And at last the first kantele was finished, and it was so beautiful that every one crowded round to look at it. When it was[p. 178] all ready Wainamoinen handed it to those around to try their skill, but they could only make discords whenever they touched it. Then Lemminkainen bade the others leave it to him, for he would show them how to play upon it. But when he touched the strings it sounded worse than when any of the others had tried it. And after one and all had tried it, and found that it only gave forth discords, they proposed to throw it into the sea. But the harp said: 'I shall never perish in the sea, but will bring great joy to Kalevala. Put me in my maker's hands, and I will sing for him.' So they took it and laid it at the aged Wainamoinen's feet.
Then the great magician took the wondrous kantele and rested it upon his knee. First he tuned it, tightening all the strings until they sounded sweetly together, and then he swept his hands across them, and a flood of wonderful melody poured forth from the kantele. And as the wondrous notes resounded in the air, every living thing that heard them stopped and listened. From the forests came the bears and ermines, and the wolves and lynxes. Even Tapio the forest-god drew near, with all his attendant spirits, enchanted by the magic sounds. From the sea the fishes came to the edge of the waters, and the sea-god Ahto with his water-spirits. The daughters of the Sun and Moon stopped their spinning on the[p. 179] clouds, and dropped their spindles, so that the threads were broken in two.
For three whole days the magic kantele poured forth its melody beneath Wainamoinen's skilful fingers, until every one that heard it wept, and even the master-player himself was at last moved to tears by the power of his own playing. The bright teardrops flowed down his long beard and over his garments, and on over the earth in sparkling streams, until they were lost in the waters of the deep sea. And then the music ceased, and Wainamoinen laid the kantele aside and said: 'Is there any one here who can gather up my teardrops from the sea?' But all were silent, for they could not do it.
But a raven came flying up and offered to attempt it, and Wainamoinen promised him the most beautiful plumage if he should succeed, but the raven tried and failed. Then came a duck, and Wainamoinen made it the same promise. And the duck swam off and dived down to the ocean's depths, and at length it had collected every teardrop and brought them to the great magician, but a wondrous change had taken place in them, for they were no longer tears, but the most beautiful pearls.
Thus were pearls first created, and for this the blue duck received its lovely plumage.
·····
'That is the loveliest story of all,' cried Mimi. 'How I wish I could have heard Wainamoinen's music! Was his kantele like the one pappa has up in the loft, Pappa Mikko? If it was, I wish pappa would play on ours.'
'I expect they are just alike,' replied Father Mikko; 'and when your pappa's pappa was alive, I remember that he used to play on the kantele very sweetly, but there are not many in our land that can play the kantele now.'
'Well,' said Mimi, with a sigh, 'I suppose there aren't, so you might as well tell us what Wainamoinen did next, Pappa Mikko, please.'