Then came the most effective part of the program. A girl, a pupil in one of the higher grades, appeared dressed in the traditional dress of a certain portion of Finland, consisting of a white loose blouse and short full embroidered skirt. There was also a bodice and a colored fringed apron. She carried a kantele, a stringed instrument whose music is of a monotonous and rather melancholy tone. This served as the accompaniment to two or three folk songs, which she half sang, half recited in a way that brought forth special applause. Coffee and cakes, carefully prepared by the members of the Cooking Classes, were then served, after which games were played and riddles given. Among the latter was Maja's favorite: "What can't speak yet tells the truth?" Answer.—Scales.
The next Guest Night was devoted entirely to the "Kalevala," that wonderful national epic made up of the folk songs gathered by Elias Lönnrot. It began with a tableau in which was seen Wäinämöinen, the ancient bard of the poem, "renowned for singing and magic"; Ilmarinen, the children's favorite hero, a wonderful smith; Kullervo, the wicked shepherd, whose hand was against every man's; the jolly, reckless Lemminkainen, and Louhi, the mistress of Pohjola (the North) and her beautiful, much sought after daughter, the Rainbow Maiden. This was followed by the reading of a passage describing Wäinämöinen's playing,
"All the birds that fly in mid-air
Fell like snow flakes from the heavens,
Flew to hear the minstrel's playing
Hear the harp of Wäinämöinen."
Then came the description of how the eagle, the swans, the tiny finches and the fish, and all within hearing, were affected by the magic harp music.
The curtain dropped and rolled up again to show the meeting of Wäinämöinen and his envious rival Youkahainen, who wishes to fight. The tableau changed before the audience into an act in which Wäinämöinen's magic singing causes his rival to sink helplessly into quicksand, and in which he refuses every ransom Youkahainen offers, until it comes to Youkahainen's beauteous sister.
One of the pupils now read the parts from the "Kalevala" describing the various tasks that the heroes were called on to perform: the forging of the magic sampo, a coin, corn, and salt mill which could grind out good fortune for whoever had it; the capturing of the elk of Hiisi; the bridling of the fire-breathing horse, and others.
Last the teacher himself took the platform to call the attention of the audience to the beautiful expressions of mother love scattered throughout. He showed how even the wise Wäinämöinen thought first of his mother when in distress:
"If my mother were now breathing
She would surely truly tell me
How I might best bear this trouble,"
and how the mother love of the hot-headed Lemminkainen rescues him from death.
It was not always easy for Juhani and Maja to get to school, yet it was rarely that they or any of the other pupils were absent. Often the only light they had going and coming was that thrown up by the snow. Sometimes, however, the remarkable Northern Lights (the Aurora Borealis) helped the sun in its labors. They grew all the sturdier, too, for having to face wild weather.