Part 13 (2/2)
If she should not heed thy teaching, Should not hear thy kindly counsel, After three long years of effort, Cut a reed upon the lowlands, Cut a nettle from the border, Teach thy wife with harder measures.
In the fourth year, if she heed not, Threaten her with sterner treatment, With the stalks of rougher edges, Use not yet the thongs of leather, Do not touch her with the birch-whip.
If she should not heed this warning, Should she pay thee no attention, Cut a rod upon the mountains, Or a willow in the valleys, Hide it underneath thy mantle, That the stranger may not see it, Show it to thy wife in secret, Shame her thus to do her duty, Strike not yet, though disobeying.
Should she disregard this warning, Still refuse to heed thy wishes, Then instruct her with the willow, Use the birch-rod from the mountains, In the closet of thy dwelling, In the attic of thy mansion; Strike her not upon the common, Do not conquer her in public, Lest the villagers should see thee, Lest the neighbours hear her weeping, And the forests learn thy troubles.
Touch thy wife upon the shoulders, Let her stiffened back be softened; Do not touch her on the forehead, Nor upon the ears, nor visage; If a ridge be on her forehead, Or a blue mark on her eyelids, Then her mother would perceive it, And her father would take notice, All the village-workmen see it, And the village-women ask her: ”Hast thou been in heat of battle, Hast thou struggled in a conflict, Or perchance the wolves have torn thee, Or the forest bears embraced thee, Or the black-wolf be thy husband, And the bear be thy protector?”
By the fireplace lay a gray-beard, On the hearth-stone lay a beggar, And the old man spake as follows:-- ”Never, never, hero-husband, Follow thou thy young wife's wishes, Follow not her inclinations, As, alas! I did, regretful; Bought my bride the bread of barley, Veal, and beer, and best of b.u.t.ter, Fish and fowl of all descriptions, Beer I bought, home-brewed and sparkling, Wheat from all the distant nations, All the dainties of the Northland; But this all was unavailing, Gave my wife no satisfaction, Often came she to my chamber, Tore my sable locks in frenzy, With a visage fierce and frightful, With her eyeb.a.l.l.s flas.h.i.+ng anger, Scolding on and scolding ever, Ever speaking words of evil, Using epithets the vilest, Thought me but a block for chopping.
Then I sought for other measures, Used on her my last resources, Cut a birch-whip in the forest, And she spake in terms endearing; Cut a juniper or willow, And she called me 'hero-darling'; When with lash my wife I threatened, Hung she on my neck with kisses.”
Thus the bridegroom was instructed, Thus the last advices given.
Then the Maiden of the Rainbow, Beauteous bride of _Ilmarinen_, Sighing heavily and moaning, Fell to weeping, heavy-hearted, Spake these words from depths of sorrow: ”Near, indeed, the separation, Near, alas! the time for parting, Near the time of my departure; Fare thee well, my dear old homestead, Fare ye well, my native bowers; It would give me joy unceasing Could I linger here for ever.
Now farewell, ye halls and portals Leading to my father's mansion; It would give me joy unceasing Could I linger here for ever.”
[Ill.u.s.tration: GROUP OF RUNO BARDS.]
What a delightful representation! A beautiful scene of peasant life a hundred years ago. The charm of the singing in the open air, the people dressed in the old costumes, the scene really correct, old spinning wheels, etc., having been borrowed from the museum for the purpose.
It was a charming picture, one well worth retaining on the retina of memory.
It was the last day; the _Karjalan_ wedding was over, and all the choirs, numbering altogether nearly a thousand voices, sang chants and hymns most beautifully, their combined voices being heard far through the woods and across the lakes.
It was really a grand spectacle, those thousand men and women on the platform, comprising peasants, farmers, students, professors, all brought together merely to sing, while below and on the opposite hill three thousand seats were filled by a mixed audience, behind whom again, among the pine-trees, sat several thousand more. As a final effort the conductor called upon every one to join in the National Anthem. Up rose ten thousand or twelve thousand persons, and, as one man, they sang their patriotic verses beneath the blue canopy of heaven. It was wonderful; to a stranger the harmony of the whole was amazing; indeed, so successful did it prove, that national song after national song was sung by that musical audience. We looked on and marvelled. Music attracts in Finland, for from end to end of the land the people are imbued with its spirit and feel its power.
The sun blazed, the pine cones scented the air, the birds sang, and we felt transported back to old Druidical days when people met in the open for song and prayer. It was all very simple, but very delightful, and the people seemed to most thoroughly enjoy hearing their national airs; the whole scene again reminded us of Ober Ammergau, or of a Highland out-of-door Communion Service.
Alas! the Finnish national dress has almost disappeared, but at the _Sordavala_ Festival a great attempt was made to revive it at the enormous open-air concerts in the public park, where some of the girls, lying or sitting under the pine-trees on the hill opposite listening to the choir singing, wore the dress of _Suomi_.
The national colours are red and yellow, or white and bright blue, and much dispute arises as to which is really right, for while the heraldry book says red and yellow, the country folk maintain blue and white.
White loose blouses of fine Finnish flannel seemed most in favour, with a short full underskirt of the same material; geometrical embroidery about two inches wide in all colours and patterns being put round the hem of the short dress as well as brace fas.h.i.+on over the bodice; in some cases a very vivid shade of green, a sort of pinafore bodice with a large ap.r.o.n of the same colour falling in front, was noticeable; the embroidery in claret and dark green running round all the border lines; at the neck this embroidery was put on more thickly, and also at the waist belt. Round the ap.r.o.n hung a deep and handsome fringe; altogether the dress with its striking colours and tin or silver hangings was very pleasing. Unfortunately the girls seemed to think that even when they wore their national dress they ought to wear also a hat and gloves; although even the simplest hat spoils the effect.
At the back of the wood, where we wandered for a little shade and quiet rest, we found our dear friends the ”_Runo_ singers.” The name originated from the ancient songs having been written down on sticks, the _Runo_ writing being cut or burnt in, this was the bards' only form of music. Now these strange musical memoranda can only be found in museums. Our _Runo_ singers, delighted with the success of the marriage-play they had coached, welcomed us warmly, and at once rose to shake hands as we paused to listen to their _kantele_ playing and quaint chanting.
It may be well to mention that the Finnish language is very remarkable.
Like Gaelic, it is musical, soft and dulcet, expressive and poetical, comes from a very old root, and is, in fact, one of the most interesting languages we possess. But some of the Finnish words are extremely long, in which respect they excel even the German. As a specimen of what a Finnish word can be, we may give _Oppimattomuudessansakin_, meaning, ”Even in his ignorance.”
The language is intensely difficult to learn, for it has sixteen cases, a fact sufficient to appal the stoutest heart. However, there is one good thing about Finnish, namely, that it is spoken absolutely phonetically, emphasis being invariably laid on the first syllable. For instance, the above word is p.r.o.nounced (the ”i” being spoken as ”e”) Oppi-ma-tto-muu-des-san-sa-kin.
Finnish possesses a _you_ and a _thou_, which fact, though it cannot lighten the difficulties, does away with the terrible third person invariably in use in Swedish, where people say calmly:
”Has the Herr Professor enjoyed his breakfast?”
”Yes, thanks, and I hope the Mrs. Auth.o.r.ess has done the same.”
By the Swedish-speaking Finns it is considered the worst of ill-breeding for a younger person to address an elder as ”you,” or for strangers to speak to one another except in the manner above indicated.
Finnish is one of the softest of tongues, and of all European languages most closely resembles the _Magyar_ or Hungarian. Both of these come from the Ugrian stock of _Agglutinative_ languages, and therefore they always stick to the roots of the word and make grammatical changes by suffixes. Vowels are employed so incessantly that the words are round and soft, and lend themselves easily to song. There are only twenty-two letters in the Finnish alphabet, and as _F_ is very seldom employed, even that number is decreased. The use of vowels is endless; the dotted o, equivalent to the French _eu_, being often followed by an e or i, and thereby rendered doubly soft.
Finns freely employ _thou_ and _thee_, and add to these forms of endearment numerous suffixes. Human names, all animals, plants, metals, stones, trees--anything, in fact--can be used in the diminutive form.
<script>