Part 11 (1/2)
One day I saw a golden thread above the snowy horizon. It was the upper rim of the sun. I watched, hoping to see the whole sun. But it was at its meridian, and in a very short time the golden thread had disappeared and the sun was on its downward course. I shouted, ”Dear Sun, how much I should like to see you. I am so tired of beholding only the stars and the moon. I am longing for suns.h.i.+ne.”
Near by was a hill. A sudden thought came into my mind. I said to myself, ”If I ascend this hill I shall see the whole sun, as the greater height will make up for the curvature of the earth.”
I ran, and soon was ascending the hill. After a while I stopped, turned round, and looked where I had seen the golden thread. I saw about half the sun. I climbed higher as fast as I could, and when I reached the top of the hill I saw the whole sun. I shouted, ”Dear Sun, I love you. I love suns.h.i.+ne. Come and reign once more on this part of the earth. Come and cheer me, and drive away the 'Long Night.'”
I watched the sun until it disappeared. Oh! I wished the hill had been higher so that I could have ascended it and kept seeing the sun.
When I came to the bottom of the hill I said, ”I do not wonder that in ancient times there were people who wors.h.i.+pped the sun, for without the sun we could not exist on the earth, for nothing would grow.”
I felt like a new being, for I had seen the sun and its sight had filled me with joy. Days of suns.h.i.+ne were coming, and I gave three cheers with a tiger for the sun.
I had had enough of the ”Long Night.” I wanted to see a sky without stars and also the pale moon during the day.
The following day the glow above the horizon became more brilliant, and towards noon the sun rose slowly above the snow; but only about half of its body made its appearance. It was of a fiery red. Then it gradually sank. The third day the whole of the sun appeared above the horizon, then in a short time sank below. As it disappeared I imagined the sun saying to me: ”Day after day I will rise higher and higher in the sky and s.h.i.+ne a longer time. I bring with me joy and happiness. I will gradually transform 'The Land of the Long Night' into a land of suns.h.i.+ne and brightness. I will bring the spring; with me flowers will appear, the trees will be adorned with leaves, gra.s.s will grow, the land will be green; I will make gentle winds to blow, the rivers will be free and roll their crystal waters, the birds will come and sing. Man will be happy and gather the harvest that grows under my rays and husband it for the days of winter.”
CHAPTER XVI
WOLVES THE GREAT FOE OF THE LAPPS.--HOW THE REINDEER ARE PROTECTED AGAINST THEM.--WATCHING FOR THE TREACHEROUS BRUTES.--STORIES OF THEIR SAGACITY.
After the reappearance of the sun I came to a region where the Lapps among whom I lived were in great fear of wolves, for three packs of them had made their appearance in the forests about one hundred and fifty miles away to the eastward, and the news had come to the people.
One day as I was in the tent watching the meal that was being cooked, one of the Lapps said to me, ”We dread the wolves. No animal is as cunning as a wolf when he is hungry, and the Chief of the Pack is chosen by them as their leader because he is the most cunning of them all.”
”What do you mean,” I asked, ”by the Chief of the Pack being chosen?”
He replied, ”The wolves are very intelligent, and they choose their leader just as people do. They select the one among them that can lead them where there is prey.”
Then he added, with a tone of sadness in his voice: ”Our life is one of constant vigilance, and old and young are continually on the lookout for wolves. We have not suffered from them for three years, but they may appear suddenly at any moment when we think they are far away. When wolves attack our herds the reindeer scatter in great fright in every direction to long distances, and we have very hard work in bringing them together again. When they have once been attacked by the wolves they become very suspicious, and take fright easily, and at the least alarm run away. After their flight they roam in small bodies without any one to watch over them, or dogs to look out for their enemies, and they become an easy prey to the wolves. Sometimes the herd is destroyed, and the rich Lapp becomes suddenly poor. Yes,” he added with flas.h.i.+ng eyes, and in a loud tone, ”the wolves are our greatest enemies. We kill them whenever we can.”
He remained thoughtful for a little while and then proceeded: ”Reindeer bulls have more fight in them than the females, and sometimes fight successfully one wolf; but what can they do against a pack of them? Our life is a hard one indeed when wolves are around, for we have to be constantly on the watch night and day. The wolves are so wary that they always approach a reindeer or a herd of them when the wind blows from the herd towards them, so that neither dogs nor reindeer can scent them.”
”I hope,” I said to myself, ”that I shall see bull reindeer fight some of these treacherous wolves and get the better of them; besides I will make them taste my buckshot, and kill them before the poor reindeer is overpowered.”
After this conversation we went on our skees to scour the country for wolves, but there were none to be seen, and we returned in time for our dinner.
The following day, as we stood in front of our tent watching the sun above the horizon, we saw in the distance a black speck coming over the snow. We watched! What could it be? The speck came nearer, and we recognized a woman with a bludgeon coming towards us as fast as her skees could carry her. As soon as she was within hearing distance she shouted, ”Wolves! Wolves!” The dreaded news had come; the wolves had made their appearance in our district.
She stopped when she reached us, and with one voice the Lapps asked her when the wolves had been seen, and if they had attacked any herd. ”No,”
she answered, ”but they will soon do so, for the tracks of three packs have been seen.” She had hardly spoken these words when she bade us good-bye, and was on her way to some of her family who had pitched their tent about four miles from where we were. The bludgeon she carried for defence against the wolves.
Soon every man, woman, and child of our tent were on their skees. The men armed themselves with heavy bludgeons and guns and, followed by all the dogs, we started for the herd, taking a lot of reindeer meat with us. Now there was to be an increased watch day and night.
I followed the Lapps on my skees, and though I lagged behind, as I could not go as fast as they did, one of the girls remained with me to show me the way, and now and then she would stop and scan the country for wolves.
I was armed with my double-barrelled shotgun loaded with buckshot. ”Oh, if I could encounter the wolves,” I said to myself, ”what havoc I would make amongst them.”
When we came to the herd we told those who were on the watch the news of the appearance of wolves. Immediately preparations were made to discover their whereabouts.
Some of the people went in different directions to reconnoitre, all armed with their heavy bludgeons. They shouted as they left: ”We will show the wolves if we meet and chase them on our skees what our bludgeons can do. We will smash their heads and break their legs.”