They meant by this that only animals lived in the forest and they thought they were making a good joke at Veikko’s expense. But Veikko said he was perfectly willing to take his chances and go where his tree pointed.
The older brothers went gaily off and presented their suits to the two farmers whose daughters they admired. Veikko, too, started off with brave front but after he had gone some distance in the forest his courage began to ebb.
“How can I find a bride,” he asked himself, “in a place where there are no human creatures at all!”
Just then he came to a little hut. He pushed open the door and went in. It was empty. To be sure there was a little mouse sitting on the table, daintily combing her whiskers, but a mouse of course doesn’t count.
“There’s nobody here!” Veikko said aloud.
The little mouse paused in her toilet and turning towards him said reproachfully:
“But you don’t count. You’re only a mouse!”
“Of course I count!” the little mouse declared. “But tell me, what were you hoping to find?”
“I was hoping to find a sweetheart.”