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Show LONGFELLOW s His "Hiawatha" By MRS. CHRISTEN JENSEN (Continued from last week's Springville Herald.) In her father's house a maiden Lives like strawberry in the garden, But a bride in house of husband. Lives like house-dog tightly fettered. To a slave comes rarely pleasure; To a wedded damsel never.' " Vaino says, "Song of birds is idle chatter," that a maid must needs be married. Unable to persuade her he returns home and urges his brother to woo the maid of Pohja. Ilmarineu is not interested in this gloomy Northland, supposedly Lapland, and refuses. Vaino gets the wind to help him and they carry him there. After many difficulties, Ilmarineu forges the Sanipo and much grain is ground. But the maid is unwilling unwill-ing to give up her freedom and Ilmarinen returns home in sadness. Sometime later Vaino, old and steadfast, wishes to build a boat. He sends a young boy into the forest to find trees for him. He first asks an aspen to give its wood for the boat. It replies: "As a boat I should be leaking. And would only sink beneath you, For my brunches they are hollow." Then he asks a pine tree and it replies, "For a boat you cannot use me, Nor a six-ribbed boat can fashion, Full of knots you'll find the pine-tree. Thrice already in this summer, In my summit croaked a raven, Croaked a crow among my branches." The third is the oak tree which gladly gives its wood. "Xes, indeed my wood is suited For the keel to make a vessel, Neither slender 'tis nor knotted Nor within its substance hollow. Thrice already in this summer, In the brightest days of summer, Through my midst the sunbeams wandered. On my crown the moon was shining, In my branches cried the cuckoos, In my boughs the birds were restiug." (It is interesting to compare the boat-building in "Hiawatha" with this. See "Hiawatha's Sailing.") Vaino builds the boat with wisdom and sings the parts into place. But he needs three magic words to complete it. He searches the heads of birds and animals and after many strange adventures be learns that Vipunen, a great giant under the. earth, has the secret words. Vipunen, like Vaint, is famous in songs and magic. Vaino arrives just above the mouth of this huge monster and wakes him with such a start that he snaps open his jaws and before Vaino is aware of it he finds himself in the monster's belly. . Not content to lie in the internal regions, Vaino sets about to plan his escape. He forms a boat out of the handle of a knife in his belt. "And he rowed the boat, and urged it Back and forth throughout the eutrials, Rowing through the narrow channels And exploring every passage." The giant soon, in much distress, wonders who this hero is, the like of which he had never swallowed before. But Vaino increases the agony by forging a smithy. He hammers and pounds, then sends hot coals and smoke up into the mouth of the giant until he gladly releases the hero but not until Vaino has learned the magic words. "lie glides out of the monster's mouth, rushes home and finishes his boat. Sets Out in Boat. In his new boat he sets out to sec if he can now win the little Maid of Pohja. His sister "Anuikke, the ever famos, Night's fair daughter maid of twilight" who is doing her washing by the water's edge sees him and asks him where he is going. He tells three falsehoods, but she finally makes him tell the truth. She then hastens to tell Ilmarinen he has a rival. Anuikke brings stones from the river, heats them and prepares the bath for her brother. "When he comes from the bath his eyes are bright and his face beautiful. He docks himself like a bridegroom, bride-groom, prays to Ukko for success and sets out on his journey. He overtakes over-takes Vaino and they make a compact that the maid shall choose the one she wishes. As they approach her home the dogs bark furiously. The Lord of Pohja tells his daughter to see who it is. She replies she has not time she must clean the largest cowshed, grind the corn and so on. Then he' commands his old dame to go and see who is coming, but she says she must prepare the meals and bake a loaf enormous. The son is the third to be asked and he likewise refuses, therefore the old man must go himself. him-self. Dr .Moultou suggests that this seems to be a household where everybody works butathcr. j Preparations are made to welcome them. Vaino brings riches with him, and the mother tries to persuade the Maid to take him iu prefer- ence to the young man. She replies : - . "Nothing do I care for riches Nor a man profound in wisdom, ! But a man of lofty forehead, One whose every limb is handsome. I, a maid undowered will follow Ilmarinen, skilful craftsman. Nor an aged man will care for . For an old man is a nuisance And an aged man would vex me." The mother consents only on condition that Ilmarinen can perform perilous tasks, which she thinks he cannot. He must plough a field of terrible serpents, capture the bear of Tuoui and the wolf of Mannla, and he must capture a monster pike in a river. These tasks remind us of those Jason had to perform when he went for the fleece of gold. As Media aided Jason, so the little maid helps her lover, and the mother consents to the marriage. Vaino returns to Kalevala in low spirits, and warns everyone against going wooing in company with a younger man. Wedding Feast. A great ox, the flesh of which fills a hundred barrels, is killed, ale is brewed, and preparations made for the wedding feast. All the people near and far, rich and poor, are Invited except one quarrelsome fellow, Lemminkainen. Vaino crushes his disappointment and comes to the wedding. He sings many songs, and finally asks a beautiful blessing on the young couple. "Jumala, do thou grant thy blessing, 0 Creator, shed Ihy blessing. On our host at head of table, On our l(ixtess in her store house, On their sons the net when casting. On their daughters at their weaving, May they have no cause for trouble Nor lament the year that follows, After their protracted banquet, This carousal at the mansion !" Though the mother has been anxious for the marriage, she cannot let the daughter go without contrasting the life she has led at home with the one she will lead in the future. "O the happy life thou leddest, In this household of thy father! Like a wayside flower thou grewest, Or upon the heath a strawberry. Iiut they home thou now are leaving, To another borne thou goest. To another mother's orders. To the household of a stranger. Different there from here ibou'lt find it, In another house 'lis different. 1 ron, ihy l,ie lo )-., ih,,u goest. From thy father's bouse lo suffering, In Ihy home thou ;ist a floweret, And ihe joy of father's household,' And thy father called Ihee .MnnuliL'ht, And thy mother called thee Sunshine, Ai:il thy l.roiher Spar,;lii,g Water. And II, v sister called thee Itlue-clolh. To nmitlier home thou L'eesi, (Continued off I"nge Two.) Longfellow (Continued from Page One.) There to find a stranger mother. Never is a stranger mother Like the mother who has borne thee." Much more that is discouraging is told the maiden, and she weeps until her tears run in torrents and form pools on the floor. An infant, symbol of wisdom, tries to comfort her and tells her she has the best of husbands. An old crone, another symbol of wisdom, paints a very dismal picture of the drudgery and work she will have to face, how she must get up in the morning and leave her husband to take his beauty sleep. That she must make the fires, clean the cowshed, milk the cows, etc. Then a long list of instructions on how she must treat the In-laws, particularly par-ticularly the mother-in-law. The picture is so doleful the tender maid is very sad. The bridegroom is admonished by the Lord and Mistress of Pohja to treat their daughter well. "Stand thou like a wall before her, Stand before her like n door post, Do not let thy mother beat her, Do not let thy father scold her, Do not let the neighbors blame her." They speak kindly to him, call him brother, a term of endearment, and tell him if he treats the maid kindly he will always meet a good reception when he comes to visit them. They tell him' to instruct her in the things she should know. If she is lazy and refuses to learn he may whip her lightly. If she still refuses he may be more severe, perhaps per-haps threaten her. If this does no good he may whip her, but do it quietly so themeighbors will not gossip about it. "Always strike her on the shoulders, On her- soft cheeks do thou strike her, On her eyes forbear to strike her, On her ears forbear to touch her." The instructions over Ilmariuen puts her in his sled and drives "one day, a second, driving likewise on the third day." Reach His Home. When they reach Kalevala, his home, we are relieved that the reception re-ception given the little maid is a kind one. The mother-in-law, Kalevala's most handsome matron, treats her graciously and makes her welcome. She likes this modest damsel, shining in her radiant beauty. They assist her out of the sled, over the door-sill, and into her new home. They have waited long for her coming, and they hope she will be proud and happy to be among them. -They have plenty and she will not need to work so hard. Another great feast is. prepared and Vaino sings again. In his 1 song he praises his brother, sings of his work in the forest, in building the house, and of the many dangers he has encountered. He sings praises also of his father and mother, and the little maid who has come from afar to live with them. But they do not live happy ever after, because the little maid meets a tragic death. Ilmarinen forges a new wife out of gold and silver, but she is too cold, and he discards her. He sets out to steal the younger sister of his first wife. But that, in part, is the story of the second volume of the Kalevala. |