March 



ISS?.] 



♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



251 



LLUST RATED 



MAGAZINE OF SCIENCE 

 PLAiNiy Worded -exactlyDescribed 



LOXDOX . FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 1885. 



OONTKKTB OF No. 178. 



PAGE 



The Eklenla. IV. Br Edward 



Clodd : 2ol 



OarHoasrhold Ids«cU. (/»■».) By 



K. A. Butlfr 253 



Rain. By B. .\. Proctor J54 



The BrishtoQ Electric Railway. By 



W.Shojo 235 



Life in Other Worlds. ByK. A. 



Proctor .« 257 



Chapter? on Modem Domestic Eco- 



nomr. (i7iu».) 359 



Nicaragua Cinal Project 260 



Firat Star Lessons. iWiOt Map.) 



By B. A. Prtxslor 262 



PAGB 



TfaoDght and Language. VI. Bv 



Ada S. Ballin .". 262 



Editorial Gossip 265 



Reviews 266 



Face of the Sky. BtF.R.A.S 267 



The Inventions Exhibition 267 



Correspondence ; Phreno-Cosniism 

 and Realism- The Fallacy of Ma. 

 terialism — Salamanders — The 

 Growth of Plants— The :Xew Time 

 — Wear of Silver Coins— Ultra- 

 Gas, 4c 2IX 



Our Inventors* Column. 



Out CbesaColomn 272 



THE KALEYALA. 

 By Edward Clodd. 



IV. 



THE third rune narrates how Wainamoinen dwelt at his 

 ease in Wainola, singing unwearlngly the songs which 

 tell of noble deeds and of the wondrous story of the 

 beginnings ; singing with such power and sweetness that 

 his renown reached the ears and stirred the envy of Jouka- 

 hainen, a younger bard in Pohjola. 



The harp and song of WainiimoiDen play so important a 

 part in an epic in which the triumph of words over brute 

 force is manifest throughout, that he is to the Finns as Jubal 

 to the Hebrews, " the father of all such as handle the harp 

 and organ." But some of the old lyrics speak of one Kaleva, 

 long since dead (corresponding to Kalew of the KalevipOeg), 

 whom, in an episode to be told in its place, Wainamoinen 

 roused from his earth- forgetting sleep, enforcing from him 

 the gift of song which caused sun, moon, and waterfall to 

 pause and listen. There is much diverse opinion as to 

 whether Kaleva is a person or an epithet, and the evidence 

 adduced by Ca-stren inclines the balance in favour of the 

 latter ; but this is a detail of exposition into which we 

 must not be beguiled here. 



Joukahainen, young and boastful, vowed, despite the 

 warnings of his parents, to visit Kalevala and challenge 

 Wainamoinen to trial of song : 



Singing, I shall so tran.sfonn hiro 

 That his feet shall tarn to flintstoiie, 

 And to oak his nether gai'ments ; 

 And bewitched the bard shall carry 

 On his breast a stony burden, 

 On his shoulder bow of flintstoiie, 

 On his right hand stony gannllet. 

 On his skull a stony visor. 



Having harnessed his fiery steed to a golden sledge, he 

 galloped southwards, and met Wainamoinen driving 

 quietly across the meadows of Wainola. Joukahainen 

 then drove full tilt into his rival's sledge, whereupon the 

 " old and steadfast " asked : — 



Let me know, thou stupid fellow, 



Who thou art, and whence thou comest ? 



Joukahainen made rough answer, bragging of his skill in 



song, whereupon Wainiinminen bade liim give proof of 

 that. JoukuhaiiKii thin .sang connuonplaces in conmion- 

 place words, and Wiiinauioinen told him to cea.se hi.s foolish 

 prattle of "old wives' tales and wit if children," and to 

 sing themes woithy of a bearded hero, about th(! world's 

 beginnini; and eternal things. Joukahainen then changed 

 his key, and made lying Vwast, in words akin to those of 

 Wisdom in the Book of Proverbs, that when the cartli was 

 created, he was there to fix the everlasting pillars, and 

 strew the stars in the firmament. Angry with the "shauie- 

 h'ss bnii:;f»iirt," Waiiuinioinen so enraged him that he would 

 fain cross swords, but the old iiard refused the challenge, 

 and then, filled with a divine wrath at the taunt of 

 cowardice, poured forth his mighty songs. As he sang of 

 the creation, the building of the air, the raising of the 

 arch of heaven, the sea heaved, the "copper-bearing moun-^ 

 tains" were shaken, and alas! for Joukahainen, his sledge 

 was transformed into saplings, liis steed into stone, his 

 sword leaped into the sky its a gleam of lightning, and he 

 himself, " sorry fellow," sank deeper and deeper in the 

 swamp, till he was choked with moss and water. Nor was 

 he released save by the same enchantment which had en- 

 gulfed him, and then only when, after vainly tendering 

 many bribes, he promised to give his fair sister Aino to 

 Wainiimoinen. . 



Aino, daughter of my mother ! 



Aino, my beloved sister I 



Bride of thine to bo for ever. 



Every morn to sweep thy cabin; ■ ' ■■ 



Bake the toothsome honey-biscuit ; 



Ucek tliy bed with snowy linen ; 



Weave tliy coueh and p;oldeM cover ; . ^ 



All the place to hold in order. 



Joukahainen returned to his mother in sorry Jilight, and 

 told her what had befallen him, and how he had promisul 

 his beautiful sister to the aged bard. Wliilo his mo her 

 sought to comfort him Aino entered, and when she heard 

 the tidings sadne.ss came upon her, which those around her 

 sought in vain to remove. She shrank from Wiiinamoinen, 

 and, tearing otr her jewels, vowed never to wear tliem again 

 or to become his bride. Her mother, to divert her mind, 

 bade her go in search of lovelier jewels than those which 

 she had cast away, and these Aino found, and decked herself 

 therewith. But not for her marriage, as her mother hoped, 

 for, instead of returning home, she wandered far away, 

 singing songs of yearning for the dwelling of Tuoui, the 

 god of death. 



Yea, tlio time his come for Aino, 



From beneath the sky to hasten 



To the realms of the departed, 



Underneath to liana's kingdom. 



She reached the " curving sea-shore," and after a night 

 of weariness and weeping, unrobed herself, anil swimming 

 to a many-coloured stone which swayed bottom wards, was 

 carried with it to the rocky ocean-bed, chanting farewells 

 88 she sank. The sequel suggests the classx strains of 

 Cock Robin: — 



Who shall bear the cruel tidings ? 



Who sliall tell the cruel story ? 



.Vt the pretty maiden's cottage, 



At the home of lovely .Vino ? 



Not the bear, for he will forget his mission, and " tear 

 the peaceful cattle;" not the wolf, he would "frighten 

 sheep and shepherd ; " not the fox, he the " geese would 

 slaughter ;" but the hare, timid and swift, he shall tell the 

 mournful st ; ry. 



Then the bereaved mother bemoaned her folly in urging 

 the union with Wainiimoinen, and the bitter tears that 

 she shed fell so thick and fast that they formed foaming 

 cataractp. 



