The foregoing are all in the objective case; in the nominative they would be:—

Liha, Maito, Leipä, Voi, Kahvi, Sokeri, Kala, Muna, Olut.

The numeration table is as follows:—

Yksi. 1.
Kaksi. 2.
Kolme. 3.
Neljä. 4.
Viisi. 5.
Kuusi. 6.
Seitsemän. 7.
Kahdeksan. 8.
Yhdeksän. 9.
Kymmene. 10.
Kaksikymmentä. 20.
Kaksikymmentä yksi. 21.
Kaksikymmentä kaksi. 22.
Kolme kymmentä. 30.
Neljä kymmentä. 40.
Viisi kymmentä. 50.
Sata. 100.
Kaksisataa. 200.
Kolme sataa. 300.
Tuhat. 1000.
Kaksi tuhatta. 2000.
Kolme tuhatta. 3000.
Miljoona.1,000,000.
Tuhat kahdeksansataa yhdeksänkymmentä kuusi.1896.

To show the difficulties of the declensions, we take, as an example, the ordinary word land.

Declensions of the word Maa=Land.

Singularis.Pluralis.
Nominativus. maa. maa-t.
Genetivus. maa-n. mai-den.
Ackusativus. maa-n. maa-t.
Instructivus.maa-n. mai-n.
Essivus. maa-na. mai-na.
Partitivus. maa-ta. mai-ta.
Translativus.maa-ksi.mai-ksi.
Inner local cases.
Inessivus.maa-ssa.mai-ssa.
Elativus.maa-sta.mai-sta.
Illativus.maa-han.mai-hin.
Outer local cases.
Adessivus. maa-lla.mai-lla.
Ablativus. maa-lta.mai-lta.
Allativus. maa-lle.mai-lle.
Abessivus. maa-tta.mai-tta.
Komitalivus. mai-ne.

Is such a declension not enough to strike terror to the stoutest heart?

But now to return to the Kalevala itself, which is said to be one of the grandest epic poems in existence. The word Kalevala means "Land of heroes," and it is undoubtedly a poem of nature-worship. It points to a contest between Light and Darkness, Good and Evil, and in this case the Light and Good are represented by the Finns, the Darkness and Evil by the Laps. Although it is a poem of nature-worship, full of most wonderful descriptions—some of the lines in praise of the moon and sun, the sea and water-ways, the rivers and hills, and the wondrous pine forests of Finland, are full of marvellous charm—it also tells the story of love, and many touching scenes are represented in its verses.

"It is unlike other epics," says Edward Clodd, "in the absence of any apotheosis of clique or clan or dynasty, and in the theatre of action being in no ideal world where the gods sit lonely on Olympus, apart from men. Its songs have a common author, the whole Finnish people; the light of common day, more than that of the supernatural, illumines them."