Mighty Mikko; a book of Finnish fairy tales and folk tales
1^1 1 1^ lr O F I hi Nl 51 1 FOLK <mi1 FA I KY TAME S AKKI-R jr 398 m Mighty Mlkko C721979 V MIGHTY MIKKO BY PARKER FILLMORE CZECHOSLOVAK FAIRY TALES THE SHOEMAKER'S APRON Both Illustrated by Jan Matulka THE LAUGHING PRINCE Illustrated by Jay Van Everen THE HICKORY LIMB Illustrated by Rose Cecil O'Neill THE ROSIE WORLD Illustrated by Maginal Wright Enrigh': llona came floating up through the waves. Page 17 MIGHTY MIKKO A Book of Finnish Fairy Tales and Folk Tales BY PARKER FILLMORE WITH ILLUSTRATIONS AND DECORATIONS BY JAY VAN EVEREN NEW YORK HARCOURT, BRACE AND COMPANY Copyright, 1922, by PARKER FILLMORE PRINTED IN THE U S A. BY THE OUINN & BOOEN COMPANY RAHWAY. N J To my niece PHYLLIS These stories of her mother's native land ' • * • • ' • • . - ' '. : J "'•-'- ' -i * * ,*** "•, • • . • • • NOTE The spirit of nationalism that swept over the small peoples of Europe in the early nineteenth century touched faraway Finland and started the Finns on the quest of the Finnish. There as elsewhere scholars who were also patriots found that the native tongue, lost to the educated and the well-to-do, had been pre- served in the songs and stories which were current among the peasants. Elias Lonnrot spent a long and busy life collecting those ancient runos from which he succeeded in building up a national epic, the Kalevala. This is Lonnrot's great contribution to his own country and to the world. Beside the material for the Kalevala Lonnrot made important collections of lyrics, proverbs, and stories. During his time and since other patriot scholars have viii NOTE made faithful records of the songs and tales which the old Finnish minstrels, the runolaulajat, chanted to the strains of the kantele. The mass of such material now gathered together in the archives of the Society of Finnish Literature at Helsingfors is imposing in bulk and of great importance to the student of comparative folklore. My own excursions into the Finnish have been made possible through the kindness and endless patience of my friend, Lydia Tulonen (Mrs. Kurt J. Rahlson). With her as a native guide I have been wandering some time through the byways of Finnish folklore. The pres- ent volume is the traveler's pack I have brought home with me filled with strange treasures which will, I hope, seem as lovely to others as they seemed to me when first I came upon them. The stories as I offer them are not translations but my own versions. Literal translations from the Finnish would make small appeal to the general reader. To English ears the Finnish is stiff, bald, and monotonous. One has only to read or attempt to read Kirby's excel- lent translation of the Kalevala to realize the truth of this statement. So I make no apology for retelling these tales in a manner more likely to prove entertain- ing to the English reader, whether child or adult. NOTE ix In some form or other all the tales in this book may be found in the various folklore collections made by Eero Salmelainen, one of the patriotic young scholars who followed in Lonnrot's footsteps. His books were spon- sored by the Society of Finnish Literature and used in its campaign to bring back the Finnish language to the Finns at a time when Swedish was the official language of the country. Full of local color as these stories are, it would be vain to pretend that they are not, for the most part, variants of stories told the world over. All that I can claim for them is that they are dramatic and pictur- esque, that they are told with a wealth of charming detail which is essentially Finnish, and that they are certainly new to the generality of English readers. The Three Chests, so characteristic in feeling of a coun- try famous for its lakes and marshes, is the variant of a German story which Grimm gives as Pitcher's Bird. Of The Forest Bride I have found variants in the folk- lore of many lands. There are several very beautiful ones in the Russian ; in other books I myself have retold two, one current among the Czechs and one among the Serbians; Grimm has two different versions in The Three Feathers and The Poor Miller's Boy and the Cat; and Madame d'Aulnoy has used the same story x NOTE in her elaborate tale, The White Cat. There is a well- known Oriental version of Mighty Mikko in which the part of the fox is played by a jackal and I am sure that Mikko's faithful retainer, though neither city-bred nor polished, is after all pretty closely related to that most debonnaire of Frenchmen, Puss in Boots. Perrault probably and Madame d'Aulnoy certainly are in turn indebted to Straparola. And so it goes. The little cycle of animal stories included under Mikko the Fox will of course instantly invite compari- son with the Beast Epic of Reynard the Fox. The two have many episodes in common and both have episodes to be found in ^Bsop and in those books of animal ana- logues, widely read in mediaeval times, Physiologus and the Discipline Clericalis of Petrus Alfonsus. The Reynard as we have it is a finished satire on church and state and in its present form has been current in Europe since the twelfth century. It was thought at one time that the animal stories found in Finland were debased versions of the Reynard stories, but scholars are now of opinion that they antedate Reynard and are similar to the earlier simpler stories upon which the Reynard cycle was originally built. This makes the little Finnish tales of great interest to the student. Needless to say I do not present them for this reason but because they NOTE xi seem to me charming merely as fables. The animals here are not the clerics and the judges and the nobles that the Reynard animals are, but plain downright Finnish peasants, sometimes stupid, often dull, fre- quently amusing, and always very human. I have taken one liberty with spelling. I have trans- literated Syojiitar, the name of the dread Finnish witch, as Suyettar. I have been unwilling to translate by the insufficient word, bath-house or vapor bath, that very characteristic institution of Finnish family life, the sauna, but have retained the Finnish word, sauna, allow- ing the context in each case to indicate the meaning. P.F. New York June 19, 1922 CONTENTS FAOB THE TRUE BRIDE: The Story of Ilona and the King's Son 1 MIGHTY MIKKO: The Story of a Poor Woodsman and a Grateful Fox .25 THE THREE CHESTS: The Story of the Wicked Old Man of the Sea .47 LOG : The Story of the Hero Who Released the Sun. 67 THE LITTLE SISTER: The Story of Suyettar and the Nine Brothers 99 THE FOREST BRIDE: The Story of a Little Mouse Who was a Princess 121 THE ENCHANTED GROUSE: The Story of Helli and the Little Locked Box 141 THE TERRIBLE OLLI: The Story of an Honest Finn and a Wicked Troll 155 THE DEVIL'S HIDE: The Story of the Boy Who Wouldn't Lose His Temper 171 xiii xiv CONTENTS PAGE THE MYSTERIOUS SERVANT: The Story of a Young Man Who Respected the Dead 193 FAMILIAR FACES: I Mary, Mary, So Contrary ! 209 II Jane, Jane, Don't Complain! 215 III Susan Walker, What a Talker ! 221 MIKKO THE FOX: A Nursery Epic in Sixteen Adventures I The Animals Take a Bite 229 II The Partners. 235 III The Fox and the Crow 243 IV The Chief Mourner 251 V Mirri, the Cat 257 VI The Fox's Servant 263 VII The Wolf Sings 267 VIII The Clever Goat 273 IX The Harvest 279 X The Porridge 283 XI Nurse Mikko 287 XII The Bear Says North 293 XIII Osmo's Share 297 XIV The Reward of Kindness 301 XV The Bear and the Mouse ...... 307 XVI The Last of Osmo. .309 FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS Ilona came floating up through the waves. Frontispiece PAGE The old king snake has wound himself around Osmo's arm. 15 The King thought that if Mikko should see his daughter. 33 She fitted the key in the lock ....... 57 "This last and mightiest battle is for me !".... 85 Suyettar bewitching Kerttu. .111 She beckoned to Veikko. .135 On it flew until it reached the broad Ocean. .147 Olli and the Troll's horse l6l From the bones of the cattle he laid three bridges. .183 "She is under an evil enchantment and I am delivering her!" 203 When she got to the middle of the stream 208 They were so busy eating and drinking 214 They carried home the treasure on their backs ... "Sister," he said one day, "I think it might be well if I went out into the world and found work." "Do as you think best, brother," Ilona said. "I'm sure I can manage on here alone." So Osmo started off, promising to come back for his sister as soon as he could give her a new home. He wandered far and wide and at last got employment from the King's Son as a shepherd. The King's Son was about Osmo's age, and often when he met Osmo tending his flocks he would stop and talk to him. 3 4 MIGHTY MIKKO One day Osmo told the King's Son about his sister, Ilona. "I have wandered far over the face of the earth," he said, "and never have I seen so beautiful a maiden as Ilona." "What does she look like?" the King's Son asked. Osmo drew a picture of her and she seemed to the King's Son so beautiful that at once he fell in love with her. "Osmo," he said, "if you will go home and get your sister, I will marry her." So Osmo hurried home not by the long land route by which he had come but straight over the water in a boat. "Sister," he cried, as soon as he saw Ilona, "you must come with me at once for the Bang's Son wishes to marry you!" He thought Ilona would be overjoyed, but she sighed and shook her head. "What is it, sister? Why do you sigh?" "Because it grieves me to leave this old house where our fathers have lived for so many generations." "Nonsense, Ilona! What is this little old house com- pared to the King's castle where you will live once you marry the King's Son!" THE TRUE BRIDE 5 But Ilona only shook her head. "It's no use, brother! I can't bear to leave this old house until the grindstone with which our fathers for generations ground their meal is worn out." When Osmo found she was firm, he went secretly and broke the old grindstone into small pieces. He then put the pieces together so that the stone looked the same as before. But of course the next time Ilona touched it, it fell apart. "Now, sister, you'll come, will you not?" Osmo asked. But again Ilona shook her head. "It's no use, brother. I can't bear to go until the old stool where our mothers have sat spinning these many generations is worn through." So again Osmo took things into his own hands and going secretly to the old spinning stool he broke it and when Ilona sat on it again it fell to pieces. Then Ilona said she couldn't go until the old mortar which had been in use for generations should fall to bits at a blow from the pestle. Osmo cracked the mor- tar and the next time Ilona struck it with the pestle it broke. Then Ilona said she couldn't go until the old worn doorsill over which so many of their forefathers had (3 MIGHTY MIKKO walked should fall to splinters at the brush of her skirts. So Osmo secretly split the old doorsill into thin slivers and, when next Ilona stepped over it, the brush of her skirts sent the splinters flying. "I see now I must go," Ilona said, "for the house of our forefathers no longer holds me." So she packed all her ribbons and her bodices and skirts in a bright wooden box and, calling her little dog Pilka, she stepped into the boat and Osmo rowed her off in the direction of the King's castle. Soon they passed a long narrow spit of land at the end of which stood a woman waving her arms. That is she looked like a woman. Really she was Suyettar but they, of course, did not know this. "Take me in your boat!" she cried. "Shall we?" Osmo asked his sister. "I don't think we ought to," Ilona said. "We don't know who she is or what she wants and she may be evil." So Osmo rowed on. But the woman kept shouting: "Hi, there! Take me in your boat! Take me!" A second time Osmo paused and asked his sister: "Don't you think we ought to take her?" "No," Ilona said. So Osmo rowed on again. At this the creature raised THE TRUE BRIDE 7 such a pitiful outcry demanding what they meant deny- ing assistance to a poor woman that Osmo was unable longer to refuse and in spite of Ilona's warning he rowed to land. Suyettar instantly jumped into the boat and seated herself in the middle with her face towards Osmo and her back towards Ilona. "What a fine young man!" Suyettar said in whining flattering tones. "See how strong he is at the oars! And what a beautiful girl, too! I daresay the King's Son would fall in love with her if ever he saw her!" Thereupon Osmo very foolishly told Suyettar that the King's Son had already promised to marry Ilona. At that an evil look came into Suyettar's face and she sat silent for a time biting her fingers. Then she began mumbling a spell that made Osmo deaf to what Ilona was saying and Ilona deaf to what Osmo was saying. At last in the distance the towers of the King's castle appeared. "Stand up, sister!" Osmo said. "Shake out your skirts and arrange your pretty ribbons! We'll soon be landing now!" Ilona could see her brother's lips moving but of course she could not hear what he was saying. 8 MIGHTY MIKKO "What is it, brother?" she asked. Suyettar answered for him: "Osmo orders you to jump headlong into the water!'* "No! No!" Ilona cried. "He couldn't order any- thing so cruel as that!" Presently Osmo said: "Sister, what ails you? Don't you hear me? Shake out your skirts and arrange your pretty ribbons for we'll soon be landing now." "What is it, brother?" Ilona asked. As before Suyettar answered for him: "Osmo orders you to jump headlong into the water!" "Brother, how can you order so cruel a thing!" Ilona cried, bursting into tears. "Is it for this you made me leave the home of my fathers?" A third time Osmo said: "Stand up, sister, and shake out your skirts and arrange your ribbons! We'll soon be landing now!" "I can't hear you, brother! What is it you say?" Suyettar turned on her fiercely and screamed: "Osmo orders you to jump headlong into the water!" "If he says I must, I must!" poor Ilona sobbed, and with that she leapt overboard. Osmo tried to save her but Suyettar held him back THE TRUE BRIDE 9 and with her own arms rowed off and Ilona was left to sink. "What will become of me now!" Osmo cried. "When the King's Son finds I have not brought him my sister he will surely order my death!" "Not at all!" Suyettar said. "Do as I say and no harm will come to you. Offer me to the King's Son and tell him I am your sister. He won't know the difference and anyway I'm sure I'm just as beauti- ful as Ilona ever was!" With that Suyettar opened the wooden box that held Ilona's clothes and helped herself to skirt and bodice and gay colored ribbons. She decked herself out in these and for a little while she really did suc- ceed in looking like a pretty young girl. So Osmo presented Suyettar to the King's Son as Ilona, and the King's Son because he had given his word married her. But before one day was past, he called Osmo to him and asked him angrily: "What did you mean by telling me your sister was beautiful?" "Isn't she beautiful?" Osmo faltered. "No! I thought she was at first but she isn't! She is ugly and evil and you shall pay the penalty for having deceived me!" 10 MIGHTY MIKKO Thereupon he ordered that Osmo be shut up in a place filled with serpents. "If you are innocent," the King's Son said, "the serpents will not harm you. If you are guilty they will devour you!" Meanwhile poor Ilona when she jumped into the water sank down, down, down, until she reached the Sea King's palace. They received her kindly there and comforted her and the Sea King's Son, touched by her grief and beauty, offered to marry her. But Ilona was homesick for the upper world and would not listen to him. "I want to see my brother again!" she wept. They told her that the King's Son had thrown her brother to the serpents and had married Suyettar in her stead, but Ilona still begged so pitifully to be allowed to return to earth that at last the Sea King said: "Very well, then! For three successive nights I will allow you to return to the upper world. But after that never again!" So they decked Ilona in the lovely jewels of the sea with great strands of pearls about her neck and to each of her ankles they attached long silver chains. As she rose in the water the sound of the chains was THE TRUE BRIDE 11 like the chiming of silver bells and could be heard for five miles. Ilona came to the surface of the water just where Osmo had landed. The first thing she saw was his boat at the water's edge and curled up asleep in the bottom of the boat her own little dog, Pilka. "Pilka!" Ilona cried, and the little dog woke with a bark of joy and licked Ilona's hand and yelped and frisked. Then Ilona sang this magic song to Pilka: "Peely, peely, Pilka, pide, Lift the latch and slip inside! Past the watchdog in the yard, Past the sleeping men on guard ! Creep in softly as a snake, Then creep out before they waks ! Peely, peely, Pilka, pide, Peely, peely, Pilka !" Pilka barked and frisked and said: 'Yes, mistress, yes! I'll do whatever you bid me!" Ilona gave the little dog an embroidered square of gold and silver which she herself had worked down in the Sea King's palace. l'Take this," she said to Pilka, "and put it on the pillow where the King's Son lies asleep. Perhaps when he sees it he will know that it comes from Osmo's 12 MIGHTY MIKKO true sister and that the frightful creature he has married is Suyettar. Then perhaps he will release Osmo be- fore the serpents devour him. Go now, my faithful Pilka, and come back to me before the dawn." So Pilka raced off to the King's palace carrying the square of embroidery in her teeth. Ilona waited and half an hour before sunrise the little dog came panting back. "What news, Pilka? How fares my brother and how is my poor love, the King's Son?" "Osmo is still with the serpents," Pilka answered, "but they haven't eaten him yet. I left the embroidered square on the pillow where the King's Son's head was lying. Suyettar was asleep on the bed beside him where you should be, dear mistress. Suyettar's awful mouth was open and she was snoring horribly. The King's Son moved uneasily for he was troubled even m his sleep." "And did you go through the castle, Pilka?" ;'Yes, dear mistress." "And did you see the remains of the wedding feast?" "Yes, dear mistress, the remains of a feast that shamed the King's Son, for Suyettar served bones in- stead of meat, fish heads, turnip tops, and bread burned to a cinder." THE TRUE BRIDE 13 "Good Pilka!" Ilona said. "Good little dog! You have done well! Now the dawn is coming and I must go back to the Sea King's palace. But I shall come again to-night and also to-morrow night and do you be here waiting for me." Pilka promised and Ilona sank down into the sea to a clanking of chains that sounded like silver bells. The King's Son heard them in his sleep and for a moment woke and said: "What's that?" "What's -.vhat?" snarled Suyettar. "You're dream- ing! Go back to sleep!" A few hours later when he woke again, he found the lovely square of embroidery on his pillow. "Who made this?" he cried. Suyettar was busy combing her snaky locks. She turned on him quickly. "Who made what?" When she saw the embroidery she tried to snatch it from him, but he held it tight. "I made it, of course!" she declared. "Who but me would sit up all night and work while you lay snoring!" But the King's Son, as he folded the embroidery, muttered to himself: "It doesn't look to me much like your work!" 14 MIGHTY MIKKO After he had breakfasted, the King's Son asked for news of Osmo. A slave was sent to the place of the serpents and when he returned he reported that Osmo was sitting amongst them uninjured. "The old king snake has made friends with him," he added, "and has wound himself around Osmo's arm." The King's Son was amazed at this news and also relieved, for the whole affair troubled him sorely and he was beginning to suspect a mystery. He knew an old wise woman who lived alone in a little hut on the seashore and he decided he would go and consult her. So he went to her and told her about Osmo and how Osmo had deceived him in regard to his sister. Then he told her how the serpents instead of devouring Osmo had made friends with him and last he showed her the square of lovely embroidery he had found on his pillow that morning. "There is a mystery somewhere, granny," he said in conclusion, "and I know not how to solve it." The old woman looked at him thoughtfully. "My son," she said at last, "that is never Osmo's sister that you have married. Take an old woman's word — it is Suyettar! Yet Osmo's sister must be alive and the embroidery must be a token from her. It TTie old Icing snake lias wound himself around Osmo's arm THE TRUE BRIDE ^ probably means that she begs you ta release her brother." "Suyettar!" repeated the King's Son, aghast. At first he couldn't believe such a horrible thing possible and yet that, if it were so, would explain much. "I wonder if you're right," he said. "I must be on my guard!" That night on the stroke of midnight to the sound of silver chimes Ilona came floating up through the waves and little Pilka, as she appeared, greeted her with barks of joy. As before Ilona sang: "Peely, peely, Pilka, pide, Lift the latch and slip inside! Past the watchdog in the yard, Past the sleeping men on guard ! Creep in softly as a snake, Then creep out before they wake ! Peely, peely, Pilka, pide, Peely, peely, Pilka 1" This time Ilona gave Pilka a shirt for the King's Son. Beautifully embroidered it was in gold and silver and Ilona herself had worked it in the Sea King's palace. Pilka carried it safely to the castle and left it on the 18 MIGHTY MIKKO pillow where the King's Son could see it as soon as he woke. Then Pilka visited the place of the serpents and before the first ray of dawn was back at the seashore to reassure Ilona of Osmo's safety. Then dawn came and Ilona, as she sank in the waves to the chime of silver bells, called out to Pilka: "Meet me here to-night at the same hour! Fail me not, dear Pilka, for to-night is the last night that the Sea King will allow me to come to the upper world!" Pilka, howling with grief, made promise: "I'll be here, dear mistress, that I will!" The King's Son that morning, as he opened his eyes, saw the embroidered shirt lying on the pillow at his head. He thought at first he must be dreaming for it was more beautiful than any shirt that had ever been worked by human fingers. "Ah!" he sighed at last, "who made this?" "Who made what?" Suyettar demanded rudely. When she saw the shirt she tried to snatch it, but the King's Son held it from her. Then she pretended to laugh and said: "Oh, that! I made it, of course! Do you think any one else in the world would sit up all night and work for you while you lie there snoring ! And small thanks I get for it, too!" THE TRUE BRIDE 19 "It doesn't look to me like your work!" said the King's Son significantly. Again the slave reported to him that Osmo was alive and unhurt by the serpents. "Strange!" thought the King's Son. He took the embroidered shirt and made the old wise woman another visit. "Ah!" she said, when she saw the shirt, "now I un- derstand! Listen, my Prince: last night at midnight I was awakened by the chime of silver bells and I got up and looked out the door. Just there at the water's edge, close to that little boat, I saw a strange sight. A lovely maiden rose from the waves holding in her hands the very shirt that you now have. A little dog that was lying in the boat greeted her with barks of joy. She sang a magic rime to the dog and gave it the shirt and off it ran. That maid, my Prince, must be Ilona. She must be in the Sea King's power and I think she is begging you to rescue her and to release her brother." The King's Son slowly nodded his head. "Granny, I'm sure what you say is true! Help me to rescue Ilona and I shall reward you richly." 'Then, my son, you must act at once, for to-night, I heard Ilona say, is the last night that the Sea King 20 MIGHTY MIKKO will allow her to come to the upper world. Go now to the smith and have him forge you a strong iron chain and a great strong scythe. Then to-night hide you down yonder in the shadow of the boat. At mid- night when you hear the silver chimes and the maiden slowly rises from the waves, throw the iron chain about her and quickly draw her to you. Then, with one sweep of your scythe, cut the silver chains that are fastened to her ankles. But remember, my son, that is not all. She is under enchantment and as you try to grasp her the Sea King will change her to many things — a fish, a bird, a fly, and I know not what, and if in any form she escape you, then all is lost." At once the King's Son hurried away to the smithy and had the smith forge him a strong iron chain and a heavy sharp scythe. Then when night fell he hid in the shadow of the boat and waited. Pilka snuggled up beside him. Midnight came and to the sweet chim- ing as of silver bells Ilona slowly rose from the waves. As she came she began singing: "Peely, peely, Pilka, pide " Instantly the King's Son threw the strong iron chain about her and drew her to him. Then with one mighty sweep of the scythe he severed the silver chains that THE TRUE BRIDE 21 were attached to her ankles and the silver chains fell chiming into the depths. Another instant and the maiden in his arms was no maiden but a slimy fish that squirmed and wriggled and almost slipped through his fingers. He killed the fish and, lo! it was not a fish but a frightened bird that struggled to escape. He killed the bird and, lo! it was not a bird but a writhing lizard. And so on through many transformations, growing finally small and weak until at last there was only a mosquito. He crushed this and in his arms he found again the lovely Ilona. "Ah, dear one," he said, "you are my true bride and not Suyettar who pretended she was you! Come, we will go at once to the castle and confront her!" But Ilona cried out at this: "Not there, my Prince, not there! Suyettar if she saw me would kill me and devour me! Keep me from her!" 'Very well, my dear one," the King's Son said. "We'll wait until to-morrow and after to-morrow there will be no Suyettar to fear." So for that night they took shelter in the old wise woman's hut, Ilona and the King's Son and faithful little Pilka. The next morning early the King's Son returned to 22 MIGHTY MIKKO the castle and had the sauna heated. Just inside the door he had a deep hole dug and filled it with burning tar. Then over the top of the hole he stretched a brown mat and on the brown mat a blue mat. When all was ready he went indoors and roused Suyettar. "Where have you been all night?" she demanded angrily. "Forgive me this time," he begged in pretended humility, "and I promise never again to be parted from my own true bride. Come now, my dear, and bathe for the sauna is ready." Then Suyettar, who loved to have people see her go to the sauna just as if she were a real human being, put on a long bathrobe and clapped her hands. Four slaves appeared. Two took up the train of her bath- robe and the two others supported her on either side. Slowly she marched out of the castle, across the court- yard, and over to the sauna. "They all really think I'm a human princess!" she said to herself, and she was so sure she was beautiful and admired that she tossed her head and smirked from side to side and took little mincing steps. • When she reached the sauna, she was ready to drop the bathrobe and jump over the doorsill to the steam- ing shelf, but the King's Son whispered : THE TRUE BRIDE 23 "Nay! Nay! Remember your dignity as a beautiful princess and walk over the blue mat!" So with one more toss of her head, one more smirk of her ugly face, Suyettar stepped on the blue mat and sank into the hole of burning tar. Then the King's Son quickly locked the door of the sauna and left her there to burn in the tar, for burning, you know, is the only way to destroy Suyettar. As she burned the last hateful thing Suyettar did was to tear out handfuls of her hair and scatter them broadcast in the air. "Let these," she cried, yelling and cursing, "turn into mosquitos and worms and moths and trouble mankind forever!" Then her yells grew fainter and at last ceased alto- gether and the King's Son knew that it was now safe to bring Ilona home. First, however, he had Osmo re- leased from the place of the serpents and asked his forgiveness for the unjust punishment. Then he and Osmo together went to the hut of the old wise woman and there with tears of happiness the brother and sister were reunited. The King's Son to show his gratitude to the old wise woman begged her to accompany them to the castle and presently they all set forth with Pilka frisking ahead and barking for joy. 24) MIGHTY MIKKO That day there was a new wedding feast spread at the castle and this time it was not bones and fish heads and burnt crusts but such food as the King's Son had not tasted for many a day. To celebrate his happy marriage the King's Son made Osmo his chamberlain and gave Pilka a beautiful new collar. "Now at last," Ilona said, "I am glad I left the house of my forefathers." MIGHTY MIKKO The Story of a Poor Woodsman and a Grateful Fox MIGHTY MIKKO There was once an old woodsman and his wife who had an only son named Mikko. As the mother lay dying the young man wept bitterly. "When you are gone, my dear mother," he said, "there will be no one left to think of me." The poor woman comforted him as best she could and said to him: 'You will still have your father." Shortly after the woman's death, the old man, too, was taken ill. MNow, indeed, I shall be left desolate and alone," Mikko thought, as he sat beside his father's bedside and saw him grow weaker and weaker. "My boy," the old man said just before he died, "I have nothing to leave you but the three snares with which these many years I have caught wild animals. Those snares now belong to you. When I am dead, 27 28 MIGHTY MIKKO go into the woods and if you find a wild creature caught in any of them, free it gently and bring it home alive." After his father's death, Mikko remembered the snares and went out to the woods to see them. The first was empty and also the second, but in the third he found a little red Fox. He carefully lifted the spring that had shut down on one of the Fox's feet and then carried the little creature home in his arms. He shared his supper with it and when he lay down to sleep the Fox curled up at his feet. They lived together some time until they became close friends. "Mikko," said the Fox one day, "why are you so sad?" "Because I'm lonely." "Pooh!" said the Fox. "That's no way for a young man to talk! You ought to get married! Then you wouldn't feel lonely!'* "Married!" Mikko repeated. "How can I get married? I can't marry a poor girl because I'm too poor myself and a rich girl wouldn't marry me." "Nonsense!" said the Fox. "You're a fine well set up young man and you're kind and gentle. What more could a princess ask?" Mikko laughed to think of a princess wanting him for a husband. MIGHTY MIKKO 29 "I mean what I say!" the Fox insisted. "Take our own Princess now. What would you think of marry- ing her?'* Mikko laughed louder than before. "I have heard," he said, "that she is the most beau- tiful princess in the world! Any man would be happy to marry her!" "Very well," the Fox said, "if you feel that way about her then I'll arrange the wedding for you." With that the little Fox actually did trot off to the royal castle and gain audience with the King. "My master sends you greetings," the Fox said, "and he begs you to loan him your bushel measure." "My bushel measure!" the King repeated in sur- prise. "Who is your master and why does he want my bushel measure?" "Ssh!" the Fox whispered as though he didn't want the courtiers to hear what he was saying. Then slipping up quite close to the King he murmured in his ear: "Surely you have heard of Mikko, haven't you? — Mighty Mikko as he's called." The King had never heard of any Mikko who was known as Mighty Mikko but, thinking that perhaps he should have heard of him, he shook his head and murmured : 30 MIGHTY MIKKO "H'm! Mikko! Mighty Mikko! Oh, to be sure! Yes, yes, of course!" "My master is about to start off on a journey anci he needs a bushel measure for a very particular reason." "I understand! I understand!" the King said, al- though he didn't understand at all, and he gave orders that the bushel measure which they used in the store- room of the castle be brought in and given to the Fox. The Fox carried off the measure and hid it in the woods. Then he scurried about to all sorts of little out of the way nooks and crannies where people had hidden their savings and he dug up a gold piece here and a silver piece there until he had a handful. Then he went back to the woods and stuck the various coins in the cracks of the measure. The next day he returned to the King. "My master, Mighty Mikko," he said, "sends you thanks, O King, for the use of your bushel measure." The King held out his hand and when the Fox gave him the measure he peeped inside to see if by chance it contained any trace of what had recently been measured. His eye of course at once caught the glint of the gold and silver coins lodged in the cracks. "Ah!" he said, thinking Mikko must be a very mighty lord indeed to be so careless of his wealth; "I MIGHTY MIKKO 31 should like to meet your master. Won't you and he come and visit me?" This was what the Fox wanted the King to say but he pretended to hesitate. "I thank your Majesty for the kind invitation," he said, "but I fear my master can't accept it just now. He wants to get married soon and we are about to start off on a long journey to inspect a number of for- eign princesses." This made the King all the more anxious to have Mikko visit him at once for he thought that if Mikko should see his daughter before he saw those foreign princesses he might fall in love with her and marry her. So he said to the Fox: "My dear fellow, you must prevail on your master to make me a visit before he starts out on his travels! You will, won't you?" The Fox looked this way and that as if he were too embarrassed to speak. 'Your Majesty," he said at last, "I pray you pardon my frankness. The truth is you are not rich enough to entertain my master and your castle isn't big enough to house the immense retinue that always attends him." The King, who by this time was frantic to see Mikko, lost his head completely. 32 MIGHTY MIKKO "My dear Fox," he said, "I'll give you anything in the world if you prevail upon your master to visit me at once! Couldn't you suggest to him to travel with a modest retinue this time?" The Fox shook his head. "No. His rule is either to travel with a great retinue or to go on foot disguised as a poor woodsman attended only by me." "Couldn't you prevail on him to come to me dis- guised as a poor woodsman?" the King begged. "Once he was here, I could place gorgeous clothes at his disposal." But still the Fox shook his head. "I fear Your Majesty's wardrobe doesn't contain the kind of clothes my master is accustomed to." "I assure you I've got some very good clothes," the King said. "Come along this minute and we'll go through them and I'm sure you'll find some that your master would wear." So they went to a room which was like a big ward- robe with hundreds and hundreds of hooks upon which were hung hundreds of coats and breeches and embroid- ered shirts. The King ordered his attendants to bring the costumes down one by one and place them before the Fox. The King thought that if Mikko should see his daughter MIGHTY MIKKO 35 They began with the plainer clothes. "Good enough for most people," the Fox said, "but not for my master." Then they took down garments of a finer grade. "I'm afraid you're going to all this trouble for nothing," the Fox said. "Frankly now, don't you real- ize that my master couldn't possibly put on any of these things!" The King, who had hoped to keep for his own use his most gorgeous clothes of all, now ordered these to be shown. The Fox looked at them sideways, sniffed them criti- cally, and at last said: "Well, perhaps my master would consent to wear these for a few days. They are not what he is accus- tomed to wear but I will say this for him: he is not proud." The King was overjoyed. 'Very well, my dear Fox, I'll have the guest cham- bers put in readiness for your master's visit and I'll have all these, my finest clothes, laid out for him. You won't disappoint me, will you?" "I'll do my best," the Fox promised. With that he bade the King a civil good day and ran home to Mikko. 36 MIGHTY MIKKO The next day as the Princess was peeping out of an upper window of the castle, she saw a young woods- man approaching accompanied by a Fox. He was a fine stalwart youth and the Princess, who knew from the presence of the Fox that he must be Mikko, gave a long sigh and confided to her serving maid: "I think I could fall in love with that young man if he really were only a woodsman!" Later when she saw him arrayed in her father's finest clothes — which looked so well on Mikko that no one even recognized them as the King's — she lost her heart completely and when Mikko was presented to her she blushed and trembled just as any ordinary girl might before a handsome young man. All the Court was equally delighted with Mikko. The ladies went into ecstasies over his modest man- ners, his fine figure, and the gorgeousness of his clothes, and the old graybeard Councilors, nodding their heads in approval, said to each other: "Nothing of the coxcomb about this young fellow! In spite of his great wealth see how politely he listens to us when we talk!" The next day the Fox went privately to the King, and said: "My master is a man of few words and quick judg- MIGHTY MIKKO 37 ment. He bids me tell you that your daughter, the Princess, pleases him mightily and that, with your ap- proval, he will make his addresses to her at once." The King was greatly agitated and began: "My dear Fox—" But the Fox interrupted him to say: "Think the matter over carefully and give me your decision to-morrow." So the King consulted with the Princess and with his Councilors and in a short time the marriage was arranged and the wedding ceremony actually per- formed ! "Didn't I tell you?" the Fox said, when he and Mikko were alone after the wedding. 'Yes," Mikko acknowledged, "you did promise that I should marry the Princess. But, tell me, now that I am married what am I to do? I can't live on here forever with my wife." "Put your mind at rest," the Fox said. "I've thought of everything. Just do as I tell you and you'll have nothing to regret. To-night say to the King: 'It is now only fitting that you should visit me and see for yourself the sort of castle over which your daughter is hereafter to be mistress!' When Mikko said this to the King, the King was 38 MIGHTY MIKKO overjoyed for now that the marriage had actually taken place he was wondering whether he hadn't per- haps been a little hasty. Mikko's words reassured him and he eagerly accepted the invitation. On the morrow the Fox said to Mikko: "Now I'll run on ahead and get things ready for you." "But where are you going?" Mikko said, frightened at the thought of being deserted by his little friend. 