or\nwaking he knew not. He therefore replied, \"Dear lady, do not be angry\nwith me if I tell you candidly that marriage should not be rushed upon\nat racehorse speed, but requires longer consideration. Pray therefore\nallow me a few days for reflection, until we are better acquainted.\"\n\"Why not?\" answered the fair maid. \"I am quite content that you should\nthink on the matter for a few weeks, and set your mind at rest.\"\n\nLest the youth might feel dull, the maiden led him from one part of the\nmagnificent house to another, and showed him all the rich storehouses\nand treasure-chambers, thinking that it might soften his heart. All\nthese treasures were the result of magic, for the maiden could have\nbuilt such a palace with all its contents on any day and at any place\nwith the aid of Solomon's Seal. But everything was unsubstantial, for\nit was woven of wind,[Pg 248] and dissolved again into the wind,\nwithout leaving a trace behind. But the youth was not aware of this,\nand looked upon all the glamour as reality.\n\nOne day the maiden led him into a secret chamber, where a gold casket\nstood on a silver table. This she showed him, and then said, \"Here is\nthe most precious of all my possessions, the like of which is not to be\nfound in the whole world. It is a costly golden ring. If you will marry\nme, I will give it you for a keepsake, and it will make you the\nhappiest of all mankind. But in order that the bond of our love should\nlast for ever, you must give me three drops of blood from the little\nfinger of your left hand in exchange for the ring.\"\n\nThe youth turned cold when he heard her ask for blood, for he\nremembered that his soul was at stake. But he was crafty enough not to\nlet her notice his emotion, and not to refuse her, but asked carelessly\nwhat were the properties of the ring.\n\nThe maiden answered, \"No one living has been able to fathom the whole\npower of this ring, and no one can completely explain the secret signs\nengraved upon it. But, even with the imperfect knowledge of its\nproperties which I possess, I can perform many wonders which no other\ncreature can accom[Pg 249]plish. If I put the ring on the little finger\nof my left hand, I can rise in the air like a bird and fly\nwhithersoever I will. If I place the ring on the ring-finger of my left\nhand, I become invisible to all eyes, while I myself can see everything\nthat passes around me. If I put the ring on the middle finger of my\nleft hand, I become invulnerable to all weapons, and neither water nor\nfire can hurt me. If I place it on the index finger of my left hand, I\ncan create all things which I desire with its aid; I can build houses\nin a moment, or produce other objects. As long as I wear it on the\nthumb of my left hand, my hand remains strong enough to break down\nrocks and walls. Moreover, the ring bears other secret inscriptions\nwhich, as I said before, no one has yet been able to explain; but it\nmay readily be supposed that they contain many important secrets. In\nancient times, the ring belonged to King Solomon, the wisest of kings,\nand in whose reign lived the wisest of men. At the present day it is\nunknown whether the ring was formed by divine power or by human hands;\nbut it is supposed that an angel presented the ring to the wise king.\"\n\nWhen the youth heard the fair one speak in this way, he determined\nimmediately to endeavour to[Pg 250] possess himself of the ring by\ncraft, and therefore pretended that he could not believe what he had\nheard. He hoped by this means to induce the maiden to take the ring out\nof the casket to show him, when he might have an opportunity of\npossessing himself of the talisman. But he did not venture to ask her\nplainly to show him the ring. He flattered and cajoled her, but the\nonly thought in his mind was to get possession of the ring. Presently\nthe maiden took the key of the casket from her bosom as if to unlock\nit; but she changed her mind, and replaced it, saying, \"There's plenty\nof time for that afterwards.\"\n\nA few days later, their conversation reverted to the magic ring, and\nthe youth said, \"In my opinion, the things which you tell me of the\npower of your ring are quite incredible.\"\n\nThen the maiden opened the casket and took out the ring, which shone\nthrough her fingers like the brightest sun-ray. Then she placed it in\njest on the middle finger of her left hand, and told the youth to take\na knife and stab her with it wherever he liked, for it would not hurt\nher. The youth protested against the proposed experiment; but, as she\ninsisted, he was obliged to humour her. At first he[Pg 251] began in\nplay, and then in earnest to try to strike the maiden with the knife;\nbut it seemed as if there was an invisible wall of iron between them.\nThe blade would not pierce it, and the maiden stood before him unhurt\nand smiling. Then she moved the ring to her ring-finger, and in an\ninstant she vanished from the eyes of the youth, and he could not\nimagine what had become of her. Presently she stood before him smiling,\nin the same place as before, holding the ring between her fingers.\n\n\"Let me try,\" said he, \"whether I can also do these strange things with\nthe ring.\"\n\nThe maiden suspected no deceit, and gave it to him.\n\nThe youth pretended he did not quite know what to do with it and asked,\n\"On which finger must I place the ring to become invulnerable to sharp\nweapons?\" \"On the ring-finger of the left hand,\" said the maiden,\nsmiling. She then took the knife herself and tried to strike him, but\ncould not do him any harm. Then the youth took the knife from her and\ntried to wound himself, but he found that this too was impossible. Then\nhe asked the maiden how he could cleave stones and rocks with the ring.\nShe took him to the enclosure where stood a block of granite a fathom\nhigh. \"Now[Pg 252] place the ring,\" said the maiden, \"on the thumb of\nyour left hand, and then strike the stone with your fist, and you will\nsee the strength of your hand.\" The youth did so, and to his amazement\nhe saw the stone shiver into a thousand pieces under the blow. Then he\nthought, \"He who does not seize good fortune by the horns is a fool,\nfor when it has once flown, it never returns.\" While he was still\njesting about the destruction of the stone, he played with the ring,\nand slipped it suddenly on the ring-finger of his left hand. Then cried\nthe maiden, \"You will remain invisible to me until you take off the\nring again.\" But this was far from the young man's thoughts. He hurried\nforwards a few paces, and then moved the ring to the little finger of\nhis left hand, and soared into the air like a bird. When the maiden saw\nhim flying away, she thought at first that this experiment too was only\nin jest, and cried out, \"Come back, my friend. You see now that I have\ntold you the truth.\" But he who did not return was the youth, and when\nthe maiden realised his treachery, she broke out into bitter\nlamentations over her misfortune.\n\nThe youth did not cease his flight till he arrived, some days later, at\nthe house of the famous sorcerer[Pg 253] who had taught him the\nlanguage of birds. The sorcerer was greatly delighted to find that his\npupil's journey had turned out so successfully. He set to work at once\nto read the secret inscriptions on the ring, but he spent seven weeks\nbefore he could accomplish it. He then gave the young man the following\ninstructions how to destroy the Northern Frog:\u2014\"You must have a great\niron horse cast, with small wheels under each foot, so that it can be\nmoved backwards and forwards. You must mount this, and arm yourself\nwith an iron spear two fathoms long, which you will only be able to\nwield when you wear the magic ring on the thumb of your left hand. The\nspear must be as thick as a great birch-tree in the middle, and both\nends must be sharpened to a point. You must fasten two strong chains,\nten fathoms long, to the middle of the spear, strong enough to hold the\nfrog. As soon as the frog has bitten hard on the spear, and it has\npierced his jaws, you must spring like the wind from the iron horse to\navoid falling into the monster's throat, and must fix the ends of the\nchains into the ground with iron posts so firmly that no force can drag\nthem out again. In three or four days' time the strength of the frog\nwill be so far exhausted that[Pg 254] you can venture to approach it.\nThen place Solomon's ring on the thumb of your left hand, and beat the\nfrog to death. But till you reach it, you must keep the ring constantly\non the ring-finger of your left hand, that the monster cannot see you,\nor it would strike you dead with its long tail. But when you have\naccomplished all this, take great care not to lose the ring, nor to\nallow anybody to deprive you of it by a trick.\"\n\nOur friend thanked the sorcerer for his advice, and promised to reward\nhim for his trouble afterwards. But the sorcerer answered, \"I have\nlearned so much magic wisdom by deciphering the secret inscriptions on\nthe ring, that I need no other profit for myself.\" Then they parted,\nand the young man hastened home, which was no longer difficult to him,\nas he could fly like a bird wherever he wished.\n\nHe reached home in a few weeks, and heard from the people that the\nhorrible Northern Frog was already in the neighbourhood, and might be\nexpected to cross the frontier any day. The king caused it to be\nproclaimed everywhere that if any one could destroy the frog, he would\nnot only give him part of his kingdom, but his daughter in marriage\nlikewise. A few days later, the young man came before the[Pg 255] king,\nand declared that he hoped to destroy the monster, if the king would\nprovide him with what was necessary; and the king joyfully consented.\nAll the most skilful craftsmen of the neighbourhood were called\ntogether to construct first the iron horse, next the great spear, and\nlastly the iron chains, the links of which were two inches thick. But\nwhen all was ready, it was found that the iron horse was so heavy that\na hundred men could not move it from its place. The youth was therefore\nobliged to move the horse away alone, with the help of his ring.\n\nThe frog was now hardly four miles away, so that a couple of bounds\nmight carry it across the frontier. The young man now reflected how he\ncould best deal with the monster alone, for, as he was obliged to push\nthe heavy iron horse from below, he could not mount it, as the sorcerer\nhad directed him. But he unexpectedly received advice from the beak of\na raven, \"Mount upon the iron horse, and set the spear against the\nground, and you can then push yourself along as you would push a boat\nfrom the shore.\" The young man did so, and found that he was able to\nproceed in this way. The monster at once opened its jaws afar off,\nready to receive the[Pg 256] expected prey. A few fathoms more, and the\nman and the iron horse were in the monster's jaws. The young man shook\nwith horror, and his heart froze to ice, but he kept his wits about\nhim, and thrust with all his might, so that the iron spear which he\nheld upright in his hand, pierced the jaws of the monster. Then he\nleaped from the iron horse, and sprang away like lightning as the\nmonster clashed his jaws together. A hideous roar, which was heard for\nmany miles, announced that the Northern Frog had bitten the spear fast.\nWhen the youth turned round, he saw one point of the spear projecting a\nfoot above the upper jaw, and concluded that the other was firmly fixed\nin the lower one; but the frog had crushed the iron horse between his\nteeth. The young man now hastened to fasten the chains in the ground,\nfor which strong iron posts several fathoms long had been prepared.\n\nThe death-struggles of the monster lasted for three days and three\nnights, and when it reared itself, it struck the ground so violently\nwith its tail, that the earth was shaken for fifty miles round. At\nlength, when it was too weak to move its tail any longer, the young man\nlifted a stone with the help of his ring, which twenty men could not\nhave[Pg 257] moved, and beat the monster about the head with it until\nno further sign of life was visible.\n\nImmeasurable was the rejoicing when the news arrived that the terrible\nmonster was actually dead. The victor was brought to the capital with\nall possible respect, as if he had been a powerful king. The old king\ndid not need to force his daughter to the marriage, for she herself\ndesired to marry the strong man who had alone successfully accomplished\nwhat others had not been able to effect with the aid of a whole army.\nAfter some days, a magnificent wedding was prepared. The festivities\nlasted a whole month, and all the kings of the neighbouring countries\nassembled to thank the man who had rid the world of its worst enemy.\nBut amid the marriage festival and the general rejoicings it was\nforgotten that the monster's carcass had been left unburied, and as it\nwas now decaying, it occasioned such a stench that no one could\napproach it. This gave rise to diseases of which many people died. Then\nthe king's son-in-law determined to seek help from the sorcerer of the\nEast. This did not seem difficult to him with the aid of his ring, with\nwhich he could fly in the air like a bird.[Pg 258]\n\nBut the proverb says that injustice never prospers, and that as we sow\nwe reap. The king's son-in-law was doomed to realise the truth of this\nadage with his stolen ring. The Hell-Maiden left no stone unturned,\nnight or day, to discover the whereabouts of her lost ring. When she\nlearned through her magic arts that the king's son-in-law had set out\nin the form of a bird to visit the sorcerer, she changed herself into\nan eagle, and circled about in the air till the bird for which she was\nwaiting came in sight. She recognised him at once by the ring, which he\ncarried on a riband round his neck. Then the eagle swooped upon the\nbird, and at the moment that she seized him in her claws she tore the\nring from his neck with her beak, before he could do anything to\nprevent her. Then the eagle descended to the earth with her prey, and\nthey both stood together in their former human shapes. \"Now you have\nfallen into my hands, you rascal,\" cried the Hell-Maiden. \"I accepted\nyou as my lover, and you practised deceit and theft against me: is that\nmy reward? You robbed me of my most precious jewel by fraud, and you\nhoped to pass a happy life as the king's son-in-law; but now we have\nturned over a new[Pg 259] leaf. You are in my power, and you shall\natone to me for all your villainy.\" \"Forgive me, forgive me,\" said the\nking's son-in-law. \"I know well that I have treated you very badly, but\nI heartily repent of my fault.\" But the maiden answered, \"Your\npleadings and your repentance come too late, and nothing can help you\nmore. I dare not overlook your offence, for that would bring me\ndisgrace, and make me a byword among the people. Twice have you sinned\nagainst me: for, firstly, you have despised my love; and, secondly, you\nhave stolen my ring; and now you must suffer your punishment.\" As she\nspoke, she placed the ring on the thumb of her left hand, took the man\non her arm like a doll, and carried him away. This time she did not\ntake him to a magnificent palace, but to a cavern in the rocks where\nchains were hanging on the walls. The maiden grasped the ends of the\nchains and fettered the man hand and foot, so that it was impossible\nfor him to escape, and she said in anger, \"Here shall you remain a\nprisoner till your end. I will send you so much food every day, that\nyou shall not die of hunger, but you need never expect to escape.\" Then\nshe left him.\n\nThe king and his daughter endured a time of[Pg 260] terrible anxiety as\nweeks and weeks passed by, and the traveller neither returned nor sent\nany tidings. The king's daughter often dreamed that her consort was in\ngreat distress, and therefore she begged her father to assemble the\nsorcerers from all parts, in hopes that they might perhaps be able to\ngive some information respecting what had happened to him, and how he\ncould be rescued. All the sorcerers could say was that he was still\nalive, but in great distress, and they could neither discover where he\nwas, nor how he could be found. At length a famous sorcerer from\nFinland was brought to the king, who was able to inform him that his\nson-in-law was kept in captivity in the East, not by a human being, but\nby a more powerful creature. Then the king sent messengers to the East\nto seek for his lost son-in-law. Fortunately they met with the old\nsorcerer who had read the inscriptions on Solomon's Seal, and had thus\nlearned wisdom which was hidden from all others. The sorcerer soon\ndiscovered what he wished to know, and said, \"The man is kept prisoner\nby magic art in such and such a place, but you cannot release him\nwithout my help, so I must go with you myself.\"\n\nThey set out accordingly, and in a few days, led[Pg 261] by the birds,\nthey reached the cavern in the rock where the king's son-in-law had\nalready languished for seven years in captivity. He recognised the\nsorcerer immediately, but the latter did not know him, he was so much\nworn and wasted. The sorcerer loosed his chains by his magic art, took\nhim home, and nursed and tended him till he had recovered sufficient\nstrength to set out on his journey. He reached his destination on the\nvery day that the old king died, and was chosen king. Then came days of\njoy after long days of suffering; and he lived happily till his end,\nbut he never recovered the magic ring, nor has it ever since been seen\nby human eyes.\n\nThe succeeding prose sections are short, and chiefly contain stories\nfrom Jannsen's collections, of many of which I have given only a brief\noutline.\n\n[Pg 262]\nSECTION XI\n\n_CHURCH-STORIES_\n\nSeveral of these, given by Jannsen, may be briefly narrated.\n\nTHE CHURCH AT REVEL.\n\nRevel was formerly an unimportant place, and the inhabitants wished to\nmake it famous by building a church. They contracted with the great\narchitect Olaf[73] to erect it; and when it was completed, and he was\nabout to fix the cross on the summit, his wife cried out joyfully,\n\"Olaf will come home to-day with a thousand barrels of gold.\"[74] But\nscarcely had[Pg 263] Olaf fixed the cross in its place, when he slipped\nand fell to the ground, and a toad and a snake sprang out of his mouth.\nThe Devil wished to destroy the church, but could not get near it; so\nhe made a sling at Pernau, and hurled a great rock at it. But the sling\nbroke, and the rock fell half-way between Pernau and Revel, where it\nnow remains. (Similar tales are related of the Devil in many countries,\nbut are perhaps commonest in Scandinavia.)\n\nTHE CHURCH AT P\u00dcHALEPP.\n\nBefore Christian times there was a great alder forest in the island of\nDag\u00f6, where the people used to make sacrifices and hold festivals.\nAfterwards the forest was hewn down, all but one tree, under which the\npeople wished to build a church. But the missionaries would not\nconsent, till a man advised them to yoke two oxen to the cart in which\nthe building materials should be loaded, and then let them wander at\nwill. Where they halted, the church should be built.\n\nSo the oxen were driven to the alder forest, where there was plenty of\ngrass, and after being[Pg 264] allowed to graze awhile they were\nbrought back and yoked to the cart. They returned to the heath and\nbegan to feed, and the church was erected on that spot and named the\nChurch of P\u00fchalepp.\n\nThe Devil thought to destroy it by hurling two great rocks at it at\nnight from a hill, after having carefully noted its position in the\ndaytime. He missed his aim in the darkness, but mounted his mare and\nrode to see what damage was done. Just as he reached the church the\ncock crew, and he was forced to turn round and ride back to hell. But\nthe marks of the mare's hoofs are still to be seen where he heard the\ncock crow.\n\nAnother story relates how the Devil pulled down a church which was in\ncourse of erection, and tore up the very foundations. But a wise man\ntold the people to take two white calves, dropped on that night,\nharness them to a cart, and build the church where they stopped, which\nwas accordingly done.\n\n[Pg 265]\nTHE CHURCH OF THE HOLY CROSS.\n\nA blind nobleman of Vastemois, near Fellin, was driving out one day,\nwhen his coachman saw a splendid golden cross. His master ordered him\nto drive up to it; and on touching it, he recovered his sight. In\ngratitude, he built a church on the spot, which was afterwards\ndestroyed in war-time, and only the walls left standing. The people\nwere too poor to rebuild it, but from the ruins grew a tree which all\nregarded as holy. The then over-lord commanded them to fell it, and as\nthey refused, he did so himself, but was immediately struck blind.\n\nTHE CHURCH AT FELLIN.\n\nIn former days, the church of Fellin did not stand where it stands at\npresent, but close to the lake. It was prophesied that it should stand\ntill seven brothers should be present in it together. When this\nhappened by chance, the church began to sink. The congregation escaped,\nexcept the seven brothers,[Pg 266] who remained in it, but it sunk till\neven the summit of the spire had disappeared. The site is now a marshy\nmeadow, but if any one is there near midnight on New Year's Eve, he\nhears entrancing voices, and cannot move from the spot till the church\nclock beneath the ground has struck the last stroke of twelve.\n\n[Pg 267]\nSECTION XII\n\n_UNNATURAL BROTHERS_\n\nThe story of the wicked rich brother who oppresses the poor one is not\nunknown in Esthonia. There is a hideous story of such a pair, relating\nhow when the poor brother died his widow begged grave-clothing from the\nwife of the rich one. When the rich brother returned, he scolded his\nwife, and rushed off, cursing and swearing, to strip the body of his\ndead brother, even in his coffin, crying, \"That's mine! that's mine!\"\nBut when he would have laid the naked corpse back in the coffin, it\nclung round his neck, and he was compelled to carry it about with him\nfor the rest of his life.\n\nTHE RICH BROTHER AND THE POOR ONE.\n\nOnce upon a time there were two brothers, one of whom had abundance,\nbut the other was very poor.[Pg 268] As is the way of the world, riches\ndo not heed poverty, and thus it was with the two brothers. The rich\none would not give the poor one even a spoonful of soup.\n\nOne day the rich brother gave a great feast. The poor brother expected\nto have been invited, but his hopes were vain.\n\nAll at once a bright idea struck him, and he went to the river and\ncaught three large pike. \"I'll carry these to my brother,\" said he,\n\"and perhaps they will bring me a blessing.\"\n\nHe took the fish to his brother, and addressed him humbly, like a rich\nlord. But it made no difference. His brother only said, \"Many thanks,\"\nturned his back, and went off.\n\nWhat could the poor brother do? He also turned round, and went his way,\nsorrowfully reflecting, \"He is my brother in name indeed, but he's\nworse than an entire stranger!\"\n\nAll at once he saw an old man sitting by the road, who rose up quickly\nand went towards him, saying, \"Friend, why do you look so sorrowfully\non the world?\"\n\n\"Sorrowful or not,\" said the poor brother, \"it goes well enough with\nme! I brought my rich[Pg 269] brother three fish for a present, and he\ndidn't even give me a drink in return!\"\n\n\"But you perhaps got something else?\" asked the old man.\n\n\"Oh, yes, 'many thanks,'\" said he; \"that's your something else!\"\n\nThe old man answered, \"Give me your 'many thanks,' and you shall become\na rich man.\"\n\n\"Take it, and welcome,\" said the poor brother.\n\nThen the old man instructed him as follows:\u2014\"Go home, look for Poverty\nunder the stove, and throw it into the river, and you shall see how it\nwill fare with you.\"\n\nThen he went his way, and the poor brother returned home. He found\nPoverty under the stove, seized it, and flung it into the river.\n\nAfter this, everything which he undertook succeeded with the poor\nbrother, and it was a real marvel to see how he got on. His fields grew\nfine harvests, and his barns and stables were soon more imposing than\nhis rich brother's.\n\nWhen the rich brother saw it, he grew envious, and wanted to know how\nthe other had got wealthy. He was always teasing him to know how it\nwas, and at last the other got tired of it, and said,[Pg 270] \"How did\nI get rich? I dragged Poverty out from under the stove, and threw it in\nthe water. That's how it was!\"\n\n\"That's how it was,\" cried the rich brother. \"Wait a bit! your sort\nshan't outdo me!\"\n\nSo he went to the river and fished for Poverty, from whom he supposed\nthat his poor brother had received everything. He fished and fished,\nand would do nothing else, till at length he held Poverty fast.\n\nWhile he inspected and examined it at home, it slipped through his\nfingers and hid under his stove, and nobody could get it out again.\n\nAfter this everything went worse and worse with the rich brother, till\nhe became at last quite poor, and remained so.\n\nThis story, which I have not abridged, is a well-known Sclavonic\nlegend. It is probably connected with the story of the three apes which\nforms the introduction to that of \"Khaleefeh the Fisherman,\" in the\n_Thousand and One Nights_.\n\n[Pg 271]\nSECTION XIII\n\n_PLAGUE-LEGENDS_\n\nThe plague continued to rage in Eastern Europe long after it had\ndisappeared from the West, and down to a very recent period.\nConsequently we find plague-legends, which have almost died out in the\nBritish Islands, except in Scotland, rife among all the Eastern\nnations. The Plague-demon is usually represented as female, but in the\nEsthonian legends it is masculine.\n\nThe Plague once seated himself in a boat which was returning to the\nIsland of Rog\u00f6,[75] which had hitherto escaped his ravages, in the\nshape of a tall black man with a great scythe in his hand. He arrived\namong the dead crew, and at once sprang on shore and began to destroy\nthe inhabitants. Some saw the Plague himself, and others not. If any\none saw him, his heart froze with terror[Pg 272] before he could speak\na word.[76] One night during a violent storm, an old woman saw him\nenter her cottage as she was sitting alone spinning; but she gathered\ncourage to cry out, \"Welcome, in God's name.\" He stopped short,\nmuttering, \"That's enough,\" returned to the boat in which he had come,\nand went out to sea. The storm ceased as he departed, and since then he\nhas never reappeared.\n\nIn the Island of Nuck\u00f6 he appeared as an old grey man, with a taper in\none hand and a staff in the other, a book under his arm, and a\nthree-cornered hat on his head. As he went from house to house, he\nlooked up the names of his victims in his book, let his taper shine on\ntheir faces to make sure that he had made no mistake, and touched the\ndoomed with his staff. A peasant once saw him enter his cottage, and\ntouch all with his staff, except himself and the infant in the cradle.\nAll the others died before cockcrow.[77][Pg 273]\n\nAnother time the Plague was driving down a steep path which led to a\nvillage, when he upset his vehicle and broke the axle. A passing\npeasant helped him to bind it up, and directed him to the smithy; but\nhe declared that he was the Plague, and for the good deed that had been\ndone him all the village should be spared. So he turned his horse,\ndrove back up the hill, and vanished like a cloud. When the news was\nbrought to the village, bonfires of rejoicing were lighted, and kept up\nfor many days.\n\n[Pg 274]\nSECTION XIV\n\n_BEAST-STORIES_\n\nI commence with wolf-stories, which are rather numerous in Esthonia.\nOne of them relates the creation of the wolf. When God had created the\nworld, he asked the Devil what he thought of his work; and the Devil\nobjected that there was no animal to scare away mischievous boys from\nthe woods when the bear and the snake were sunk in their winter sleep.\nThereupon God gave leave to the Devil to make such an animal as he\nwished, and to give it life by the formula, \"Stand up and devour the\nDevil.\" Then the Devil made the wolf's back of a strong hedge-pole, the\nhead of a tree-stump, the breast of twigs and leather, and the loins of\nbricks.[78] He made the tail of a fern-frond, and the feet of\nalder-stumps, but he put a stone into its breast for the heart. He\nclothed the body with[Pg 275] moss, burning coals formed the eyes, and\niron nails were used for the teeth and claws. He then named the\ncreature Wolf, and pronounced the spell as far as \"devour,\" when the\ncreature raised his head and snorted. The Devil was too much frightened\nto finish, but afterwards plucked up courage, and repeated the spell,\nsubstituting God's name for his own. But the wolf took no notice, and\nwhen the Devil appealed to God, he was only told to use the same spell;\nso he stood a long way off and pronounced it. Then the wolf rushed at\nthe Devil, who was forced to hide under a stone to save himself. Since\nthen the wolf has been the Devil's worst enemy, and pursues him\neverywhere.\n\nAnother story relates how God forbade the wolf to eat the flocks and\nthe dogs, but to receive his share when the farmers baked. But one day\na farmer's wife threw the wolf a red-hot stone instead of bread, and he\nburnt his muzzle, which has been black ever since. Since then he\ndevours whatever falls in his way.\n\nA farmer, hemmed in by a herd of wolves, succeeded in driving them\naway, but was followed home by one of them. When he took his provisions\nout of the sledge, he laid his hand on a square object like a[Pg 276]\nwhetstone. He then remembered hearing that the wolves sometimes receive\nfood from heaven, and thought this might be their portion. So he flung\nit to the wolf, saying, \"Take it if it's yours;\" and the wolf seized it\nand disappeared.\n\nThere is an odd story of a young woman who was carrying an apron full\nof eggs to her mother. She was overtaken by a violent thunderstorm, and\nsheltered under a fir-tree. She felt something moving among the eggs,\nand was frightened; but presently she was still more terrified when she\nfound a great wolf tugging at her apron. She dropped it in her fright,\nand a black cat jumped out and darted away, pursued by the wolf. When\nshe reached the village, her mother told her that the black cat was the\nDevil, who had taken that form in order to play her a trick or do her\nsome injury, but had been scared away by the wolf.\n\nHave we here an inverted and distorted echo of \"Little Red Riding\nHood?\"\n\nA peasant who was broiling fish in the forest at nightfall met with a\nstill more alarming adventure. A black man appeared to him, and\ncommanded him to fetch him a spit, for he wanted to broil fish too. But\nthe spit which he wanted was a long sharp[Pg 277] stake, and the\npeasant himself was to be the fish. In his terror the peasant called\n\"St. George's Dogs\" to his aid, and a pack of wolves rushed out, and\nchased the Devil away, while the peasant drew out the axle from his\ncart-wheel, and supplied its place with a pole of rowan-wood.\n\nAnother story relates how an unfortunate wolf missed getting his usual\nrations from God, and set out to forage for himself. After sparing some\nwhom he met, and allowing others to escape, he fell into the hands of a\nyoung peasant, who gave him a sound beating and then took refuge in a\ntree. The wolf's relatives, seeking revenge, climbed on each other's\nback till they nearly reached the peasant, who upset them by a\nstratagem, and they fell, many breaking their limbs. Since then a wolf\nalways runs away when he sees a man.\n\nWere-wolves are sometimes alluded to in Esthonian tales.\n\nThe following stories are of a more miscellaneous character, and some\nof them are sufficiently interesting to be given with little or no\nabridgment.\n\n[Pg 278]\nTHE MAN WITH THE BAST SHOES.\n\nOnce upon a time a traveller came to a village and asked for a night's\nlodging. He was handsomely dressed, but he had coarse bast shoes on his\nfeet. A friendly farmer received the stranger hospitably, and offered\nhim accommodation. At night the man asked his host, \"Farmer, where\nshall I put my bast shoes?\" The farmer showed him the place, but he\nadded, \"No, my shoes must spend the night among the feathered people,\nfor that is what they are used to. So I would rather hang them on the\nperch in the hen-house.\" The farmer laughed at the joke, and permitted\nhim to do so.\n\nAs soon as all were in their first sleep, the owner of the bast shoes\nrose from his bed, slipped into the hen-house, tore the shoes to\npieces, and scattered the coarse plaits among the fowls. Next morning\nhe went to the master of the house and complained, \"Farmer, my property\nwas badly damaged last night.\" Said the farmer, \"Well, let whoever has\ndone the mischief make it good.\" This was just[Pg 279] what the\nstranger wanted, and he immediately caught the dappled cock, and put\nhim into his knapsack, \"for,\" said he, \"he's the culprit; last night he\npecked at my shoes till he spoiled them.\" Then he proceeded on his\njourney with the cock.\n\nOn the evening of the same day he arrived at a neighbouring village,\nand asked again for accommodation. At night he put the cock in the\nfarmer's sheep-pen, and excused himself by saying, \"My cock has not\nbeen used to anything else since he was a chicken.\" But at night he\nstrangled the bird, and then complained, \"The sheep have killed my\ncock.\" He indemnified himself by taking a fat ram from the flock, for\nhe held by the farmer's adage, \"He who has done the mischief must pay\nfor it.\"\n\nBy a similar stratagem he exchanged the ram at the third village for an\nox, and at last the ox for a horse. He soon contrived to get a sledge\ntoo, and drove merrily over hill and dale, till the stones flew behind\nhim, while he contrived new schemes and stratagems. On the way, he\nencountered Master Reynard, who persuaded him by entreaties and\ncajoleries to take him into his sledge. After a while, the wolf and\nbear joined them, and likewise found a place in the sledge; but this\nmade the load[Pg 280] too heavy, and when they came to a curve in the\nroad, the side-poles of the sledge gave way. Then the man sent his\ncompanions to fetch wood to make a new pole. But none of the three\nbrought a proper one back. The fox and wolf brought thin sticks in\ntheir mouths, and the bear brought a whole pine-tree, roots and all.\nThen the man went himself, and soon found the wood which he wanted.\nMeantime, the wild beasts availed themselves of the opportunity, and\nsprang upon the horse and devoured it. But they stuffed the skin nicely\nwith straw, and set it carefully up, so that it stood again on its four\nlegs as if it was alive.\n\nWhen the man came back with the pole, he mended the sledge and\nharnessed the horse again. \"Oho! now we'll drive on.\" But alas! the\nhorse would not move. Then the man looked at the red scamp, the grey\nrascal, and the brown villain, and said angrily, \"Give me my horse\nback.\" But the wild beasts answered, \"You killed it yourself, while we\nwere running about looking for wood by your orders.\"\n\nThus they stood quarrelling and disputing, till Reynard considered how\nhe could best put an end to the dispute and save his own skin. He\nknew[Pg 281] of a pit in the neighbourhood which the hunter had dug for\na wolf-trap, and covered loosely with thin twigs. \"The matter won't be\nsettled by quarrelsome and angry words,\" cried he; \"but come, let the\nfour of us go to the wolf-pit; we will all tread on it at once, and\nwhoever falls in shall be adjudged guilty.\" The rest agreed, and when\nthey stood on the twigs, they broke under their weight, and\nprecipitated them into the pit, and even Reynard was unable to escape.\nHe had trusted too much to the lightness of his tread, and had trodden\non the twigs without consideration. Now they were all in the trap\ntogether, and none of them could hope to escape. The time seemed long\nto them, and their hunger soon became too great to bear.\n\nFirst of all, the wild beasts attacked the man of the bast shoes and\ndevoured him, and then Reynard had to resign his life. Last of all the\nbear throttled the wolf. Then came the hunter and gave the bear his\nquietus. Thus all the four rascals experienced the truth of the\nproverb, \"As the deed, so the reward.\"\n\n[Pg 282]\nWHY THE DOG AND CAT AND THE CAT AND MOUSE ARE ENEMIES.\n\nIn former days all animals dwelt together in peace; but then it befell\nthat the dogs killed and devoured hares and other game in the open\nfields. The other animals complained, and when God called the dogs to\naccount, they objected that they had nothing to eat. Their plea was\nadmitted, and leave was granted them to eat fallen animals. The dogs\nrequested and received a written license to that effect, which was\nintrusted to the sheep-dog, as the largest and most reliable among\nthem. But in autumn the sheep-dog was very busy, and could neither\ncarry it about with him nor find a dry place for it, so he intrusted it\nto the care of his friend the tom-cat, who had always a safe room, or\nsat on the stove. The cat arched his back, and rubbed it against his\nfriend's foot, as a promise of fidelity, and the document was laid on\nthe stove, where it was supposed to be safe.\n\nOne day the dogs found a pony in the wood which had fallen, so they\nfell upon it, and killed and devoured it. The animals complained\nagain,[Pg 283] and the dogs were pronounced guilty; but they appealed\nto the license, in which it was not stated whether the fallen animals\nshould be dead or alive. When the sheep-dog and the cat sought for the\ndocument, they could not find it, for the mice had nibbled it away.\n\nThe cats were so angry with the mice that they began to kill and eat\nthem, and have done so ever since; but the dogs likewise became enemies\nof the cats, as they are at present.\n\nThe sheep-dog did not venture to return to his fellows without the\nlicense. They waited for him in vain, and at last followed him, and\nsought for him everywhere, but could not find him. So whenever a dog\nsees another he runs to ask him whether he has not got the missing\ndocument with him.\n\nTHE ORIGIN OF THE SWALLOW.\n\nThe wife of a drunkard was sitting weaving with her child on her lap.\nShe wore a black cloth on her head, a red neckerchief, a white shift,\nand a coal-black petticoat. When her husband came home, he pushed his\nwife away, and destroyed the loom[Pg 284] with an axe. Then he killed\nthe child with a blow of his fist, and beat his wife till she fell\nsenseless. But Ukko took pity on her, and changed her into a swallow.\nAs she was trying to escape, the man struck at her with a knife, but\nonly cleft her tail. Since that time she flies about twittering her\nmisfortunes, and does not shun men like other birds, but builds her\nnest against their houses.\n\nTHE SPIDER AND THE HORNET.\n\nOnce upon a time some boys burned a hornet's nest because the hornet\nstung them so badly. Then the hornet went to God to complain that the\nboys despised His gifts, and scattered broken victuals about in the\nfields. But God objected that she had no witnesses. So she went to the\nking of the spiders, and made him return with her to God, who asked if\nhe had seen the boys scatter food about the fields. But the spider said\nthat it was not their fault, for they had no table to put their bread\non. Then God praised the spider for speaking the truth, and condemned\nthe hornet for telling lies and hating her neighbours without a[Pg 285]\ncause. He then struck her on the back with his staff, and cast her down\nfrom heaven to earth, so that she broke in two with the fall. But he\nlet the spider down with a cord, because he had spoken the truth. Since\nthen the spider has had a net and a web, by which he can climb up and\ndown as he likes, as on a cord; but the hornet still retains the\npinched-in body which she got when falling from heaven, but is fat\nenough at both ends.\n\nTHE OFFICIOUS FLIES.\n\nA few dozen flies once attacked a cart-horse who was feeding quietly in\na thicket, and lamented that they were not more numerous, that they\nmight make him lie down. Presently his skin began to itch, when he lay\ndown, rolled first on once side and then on the other, and crushed them\nall.\n\n[Pg 287]\nPART III\n\nEsthonian Ballads, &c.\n\nFor reasons stated in the Preface, only a few specimens are here given.\n\nTHE HERALD OF WAR[79]\n\nTo the Finnish Bridge when driving\nOn the west wind's path of copper,\nOn the pathway of the rainbow,\nWith the king's note in my wallet,\nAnd his mandate in my bosom,\nAnd upon my tongue defiance,\nWhat was that which came to meet me,\nAnd what horror to confound me?\nNothing but an ancient corbie,\nAged crow, a wretched creature;\n[Pg 288] With his beak he sniffed around him,\nAnd his nostrils snuffed the vapour;\nHe had smelt the war already,\nWhen his nostrils snuffed the vapour,\nThat he might discern the message\nWhich I carried in my pocket;\nHe had smelt the war already,\nAnd the scent of blood allured him.\nTo the Finnish Bridge when driving\nOn the west wind's path of copper,\nOn the pathway of the rainbow,\nSwift I hastened as an envoy,\nWith the king's note in my wallet,\nAnd his mandate in my bosom,\nIn my charge the leader's orders,\nAnd upon my tongue the secret\nThat the flags in breeze should flutter,\nAnd the lance-points smite in battle,\nAnd the swords should do their duty.\nWhat was that which came to meet me,\nAnd what horror to confound me?\n'Twas an eagle came to meet me,\nEagle fierce with beak hooked sharply;\nWith his beak he sniffed around him,\nThrough the mist he pushed his nostrils,\nBy the scent he sought to fathom\nWhat was in the envoy's message.\nHe had smelt the war already,\nAnd the scent of blood had reached him,\nAnd he went to call his comrades.\nTo the Finnish Bridge when driving\n[Pg 289] On the west wind's path of copper,\nOn the pathway of the rainbow,\nSwift I hastened on as envoy,\nWith the king's note in my wallet,\nAnd his mandate in my bosom,\nAnd upon my tongue the secret\nAnd the leader's secret orders\nThat the flags should now be waving,\nAnd the spear-points should be sharpened,\nWhat was it I there encountered,\nAnd what met me there to vex me?\n'Twas the raven's son that met me,\n'Twas a carrion-bird that met me;\nWith his beak he sniffed around him,\nAnd his nostrils snuffed the vapour,\nThat the meaning of my message\nWith his nose he thus might fathom.\nHe had smelt the war already,\nAnd the scent of blood had reached him,\nAnd he went to call his comrades.\nTo the Finnish Bridge when driving\nOn the west wind's path of copper,\nOn the pathway of the rainbow,\nWhile I hastened as an envoy,\nWith the king's note in my wallet,\nAnd his mandate in my bosom,\nAnd upon my tongue the secret,\nAnd the leader's secret orders,\nWhat was that which came to meet me,\nAnd what horror to confound me?\n'Twas a little wolf that met me,\n[Pg 290] And a bear that followed closely;\nWith their snouts they sniffed around them,\nThrough the mist they pushed their nostrils,\nSeeking thus to probe the secret,\nAnd the letter to discover;\nThey had smelt the war already,\nAnd the scent of blood had reached them,\nAnd they ran to spread the tidings.\nTo the Finnish Bridge when driving\nOn the west wind's path of copper,\nOn the pathway of the rainbow,\nWhile I hastened as an envoy,\nWith the king's note in my wallet,\nAnd his mandate in my bosom,\nAnd upon my tongue defiance,\nWith the leader's secret orders\nThat the flags unfurled should flutter,\nAnd the spear-points do their duty,\nAnd the axes should be lifted,\nAnd the swords should flash in sunlight,\nWhat was that which came to meet me,\nAnd what horror to confound me?\nIt was Famine met me tottering,\nTottering Famine, chewing garbage;\nWith her nose she sniffed around her,\nThat the meaning of my message\nWith her nose she thus might fathom;\nFor she smelt the war already,\nAnd the scent of blood had reached her,\nAnd she went to call her comrades.\nTo the Finnish Bridge while driving\n[Pg 291] On the west wind's path of copper,\nOn the pathway of the rainbow,\nWhile I hastened as an envoy,\nWith the king's note in my wallet,\nAnd his mandate in my bosom,\nOn my tongue the secret orders\nThat the flags unfurled should flutter,\nAnd the spear-points do their duty,\nAnd the axes and the fish-spears\nAll should do the work before them,\nWhat was that which came to meet me,\nWhat unlooked-for horror met me?\n'Twas the Plague I there encountered,\nCrafty Plague, the people's murderer,\nOf the sevenfold war-plagues direst;\nWith his nose he sniffed around him,\nAnd his nostrils snuffed the vapour,\nSeeking thus to probe the matter,\nAnd the letter to discover;\nHe had smelt the war already,\nAnd the scent of blood had lured him\nAnd he went to call his comrades.\nAfter this my horse I halted,\nYoked him with a yoke of iron,\nFettered him with Kalev's fetters,\nThat he stood as rooted firmly,\nFrom the spot to move unable,\nWhile I pondered and considered,\nDeeply in my heart reflecting\nIf the profit of my journey\nWere not lost in greater evil\n[Pg 292] For the war brings wounds and bloodshed,\nAnd the war has throat of serpent.\nWherefore then should I the battle,\nWhence springs only pain and murder,\nForth to peaceful homesteads carry?\nLet a message so accursed\nIn the ocean-depths be sunken,\nThere to sleep in endless slumber,\nLost among the spawn of fishes,\nThere to rest in deepest caverns,\nRather than that I should take it,\nTill it spreads among the hamlets.\nThereupon I took the mandate\nWhich I carried in my wallet,\nAnd amid the depths I sunk it,\nUnderneath the waves of ocean,\nTill the waves to foam had torn it,\nAnd to mud had quite reduced it,\nWhile the fishes fled before it.\nThus was hushed the sound of warfare,\nThus was lost the news of battle.\n\nTHE BLUE BIRD[80] (I.).\n\nSiuru, bird and Taara's daughter,\nSiuru, bird of azure plumage,\nWith the shining silken feathers,\n[Pg 293] Was not reared by care of father,\nNor the nursing of her mother,\nNor affection of her sisters,\nNor protection of her brothers;\nFor the bird was wholly nestless,\nLike a swallow needing shelter,\nWhere her down could grow to feathers\nAnd her wing-plumes could develop;\nYet did Ukko wisely order,\nAnd the aged Father's wisdom\nGave his daughter wind-like pinions,\nWings of wind and cloudy pinions,\nThat his child might float upon them,\nFar into the distance soaring.\nSiuru, bird and Taara's daughter,\nSiuru, bird of azure plumage,\nSailed afar into the distance,\nAnd she winged her way to southward,\nThen she turned again to northward,\nAnd above three worlds went sailing.\nOne of these the world of maidens,\nOne where dwell the curly-headed,\nOne the home of prattling children,\nWhere the little ones are tended.\nSiuru bird outspread her pinions,\nWide her silken plumes expanding,\nSoaring far aloft to heaven.\nTo the fortress of the sunlight,\nTo the lighter halls of moonlight,\nTo the little gate of copper.\nSiuru bird outspread her pinions,\n[Pg 294] Wide her silken plumes expanding,\nSoaring far into the distance,\nTill she reached her home at evening;\nAnd her father asked his daughter,\n\"Whither have thy pinions borne thee?\nWhither didst thou take thy journey?\nTell me what thine eyes have witnessed.\"\nSiuru heard and comprehended,\nAnd without alarm she answered,\n\"Where my pinions have conveyed me,\nThere I scattered feathers from me;\nWhere I sailed above the country,\nThere I scattered silken feathers;\nWhere I shook and flapped my pinions,\nFrom my tail I dropped the feathers:\nWhat I saw with marten keenness,\nMight be told in seven narrations,\nOr in eight tales be recounted.\nLong I flew on path of thunder,\nOn the roadway of the rainbow,\nAnd the hailstone's toilsome pathway;\nOnwards thus I sailed light-hearted,\nHeedless, far into the distance,\nAnd at length three worlds discovered,\nOne the country of the maidens,\nOne where dwell the curly-headed,\nOne the world of prattling children,\nWhere the little ones are tended;\nThere it is they rear the fair ones,\nSlender-grown and silky-headed.\"\n\"What thou heardest? speak and tell me;\n[Pg 295] What thou sawest, let us hear it.\"\n\"What then heard I, sire beloved,\nWhat beheld, O dearest father?\nThere I heard the sport of maidens,\nThere I heard their mirth and sadness,\nJesting from the curly-headed,\nFrom the little infants wailing.\nWherefore, said the maidens, jesting,\nDo the curly-headed children\nDwell in solitude and lonely,\nLiving thus apart from nurses?\nAnd they asked in every quarter,\nAre no youths in starry regions,\nYouths of starry birth or other,\nWho might dwell among the maidens,\nAnd amuse the curly-headed?\"\nUkko heard her words, and answered,\n\"Soar away, my dearest daughter,\nSteer thy flight again to southward,\nSailing far away till evening,\nTurning then unto the northward,\nCome before the doors of Ukko,\nTo the western mother's threshold,\nTo the northern mother's region;\nSeek thou there the youths to woo them,\nYouths that may release the maidens.\"\n\n[Pg 296]\nTHE BLUE BIRD (II.).\n\nThis totally different ballad is from Neus, _Ehstnische Volkslieder_,\np. 42. Neus quotes Ganander as saying that one of the names of the\nFinnish Wood-goddess (the spouse of Tapio) is Blue Bird. The present\npoem is _possibly_ a fragment of a creation-myth.\n\nLo, the bird with azure plumage,\nFeathers blue and eyes all lustrous,\nTook her flight, and hovered, soaring,\nOver forests four in number,\nOver four woods in succession;\nOne a wood of golden pine-trees,\nOne a wood of beauteous apples,\nOne a wood of silver birch-trees,\nOne a swampy wood of lime-trees.\n\nLo, the bird with azure plumage,\nFeathers blue and eyes all lustrous,\nTook her flight, and hovered, soaring,\nOver lakelets three in number;\nThree the lakes all close together,\nAnd the first with wine was brimming,\nAnd with ale the second foaming,\nAnd the third with mead was frothing.\n\n[Pg 297] Lo, the bird with azure plumage,\nFeathers blue and eyes all lustrous,\nTook her flight, and hovered, soaring,\nOver three fields in succession,\nOver three fields close together;\nIn the first the oats were growing,\nIn the second rye was waving,\nIn the third the wheat was springing.\n\nAnd the wood of golden pine-trees\nWas a wood of youthful striplings,\nAnd the wood of beauteous apples\nWas a wood of youthful maidens,\nAnd the wood of silver birch-trees\nWas a wood of youthful matrons,\nAnd the swampy wood of lime-trees\nWas a wood of men all aged.\n\nAnd the lake with wine o'erbrimming\nWas the lake of youthful striplings,\nAnd the lake with ale up-foaming\nWas the lake of youthful matrons,\nAnd the lake where mead was frothing\nWas the lake of youthful maidens.\n\nAnd the field where oats were growing\nWas the field of youthful striplings,\nAnd the field where rye was waving\nWas the field of youthful matrons,\nAnd the field where wheat was springing\nWas the share of youthful maidens.\n\n[Pg 298]\nCHARM AGAINST SNAKE-BITE.[81]\n\nThou beneath the bridge, the smooth wood\nUnder juniper the rough wood,\nThou the arrow in the willows,\nO thou challenged gold-adorned one,\nEarthy-coloured, liver-coloured,\nRainy-hued and hazel-coloured,\nFirebrand hued and cherry-coloured,\nDo not thou in secret bite me,\nNor attack me unsuspecting,\nDo not bite me when I heed not.\n\n[Pg 299]\nBIBLIOGRAPHY\n\nThe present list contains only books and papers which have been used or\nspecially consulted in the preparation of this work, or which have been\npublished in England on Esthonian tales and poems. Other books quoted\nare referred to in the Index and Glossary.\n\nBlumberg, G. _Quellen und Realien des Kalewipoeg, nebst Varianten und\nErg\u00e4nzungen_. Dorpat, 1869. An important work, including a map, from\nwhich we have borrowed some particulars.\n\nBoecler, J.M. _Der Ehsten abergl\u00e4ubische Gebr\u00e4uche, Weisen, und\nGewohnheiten, von Johann Wolfgang Boecler, weiland Pastor zu Kusal in\nEhstland und des Consistorii in Reval Assessor. Mit auf die Gegenwart\nbez\u00fcglichen Anmerkungen beleuchtet von Dr. F. R. Kreutzwald_. St.\nPetersburg, 1854.\n\nBouquet _from the Baltic_. _All the Year Round_, IV. pp. 80-83 (Nov. 3,\n1860). Relates to some of the legends of Vanemuine, the _Kalevipoeg_,\nand Koit and Aemmerik.\n\nDido, A. _Litt\u00e9rature orale des Estoniens_. _Bibliographie des\nprincipale Publications de l'Estonie, et en particulier celle du Dr.\nFr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Reinhold Kreutzwald_, 1804-1882. _Revue des Traditions\nPopulaires_, VIII. pp. 353-365, 424-428, 485-495 (1893). Contains an\nac[Pg 300]count, more or less detailed, of the longer tales in\nKreutzwald's collection, a few being fully translated.\n\nDido, A. _Kalewipoeg, \u00c9pop\u00e9e nationale Estonienne_. Op. cit. IX. pp.\n137-155 (1894). Contains an analysis of the poem.\n\nDonner, A. _Kalevipoeg jumalaistarulliselta ja historialliselta\nkannalta katsottuna_. _Suomi_, ser. 2, vol. 5 (1866). Discusses the\nmythological and historical character of the _Kalevipoeg_, and its\nrelations to the _Kalevala_, especially as regards the episode of\nKullervo.\n\nEsthonia. _Encyclop\u00e6dia Britannica_ (ed. IX.), vol. viii. pp. 561-563\n(1878).\n\nGould, S.B. _The Kalevipoeg_. _Fraser's Magazine_, vol. 78, pp. 534-544\n(Oct. 1868). A fragmentary account of the poem, containing some curious\nerrors, such as \"Sarwik\" being translated \"Hell;\" but with useful\ncomments, especially on the Kalevide's voyage to the North Pole. We\ncannot see, however, that the Esthonian writings exhibit the melancholy\ncharacter of a depressed nation, as Mr. Baring-Gould imagines.\n\nGrosse, Julius. _Die Abenteuer des Kalewiden: Esthnisches\nVolksm\u00e4rchen_. Leipzig, 1875. An abstract of the story in hexameters.\n\nIsrael, C. Chr. _Kalewipoeg, oder die Abenteuer des Kalewiden, Eine\nestnische Sage frei nach dem Estnischen bearbeitet_. Frankfort-on-Main,\n1873. A good prose abstract of the poem, somewhat rearranged.\n\nJannsen, Harry. _M\u00e4rchen und Sagen des estnischen Volkes_. Two Parts.\nDorpat, 1881, and Riga, 1888. A selection of tales from various\nsources, some few being from Kreutzwald's collection. Valuable notes\nare appended to Part ii.\n\n----. _Esthnische M\u00e4rchen_. _Veckenstedt's Zeitschrift f\u00fcr Volkskunde_,\ni. pp. 314-317 (1889). Contains three[Pg 301] stories: \"The Devil's\nVisit,\" \"The Talking Trees\" (Christian variant), and \"The Officious\nFlies.\" Jannsen states that the first has already been printed in the\noriginal, and that the other two are from his own collections.\n\nKalewipoeg, _\u00dcks ennemuistene Eesti jut_. Kuopio, 1862. An earlier\nedition was published at Dorpat with the German translation; but this\nis the one which I have consulted in the preparation of this work.\n\nKalewipoeg, _eine estnische Sage, zusammengestellt von F.R. Kreutzwald,\nverdeutscht von C. Reinthal und Dr. Bertram_. Dorpat, 1857-61.\n\nKirby, W.F. _On the Progress of Folk-lore Collections in Esthonia, with\nspecial reference to the work of Pastor Jacob Hurt_. _Papers and\nTransactions of International Folk-lore Congress_, 1892, pp. 427-429.\nBased on information published by, or received from, Prof. Kaarle Krohn\nof Helsingfors.\n\nKreutzwald, F.R. _Eestirahwa ennemuisted jutud. Rahwa suust korjanud ja\n\u00fcleskirjutanud_. Helsingfors, 1866. One of the first and best\ncollections of Esthonian tales, but without notes. I believe that\nseveral later editions have been published at Dorpat.\n\n---- _Ehstnische M\u00e4rchen, aufgezeichnet von Friedrich Kreutzwald_. _Aus\ndem Ehstnischen \u00fcbersetzt von F. L\u00f6we, ehem. Bibliothekar a. d.\nPetersb. Akad. d. Wissenschaften_. _Nebst einem Vorwort von Anton\nSchiefner, und Anmerkungen von Reinhold K\u00f6hler und Anton Schiefner_.\nHalle, 1869. Includes a very close translation of most of the longer\ntales in Kreutzwald's collection. The notes, too, are valuable.\n\nKreutzwald, Fr., und Neus, H. _Mythische und Magische Lieder der\nEhsten_. St. Petersburg, 1854. In Esthonian and German.[Pg 302]\n\nKrohn, Kaarle. _Die geographische Verbreitung Estnischer Lieder_.\nKuopio, 1892. This paper is noted in \"Folk-Lore,\" IV. p. 19 (March,\n1893).\n\nLatham, R. _Nationalities of Europe_. 2 vols. London, 1863. Vol. i.\nincludes translations of fourteen of the principal poems from Neus'\n_Ehstnische Volkslieder_.\n\nL\u00f6we, F. _See_ Kreutzwald.\n\nNeus, H. _Ehstnische Volkslieder. Urschrift und Uebersetzung_. Reval,\n1850-52. A collection of 119 poems in Esthonian and German, with notes.\n\nOxenford, John. _The Esthonian Hercules_. _Macmillan's Magazine_, vol.\n30, pp. 263-272 (July 1874). An outline of the story of the\n_Kalevipoeg_, based on Israel's little book.\n\nPopular Poetry _of the Esthonians_. Varieties of Literature from\nForeign Literary Journals and Original MSS., now first published.\nLondon, 1795, pp. 22-44 (reprinted in \"Folk-Lore Journal,\" iii. pp.\n156-169, 1885). Contains twelve specimens of lyric poetry, undoubtedly\nbased on some German publication. The anonymous compiler makes the\nstrange mistake of regarding the Esthonians as \"Sclavonians.\"\n\nSchiefner, A. _Ueber die ehstnische Sage vom Kalewipoeg_. _Bulletin de\nl'Acad\u00e9mie Imperiale des Sciences de St. Petersburg_, ii. pp. 273-297\n(1860). Contains an analysis of the first thirteen cantos of the\n_Kalevipoeg_, with reference to Finnish, Scandinavian, and Classical\nparallels.\n\nSchott. _Ueber finnische und estnische Heldensagen, Monatsbericht d.\nk.k. Akademie der Wissenschaft zu Berlin_, 1866, pp. 249-260.\n\nI am indebted to Mr. Sydney Hartland for kindly calling my attention to\none or two papers which I might otherwise have overlooked.\n\n[Pg 305]\nINDEX AND GLOSSARY\n\nAbercromby, Hon. J., specimens of Finnish charms, ii. 298 note.\n\nAdam and Eve, i. 252 note.\n\nAennchen, Cinderella sometimes called in German, ii. 4.\n\n\u00c4ike, one of the names of the Thunder-God, i. xxviii., 24.\n\n\u00c4marik (Evening-Glow), ii. 30, 299.\n\nAhti, in Esthonian, the God of the Waters; in Finnish, one of the names\nof the hero Lemminkainen, i. xxviii., 221; ii. 95 note.\n\nAhto, Finnish name of the God of the Waters, i. xxviii.\n\nAino, a heroine of the \"Kalevala,\" who was drowned in a lake, i. 34\nnote; ii. 147 note.\n\nAir-Maiden, the daughter of the Thunder-God, i. xxviii., 4, 71.\n\nAlder-beetle, divination by, i. 19.\n\nAlev, ancestor of a race of heroes, probably a brother of Kalev, i.\nxxii., 2 note.\n\nAlevide or Alevipoeg, a hero of the race of Alev, the chief friend and\ncompanion of his cousin, the Kalevipoeg, i. xxii., 4, 5, 6.\n\nAlevide and water-demon, i. 64.\n\nAlevide, death of the, i. 138.\n\nAli Shar and Zumurrud, a story of the \"Thousand and One Nights,\" i. 187\nnote.\n\nAlutaga, a district north of Lake Peipus, i. 237.\n\nAngantyr, a famous Berserk in the Hervarar Saga, i. 60 note.\n\nAnna, widows named, ii. 145.\n\nApes and Khaleefeh the fisherman, in the \"Thousand and One Nights,\" ii.\n270.\n\nApples, golden, ii. 14.\n\nArgument of \"Kalevipoeg,\" i. 2.\n\nAriel's song, i. 21 note.\n\n[Pg 306]Arju or Harju (German, Harrien), a province of Esthonia, i.\nxiv., 14 note.\n\nArjuna, one of the heroes of the Indian Epic, the Maha-Bharata, ii. 23\nnote.\n\nArk, ass entering, ii. 76 note.\n\nArmageddon, i. 135.\n\nArmi, name of dog, i. 25 note.\n\nArthur, King, i. xxxii.\n\nAschenputtel, German name for Cinderella, ii. 4.\n\nAsh-Katie (Tuhka-Triinu, Cinderella), ii. 4.\n\nAss and Devil, ii. 76 note.\n\nBagpipe, i. 304 note; ii. 150.\n\nBallads and other short poems, i. xxiii.; ii. 287.\n\nBaltic, Bouquet from the, ii. 299.\n\nBaltic Provinces of Russia, i. xiii.\n\nBanyan-tree, i. 39 note.\n\nBarbarossa, i. xxxii.\n\nBaring-Gould. _See_ Gould.\n\nBarnkeeper, courageous, ii. 195.\n\nBast shoes, magic, ii. 25.\n\nBast shoes, man with the, ii. 278.\n\nBathhouse visited by devils, ii. 186\n\nBathroom employed for accouchements, i. 21.\n\nBath-whisks, i. 98; ii. 235\n\nBattles of the Kalevide, i. 119, 136, 137.\n\nBear, i. 52, 97; ii. 279, 290.\n\nBeast-stories, ii. 274.\n\nBeauty and the Beast, ii. 43 note.\n\nBeer in Hades, i. xxxi., 173, 198.\n\nBeetle as coachman, ii. 5.\n\nBeetle and brooch, divination by, i. 19.\n\nBeggar, God disguised as, ii. 182.\n\nBell, magic, i. 197.\n\nBell of Sarvik, i. 121, 126.\n\nBeowulf, hero of an Anglo-Saxon poem of the same name, ii. 147 note.\n\n[Pg 307]Berserk, a Viking mad with battle-frenzy (the nearest modern\nparallel is the Malay custom of running amok), i. 39 note, 60 note.\n\nBerserk, Angantyr the, i. 60 note.\n\nBerserk, Kalevipoeg a, i. 39 note.\n\nBertram, Dr., part translator of the \"Kalevipoeg,\" i. xix.; ii. 301.\n\nBewitched horse, ii. 193.\n\nBhima, one of the heroes of the Indian Epic, the Maha-Bharata. i. 25\nnote; ii. 23 note.\n\nBibliography, ii. 299.\n\nBirch-bark maid, ii. 180.\n\nBirch-tree, crooked, ii. 189.\n\nBirch-twigs for bath-whisks, ii. 235.\n\nBirds, language of, i. 215, 223; ii. 239.\n\nBitch, Devil's mother in form of, i. xxxi., 68.\n\nBlack Gods, ii. 136.\n\nBlack magic, stories of, ii. 148, 167, 188.\n\nBlack pool, ii. 146.\n\nBlood, souls sold by, ii. 150, 175, 181, 245.\n\nBlood, spells to stay flow of, i. 136.\n\nBlood used in magical practices, i. 248; ii. 229.\n\nBlood-vessel of Wisdom, ii. 186.\n\nBluebeard, ii. 1.\n\nBlue bird, i. xxviii.; ii. 292, 296.\n\nBlue spring, ii. 145.\n\nBlumberg on the \"Kalevipoeg,\" ii. 299.\n\nBlumberg's account of Lake Endla, ii. 85 note.\n\nBoecler on Esthonian customs, beliefs, &c., ii. 299.\n\nBouquet from the Baltic, ii. 299.\n\nBrandy offered by lovers, i. 10; ii. 89.\n\nBreak-Iron, name of dog, ii. 6.\n\nBreslau edition of the \"Thousand and One Nights,\" i. 72 note.\n\nBridge-builder or wishing-rod, i. 91, 105, 108, 198.\n\nBridge, Finnish, i. 4, 48; ii. 287.\n\nBrobdingnagians, Gulliver's remark respecting, i. 116 note.\n\nBrooch and beetle, divination by, i. 19.\n\nBrothers, friendly, i. 3, 49; ii. 23.\n\nBrothers, gifted, ii. 12.\n\n[Pg 308]Brothers, parting of, i. 55.\n\nBrothers, unnatural, ii. 41, 70, 71, 267.\n\nBrothers of the Kalevipoeg, i. 18, 25, 51, 55.\n\nBrothers, two, and the Frost, ii. 71.\n\n\"Brynhilda,\" poem by W. Herbert, i. 60.\n\nBug, Devil changed into, ii. 181.\n\nBugs, origin of, ii. 127, 181.\n\nBoys, orphan, i. 4, 85, 261.\n\nBulookiya, story of, in the \"Thousand and One Nights,\" ii. 236.\n\nCat, Devil in form of black, ii. 192, 199, 202, 276.\n\nCat, dog, and mouse, ii. 282.\n\nCat, pet, ii. 43.\n\nCave-dwellers, ii. 114.\n\nChamisso's Alsatian legend, \"Das Riesenspielzeug,\" the \"Giant's Toy,\"\nor the \"Giant's Daughter and the Peasant,\" i. 116 note.\n\nChamois-hunter's inexhaustible cheese, i. 265 note.\n\nCharlemagne, i. xxxii.\n\nCharm against snake-bite, ii. 298.\n\nCharms to stanch blood, i. 136.\n\nChase of Slieve Cullin, Irish legend, i. 71.\n\nCholera, arrival of, in a Greek island, ii. 271 note.\n\nChrist, V\u00e4in\u00e4m\u00f6inen quitting Finland on the coming of, ii. 60.\n\nChurch stories, ii. 282.\n\nChurch, Devil in, ii. 112.\n\nChurch at Fellin, ii. 265.\n\nChurch of the Holy Cross, ii. 265.\n\nChurch of Lais, ii. 145.\n\nChurch at P\u00fchalepp, ii. 263.\n\nChurch at Revel, ii. 262.\n\nChuvash of Kasan call God Tora, i. 6 note.\n\nCinderella, i. 273; ii. 4.\n\nClever countrywoman, i. 186.\n\nCoach, Devil's, ii. 186.\n\nCock-crowing, i. 250; ii. 40, 251, 291.\n\nCock, red, euphemism for burning a house, i. 108, 234.\n\nCock, witch riding on, ii. 140.\n\n[Pg 309]Cockchafer, spinning, i. 19 note.\n\nCoiners of Leal, ii. 192.\n\nCoins, discovery of English, ii. 194.\n\nCologne Cathedral, legend of, ii. 261 note.\n\nCompassionate shoemaker, ii. 182.\n\nCompassionate woodcutter, ii. 124.\n\nContest of brothers, i. 55.\n\nCopper, man of, i. 3, 35.\n\nCourageous barn-keeper, ii. 195.\n\nCourland, Province of, i. xiii.; ii. 25.\n\nCox, Marian Roalfe, \"Cinderella, Three Hundred and Forty-five Variants\nof Cinderella, Catskin, and Cap o' Rushes, abstracted and tabulated,\nwith a discussion of medi\u00e6val analogues and notes, with an introduction\nby Andrew Lang, M.A.,\" London, 1893, ii. 4.\n\nCrafty Hans, ii. 115, 211.\n\nCrayfish, i. 85, 139, 140, 190.\n\nCrayfish, powerful, ii. 48.\n\nCreation-myths of Finns, ii. 60.\n\nCross, Church of Holy, ii. 285.\n\nCross-dance, i. 14.\n\nCrow, slave-girl born from, i. 2, 10.\n\nCruel stepmothers, i. 85 note, 276, 280; ii. 4, 46.\n\nCuckoo, i. 82.\n\nCudgel, magic, ii. 25, 74.\n\nCup-bearer of Kalevide, i. 4, 66.\n\nCup-bearer visits P\u00f5rgu, i. 66.\n\nCup-bearer, disappearance of, i. 115.\n\nDag\u00f6, Island of, i. xiii.; ii. 112, 222, 283.\n\nDamocles, sword of, ii. 8.\n\nDanish ballads, Prior's, i. 115 note.\n\nDaughters, Twelve, ii. 59, 87.\n\nDawn, story of, ii. 30.\n\nDeath-sorcerer, i. xxxi.\n\nDemon cookery, i. 4, 88.\n\nDespised younger son, ii. 40.\n\n[Pg 310]Devil, names and attributes of, i. xxx.\n\nDevil, stories of, ii. 38, 78, 148.\n\nDevil, animals hostile to, ii. 76.\n\nDevil called Old Boy, i. xxx., 153.\n\nDevil creates the wolf, ii. 274.\n\nDevil in church, ii. 112.\n\nDevil provides horses for the Kalevipoeg, i. 142.\n\nDevil steals fish, ii. 155.\n\nDevil tries to destroy churches, ii. 263.\n\nDevil with the three golden hairs, ii. 71.\n\nDevil and Soldier, ii. 76.\n\nDevil's mother or grandmother, i. 58 note, 66, 99, 142 note, 165.\n\nDevil's Treasure, ii. 225.\n\nDevil's Visit, ii. 38, 301.\n\nDido on Esthonian tales and the \"Kalevipoeg,\" i. xxii., 133 note; ii.\n299, 300.\n\n\"Die gelehrte Ehstnische Gesellschaft,\" i. xvii.\n\nDivination by brooch and beetle, i. 19.\n\nDiving Jinn, ii. 96 note.\n\nDog and cat, ii. 282.\n\nDog and Devil, ii. 76.\n\nDog-men, i. 5, 117.\n\n\"Donica,\" poem by Southey, ii. 147 note.\n\nDonner on the \"Kalevipoeg\" and \"Kalevala,\" ii. 300.\n\nDragon-slayer, ii. 6.\n\nDragons as saurians, ii. 7.\n\nDraupadi, the heroine of the Indian Epic, the Maha-Bharata, ii. 23\nnote.\n\nDrinking-bouts, i. 3, 45, 131.\n\nDvergar (dwarfs), Old Norse name for the Gnomes, ii. 113.\n\nDorpat, i. 56 note.\n\nDucks with gold and silver plumage, i. xxx., 202.\n\nDwarf and heroes, i. 115.\n\nDwarf's christening, ii. 8.\n\nDwarf's quarrel, ii. 25.\n\nDwarfs, headless, ii. 213.\n\nDwarfs stealing food, i. 121, 187, 207; ii. 26.\n\n[Pg 311]Eagle of the North, i. 2, 8, 227, 257, 268, 271.\n\nEast, magician of, ii. 239.\n\nEdda (Grandmother), name applied to the two principal collections of\nScandinavian mythological and heroic poems and legends, the Poetical\nEdda, or the Edda of S\u00e6mund, and the Prose Edda, or the Edda of Snore,\ni. 60 note, 91 note; ii. 29, 71 note.\n\n\"Ed-Dimiryaht\" (a king of the Jinn, and one of the two chief Wezeers of\nSolomon), poem by Kirby, ii. 236.\n\nEgg-born princess, i. 273.\n\nEgg, Linda born from, i. 2, 9.\n\nEgg, Suometar born from, i. 10 note.\n\nEgg, magic, ii. 234.\n\nElemental spirits, ii. 96 note.\n\nElements, stories of spirits of, ii. 60.\n\nElsie, i. 240.\n\nElves, Tieck's story of, i. 236.\n\nEmmu Lake and Virts Lake, ii. 144.\n\nEndel or Endla, son of Ilmarine, ii. 87.\n\nEndla, Lake, i. 88; ii. 85.\n\n\"Encyclop\u00e6dia Britannica,\" article on Esthonia in, ii. 300.\n\nEnvious sisters, story of, in the \"Thousand and One Nights,\" ii. 9.\n\nEpic of Esthonia, the \"Kalevipoeg,\" i. 1.\n\nEpic of Finland, the \"Kalevala,\" i. 1.\n\nEsau and Jacob, i. 19.\n\nEsquimaux, i. 117 note.\n\nEsthonia, article in \"Encyclop\u00e6dia Britannica,\" ii. 300.\n\nEsthonia, Epic of, the \"Kalevipoeg,\" i. 1.\n\nEsthonia, hero of, the \"Kalevipoeg,\" i. 1.\n\nEsthonia, language of, i. xv., xvi.\n\nEsthonia, province of, i. xiii.\n\nEsthonian ballads, &c., ii. 287.\n\nEsthonian dances, i. 14.\n\nEsthonian folk-tales, i. 145; ii. 1.\n\nEsthonian Hercules, ii. 302.\n\nEusek\u00fcll, Lake at, ii. 142.\n\n[Pg 312]F\u00e4hlmann, Dr., work of, i. xviii.\n\nFaithless fisherman, ii. 104.\n\nFamiliar stories of Northern Europe, ii. 48.\n\nFamine personified, ii. 290.\n\nFate of Linda, i. 24.\n\n\"Faust,\" Goethe's, i. xxi., 214.\n\nFeasts, public, i. 3, 6, 45, 131, 187, 195.\n\nFeathers transformed to birds and warriors, i. 40.\n\nFellin, a town in Livonia, ii. 111, 135.\n\nFellin, church at, ii. 285.\n\nFenland or Finland, ii. 135 note.\n\n\"Festus,\" poem by Bailey, i. xxi.\n\nFetishism in Esthonia and Finland, i. xxvi.; ii. 167, 274 note.\n\nFight with the sorcerer's sons, i. 80.\n\nFinland, Epic of, the \"Kalevala,\" i. 1.\n\nFinland, Gulf of, i. xiii.\n\nFinland, Kalevide's journey to, i. 3, 5, 32, 38, 112.\n\nFinland, names of, ii. 135 note.\n\nFinn, the Irish hero, i. xxxii., 71.\n\nFinnish Bridge, i. 4, 43; ii. 287.\n\nFinnish Literary Society's publications, i. xxii.\n\nFinnish magicians and sorcerers, i. 2, 3, 23, 26, 38, 41, 111, 220,\n226, 260, 299; ii. 181, 260.\n\nFinnish sorcerer seeks the hand of Linda, i. 2, 23.\n\nFinnish sorcerer carries off Linda, i. 2, 26.\n\nFinnish sorcerer and the Kalevide, i. 3, 38.\n\nFinnish sorcerer slain by the Kalevide, i. 3, 41.\n\nFinnish stories, ii. 29, 41, 60.\n\nFinnish sword-smiths, i. 3, 42, 84.\n\nFinnish-Ugrian race, i. xv.\n\nFire Island (Iceland), i. 5, 113, 114.\n\nFish, Devil stealing, ii. 155.\n\nFisherman, faithless, ii. 104.\n\nFisherman and his Wife, ii. 148.\n\nFlies, Officious, ii. 285, 301.\n\nFlood, ii. 182 note.\n\nFloods, magic, i. 105, 107, 108.\n\n[Pg 313]Flute, story of magic, ii. 43 note.\n\nFlute-player, Tiidu the, i. 303.\n\n\"Folk-lore,\" organ of the English Folk-lore Society, ii. 298 note.\n\nFolk-tales in prose, Esthonian, i. xxii., 145; ii. 1.\n\nFoot, stamping with, to open hidden door or to lay a ghost, i. 110,\n124, 158; ii. 190, 193.\n\nForests in fairy tales, i. 211.\n\nFoundling, i. 321; ii. 112.\n\nFour gifts of the water-sprite, ii. 98.\n\nFreemasons, ii. 236.\n\nFree-shooters, ii. 191.\n\nFrog, Northern, ii. 237.\n\nFrost, two brothers and the, ii. 71.\n\nGalland's \"Thousand and One Nights,\" ii. 9.\n\nGallows dwarfs, ii. 211.\n\nGanander, a writer on Finnish mythology in the last century, ii. 296.\n\nGarm, the dog which guards Helheim, in the Scandinavian mythology, i.\n261.\n\nGeese with gold and silver feathers, i. xxx., 202.\n\nGerman Knights of the Sword, i. xiv., 194.\n\nGermans in Esthonia, i. xv., 246, 248, 284.\n\nGiallar Horn, the horn of Heimdall in the Scandinavian mythology, which\nhe is to blow to summon the gods to battle at Ragnar\u00f6k, i. 136 note.\n\n\"Giant's Daughter,\" and poem by Chamisso, i. 115, 116 note.\n\nGifted brothers, ii. 22.\n\nGifted servants, ii. 24.\n\nGifts of water-sprite, ii. 98.\n\nGlass mountain, ii. 40.\n\nGnomes, ii. 113.\n\nGod disguised as beggar, ii. 182.\n\nGod, name of, engraved on Solomon's seal, ii. 236.\n\nGod, names of, i. xxvii.\n\nGod-daughter of the Rock-maidens, i. 321.\n\nGods, Esthonian and Finnish, i. xxvii.\n\nGods, stories of the, ii. 60.\n\n[Pg 314]Gods, white and black, ii. 136, 137.\n\n\"Goethe,\" poem by Kenealy, i. xx.\n\nGoethe's \"Faust,\" i. xxi., 214.\n\nGold king, i. 52.\n\nGold mountain, i. 19.\n\nGold shoes of Tuhka Triinu, ii. 6.\n\nGolden, an epithet of endearment, i. 92.\n\nGolden apples, ii. 14.\n\nGolden land, i. 152.\n\nGold snakes, ii. 224.\n\nGold-spinners, i. 208.\n\nGoldsmith's \"Goody Two-Shoes,\" i. 249 note.\n\nGomme, Alice Bertha, \"The Traditional Games of England, Scotland, and\nIreland,\" vol. i. 1894, i. 91 note.\n\nGood deed rewarded, ii, 128.\n\n\"Goody Two-Shoes,\" i. 249 note.\n\nGoose-Tony, ii. 2.\n\nGottland, island of, identified with Kungla, i. 15 note.\n\nGould, S. Baring, on the \"Kalevipoeg,\" i. 112 note, 117 note; ii. 300.\n\nGrass-mother, i. xxix., 13 note.\n\nGrateful prince, i. 152.\n\nGrave of Kalev, i. 3, 21, 30, 54, 134.\n\nGrave, visits to father's, ii. 41.\n\nGreenland, i. 117 note.\n\nGrey women in \"Faust,\" i. 214 note.\n\nGrimm's \"Kinder und Hausm\u00e4rchen,\" ii. 48, 71.\n\nGrosse's German version of the \"Kalevipoeg,\" i. xix.; ii. 300.\n\nGr\u00f4tta-S\u00f6ngr, the Mill-Song, one of the poems in the Edda of S\u00e6mund,\nii. 71 note.\n\nGulliver's remark respecting the Brobdingnagians, i. 115.\n\nHades (P\u00f5rgu), i. xxxi.\n\nHades, Kalevide's first journey to, i. 87.\n\nHair, beliefs connected with, ii. 19.\n\nHand grasped by magician or giant, i. 176; ii. 22, 189.\n\nHans, crafty, ii. 115, 211.\n\n[Pg 315]Harju or Arju, province of Esthonia, i. xiv., 14 note.\n\nHarrien, German name of province of Harju, i. 14.\n\nHasan of El Basrah, story in the \"Thousand and One Nights,\" ii. 25.\n\nHasib, story in the \"Thousand and One Nights,\" ii. 234 note.\n\nHat of nail-parings, i. 91, 103; ii. 25.\n\nHat, soldier's, ii. 130.\n\nHaycock, wonderful, ii. 133.\n\nHeadless dwarfs, ii. 213.\n\nHeath legends, ii. 111, 132.\n\nHedgehog, Kalevide's meeting with, i. 4, 81.\n\nHeidelberg, Wolfsbrunnen, near, ii. 86 note.\n\nHeimdall, horn of, in Scandinavian mythology, i. 126 note.\n\nHelena the Fair, Princess, Russian story, ii. 41 note.\n\n\"Helga,\" poem by W. Herbert, i. 60.\n\nHelheim, the Scandinavian Hades, i. 261 note.\n\nHell (P\u00f5rgu), i. xxxi.\n\nHell-hounds, i. 261; ii. 192.\n\nHell-Maiden, ii. 242.\n\nHemlock used to poison witch, i. 233.\n\nHen, Salme born from, i. 2, 9.\n\nHeracles and Hylas, i. 115 note.\n\nHerald, voyage of, i. 139 note.\n\nHerald of War, i. 63; ii. 287.\n\nHerbert, William, \"Helga, a poem in eight cantos,\" London, 1815, i. 60\nnote.\n\nHercules of Esthonia, ii. 302.\n\nHerd-boy, royal, i. 279.\n\nHerd-boy, sinking in heath, ii. 133.\n\nHerd-boys, i. 84.\n\nHero of Esthonia, the Kalevipoeg, i. 1.\n\nHeroes and dwarf, i. 115.\n\nHeroes and water-demon, i. 64.\n\nHeroes carried by eagles, i. 2, 8.\n\nHeroes, last feast of, i. 129.\n\nHeywood, Thomas, \"Hierarchies of the Blessed Angels,\" London, 1635, ii.\n147 note.\n\n[Pg 316]Hialmar, hero of the Hervarar Saga, i. 60 note.\n\n\"Hiawatha,\" poem by Longfellow, i. xx., 81 note.\n\nHidden treasures, i. 135; ii. 194.\n\nHolger or Olger, Danish hero expected to return, i. xxxii.\n\nHoly Cross, Church of, ii. 285.\n\nHornet and spider, ii. 284.\n\nHorse, bewitched, ii. 193.\n\nHorse of Kalevide, i. 3, 58, 128, 130.\n\nHorse of the tempest, i. 15.\n\nHorses devoted to the Devil, ii. 181, 187.\n\nHorses, white, i. 59, 142, 260.\n\nHouse-spirit, i. xxxi. 207; ii. 167.\n\nHow the sea became salt, ii. 70.\n\nHow seven tailors went to war in Turkey, i. xxiii.\n\nHunter's lost luck, ii. 191.\n\nHurt, Pastor, collection of Esthonian folk-lore, i. xxiv.; ii. 301,\n302.\n\nHylas and Heracles, i. 115 note.\n\nIblees (Satan), entering ark with ass, ii. 76 note.\n\nIceland (Fire Island), i. 114 note.\n\nIdiot's luck, ii. 14.\n\nIliad, origin of, i. xi.\n\nIlma, Lake, i. 87, 110.\n\nIlmarine or Ilmarinen, the Vulcan of Esthonia and Finland, i. xxi.,\nxxx., 4, 83; ii. 120, 159.\n\nIlmarine, wife of, i. 291 note.\n\nIlmatar, the Daughter of the Air, the mother of V\u00e4in\u00e4m\u00f6inen, and the\ncreatrix of the world in the first Runo of the \"Kalevala,\" where she\napparently represents the Spirit of God floating on the surface of the\nwaters, i. 71 note; ii. 60.\n\nInexhaustible wallets, &c., i. 265.\n\nIngoldsby Legends, ii. 159.\n\nInsatiable wife, ii. 48.\n\nInvasions, i. 129, 132.\n\nIrish lakes, water-nymphs in, ii. 147 note.\n\nIrmi, name of dog, i. 25 note.\n\n[Pg 317]Iru, Mount, i. 27, 51.\n\nIsland of Dag\u00f6, i. xiii.; ii. 222, 283.\n\nIsland of Fire (Iceland), i. 5, 114.\n\nIsland of \u0152sel, i. xiii.\n\nIsland Maiden, i. 3, 32, 50.\n\nIsrael's work on the \"Kalevipoeg,\" i. xix.; ii. 300.\n\nJacob and Esau, i. 18 note.\n\nJacobs on \"junior right,\" i. 18 note.\n\nJalopeura, Finnish name for lion and lynx, i. 89 note.\n\nJamasp, story of, in the \"Thousand and One Nights,\" ii. 234 note.\n\nJann = Jinn, i. 72 note.\n\nJannsen, Harry, \"Esthonian Tales,\" i. xxii.; ii. 300.\n\nJ\u00e4rva (the Lake District), province of Esthonia, i. xiv.\n\nJephthah, i. 152 note.\n\nJerwen, German name of province of J\u00e4rva, i. xiv.\n\nJews, Passover of, i. 265 note.\n\nJews, persecution of, i. 155.\n\nJinn of Arabia, ii. 96 note.\n\nJinn, oblique eyes of, i. 72 note.\n\nJones, W.H., and Kropf, L.L., \"The Folk-Tales of the Magyars,\" London,\n1889, ii. 30 note.\n\nJoodar, story in the \"Thousand and One Nights,\" i. 199 note, 265 note;\nii. 229.\n\nJoyce, P.W., \"Old Celtic Romances,\" 2nd edition, London, 1894, i. 71.\n\nJullanar of the Sea, story in the \"Thousand and One Nights,\" ii. 96\nnote.\n\nJumal or Jumala, name of God, i. xxiii., 8.\n\nJunior right, i. 18 note.\n\nJutta, foster-daughter of Vanemuine, and Queen of the Birds, i.\nxxviii., 85.\n\nJutta, priestess of Hertha, ii. 86 note.\n\nK\u00e4p\u00e4, a brook flowing into Lake Peipus, in which the Kalevide's sword\nwas sunk, i. 4, 6, 75, 140.\n\n[Pg 318]Kalev, Kallev, or Kaleva, a mythical giant-king of Esthonia,\nthe father of the Kalevipoeg, i. 1.\n\nKalev, arrival in Esthonia, i. 2, 8.\n\nKalev, wooing of Linda, i. 16.\n\nKalev, marriage of, i. 2, 16, 17.\n\nKalev, children of, i. 2, 18, 22.\n\nKalev, death of, i. 2, 18.\n\nKalev, burial of, i. 2, 21.\n\nKalev, visits to grave of, i. 2, 21, 30, 54, 134.\n\nKalevala, the country of Kaleva, i. 1.\n\nKalevala, name chosen by L\u00f6nnrot for the great Finnish Epic, first\nissued by the Finnish Literary Society in thirty-two Runos or Cantos in\n1835, and subsequently enlarged and recast, and published in 1849 in\nfifty Runos, since when it has been reprinted several times, the best\nedition of the text being that issued by the above-mentioned Society in\n1887. More or less complete translations have appeared in English,\nFrench, German, Swedish, Magyar, and Russian, besides specimens in\nDanish and Italian. Of these versions, the most elegant appear to me to\nbe the abridged Swedish translations of Herzberg, in prose and verse.\nThe recent German translation of Paul is most esteemed in Finland;\nthough it was that of Schiefner, published in 1852, which inspired\nLongfellow to write his \"Hiawatha.\" The \"Kalevala\" commences with\ncreation-myths, and the birth of the patriarch-minstrel and\nculture-hero V\u00e4in\u00e4m\u00f6inen; proceeds with V\u00e4in\u00e4m\u00f6inen's unsuccessful\nwooing of the Lapp girl Aino; and the rest of the poem is mainly\noccupied with the negotiations and wars of the three heroes,\nV\u00e4in\u00e4m\u00f6inen, Ilmarinen, and Lemminkainen, with Louhi, the witch-queen\nof Lapland. The adventures of Kullervo, the morose and wicked slave,\nwho corresponds to the Kalevipoeg in so many particulars, that he was\ncertainly originally the same character, form a long episode, extending\nfrom Runos 31-35 inclusive. The last Runo contains a strange confused\nstory of the Nativity, and ends with the consequent departure of\nV\u00e4in\u00e4m\u00f6inen from Finland. Many episodes and parallels of the\n\"Kalevala\"[Pg 319] reappear in the \"Kalevipoeg,\" i. xi., xviii., xxi.,\nxxx., 1, 7, 8, 10, 33 note, 34 note, 35 note, 39 note, 40 note, 71\nnote, 85 note, 88 note, 93 note, 291 note; ii. 81, 147 note, 149, 154,\n160 note, 160.\n\nKalevide, a hero of the race of Kalev, the usual title of the\nKalevipoeg, i. xviii., 1.\n\nKalevide, birth of, i. 2, 22.\n\nKalevide, childhood of, i. 2, 22.\n\nKalevide, hunting of, i. 2, 25.\n\nKalevide swims to Finland, i. 3, 32.\n\nKalevide, meeting with the Island Maiden, i. 3, 32.\n\nKalevide and Finnish sorcerer, i. 3, 38.\n\nKalevide and sword-smiths, i. 3, 42.\n\nKalevide, return of, i. 3, 49.\n\nKalevide visits his father's grave, i. 3, 21, 30, 54, 134.\n\nKalevide ploughing, i. 3, 58.\n\nKalevide wades through Lake Peipus, i. 4, 72, 122, 142.\n\nKalevide, journeys to P\u00f5rgu, i. 5, 87, 124, 142.\n\nKalevide, voyage of, i. 5, 110.\n\nKalevide, death of, i. 6, 141.\n\nKalevide, a Berserk, i. 39 note.\n\nKalevipoeg, the son of Kalev, a mythical giant-hero and king of\nEsthonia, whose adventures are related in the poem of the same name.\n_See_ Kalevide.\n\n\"Kalevipoeg,\" the national Epic of Esthonia, i. xviii., 1.\n\n\"Kalevipoeg,\" origin of poem, i. xviii.\n\n\"Kalevipoeg,\" bibliography, ii. 299.\n\n\"Kalevipoeg,\" editions of, ii. 301.\n\n\"Kalevipoeg,\" tales illustrative of, i. 147.\n\n\"Kanteletar,\" the \"Daughter of the Harp,\" the name applied to the great\ncollection of Finnish songs and ballads compiled by L\u00f6nnrot, and\npublished by the Finnish Literary Society, i. 10 note, 20.\n\nKarkus, name of a mythical king, ii. 136.\n\nKatrina finds egg which produces Suometar, i. 10.\n\nKatrina, name of Cinderella, ii. 4.\n\nKeightley, Thomas, \"The Fairy Mythology, illustrative of the[Pg 320]\nRomance and Superstition of various Countries,\" new edition, London\n(Bohn), 1860, ii. 282 note.\n\nKenealy, Edward Vaughan, \"Goethe, a New Pantomime,\" London, 1850, i.\nxx.\n\nKenealy, \"A New Pantomime,\" London, 1863, i. xx.\n\nKenealy, \"Poems and Translations,\" London, 1864, i. 76.\n\nKertell, treasure at, ii. 224.\n\nKhaleefeh the fisherman, story of, in the \"Thousand and One Nights,\"\nii. 270.\n\nKidd the Pirate, ii. 195.\n\nKiisike (Pussy), a fairy child, i. 245.\n\nKikerp\u00e4r\u00e4, swamp of, i. 64.\n\nKing of Esthonia, Kalev becomes, i. 2, 9.\n\nKing, Kalevide chosen, i. 3, 58.\n\nKing Karkus, ii. 136.\n\nKing of the Misty Hill, i. 259.\n\nKing's Wood, i. 27.\n\nKirby, W.F., \"Ed-Dimiryaht, an Oriental Romance, and other Poems,\"\nLondon, 1867, ii. 236.\n\nKirby and Kaarle Krohn on Pastor Hurt's collections of Esthonian\nfolk-lore, i. xxiv.; ii. 301, 302.\n\nKnapsack, magic, ii. 72.\n\nKnights of the Sword, i. xiv., 134.\n\nK\u00f6hler, R., notes on Kreutzwald's Tales, ii. 301.\n\nK\u00f5u, one of the names of the Thunder-God, i. xxviii.; ii. 158.\n\nK\u00f5ver or K\u00f5wer, Crooked, ii. 131 note.\n\nKoit (Dawn) and \u00c4marik (Evening Glow), ii. 30, 299.\n\nKoiva, River, i. 139.\n\nKon, a frog or toad, ii. 237 note.\n\nKork\u00fcll, Lake, ii. 135.\n\nKratt, one of the names of the house-spirit, i. xxxi.; ii. 167, 169.\n\nKreutzwald, Dr., and his works, i. xix., xxii., xxiii., 39 note; ii.\n301.\n\nKristina, Cinderella called in Finnish, ii. 4 note.\n\nKrohn, Kaarle, on Pastor Hurt's Esthonian Folk-lore collections, i.\nxxiv.; ii. 301, 302.\n\nKrohn, on distribution of Esthonian legends, i. xxv., 301.\n\n[Pg 321]Kullervo, a hero of the \"Kalevala,\" who, though the slave of\nIlmarinen, corresponds to the Kalevipoeg; he ultimately commits suicide\nby falling on his own sword, i. xxi., 1, 8 note, 22 note, 33 note, 42\nnote, 85 note, 291 note; ii. 160 note.\n\nKungla, a country of fabulous wealth, possibly the island of Gottland,\ni. 15, 28, 182, 187, 304.\n\nKurat, the Evil One, one of the names of the Devil, i. xxx.\n\nKuri vaim, evil spirit, ii. 199.\n\nKylliki, a heroine of the \"Kalevala,\" who refused the hand of the Sun\nand Moon, but was afterwards carried off by Lemminkainen, i. 10 note.\n\nL\u00e4\u00e4ne, the West Country, a province of Esthonia, i. xiv., 8; ii. 49.\n\nLady-bird, i. 19 note.\n\nLady of the Waters, ii. 95.\n\nLais, church of, ii. 145.\n\nLake-dwellers, ii. 98.\n\nLake legends, ii. 135.\n\nLake Emmu, ii. 144.\n\nLake Endla, i. 88; ii. 85.\n\nLake at Eusek\u00fcll, ii. 142.\n\nLake Kork\u00fcll or Oiso, ii. 135.\n\nLake Peipus, i. xiv., 4, 72, 122, 142; ii. 136.\n\nLake Virts, i. xiv.; ii. 144.\n\nLalli, a port near Lindanisa, i. 118.\n\nLand of Ten Thousand Lakes (Finland), ii. 135.\n\nLane's \"Thousand and One Nights,\" ii. 76 note.\n\nLapland, Louhi, witch-queen of, in the \"Kalevala,\" ii. 149.\n\nLapland, Kalevide's voyage to, i. 5, 112.\n\nLapland stories, i. xvi.; ii. 29, 38.\n\nLast feast of the heroes, i. 129, 131.\n\nLatham, R.G., \"Nationalities of Europe,\" 2 vols, London, 1863, i.\nxxiii., xxvii., 9 note, 33; ii. 38 note, 112 note, 302.\n\nLauma, Lithuanian Nightmare, ii. 112 note.\n\nLeal, coiners of, ii. 192.\n\nLemminkainen, one of the heroes of the \"Kalevala,\" i. xxix., 34 note,\n40 note.\n\n[Pg 322]Lennuk, the Flyer, the Kalevide's ship, i. 5, 112.\n\nLetts, demons compared to, i. 67, 69.\n\nLetts, war with, i. 137.\n\n\"Light Princess,\" story by George Macdonald, i. 211 note.\n\nLijon, festival of, ii. 33.\n\nLind or Lindu, a bird, i. 10.\n\nLinda, the wife of Kalev and the mother of the Kalevipoeg, born from an\negg, i. xxviii., 2, 10; ii. 85 note.\n\nLinda, marriage of, i. 2, 16, 17.\n\nLinda, mourning of, i. 2, 20.\n\nLinda, children of, i. 2, 18, 22.\n\nLinda, carried off by Finnish sorcerer, i. 2, 26.\n\nLinda, transformed to a rock, i. 2, 27.\n\nLinda, fate of, i. 24.\n\nLinda, shade of, in P\u00f5rgu, i. 127, 129.\n\nLindanisa, \"Linda's Bosom,\" the Kalevide's capital, now called Tallin,\nRevel, or Reval, i. 6, 118, 119, 131.\n\nLindu, the daughter of Uko, the queen of the birds, i. xxviii., 9 note,\n10 note, 147.\n\nLion, Kalevide compared to, i. 89.\n\nLithuanian tales, ii. 112 note, 182 note, 224.\n\nLithuanian Thunder-God. _See_ Perkunas.\n\nLittle Red Riding Hood, ii. 39, 276.\n\nLivonia, province of, i. xiii.\n\nLongfellow's \"Hiawatha,\" i. xx., 81 note.\n\nLoss of the Kalevide's sword, i. 72.\n\nLots cast for princess, ii. 23.\n\nLouhi, witch-queen of Lapland, in the \"Kalevala\" (may not this name,\nthough feminine, be connected with Loki?), ii. 149, 154.\n\nL\u00f6we's translation of Kreutzwald's Tales, i. xxii.; ii. 301.\n\nLucky egg, i. 308.\n\nLucky rouble, i. 25 note; ii. 6.\n\nMaasika (Strawberry), i. 321.\n\n\"Mabinogion,\" old Welsh romances, translated by Lady Guest, ii. 272\nnote.\n\nMacdonald, George, story of the Light Princess, i. 211.\n\n[Pg 323]Macgillivray's adventure in the Solomon Islands, i. 139.\n\nMaelstr\u00f6m, i. 114 note.\n\nMagic cudgel, ii. 25, 74.\n\nMagic egg, ii. 234.\n\nMagic flute, ii. 43 note.\n\nMagic hat, i. 91, 103; ii. 25.\n\nMagic knapsack, i. 265; ii. 72.\n\nMagic reel, i. 177.\n\nMagic saddlebags, i. 265, note.\n\nMagic shoes, ii. 25.\n\nMagic, skill of Lapps, Finns, and Esthonians in, i. 20 note.\n\nMagic sword, i. 198.\n\nMagician in the pocket, i. 321.\n\nMagician's heirs, ii. 24.\n\nMagpie speaking, ii. 4.\n\nMagyar Folk-tales, ii. 30 note.\n\nMaha-Bharata, Indian Epic, i. 25 note; ii. 25, 234 note.\n\nMaiden of Island, i. 3, 32.\n\nMaiden at the Vaskjala Bridge, ii. 34.\n\nMaiden's Wood, i. 27.\n\nMaidens who bathed in the moonlight, ii. 233.\n\nMaidens in Sarvik's palace, i. 5, 90.\n\nMaidens spinning, i. 5, 90, 209.\n\nMail-clad warriors, i. 134.\n\nMan in the moon, ii. 29, 164.\n\nMan with the bast shoes, ii. 278.\n\nMana, God of Death, i. 143; ii. 17.\n\nMana tark = necromancer, ii. 223 note.\n\nManx dog, ii. 192 note.\n\nMare, white, i. xxvi., 99, 142.\n\nMartin and his dead master, i. xxxii.; ii. 188.\n\nMarya, Cinderella called, in Slavonic tales, ii. 4 note.\n\nMeadow Queen, or Grass-Mother (Muru eit), the goddess of the meadows\nand of the home-field, i. xxix., 11, 188, 235, 259.\n\nMegissogwon, a magician slain by Hiawatha, i. 81 note.\n\nMelusina, ii. 48.\n\nMermaid, ii. 49.\n\n[Pg 324]Mermaid and Lord of Pahlen, ii. 106.\n\nMichael Scot, ii. 172 note.\n\nMichel the Beggar, ii. 168.\n\nMilk-cans cleaned with pebbles, ii. 89.\n\nMilky Way, i. 9 note, 147.\n\nMisty Hill, King of the, i. 259.\n\nMoon, man in, ii. 29, 164.\n\nMoon-painter, ii. 29, 159.\n\nMoon seeking the hand of maidens, i. 10, 11, 148.\n\nMoon, sons and daughters of, ii. 29.\n\nMoon stolen by sorcerers, i. 20 note; ii. 148, 154 note, 160 note.\n\nMoon-stories, ii. 29, 159.\n\nMoon, woman in, ii. 29, 37.\n\nMoon-dwellers, i. 186.\n\nMorality of Esthonian folk-tales, i. 155.\n\nMoth, sorcerer in form of, ii. 16.\n\nMother of the Grass. _See_ Meadow Queen.\n\nMother of the Waters, i. xxix.\n\nMother of the Wind, i. xxix., 218; ii. 106.\n\nMouse speaking, i. 125; ii. 186.\n\nMouse and cat, ii. 282.\n\nMundane egg, i. 8 note.\n\nMuru eit = Grass-Mother. _See_ Meadow Queen.\n\nMussel-shells as boats, i. 202.\n\nMustapall, i. 64.\n\nMustukene (Blackie), name of dog, i. 25 note.\n\nMythology, Esthonian, i. xxvi.\n\nNaglfar, nail-ship in Scandinavian Mythology, i. 91 note.\n\nN\u00e4ki neitsi, mermaid, ii. 49.\n\nNail-parings, hat of, i. 91, 103; ii. 25.\n\nNakula, one of the heroes of the Indian Epic, the Maha-Bharata, ii. 23\nnote.\n\nName, calling by, an omen of death, ii. 262.\n\nNarova, river flowing from Lake Peipus to Narva, ii. 141.\n\nNarva, a port-town on the east frontier of Esthonia, i. 304.\n\n\"Nationalities of Europe.\" _See_ Latham.\n\n[Pg 325]Nativity, travesty of, in \"Kalevala,\" i. xxvii.\n\nNature-worship among Esthonians and Finns, i. xxvii.\n\nNecromancers, i. xxx., 20; ii. 233 note.\n\nNeus, works of, i. xxiii., 9 note, 33, 39 note; ii. 302.\n\nNicholas, story of Silly, ii. 71 note.\n\nNicodemus, i. 146, 192, 200.\n\nNightmare, Lauma, or Lithuanian, ii. 112 note.\n\nNoah and the Ark, ii. 76 note.\n\nNocturnal church-goers, ii. 226.\n\nNoor Ed-Deen and Shems Ed-Deen, story of, in the \"Thousand and One\nNights,\" i. 86 note.\n\nNorth Cape, i. 112 note.\n\nNorthern Frog, ii. 237.\n\nNorthern Lights, spirits of, i. xxxi., 5, 111, 117, 149; ii. 107.\n\nNose-tree, i. 203, 306.\n\nNuck\u00f6, Plague in island of, ii. 272.\n\nOak sacred to Taara, i. xxvii.\n\nOak forest of Taara, i. 8, 56.\n\nOak-tree, great, i. xxvii., 3, 34, 39, 47, 111.\n\nOdyssey, origin of, i. xi.\n\n\u0152sel, Island of, i. xiii.\n\nOfficious flies, ii. 285, 300.\n\nOiso, district and lake of, ii. 135, 142.\n\nOlaf the architect, i. 282.\n\nOlaf, St., and the giant Wind-and-Weather, ii. 282 note.\n\nOld Boy (Vana pois), usual Esthonian euphemism for the Devil, i. xxx.,\n153; ii. 10, 132, 144, 151, 192.\n\nOld Father (Vana isa), frequent epithet for God in Esthonian, i.\nxxvii., xxx.; ii. 144, 150 note.\n\n\"Old Harp\" (Vana kannel), Pastor Hurt's collection of Esthonian songs\nand ballads, i. xxiv.\n\nOld Hornie (Vana Sarvik), one of the names of the Devil, i. xxxi., 89\nnote; ii. 195.\n\nOlev the master-builder, possibly a brother of Kalev, i. xxii., 2, 108,\n111, 118, 119, 139; ii. 282 note.\n\nOlevide, a hero of the race of Olev; the term is often applied to[Pg\n326] his son, the Olevipoeg, the companion, and perhaps the cousin, of\nthe Kalevide. The Olevide is, however, frequently called by his\nfather's name, Olev, i. xxii., 6, 108.\n\nOlevide meets the Kalevide, i. 108.\n\nOlevide builds ships, i. 111.\n\nOlevide builds Lindanisa, i. 119.\n\nOlevide appointed successor to the throne, i. 139.\n\nOlger or Holger, a famous Danish hero, one of Charlemagne's Paladins\n(Ogier le Danois), who is expected to return, i. xxxii.\n\nOriental tales, ii. 233.\n\nOrigin of bugs, ii. 127, 181.\n\nOrigin of the swallow, ii. 283.\n\nOrigin of the wolf, ii. 274.\n\nOrphan and foundling stories, i. 84, 236.\n\nOrphan-boy and the Hell-hounds, i. 261.\n\nOrphan-boys, i. 4, 85, 261.\n\nOrphan's hand-mill, i. 260.\n\nOrphan's Wood, i. 27.\n\nOrpheus, ii. 60.\n\nOthin, i. 261 note.\n\nOx, great, i. xxvi., 88, 130.\n\nOx of Videvik, ii. 30.\n\nOx, strange tale of an, ii. 24.\n\nOxenford, John, on the \"Kalevipoeg,\" ii. 302.\n\nOxen of Ukraine, i. 270.\n\nP\u00e4rtel = Bartholomew, i. 310.\n\nPahlen, Lord of, and mermaid, ii. 106.\n\nPalace of Sarvik, i. 4, 5, 94, 127.\n\nPalmerin, a legendary Emperor of Constantinople, whose adventures and\nthose of his family are contained in a series of three romances of\nchivalry, the last and most celebrated of which relates to his grandson\nand namesake, Palmerin of England, i. xxxii.\n\nPandavas, five princes, the reputed sons of Pandu, the heroes of the\nIndian Epic, the Maha-Bharata; their names were Yudhishthira, Bhima,\nArjuna, Nakula, and Sahadeva, ii. 23 note.\n\n[Pg 327]Parika Heath, ii. 111.\n\nParistaja, one of the names of the Thunder-God (? = Sanscrit,\nParjanya), i. xxviii.\n\nParting of brothers, i. 55.\n\nPassover, Jews', i. 265 note.\n\nPastor Hurt's collections of Esthonian Folk-lore, i. xxiv.; ii. 301.\n\nPeacock and Peahen, story in the \"Thousand and One Nights,\" ii. 76\nnote.\n\nPeas given to the watchers of the dead, i. 157, 256.\n\nPeipa the witch, ii. 137.\n\nPeipus or Peipse, Lake, i. xiv., 4, 6, 44, 71, 72, 237; ii. 98.\n\nPerkunas, Lithuanian and Lettish Thunder-God (the Slavonians called him\nPerun; the Finnish word Piru (Devil) may be connected with this), i.\nxxviii., 24 note.\n\nPerm, identified with Kungla, i. 15 note.\n\nPernau, ii. 283.\n\nPeter, i. 25 note; ii. 6.\n\nPeter, St., disguised as beggar, ii. 182 note.\n\nPihgast, Pleskau, or Pskov, lake, district, and town of, i. xiv.\n\nPiirisilla, the sorcerer, ii. 19.\n\nPiker, one of the names of the Thunder-God, i. xxviii.\n\nPikker, one of the names of the Thunder-God, i. xxviii., 24, 26; ii.\n155.\n\nPikne, one of the names of the Thunder-God, i. xxviii., 24; ii. 28.\n\nPikne's trumpet, ii. 149 note.\n\nPlague legends, ii. 271, 291.\n\nPlantain-leaf as boat, i. 265.\n\nPlate, gold and silver, in P\u00f5rgu, i. xxx., 66, 93, 95, 203.\n\nPleskau, Pihgast, or Pskov, district, lake, and town of, i. xiv., 73,\n173.\n\nPliha, River, ii. 142.\n\nPoestion, J. C, \"Lapplandishe M\u00e4rchen, Volksagen, Rathsel und\nSprichw\u00f6rter. Nach lappl\u00e4ndischen, norwegischen, und schwedischen\nQuellen. Mit Beitr\u00e4gen von Felix Liebrecht,\" Vienna, 1886, ii. 38.\n\nPohjola, the North Country, Finnish name for Lapland, i. 8 note, 40\nnote.\n\nPoles, invasion of, i. 132, 137; ii. 142.\n\n[Pg 328]Polyphemus, ii. 38, 159.\n\nPoor brother and the rich one, ii. 267.\n\nPopular Poetry of Esthonians, ii. 302.\n\nP\u00f5rgu, Hell or Hades, i xxxi., 4, 5, 6, 66, 110, 124, 142, 164; ii.\n154.\n\nP\u00f5rgu neitsi, the Hell-Maiden, ii. 242.\n\nPouka, the Irish, i. xxxi.\n\nPoverty, personified, ii. 269.\n\nPowerful crayfish and the insatiable wife, ii. 48.\n\nPrince Ahmed, story of, in the \"Thousand and One Nights,\" i. 246 note.\n\nPrince, Grateful, i. 152.\n\nPrince who rescued his brothers, ii. 10.\n\nPrincess, Egg-born, i. 273.\n\nPrincess Helena the Fair, Russian story of, ii. 41 note.\n\nPrincess, lots cast for, ii. 23.\n\nPrincess Rannapuura, ii. 37.\n\nPrincess who slept for seven years, ii. 44.\n\nPrince, L.C. Alexander, \"Ancient Danish Ballads, translated from the\noriginals,\" 3 vols., London, 1860, i. 115 note.\n\nPskov, Pihgast, or Pleskau, district, lake, and town of, i. xiv.\n\nPuck, i. xxxi.\n\nP\u00fchalepp, church at, ii. 283.\n\nPuuk, one of the names of the house-spirit, i. xxxi.\n\nPuul\u00e4ne ja Tohtl\u00e4ne (wooden man and birch-bark maid), ii. 181.\n\nRagnar\u00f6k, the Twilight of the Gods, the end of the world in the\nScandinavian mythology, when the evil powers will break loose, and\nfight with the gods, to the mutual destruction of most of the\ncombatants, after which the earth will be destroyed by fire and water\nand regenerated, i. 90 note, 108 note, 261 note.\n\nRalston, W.R.S., \"Russian Folk-Tales,\" London, 1873, ii. 41 note.\n\nRannapungern, estate of, ii. 142.\n\nRannapuura, Princess, ii. 137.\n\nRat, Devil transformed into, ii. 181.\n\nRaven speaking, i. 110, 215.\n\nRebuliina, Princess, i. 275.\n\n[Pg 329]Red cock, symbolic of fire, i. 108, 234.\n\nRed Riding-Hood, ii. 38, 276.\n\nReel, magic, i. 177.\n\nReindeer, swift, ii. 21.\n\nReinthal's translation of the \"Kalevipoeg,\" i. xix., 301.\n\nReturn of the Kalevide, i. 49.\n\nRevel, Reval, or Tallin, Cathedral of, i. 21.\n\nRevel, church at, ii. 282.\n\nRevel, town of, ii. 104.\n\n\"Revue des Traditions Populaires,\" ii. 133 note, 299, 300.\n\nRich brother and the poor one, ii. 267.\n\nRiddles, i. 115.\n\n\"Riesenspielzeug,\" the \"Giant's Toy,\" poem by Chamisso, i. 116 note.\n\nRiga, Gulf of, i. xiii.\n\nRing of dwarf, i. 194.\n\nRingen, castle and church at, ii. 225.\n\nRiver Koiva, i. 139.\n\nRiver Narova, ii. 142.\n\nRiver Pliha, ii. 142.\n\nRiver V\u00f6handu, i. 137.\n\nRock-Maidens, god-daughter of the, i. 321.\n\nRog\u00f6, arrival of Plague in island of, ii. 271.\n\nRoland, horn of, i. 136 note.\n\nRose-bush, maiden transformed to, i. 181, 302.\n\nRosicrucians, ii. 96 note.\n\nR\u00f5ugutaja, an Esthonian god, i. xxviii., xxix., 22.\n\nR\u00f5ugutaja's Daughter, ii. 45.\n\nRowan-tree, i. 228; ii. 4.\n\nRumours of War, i. 61.\n\nRun-for-food (name of dog), ii. 6.\n\nRussian tales, ii. 41 note.\n\nSaad J\u00e4rv, a lake north of Dorpat, i. 56.\n\nSaari, a place mentioned in the \"Kalevala,\" i. 10 note.\n\nSack, Devil pounded in, ii. 15.\n\n[Pg 330]Sahadeva, one of the heroes of the Indian Epic, the\nMaha-Bharata, ii. 23 note.\n\nSt. George's Dogs (wolves), ii. 277.\n\nSt. Olaf and the giant Wind-and-Weather, ii. 282 note.\n\nSt. Peter disguised as beggar, ii. 182 note.\n\nSt. Petersburg, Government of, i. xiii.\n\nSalme, a maiden sprung from a hen, who married the Youth of the Stars,\ni. 2, 7.\n\nSampo, a magic mill constructed by Ilmarinen in the \"Kalevala,\" ii. 71\nnote, 154 note.\n\nSand Mountain, i. 228.\n\nSarvik, the Prince of P\u00f5rgu (Hades), usually called Vana Sarvik or Old\nHornie, i. xxx., 5, 89, 97, 126, 142.\n\nSarvik, palace of, i. 94, 127.\n\nSaurians as dragons, ii. 7.\n\nSaxon, term for everything above the common in Esthonia, i. 146.\n\nSchaibar in the \"Thousand and One Nights,\" i. 246 note.\n\nSchiefner on the \"Kalevipoeg,\" and Esthonian tales, ii. 301, 302.\n\nSchoolboy sold to Devil, ii. 146.\n\nSchott on the \"Kalevipoeg,\" ii. 302.\n\nSeaforth, hag seen by Lord, ii. 272 note.\n\nSeal of Solomon, ii. 236.\n\nSerpents, king of, i. 321; ii. 233.\n\nServants, gifted, ii. 24.\n\nShoemaker, compassionate, ii. 182.\n\nShoes, magic, ii. 25.\n\nShoes, man with the bast, ii. 278.\n\nShooting feats, ii. 23, 191.\n\nSilly Nicholas, story of, ii. 71 note.\n\nSisters, Three, ii. 43.\n\nSiuru, a mythical blue bird, the daughter of Taara, i. xxviii., 10\nnote, 96, 131; ii. 292.\n\nSlave-girl born from a crow, i. 2, 10.\n\nSleep of the Kalevide, i. 4, 39, 61, 74, 82, 131.\n\nSleepy Tony, ii. 50.\n\nSlyboots, i. 187.\n\n[Pg 331]Smiths, Finnish, i. 42.\n\nSmith's son, murder of, i. 46, 84.\n\nSmithy of Ilmarine, i. xxx., 4, 83.\n\nSmithy, underground, ii. 83, 116.\n\nSnake animating a clay image, i. 247\n\nSnake, maiden transformed to white, i. 312.\n\nSnake-bite, charm against, ii. 298.\n\nSnakes, golden, ii. 224.\n\nSnow-white, the Glass Mountain, and the Despised Youngest Son, ii. 40.\n\nSohni, name of the Kalevipoeg, i. 18.\n\nSoldier and the Devil, ii. 76.\n\nSoldier's hat, ii. 130.\n\nSolomon, Seal of, ii. 236.\n\nSolomon Islands, Macgillivray's adventure in, i. 139 note.\n\nSon, of the Thunder-God, ii. 149.\n\nSong-God's departure, ii. 81.\n\n\"Song of Vala,\" a poem by W. Herbert, appended to his \"Helga,\" an\nabridged paraphrase of the \"V\u00f6luspa,\" one of the poems in the Edda of\nS\u00e6mund, i. 60 note.\n\nSoothsayers, i. xxxi., 19, 20.\n\nSorcerer in form of moth, ii. 16.\n\nSorcerer, Finnish. _See_ Finnish Sorcerer.\n\nSorcerer's sons, fight with the, i. 4, 80.\n\nSorcerers, i. xxxi.\n\nSorcerers of Lake Peipus, i. 4, 72, 82.\n\nSorcerers stealing sun and moon, ii. 148, 154 note, 160 note.\n\nSorcery in Esthonia, Finland, and Lapland, ii. 148.\n\nSouthey's poem of \"Donica,\" ii. 147 note.\n\nSpider and hornet, ii. 284.\n\nSpiders, magic, ii. 17.\n\nSpirit of the Whirlwind, ii. 110.\n\nSpirits of the Northern Lights, i. xxxi., 5, 111, 117, 149; ii. 107.\n\nSpirits of the Elements, stories of, ii. 60.\n\nStamping with heel or foot. _See_ Foot.\n\nStars seeking the hand of maidens, i. 12; ii. 10, 148.\n\nStead, W.T., \"More Ghost Stories,\" London, 1892, ii. 273 note.\n\n[Pg 332]Stepmothers, i. 85 note, 276, 280; ii. 5, 46.\n\nStick, magic, ii. 25.\n\nStones for cleaning milk-cans, ii. 89.\n\nStories of the Gods and Spirits of the Elements, ii. 60.\n\nStories of Northern Europe, ii. 48.\n\nStrange tale of an ox, ii. 24.\n\nSulev or Sullev, ancestor of a race of heroes, apparently a brother of\nKalev, i. xxxii., 2, 33 note.\n\nSulevide, a hero of the race of Sulev, usually applied to the\nKalevide's companion and cousin, i. xxii., 6.\n\nSulevide visits the Fire Island, i. 114.\n\nSulevide wounded, i. 136.\n\nSulevide, death of, i. 138.\n\nSun seeking the hand of maidens, i. 10, 11, 148.\n\nSun, sons and daughters of, ii. 29.\n\nSun stolen by sorcerers, i. 20 note; ii. 148, 154 note, 160 note.\n\nSuometar, Finland's daughter, born from an egg, i. 10 note.\n\nSuomi = Finland, also the name of the journal issued by the Finnish\nLiterary Society, ii. 135 note, 300.\n\nSurtur, the leader of the Sons of Fire, at Ragnar\u00f6k, in the\nScandinavian mythology, i. 108 note.\n\nSwallow, origin of, ii. 284.\n\nSwan-maiden stories in Lapland, i. xvi.\n\nSwedes, ii. 23, 50, 142.\n\nSwiftfoot, Quickhand, and Sharpeye, ii. 12.\n\nSwift-footed Princess, ii. 23.\n\nSword of Damocles, ii. 8.\n\nSword of the Kalevide, i. 3, 41, 44, 70, 72, 74, 83, 140.\n\nSword-smiths, the Kalevide and the, i. 42, 84.\n\nTaara or Ukko, principal God of the Esthonians, i. xxvii., 4, 6.\n\nTaara, daughters of, i. xxvii., 9 note, 10 note; ii. 86, 292.\n\nTaara, halls of, i. 141.\n\nTaara, oak forest of, i. 8, 56.\n\nTaara, race of, i. 7.\n\nTaara, Vanemuine at hill of, ii. 81.\n\nTailors, how seven, went to war in Turkey, i. xxiii.\n\n[Pg 333]Talking trees, ii. 125, 301.\n\nTallin, one of the names of the town of Revel, ii. 104.\n\nTapio, the Finnish God of the Forests, ii. 127, 131 note, 296.\n\nTartar, Devil compared to a, i. 156.\n\nTartars, invasion of, i. 137.\n\nTear-down (name of dog), ii. 6.\n\nThird Calendar's Story (\"Thousand and One Nights\"), i. 35 note.\n\nThor, Scandinavian Thunder-God. Notwithstanding the name of Taara, and\nthe fact that Thursday is sacred to him, it is worth noting that Taara\nand Thor have no attributes in common; Thor corresponding to the\nEsthonian \u00c4ike, i. xxvii., 24 note, 107 note.\n\n\"Thousand and One Nights.\" The various stories quoted, and which are\nalso referred to under their separate headings, will be found in the\nversions of Galland, Lane, and Burton; but chiefly the two latter, i.\n35, 72 note, 86 note, 187, 199 note, 246 note, 265 note; ii. 9, 25, 76\nnote, 229, 234 note, 270.\n\nThree Sisters, ii. 43.\n\nThree Wishes, ii. 45.\n\nThunder-God, i. xxviii., xxxi., 24; ii. 20.\n\nThunder-God, daughter of, i. xxviii., 71.\n\nThunder-God, son of, i. xxviii.; ii. 149.\n\nThursday, sacred to Taara, i. xxvii.\n\nTieck's German story of the Elves, i. 236.\n\nTiidu the Flute-player, i. 303.\n\nTime, lapse of, in other worlds, i. 184.\n\nTohfat El Kulub, story of, in the \"Thousand and One Nights,\" i. 72\nnote.\n\nTohtl\u00e4ne, birch-bark maid, ii. 181.\n\nTont, or house-spirit, i. xxxi., 236; ii. 167.\n\nTontla, Wood of, ii. 237.\n\nTony, Goose, ii. 2.\n\nTony, Sleepy, ii. 52.\n\nTora, name of God among the Chuvash of Kasan, i. 6.\n\nTreasure at Kertell, ii. 224.\n\nTreasure-bringer, ii. xxxii., 88, 168.\n\nTrees, bleeding, i. 238.\n\n[Pg 334]Trees for birds to rest on, ii. 4.\n\nTrees, talking, i. 238; ii. 125, 300.\n\nTrumpet, Pikne's, ii. 149 note.\n\nT\u00fchi, the Empty One, or rather, perhaps, the Contemptible One, name of\none of the principal demons, or of the Devil. In the \"Kalevipoeg\" he is\nrepresented as Sarvik's brother-in-law, i. xxx., 5, 99, 105; ii. 149\nnote.\n\nT\u00fchja = T\u00fchi, i. xxx., 84.\n\nTuhka-Triinu, Ash-Katie, Cinderella, ii. 4.\n\nTurkey, how seven tailors went to war in, i. xxiii.\n\nTurkey-disease, i. 307.\n\nTwelve daughters, ii. 59, note, 87.\n\nTwilight, story of, ii. 30.\n\nTwo brothers and the frost, ii. 71.\n\nUkko or Uko, principal God of Finns and Esthonians, often called Taara\nby the latter, i. xxvii., 6, 22, 62; ii. 86, 284.\n\n\u00dclemiste j\u00e4rv, Upper Lake, near Revel, formed of Linda's tears for the\ndeath of Kalev, i. 21; ii. 104.\n\nUnderground people, ii. 98 note.\n\nUnderground smithy, ii. 116.\n\nUnnatural brothers, i. 189; ii. 41, 70, 207.\n\nUnnatural sisters, ii. 43.\n\nVad Velen, the Yellow Plague in Britain, ii. 272 note.\n\nV\u00e4in\u00e4m\u00f6inen, a patriarch and culture-hero, the principal character in\nthe \"Kalevala,\" identical with the Esthonian Vanemuine, i. xxi.,\nxxvii., xxix., 7; ii. 60.\n\nV\u00e4in\u00e4m\u00f6inen worshipped by Finns, i. xxvii.; ii. 81.\n\nValkyrior, the maidens of Othin in the Scandinavian mythology, who\nchoose the heroes destined to fall in battle, i. 60 note.\n\nVampyrism (this is said to be still prevalent in Eastern Europe, though\nit has disappeared from Western Europe along with witchcraft. The best\npreventative or cure is cremation), i. xxxii.; ii. 188.\n\nVana, Old, term of respect applied to gods and devils, ii. 144 note.\n\nVana isa. _See_ Old Father.\n\n[Pg 335]Vana kannel, \"Old Harp,\" i. xxiv.\n\nVana mees, \"Old Man,\" one of the epithets for the Devil, ii. 181.\n\nVana pois. _See_ Old Boy.\n\nVana Sarvik, \"Old Hornie.\" _See_ Sarvik.\n\nVanemuine, God of Music among the Esthonians, identical with the\nFinnish V\u00e4in\u00e4m\u00f6inen, i. xxi., xxix., 7; ii. 60, 81, 299.\n\nVanemuine, farewell to Esthonia, ii. 85.\n\nVarrak, a wise Laplander, i. 5, 113, 132.\n\nVaskjala bridge, Maiden of the, ii. 34.\n\nVidevik (Twilight), Koit, and \u00c4marik, ii. 30.\n\nVillein, Prince, i. 275.\n\nVillina Hills, ii. 145.\n\nVirgilius the Enchanter, ii. 20 note.\n\nVirgin Mary worshipped by Finns, i. xxvii.; ii. 81.\n\nVirts, Lake, i. xiv.\n\nVirts Lake and Emmu Lake, ii. 144.\n\nViru, native name for Esthonia proper, i. xiv., 8.\n\nVladinin, Prince of Kief, the suzerain of the mythical Russian heroes,\ni. xxxii.\n\nV\u00f6handu River, i. 137.\n\nVoyage of the Kalevide, i. 110.\n\nWar, Herald of, i. 63; ii. 287.\n\nWar, rumours of, i. 61.\n\nWater-lily, girls transformed to, i. 225; ii. 46.\n\nWater-mother, i. xxiv., ii. 61.\n\nWater-nymphs of Irish lakes, ii. 147 note.\n\nWater-sprite, gifts of, ii. 98.\n\nWater of strength and weakness (this is perhaps connected with the\nRussian Water of Death and Life, the first of which heals the wounds of\na dead body, and the second restores it to life), i. 90, 100, 127.\n\nWaters, Lord of, seeks the hand of Linda, i. 15.\n\nWaters, Lady of the, ii. 95.\n\nWere-wolves, ii. 277.\n\nWeil, G., \"Biblische Legenden der Muselm\u00e4nner aus arabischen[Pg 336]\nQuellen, zusammengetragen und mit j\u00fcdischen Sagen verglichen,\"\nFrankfort-on-Main, 1845, ii. 236.\n\nWhirlwind, spirit of the, i. xxxi.; ii. 110.\n\nWhite Horse. _See_ Horses.\n (I have forgotten to notice elsewhere that the White Horse is a\n universally sacred emblem. It occurs more than once in the Apocalypse\n (Rev. vi. 2, xix. 11, 14)).\n\nWhite Mare. _See_ Mare.\n\nWhy the dog and cat and cat and mouse are enemies, ii. 282.\n\nWicked farmer's wife devoured by wolves, i. 291.\n\nWidow of L\u00e4\u00e4ne, i. 2, 9.\n\nWidows at magic well, ii. 145.\n\nWiek, German name for the province of L\u00e4\u00e4ne, i. xiv., 8 note.\n\nWierland, German name for the province of Viru, or Esthonia proper, i.\nxiv.\n\nWife, insatiable, ii. 48.\n\nWife-murderer (Bluebeard), ii. 1.\n\nWill o' the Wisps, ii. 111.\n\nWilliam Tell expected to return, i. xxxii.\n\nWind seeks the hand of Linda, i. 15.\n\nWind magician, i. 19, 20.\n\nWind-mother, i. xxiv, 218; ii. 106.\n\nWind sorcerers, i. xxix., xxxi.\n\nWind-and-Weather, name of a giant, ii. 282 note.\n\nWinds, King of, ii. 95.\n\nWishes, Three, ii. 45.\n\nWishing-rod, i. 91, 105, 108, 198.\n\nWitch-Bride, ii. 45.\n\nWitch Peipa, ii. 137.\n\nWitch poisoned with hemlock-roots, i. 233.\n\nWitch riding on cock, ii. 140.\n\nWitch's coil, i. 218.\n\nWolf, i. 52, 84, 97, 171; ii. 31.\n\nWolf, creation of, ii. 274.\n\nWolf, Devil changed into, ii. 181.\n\nWolf stories, ii. 274.\n\nWolf and Devil, i. xxxi.; ii. 76 note, 274.\n\nWolfsbrunnen, near Heidelberg, ii. 86 note.\n\n[Pg 337]Woman in the Moon, ii. 29, 37.\n\nWonderful Haycock, ii. 133.\n\nWood of Tontla, ii. 237.\n\nWood-goddess, ii. 196.\n\nWoodcutter, compassionate, ii. 124.\n\nWooden man and birch-bark maid, ii. 180.\n\nWoodpecker and Iliawatha, i. 81 note.\n\nWord-sorcerers, i. xxxi.\n\nYellow Plague in Britain, ii. 272 note.\n\nYggdrasil (properly Yggthrasil), the sacred ash-tree of Scandinavian\nmythology, i. 39 note.\n\nYmir, giant from whose body the earth was formed, in the Scandinavian\nmythology, i. 60 note.\n\nYoungest son, despised, ii. 44.\n\nYudhishthira, one of the heroes of the Indian Epic, the Maha-Bharata,\ni. 25 note; ii. 23 note.\n\nTHE END\n\nVOL. II.\n\n_Printed by_ Ballantvne, Hanson & Co.\n\n_Edinburgh and London_\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[1] Here Cinderella's real name is Katrina; in Finnish she is sometimes\ncalled Kristina (see Miss Cox, _Cinderella_, p. 552), while in Slavonic\ntales she is called Marya, and in some German adaptations Aennchen.\n\n[2] When V\u00e4in\u00e4m\u00f6inen cleared the forest, he left a birch-tree standing\nfor the same purpose (_Kalevala_, Runo ii.).\n\n[3] A black dung-beetle (_Geotrupes_) is meant, not a cockroach.\n\n[4] This story is one of those which L\u00f6we has passed over, and it is\nalso omitted by Miss Cox.\n\n[5] Peeter.\n\n[6] Not a bad description of a conventional dragon. If these stories\ncould be traced back to their original source, we should certainly find\nthem to be founded on traditions of some of the great extinct Saurians.\nThey are too explicit, and too discordant, to be founded only on\nrumours of the existence of crocodiles.\n\n[7] The word used means a little girl or a doll; L\u00f6we translates it\n\"doll,\" which seems to be incorrect in this place.\n\n[8] The God of Death.\n\n[9] Combings or cuttings of hair are never burned or allowed to be\nblown about in the air in Esthonia, but carefully buried; otherwise the\nowner would suffer from violent headache.\n\n[10] This word would have no apparent meaning as a proper name; but\nL\u00f6we suggests that it might be a corruption of Virgilius, which, though\nnot impossible, seems rather far fetched.\n\n[11] Compare vol. i. p. 176.\n\n[12] Their good faith and absence of envy is as conspicuous as in the\ncase of the sons of Kalev (vol. i. p. 58).\n\n[13] When the five Pandavas, the heroes of the Maha-Bharata, were\nreturning victorious from an expedition during which Arjuna had won the\nprincess Draupadi in a contest with the bow, their mother, hearing them\ncoming, but not knowing what had happened, cried out, \"Share equally\nwhat you have brought.\" Upon which it was arranged that she should\nbecome the joint wife of the five brother princes.\n\n[14] The Esthonian term is peculiar. \"Ox-knee people\"\u2014_i.e._, people as\ntall as an ox's knee.\n\n[15] Compare the _Kalevipoeg_, Cantos 13 and 14.\n\n[16] Compare Croker's Irish story of \"Master and Man.\"\n\n[17] The Thunder-God.\n\n[18] This story has been already printed in English, (Jones and Kropf,\n_Folk-Tales of the Magyars_, pp. 326-328), but I was unwilling to omit\nit.\n\n[19] The constellation of the Great Bear is of course intended.\n\n[20] The dictionary gives no further explanation than \"Name of a\nmythical personage.\"\n\n[21] According to Jannsen, the forest which once surrounded the river\nVaskia, which flows through a village of the same name near Revel, was\nformerly sacred to a goddess named Vaskia.\n\n[22] Compare the _Kalevipoeg_, Canto 1.\n\n[23] Poestion, _Lappl\u00e4ndische M\u00e4rchen_, p. 122. Another Lapp version,\nalmost identical with Homer's, is given by Latham, _Nationalities of\nEurope_, i. p. 237.\n\n[24] It must be said, to the credit of the Esthonian devils, that they\nonly appear occasionally in the light of ogres. In many tales they are\nharmless, and sometimes amiable.\n\n[25] There are several very similar stories in Finnish.\n\n[26] Compare the story of \"Princess Helena the Fair\" (Ralston's\n_Russian Folk-Tales_, p. 256).\n\n[27] The commencement of this story reminds us of \"Beauty and the\nBeast;\" the second part is that of the \"Magic Flute.\"\n\n[28] See vol. i. p. 22.\n\n[29] Schiefner considers the name of this story (_N\u00e4ki Neitsi_) to\nindicate a Swedish origin; but this seems to be very doubtful evidence,\nand the incidental allusion to the Swedes in the course of the\nnarrative seems opposed to such an idea.\n\n[30] George.\n\n[31] Compare the story of the \"Twelve Daughters.\"\n\n[32] It will be remembered that the Sampo, the magic mill in the\n_Kalevala_, ground salt as well as corn and money, and was ultimately\nbroken to pieces and sunk in the sea. The Gr\u00f4tta-S\u00f6ngr in the Edda of\nS\u00e6mund is better known; and many other variants might be cited. The\nstory in the text much resembles that of \"Silly Nicholas,\" which I\nremember reading in one of Chambers's publications many years ago.\n\n[33] Odd stories are told in many countries about the relations between\nvarious animals and the Devil. In Esthonia the wolf and the dog are\npeculiarly hostile to the Devil. In the East it is the ass, concerning\nwhich Lane quotes the following amusing explanation in a note to the\nstory of the \"Peacock and Peahen,\" &c. (_Thousand and One Nights_,\nnotes to Chap. ix. of Lane's translation):\u2014\"The last animal that\nentered with Noah into the ark was the ass, and Iblees (whom God\ncurse!) clung to his tail. The ass had just entered the ark, and began\nto be agitated, and could not enter further into the ark, whereupon\nNoah said to him, 'Enter, woe to thee!' But the ass was still agitated,\nand was unable to advance. So Noah said, 'Enter, though the Devil be\nwith thee!' And the ass entered, and Iblees (whom God curse!) entered\nwith him. And Noah said, 'O enemy of God, who introduced thee into the\nark?' He answered, 'Thou; thou saidst unto the ass, \"Enter, though the\nDevil be with thee.\"' So it is said that this is the reason why the ass\nwhen he seeth the Devil brayeth.\"\n\n[34] Jannsen remarks that the _third_ strap would form a cross, and\nthat the _three_ straps might be an allusion to the Trinity.\n\n[35] This story is also related, more briefly, by Blumberg, who states\nthat Lake Endla lies in an impassable swamp in the district of\nVaimastfer, and is visible from the hill near Kardis. The fish and\nbirds are under the protection of Jutta, and there is no place in the\ncountry where birds congregate to such an extent, and birds of passage\nremain so long. Jutta is perhaps the same as Lindu (vol. ii. p. 147).\nNear Heidelberg is a spring called the \"Wolfsbrunnen,\" where a\nbeautiful enchantress named Jutta, the priestess of Hertha, is said to\nhave had an assignation with her lover; but he found she had been\nkilled by a wolf, the messenger of the offended goddess. Whether there\nis any connection between the German and Esthonian Jutta I do not know.\n\n[36] Or Endel, the son of Ilmarine. Blumberg writes \"Wanemuinen\" and\n\"Ilmarinen\" in his account of the legend, which nearly approach the\nFinnish forms of the names.\n\n[37] Compare the story of the \"Treasure-Bringer,\" in a later section of\nthe volume.\n\n[38] Brandy is offered by a lover in Esthonia, and accepted by the girl\nif she favours him.\n\n[39] Small stones are used for cleaning milk-cans.\n\n[40] Jannsen remarks that her authority seems to have been limited to\nthese, and also that she cannot have been the supreme Water-Goddess,\nwhose husband is Ahti, the God of the Sea.\n\n[41] These long-lived, but mortal Elemental Powers seem to correspond\nto some classes of the Arabian Jinn, as for instance, the Diving Jinn\nin such tales as \"Jullanar of the Sea\" (_Thousand and One Nights_).\nThey may also be compared with the Elemental Spirits of the\nRosicrucians, who are long-lived, but likewise mortal.\n\n[42] These beings who dwell beneath the sea or lakes are often called\n\"underground people\" in Esthonian and Lappish stories.\n\n[43] In Canto xvi. of the _Kalevipoeg_, the spirits of the Northern\nLights are described as carrying on mimic combats in the air.\n\n[44] Latham (_Nationalities of Europe_, i. p. 34) relates a very\nsimilar Lithuanian story of a Lauma or Nightmare.\n\n[45] Jannsen regards this master-smith as Ilmarine.\n\n[46] The hat reminds us of the doll in the story of the Tontla Wood. In\nthe original the stranger is simply called \"K\u00f6wer.\" Jannsen interprets\nthe name to mean \"K\u00f6wer-silm\" (Crooked-eye), and thinks the stranger\nmight have been Tapio himself. But it appears to me from the whole\ncontext that he was simply the indwelling spirit of one particular\ncrooked birch-tree, whom we find at the beginning of the story\nwandering at a distance from home.\n\n[47] Finland itself means Fenland, and is only a translation of the\nnative name Suomi.\n\n[48] God is frequently called Vanaisa, the Old Father, just as the\nDevil is frequently called Vanapois, the Old Boy.\n\n[49] In the neighbourhood of Dorpat.\n\n[50] Dreadful stories are told in many countries of the fiends\ninhabiting the undrained swamps. Monsters as terrible as those\ndescribed in \"Beowulf\" are popularly believed to have haunted the\nEnglish fens almost to the present day. Aino, in the _Kalevala_ (Runo\n4), was lured into a lake by the sight of some maidens bathing; and it\nis said that it is unsafe for sensitive people to venture near the\nbanks of some of the Irish lakes in the evening, lest they should be\nlured into the water by the singing of the water-nymphs. In this\nconnection, we may refer to the oft-quoted passage from the notes to\nHeywood's _Hierarchies of the Blessed Angels_ (1635): \"In Finland there\nis a castle, which is called the New Rock, moated about with a river of\nunsounded depth, the water black, and the fish therein very distasteful\nto the palate. In this are spectres often seen, which foreshow either\nthe death of the Governor, or of some prime officer belonging to the\nplace; and most often it appeareth in the shape of a harper, sweetly\nsinging and dallying and playing under the water.\"\u2014See Southey's\n_Donica_.\n\n[51] There is a variant of this story (Pikne's Trumpet: Kreutzwald) in\nwhich T\u00fchi himself steals the trumpet while Pikne is asleep. Pikne is\nafraid to apply for aid to the Old Father, for fear of being punished\nfor losing it, but recovers it by an artifice similar to that employed\nin the present story. This is interesting as showing Pikne to be only a\nsubordinate deity. L\u00f6we considers the Thunderer's musical instrument to\nbe a bagpipe.\n\n[52] He does not call his father Vanaisa, which would identify him with\nthe Supreme God, but uses another term, _Vana taat_.\n\n[53] As Louhi, in the _Kalevala_, secures the magic mill, the Sampo.\n\n[54] This story is probably connected with the Finnish and Esthonian\nlegends of the theft of the sun and moon by sorcerers.\n\n[55] Ilmarine or Ilmarinen is the Vulcan of the Finnish and Esthonian\nlegends. He is represented in the _Kalevala_ as a young and handsome\nhero, but deficient in courage. In Esthonian tales he generally appears\nas a demigod. In the _Kalevala_ he plays a part second only to that of\nV\u00e4in\u00e4m\u00f6inen himself, but fails in many of his undertakings; for though\nhe is said to have forged the sky, he cannot confer speech or warmth on\nthe bride of gold and silver whom he forges for himself after his first\nwife has been given to the wolves and bears by Kullervo; and when he\nforges a new sun and moon, after the old ones have been stolen by\nLouhi, they turn out miserable failures.\n\n[56] One of Michael Scot's familiars was a devil of this kind, whom he\ngot rid of ultimately by setting him to spin ropes of sea-sand.\n\n[57] This disguise is often assumed by God in the stories of Eastern\nEurope, when he wishes to be incognito; nor is it always clear whether\nGod or Christ is intended. I remember once reading a Lithuanian story\nin which God and St. Peter are represented as descending to earth\ndisguised as beggars, for fear they might be recognised, to inquire\ninto the wickedness of mankind before the Flood.\n\n[58] The bath is a special place of resort for devils in Mohammedan\nfolk-lore.\n\n[59] The Manx story will occur to the reader. Compare also the story of\nthe \"Courageous Barn-keeper\" in the following section of our work.\n\n[60] _P\u00f5rgulise_ is the actual word used here.\n\n[61] This term, _kuri vaim_, is explicitly used here, not _Vana pois_,\nas we find in the earlier part of the story; and seems to indicate a\ndifferent and much more malevolent being than the simpleton who visited\nthe barn-keeper, though the term _Vana pois_ sometimes occurs in\nstories like \"The Wooden Man and Birch-bark Maid,\" in which souls are\nactually sold to the Devil.\n\n[62] Hans is a generic term in Esthonia for the cunning fellow who\nalways contrives to outwit the Devil, &c.\n\n[63] This seems to be an error in the story; for the context shows that\nthe prohibition was not to speak a word during the ceremony.\n\n[64] _Kergi_ (rise up), spelt backwards.\n\n[65] As in the story of Joodar (_Thousand and One Nights_).\n\n[66] There has been some discussion as to the right meaning to be put\nupon the words, _Mana tark_ (Death-magician), but it appears to me that\nnecromancer is simply a literal rendering.\n\n[67] This serpent-gathering so much resembles those described in the\nfirst book of the _Maha-Bharata_, and in the story of Hasib (or Jamasp)\nin the _Thousand and One Nights_, that I have referred the present\nstory to the class of tales of Oriental origin.\n\n[68] In Finland and Esthonia they use dried birch-twigs with the leaves\nattached to whisk themselves with when bathing.\n\n[69] See vol. i. p. 13.\n\n[70] L\u00f6we translates the word _kon_, \"dragon,\" but it primarily means a\nfrog or toad; and \"dragon\" is not among the other meanings which I find\nin the dictionaries. Besides, the creature is described as resembling a\nfrog in many respects.\n\n[71] Compare vol. i. p. 223.\n\n[72] _P\u00f5rgu neitsi_. Who she was is not clearly explained.\n\n[73] Doubtless Olev of the _Kalevipoeg_; possibly St. Olaf may also be\nintended.\n\n[74] This incident reminds us of the story of St. Olaf and the giant\nWind and Weather (see Keightley's _Fairy Mythology_, Bohn's edition,\n1860, p. 117), though here it is the giant church-builder who falls.\nAccording to one of the legends of Cologne Cathedral, the architect was\nhurled from the top of the unfinished building by the Devil. The\ncalling of a person by name was often regarded by the Scandinavians as\na death-omen.\n\n[75] There is a similar tale told of the arrival of the Cholera in one\nof the Greek islands.\n\n[76] Speaking of the Vad Velen, the Yellow Plague, in Britain, we are\ntold in the _Mabinogion_ that all who saw him were doomed to die.\n\n[77] This story somewhat resembles that of the old hag seen by Lord\nSeaforth when lying ill of scarlet fever with several of his\nschoolfellows. The narrative has been reprinted several times, and is\nincluded in Stead's _More Ghost Stories_, p. 37.\n\n[78] Such origins are common in Esthonian and Finnish folk-literature,\nand I regard them as relics of fetishism.\n\n[79] _Kalevipoeg_, Canto 9, lines 769-925. Neus, _Ehstnische\nVolkslieder_, pp. 305-311. The manner in which the gathering symbols of\nthe horrors of war, each more terrible than the last, are successively\nbrought upon the scene in this poem is very fine.\n\n[80] _Kalevipoeg_, xix. 493-583.\n\n[81] Kreutzwald and Neus, _Mythische und magische Lieder_, p. 7. Charms\nof this kind are very common in Finland and Esthonia, and a whole\nvolume has been published by the Finnish Literary Society under the\nname of _Loitsurunoja_, selections from which have been recently\npublished in \"Folklore\" by the Hon. John Abercromby.","title":"The Hero of Esthonia and Other Studies in the Romantic Literature of That Country","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":142807}