That this Finnish bath is an immemorial custom is shown by the fact that in one of the folk songs of the Kalevala, Anniki, the little sister of Ilmarinen, “the great primeval craftsman,” says to him:
“Now the bath-room’s filled with vapor,
And the vapor-bath I’ve heated,
And have steeped the bath-whisks nicely,
Choosing out the best among them.
Bathe, O Brother, at your pleasure,
Pouring water as you need it,
Wash your head to flaxen color,
Till your eyes shine out like snow-flakes.”
In these pleasant farmhouses by which we glide so rapidly in our little steamer how many human comedies and tragedies must have been enacted; how many joys and sorrows have found place beneath these roofs? Births and betrothals, weddings and funerals, each has brought as much ecstasy or grief as the same events bring to the noble chateau or lordly palace.