Sampo

“ The face of the Mistress grew ashy-white with anger. “The Sampo is but a little thing,” she said, “and never will I share it with another. Can two hungry men share a sparrow? Can three divide a tiny squirrel? You may hear the Sampo whirring, you may hear its pictured cover grinding in the cavern where I placed it—but it whirs for me alone, it grinds out wealth and plenty for my people and for no other.”
“Surely you are unwise and selfish,” then said the Minstrel, “and foolish it would be to waste words in argument. ”

“ Sampo thought about this all day and half the night. He tried to sleep, but could not. "Yes," he thought, "it would be fun to see the mountain king once!" He kept thinking about it, until at last he crept quite softly out from the reindeer-skin under which he lay, and out through the door. It was so cold that the stars snapped and the snow crackled under his feet. But Sampo Lappelil was not afraid of cold. Besides he had a leather jacket, leather trousers, Lapp shoes, and a fur cap and mittens. Thus fortified, he looked at the stars, and did not know exactly what he should do next. ”

“ But the Sampo stood in its place unmoved, grinding and turning without cessation.
“Foolish boaster!” cried Wainamoinen. “A big mouth has never yet moved mountains. Great talkers are always little doers.”
Then he began to play softly upon the kantele; and as he played, the Sampo began to [336] rock to and fro, it turned itself around as though breaking away from the chains which held it. At a sign from the Minstrel the young heroes, with Ilmarinen as their captain, seized hold of it and carried it forth from the hill of copper. ”

“ The tireless Sampo heard not nor heeded. It kept on grinding, grinding; and no matter on which side it was placed, its wheels kept running, and flour or salt or gold and silver kept pouring out in endless streams.
“We shall all be buried!” shouted the Mistress in dismay. “Enough is good, but too much is embarrassment. Take the mill to some safe place and confine it within strong walls, lest it overwhelm us with prosperity.”
Forthwith she caused the Sampo to be taken with becoming care to a strong-built chamber underneath a hill of copper. ”

“ Why is it that you, the prince of wizards, cannot find some way to bless and save our own kinsmen, our own people?”
“Do you remember the Sampo?” said the Smith. “Do you remember the magic mill which I made for Dame Louhi many years ago? That mill is still grinding in Pohyola, its lid of many colors turns and turns and turns forever. Safely locked in a stony cavern, still it grinds wealth and food and clothing without end. The soil draws richness from it, the fields of grain thrive upon its grindings, the fruit trees send their roots downward and suck up the wealth which it pours out.” ”

“ He was sitting in a sledge of scarlet and driving a steed of rare swiftness. Six cuckoos were sitting on the dashboard, all loudly calling; and beside them were seven bluebirds twittering blithely as birds are wont to twitter in the joyous springtime.
“See, mother, here comes the other stranger!” said the Maid of Beauty.
“Nay, nay, he is no stranger,” answered Dame Louhi, speaking hoarsely. “He is the poor young Smith who forged the Sampo for me, and his name is Ilmarinen. He brings no gifts, he has no treasures, for his only wealth is his little smithy. What business has he in Pohyola?” ”

“ Now say, will you not forge the Sampo? Will you not hang its weights, adjust its levers? Will you not hammer its lid of many colors, even as your brother, the Minstrel, assured me you would?”
“Yes, yes, yes!” stammered the poor Smith, scarcely knowing what he said. “I will do anything, everything that lies in my power. But I have never seen a Sampo, and I know not what [69] it is. ”

“ Wonder-hero, son of Ukko,
I will bring away the Sampo,
Turn about the lid in colors,
Turn it on its magic hinges!”
Lemminkainen finds the wonder,
Finds the Sampo in the mountain,
Labors long with strength heroic,
Tugs with might and main to turn it;
Motionless remains the treasure,
Deeper sinks the lid in colors,
For the roots have grown about it,
Grown nine fathoms deep in sand-earth.
Lived a mighty ox in Northland,
Powerful in bone and sinew,
Beautiful in form and color,
Horns the length of seven fathoms,
Mouth and eyes of wondrous beauty. ”

“ So the rowers rowed in silence, and the steersman steered and spoke not, and the hearts of all were hopeful. All night long they rowed and sailed and felt no weariness. The second day passed, and still no land was seen. The third day came, it was mid-day, when a long white shore and the lofty headland of Wainola appeared lying far away between the sea and the sky.
“O master! Why may we not sing?” cried Ahti, always restless and in the way. “Before us is the Land of Heroes, and we have won the glorious Sampo. Let us sing and be glad.” ”

“ Sampo was not a stupid boy for his age; he had his own little snow-shoes and on them he danced over the high hills near the Tana; and his own little reindeer which he harnessed before his own pulk. You should have seen how the snow blew about him, as he rushed off over the ice and the high snow-drifts, so that nothing of the boy was to be seen but a tuft of his black hair!
"I shall never feel quite safe until the boy is christened," the Lapp woman often said. ”

“ Then, at length, on the third day, he went back to the house where Dame Louhi was still sitting by her fireside.
“I cannot make the Sampo for you,” he said. “My magic is not strong enough; my skill is not of the kind that forges mills of fortune. ”

“ If you come in peace, I welcome you to this land of plenty.”
“We come in peace,” answered the Minstrel, wise and truthful. “We have heard strange stories in our country concerning the magic Sampo and the great changes it has wrought in Pohyola. Now our eyes see that which our hearts could not believe and we would fain rejoice with you and be glad because of your good fortune.”
“Good fortune comes to those who labor for it and who most deserve it,” said Dame Louhi coldly. “But tell me, what fresh news do you bring from the Land of Heroes?” ”

“ Forth we go to seize the Sampo,
Gaze upon its pictured cover,
There in Pohjola's stone mountain,
And within the hill of copper." 390
[Pg 151]
Said the lively Lemminkainen,
"O thou aged Väinämöinen,
Take me with you as your comrade,
As the third among the heroes,
When you go to seize the Sampo,
Bear away the pictured cover.
Perhaps my manly sword may aid you,
In the combat may be useful,
As my hands may bear you witness,
And my shoulders witness to you." 400 ”

“ The shaft was made of copper, and the whole bow was wondrously strong.
“This is a beautiful thing,” said Ilmarinen, “but it is not the Sampo.”
Forthwith the crossbow leaped from the caldron; it flew out of the furnace; it stood humbly bowing before the wizard Smith.
“Hail, my master!” it said. “Here I am, ready to serve you as you command. My task is to kill, and I love it, I love it! Send me forth quickly, and let me begin. On every work-day I’ll kill at least one. On every holiday I’ll kill more—sometimes two, and sometimes very many. Oh, yes, I will kill, I will kill!” ”

“ On the third he set up his anvil, a block of hardest granite heavy for ten men to roll.
Then he made his tools. For a hammer he took a smooth stone from the brook; for tongs he cut a green sapling and bent it in the middle, forcing the two ends together. Thus his smithy was completed; but how was he to forge the [78] magic Sampo? With what was he to form its iridescent lid?
“Only weaklings say, ‘I cannot,’ ” said he. “Only want-wits say, ‘It is too difficult.’ Heroes never give up. Nothing is impossible to a true smith.” ”

“ The reign of plenty in Pohyola was ended.
Dame Louhi, old and grim and undaunted, called loudly to her serving-men, her warriors, and her sailors. As a mother hen summons her chickens around her at the approach of a danger, so did she marshal her swordsmen, her spearsmen, and her stout-hearted oarsmen. [347]
“Make ready now our great warship,” she said. “We must pursue the hated robbers; we must overcome and destroy them and bring the precious Sampo back to our own shores. Lose not a moment, be courageous, be skilful, be strong—and hasten, hasten, hasten.” ”

“ In a magic caldron boil it;
On a magic anvil beat it;
Hammer its lid of many colors;
Furnish it with wheels and levers;
Set it up, and start it going.’ ”
Ilmarinen listened. “The directions are plain and easily followed,” he said. “To a smith who has shaped the mountains and hammered out the sky it will be an easy task, the pleasant pastime of a few fleeting days. But it must not be undertaken in the winter time. We must wait till the sky is clear and the sun shines warm on land and sea.”
“And will you then forge the much-desired Sampo?” inquired the Mistress. ”

“ Your friend, the Minstrel, although he was able to do many very wonderful things, would not undertake a task so difficult.” [70]
“Truly, I have performed harder tasks,” answered the boaster. “Why, it was I that forged the blue sky that bends over the earth in summer. I hammered it out of a single piece of metal. I fashioned it into a dome-shaped lid to shut down over the earth and air. I painted it pale blue and azure and murky brown. Nothing is too great for my magic. Give me but one hint regarding its shape and nature, and I will make the Sampo—yes, a hundred Sampos—for you.” ”

“ There you shall be my queen; you shall rule my house, keep my kitchen, sit at the head of the table. O Maid of Beauty, it was for you that I forged the Sampo and performed those acts of magic which no other man would dare to undertake. Be kind, and disappoint me not.”
The maiden answered softly, and she blushed as she spoke: “Why should I leave my own sweet home to go and live with strangers, to be [99] a poor man’s wife in a poor and distant land? ”

“ All day he sat there, pondering, wondering how now by any makeshift he could escape from Pohyola and return to his native land. The longer he thought, the larger his troubles appeared. He had no boat to sail by sea, no sledge nor reindeer to travel by land, no money in his purse, no knowledge of the road. Would not magic avail him? Could he not call upon the winds to carry him, as they had once done against his will? Alas, no! All his magic lore, all his magic power, had been exhausted in the forging of the Sampo ”

“ But the Minstrel persisted. All that night he held the Smith’s strong hand and talked of naught but the Sampo and how, by it, they might save the lives of their famishing friends and neighbors. At length Ilmarinen ceased objecting. “You are wise, my elder brother,” he said, “much wiser than I. The task is a mighty one, but for the sake of our people and our country I will not shrink from it. None but women say, ‘I cannot,’ none but cowards say, ‘I dare not.’ ” [298] ”

“ I will plough the field of serpents, and no man nor maiden shall call me a coward.”
“Then let me tell you something,” said the Maid of Beauty. “You are a great smith and skilled in working with all sorts of metals. You are a cunning wizard and wise in magic. Your [219] smithy still stands deep in the silent forest—the smithy which you built when you forged the Sampo. Go thither and make for yourself a golden plough wherewith to furrow the field of serpents. Make its beam of silver and its handles of red copper, and strengthen it throughout with spells of magic. ”

“ But talk not of a hundred Sampos; the world can never hold but one.”
“And I promise that with my magic skill I will put that one together,” said the Smith; “but what can you tell me about its ingredients? Tell me all you know about its composition.” [71]
“I have a recipe which has come down through the ages,” said the woman, “a recipe for making the Sampo; but no magician has ever yet been wise enough, strong enough to make use of it. Here it is, written in runes on a white whalebone:
“ ‘Take the tips of two swan feathers;
Add the milk of a young heifer;
Add a single grain of barley ”

“ Väinämöinen, old and steadfast,
Answered in the words which follow:
"No, I cannot forge a Sampo,
Nor can weld its pictured cover.
Only bring me to my country,
And I'll send you Ilmarinen,
Who shall forge a Sampo for you,
Weld its many-coloured cover.330
He perchance may please the maiden,
Win your daughter's young affections.
"He's a smith without an equal,
None can wield the hammer like him,
For 'twas he who forged the heaven,
And who wrought the air's foundations,
[Pg. 70] Yet we find no trace of hammer,
Nor the trace of tongs discover." ”

“ The birchwood runners bumped hard on the rough causeway. The reindeer slackened its [46] speed; it seemed ready to sink in its tracks. The Minstrel’s mind was far away; it was with the grim, gray Mistress of the Frozen Land. For suddenly he had thought of the promise he had given her—“I will send you Ilmarinen, the skilfulest of smiths; he will forge the Sampo for you.”
In another hour—yes, in half that time—he would meet Ilmarinen face to face. Would he be able to redeem his promise?
“I am a wizard; I can do wonderful things by magic,” said the Minstrel to himself. ”

“ Besides the fish that swim in his dominions, particularly the salmon, the trout, the whiting, the perch, the herring, and the white-fish, he possesses a priceless treasure in the Sampo, the talisman of success, which Louhi, the hostess of Pohyola, dragged into the sea in her efforts to regain it from the heroes of Kalevala. Ever eager for the treasures of others, and generally unwilling to return any that come into his possession, Ahto is not incapable of generosity. ”