🧚 The Flight

Quietly, very quietly, the Minstrel rose and looked around upon the sleepers.1 With finger-tips upon his lips he beckoned to the hero Ilmarinen and to the young heroes who stood beside him.2

“Be cautious, be brave,” he whispered, “and soon we shall win the Sampo.3 Speak no word, make no sound to break the magic spell, but follow me and do my bidding.”4

Then with great care he opened the wallet of reindeer leather that he carried always beneath his belt.5 He looked within and picked out, one by one, a handful of sleep-needles, long and slender and exceedingly sharp.6 Silent as the moon among the clouds he moved on tiptoes cautiously between the rows of slumbering people.7 With his magic needles he crossed the eyelashes of the sleepers, pinning their eyelids close together and thus holding them so that they might not waken.8

“Sleep! sleep!” he murmured softly.9 “Sleep till the daylight fades in Pohyola.10 Sleep, and waken not till the golden sun rises bright in the Land of Heroes.11 Sleep, and let no dreams disturb you.”12

He waved his arms above them, silently bidding them farewell, and left them there where they had fallen.13 The unlovely Mistress, the swordsmen and the spearsmen, the old men and the married women, the young men and the half-grown girls, and the little children—he left them all sweetly slumbering, forgetful, senseless, harmless.14

“Now for the Sampo!” he whispered, and with noiseless footsteps he hastened away toward the hill of copper.15 Behind him followed the heroes and the young men and the maidens with curling hair, and not one dared utter a word or in any way disturb the wonderful silence that prevailed.16

As they drew near to the hill, however, they could hear the magic Sampo grinding, grinding in its darksome prison; they could hear the lid of many colors turning, turning, and pouring out wealth without cessation.17 But at the entrance to the cavern the great doors were shut—nine huge and heavy doors, and each door was made secure by nine locks of hardest metal.18

The Minstrel paused, he could go no farther; the heroes stood waiting around him.19 Gently he began to sing, softly he chanted a song so sweet, so strong, that it had power to move the rocks and even persuade the mighty hills and the restless sea.20 And as he sang, the copper mountain began to tremble and the doors of the cavern were shaken.21 Thereupon the hero Ilmarinen and the young men that were with him hastened to pour oil upon the rusty metal.22 With reindeer fat they smeared the locks, and they greased the hinges with butter, lest they should creak and make a rattling.23

Then Wainamoinen, still singing, touched the locks with his wizard fingers and the bolts slid back; he pushed gently against the yielding metal and the nine mighty doors opened silently and without a sound.24

The heroes pressed forward to the entrance, eager to see what the cave contained; and lo! as they looked within, they saw the Sampo with its lid of many colors standing in its place in the middle of the strongly built prison.25 Very beautiful was the magic mill, its resplendent sides embossed with gold and lined with silver; gorgeously beautiful was its rainbow cover, full of pictures of men and beasts and trees and flowers.26 The wheels of the mill were whirring softly, its levers were moving in their places; it was grinding out riches for Pohyola.27

“Who now will carry this Sampo out of its prison-house?” asked the Minstrel.28

“I will carry it out,” answered Ahti, the nimble, long-armed fisherman.29 “I am a man of strength, a son of heroes.30 Stand back and see how quickly I shall remove it to our waiting ship.31 See, I have only to touch it with the toe of my boot and the deed is done.”32

He pushed against the Sampo; he twined his long arms about it and lifted with all his might; he braced himself with his knees and strained till the blood rushed from his mouth and nose.33 But the Sampo stood in its place unmoved, grinding and turning without cessation.34

“Foolish boaster!” cried Wainamoinen.35 “A big mouth has never yet moved mountains.36 Great talkers are always little doers.”37

Then he began to play softly upon the kantele; and as he played, the Sampo began to rock to and fro, it turned itself around as though breaking away from the chains which held it.38 At a sign from the Minstrel the young heroes, with Ilmarinen as their captain, seized hold of it and carried it forth from the hill of copper.39 Silently, without rustling a leaf or snapping a twig, they bore it across the fields and the meadows and placed it on board of their waiting vessel.40 There they lashed it with ropes to the strong deck beams.41 They bound it securely so that it could not be moved.42

“Now let every one work valiantly at his oar,” said Ilmarinen, “and let the red sail be hoisted on the mast.”43

Instantly the benches were filled with rowers; all the young men and also the fifty fair maidens bent to their work; the water boiled with the strokes of a hundred long oars.44

“Speed thee, O crimson vessel,” said Wainamoinen.45 “Hasten from the hostile shores of Pohyola.46 And O, thou North Wind, come and urge the ship along.47 Blow and give assistance to the oarsmen.48 Give lightness to the rudder, give skill to the helmsman, and swiftly bear us over this vast expanse of water.”49

Merrily and hopefully, then, the rowers rowed; the Minstrel steered, and the strong North Wind pushed against the well-stretched sail.50 And away and away, onward and onward, the vessel flew over the lonely sea.51 From morning until mid-day, and from mid-day until evening, it ploughed its way through the surging waves; the land faded from sight, and the heroes, looking forward, could see naught but one vast field of tossing waters.52 “We are lost!53 We shall never find the Land of Heroes,” they murmured.54

“Have courage! be brave!” said Wainamoinen.55 “Beyond this sea lies our own sweet country, the home of heroes.”56

Then Ahti, the nimble boaster, spoke up and said, “Why should we still speak in whispers, fearing to be heard?57 The shores of Pohyola are far away, the Mistress sleeps, there is no one to listen.58 Let us be jolly and glad, and even a little noisy, rejoicing over our victory.”59

“Nay, nay, we are not yet out of danger,” said the Minstrel.60

“But the time is passing,” answered the long-armed one; “daylight is fading and darkness is approaching.61 Let us at least have a little song to cheer our drooping spirits.”62

“Nay, nay,” repeated the steadfast Minstrel.63 “We must not sing upon these waters; singing would turn the ship from its right course, songs would hinder the rowers.64 The night and darkness would find us bewildered, and we should indeed be lost on a shoreless sea.65 Nay, nay, keep silent, and sing no songs till we sight the shores of our own fair land.”66

So the rowers rowed in silence, and the steersman steered and spoke not, and the hearts of all were hopeful.67 All night long they rowed and sailed and felt no weariness.68 The second day passed, and still no land was seen.69 The third day came, it was mid-day, when a long white shore and the lofty headland of Wainola appeared lying far away between the sea and the sky.70

“O master!71 Why may we not sing?” cried Ahti, always restless and in the way.72 “Before us is the Land of Heroes, and we have won the glorious Sampo.73 Let us sing and be glad.”74

“Nay, nay,” again said Wainamoinen.75 “It is too early to rejoice.76 When we hear our own home doors creaking behind us, then will be the time to sing and rejoice.77 When we see the fire burning on our own hearth-stones, then we may be glad because of victory.”78