Ch. 5: Vainamoinen

Back to The Men in Brown

             It   started   with   another   dream.

             Chris   had   had   vivid   dreams   before,   but   this   stood   out   even   from   among   the   Dreams. For   in   the   others   he   had   only   been   watching;   but   this   time   he   was   there,   he   was   among   them. He   did   not   know   where   he   was,   but   the   steep   strange   mountains   plunging   sharply   to   the   sea   were   dark   blue   and   dark   green,   and   had   a   curious   remote   feel;   despite   the   modern   boats   streaking   the   waters,   it   seemed   like   a   place   cut   off,   in   a   secluded   bywater   at   the   edge   of   the   world. He   was   walking   up   a   mighty   half-bare   fell,   short   green   turf   like   moss   underfoot   and   odd   dark   bushes   around   him. Entering   a   clump of   woods   he   came   to   an   undergrowth   of   thick   hazel.

             “Cut   a   staff   from   the   hazel.”   someone   said   behind   him. Chris   did   not   turn   to   see,   for   he   had   to   obey,   and   with   the   large   knife   that,   in   the   manner   of   dreams,   was   suddenly   and   naturally   in   his   hand   he   hacked   twice   on   the   stem   of   a   thick   hazel   shoot. It   had   broad   spreading   twigs   like   a   hand,   arching   to   the   ground   amid   clusters   of   other   witch   hazels. The   wood   was   soft   and   white,   and   the   second   blow   severed   the   inch-thick   stem.

             He   walked   on,   for   he   had   far   to   go;   the   trail   wound   up   through   old   contorted   oaks   in   deep   mossy   turf,   then   emerged   onto   a   rounded   height   of   bare   rock. And   standing   upon   it,   motionless   save   for   the   wind   that   stirred   their   cloaks,   twelve   kings   stood,   in   full   armour,   and   the   one   that   stood   foremost,   he   was   most   regal   of   them   all,   for   his   mail   was   plated   with   gold,   and   his   armour   edged   with   silver,   and   his   helm   patterned   with   red   copper.

             “Whence   did   you   cut   the   wood   of   that   staff?”   said   the   king,   and   he   drew   a   white   sword   that   burned   like   a   candle. And   Chris   knew   at   once   that   it   was   Wayham   King.

             He   did   not   speak,   but   turned,   and   the   kings   followed,   as   he   led   them   down   the   trail   he   had   climbed. At   last   he   stood   before   the   hazel   grove,   and   the   stump   stood   white   before   them,   and   wordlessly   Chris   pointed   to   it.

             The   twelfth   king,   whom   Chris   had   never   set   eyes   on   before,   now   spoke. Like   the   fierce Barbarossa   on   his   left   he   was   transparent,   a   luminous   blue-green. “Delve   beneath   that   bush   with   the   stave   in   thy   hand.”

             “Lord,   who   are   you?”   said   Christopher,   pausing   to   stare   at   him. Venerable   and   ancient,   a   white   beard   swept   over   the   spectre’s   broad   chest,   and   his   armor   was   Frankish.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “I   was   Charlemagne.”   he   answered. “I   slept   with   my   knights   under   Untersberg   mountain,   to   pay   for   my   forcing   of   Christ   upon   the   Saxons:   until   the   King   should   come.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             Chris   did   not   dare   delay   longer,   but   struck   at   the   ground   with   his   sharp-ended   staff,   cutting   it   with   surprising   ease. For   the   ground   wasn’t   solid,   but   a   mere   lid   of   roots   and   turf,   and   beneath   was   a   hollow,   bridged   and   roofed   by   the   decaying   remains   of   rotted   logs   that   had   fallen   over   it   and   formed   the   supports   for   the   countless   huge   tree-roots   that   now   held   off   the   soil   from   that   which lay   beneath. The   mouth   of   a   stair   was   exposed,   leading   into   darkness. The   kings   filed   past   him,   and   the   ghosts   lit   the   way,   and   Chris   walked   with   them,   and   the   kings   descended   for   a   long   way. Under   the   earth   was   a   cave   in   the   mountain,   and   on   a   table   of   stone   a   huge   man   lay   sleeping,   his   chest   unmoving,   his   beard   ungrowing;   but   his   right   hand,   flung   open   beside   him,   was   a   deep   crimson   red.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “Rise   and   waken,   Owain   Lawgoch,   laid   in   sleep   for   Wales’   peril,   last   prince   of   Wealás:   the   King   commands   thee!”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             Slowly   the   huge   man   rose   to   his   feet,   bones   and   muscles   creaking   like   ancient   furniture,   his   veins   crackling   as   blood   flowed   through   them   for   the   first   time   in   a   thousand   years   and   more. Seven   feet   he   stood,   dwarfing   all   save   the   lords   of   Numenor;   his   hauberk   was   dry   and   dull,   his   great   ax   rusty,   his   clothing   stiff,   his   hair lank   and   tangled.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “In   the   name   of   the   King,   I   respond.”   he   said.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             The   panic   that   gripped   Winsted   for   the   next   month   was   out   of   all   proportion. All   schools   were   shut   down,   and   there   were   hysterical   measures   of   vast   and   sweeping   gun   control   proposed   nationwide;   even   the   NRA   paid   lip   service,   saying   security   at   the   schools   should   be   increased. The   fact   that   none   of   the   victims   died   by   a   bullet   was   conveniently   ignored. There   were   candlelight   vigils   at   practically   every   church and   town   green   for   several   towns   around;   almost   every   day   you   heard   about   another   candlelight   vigil   somewhere,   and   there   was   sure   to   be   at   least   one   article   per   day   in   the   papers   about   this   or   that   aspect   of   the   “Winsted   massacre”   as   it   was   already   being   dubbed. Donations   to   the   grieving   families   began   to   fill   a   warehouse. Signs   would   appear   on   people’s   lawns   with   big   red   candles   underneath   saying   In   memory   of   our   loved   ones   or   some   such   sentiment. Christopher   was   so   nauseated   by   it   that   the   mere   mention   of   anything   remotely   connected   to   it   was   enough   to   make   him   either   explode   or   leave   the   room. His   parents,   concluding   he   was   experiencing   trauma   from   the   scene,   tried   to   make   him   see   a   therapist,   but   cancelled   the   appointment   when   they   found   out   how   much   she   charged. Police   were   slowly   and   exhaustively   tracking   down   each   and   every   student   at   the   two   schools   and   interviewing   them.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             The   tutor,   just   as   the   boys   expected,   was   the   peculiar   Mr. Root. Despite   his   beard   and   hair,   his   references   and   ponderous   dignity   so   impressed   the   boys’   parents   they   hired   him   at   once. When   they   asked   him   hesitantly   what   they   should   do   about   the   “trauma”,   Root   was   dismissive. “They’re   more   likely   disgusted   with   the   fuss.”   he   said. “Just   don’t   mention   it   in   your   house   and   they   will   likely   get   over   it   on   their   own.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             The   boys   waited   for   their   first   lesson   with   some   trepidation. Promptly   at   eight   he   knocked   on   the   door,   dressed   in   a   very   odd   antique   suit   with   a   brown   jacket   and   a   purple   waistcoat   and   gold   tie. He   held   a   satchel   of   books   and   papers   in   one   hand   with   ease. There   was   no   sign   of   a   conveyance:   had   he   been   dropped   off?

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “Mr. Root! Do   come   in. My,   you   certainly   look   more   professional   than   I   expected!”   Mom   was   chattering. “I   have   to   leave   for   work   in   an   hour,   but   would   you   mind   going   over   what   lesson   plans   you   will   be   using?”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “I   came   prepared   to.”   he   said,   hefting   the   satchel   onto   the   table. It   creaked   a   little   with   the   weight:   he   must   be   amazingly   strong   for   such   an   old   man. “I   presume   your   sons   are   already   well   grounded   in   basic   math   and   reading   and   can   write   with   reasonable   legibility;   I   will   accordingly   test   them   first   and   then   design   exactly   to   what   degree   they   will   be   taught   each   subject. Basic   math   first;   there   is   little   need   for   higher   maths   unless   they   show   aptitude   for   it.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “Won’t   they   need   math   to   get   a   job?”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “If   they   have   no   aptitude   for   math,   they   will   forget   whatever   they   learn   and   need   to   take   it   all   over   again   if   they   go   to   college   or   are   applying   for   a   math-y   job. And   in   such   a   case   they   will   gravitate   will-he-nill-he   into   jobs   they   can   actually   do,   like   the   manual   trades   or   store   jobs   or   such:   why,   in   such   a   case,   waste   effort   on   algebra?”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “But…that   sounds   so…revolutionary.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “It   is   schoolboy   commonsense,   matron. Not   possessed   in   large   degree   hereabouts,   it   would   seem. I   educate   pupils   for   what   they   are   fitted   to   do;   to   me,   education   is   a   matter   of   discovering   their   vocation   and   then   training   them   for   it. By   a   series   of   basic   tests   I   discover   aptitudes,   and   then   gear   their   subjects   accordingly.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “Well…it   certainly   makes   sense,   I   never   heard   it   put   that   way   by   teachers   before.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “That   is   because   they   are   not   teachers,   but   indoctrinators. They   have   been   hammered   into   a   certain   frame   of   thinking   all   their   lives,   until   they   can   go   out   and   hammer   others   in   their   turn. I   know   little   of   modern   schools,   for   I   see   them   from   outside,   by   hearsay   and   by   observation   of   their   fruits. But   what   I   do   see   is   not   good. Look   around   at   the   average   public-schooler. Ask   yourself   what   could   be   being   taught   them   to   produce   such   sewer-brained   idiots.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “I’m   glad   we   hired   you. I   only   hope   it’s   not   too   late.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             Mr. Root   looked   over   at   the   boys,   meeting   their   eyes   for   a   moment. “I   do   not   think   so.”   he   said,   and   then   began   discussing   details   of   tests   in   this   and   that,   and   the   boys   realized   with   sinking   hearts   he   was   going   to   make   them   work   harder   than   any   school   had   done.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             When   Mom   had   left,   Mr. Root   set   out   a   series   of   papers. “Boys? Art   ready?”   he   called. No   one   answered:   the   boys   were   outside   playing. They   moaned   and   wailed   when   he   called   them   from   the   window. “Please? Just   five   more   minutes?”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “Certainly,   but   I’m   afraid   they   are   already   up.”   he   retorted. “Now   get   in   here.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             Something   in   the   tone   made   the   boys   obediently   troop   inside,   subdued   and   anxious. Seeing   their   tutor   waiting   in   the   old   armchair,   they   again   felt   that   same   wary   awe,   almost   fear,   of   him   that   had   marked   their   first   meeting.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             He   motioned,   and   they   sat   down   on   the   torn   sofa. “In   order   that   I   may   teach   you   well,   I   first   must   know   how   much   you   learned. We   will   go   over   basic   literacy   first. Can   you   read?”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “Well,   duh.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             Root’s   bushy   white   brows   bunched,   perplexed. “I   am   afraid   I   do   not   know   that   word. I   have   not   dwelt   here   even   ten   years,   and   your   slang   remains   a   mystery   even   after   I   comprehend   your   tongue.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “It   means,   um,   like   when…eerrg…Chris,   help   me   out!”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “It’s   um,   something   obvious,   whatzitcalled,   self-evident.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “Ah.”   nodded   Root. “Emphatic   and   incoherent,   and   yet   with   an   assumed   instinctive   meaning. Intriguing. I   see   we   are   going   to   spend   much   time   on   vocabulary. You   should   be   able   to   give   a   meaning   for   the   words   you   use,   as   you   may   be   using   them   in   peculiar   contexts   where   they   mean   something   far   divorced   from   their   definition. Most   children   are   like   that. I   gather,   then,   that   you   can   read. Read   this   paragraph   aloud.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             The   boys   began   to   read   out,   both   together,   the   pages   he   handed   them,   mounting   dismay   in   their   faces   as   they   did   so. “''The   luscious   meat   of   the   divine   fruit   hung   meltingly   within   their    mouths,   scrumptious   and   orgiastic,   until   they   swallowed   and   felt   it   flow   caressingly   into   their   entrails. Their   cheeks   flushed   a   delicate   rose,   and   amber   light   awoke   within   their   gold-blushing   eyes   as   they   opened   on   immortality.''”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “Better   than   I   expected.”   said   Root   critically. “You   read   the   words   as   if   they    roused   some   poetic   sense   within   you,   and   were   not   mere   meaningless   verbosity.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “It’s   pretty   gooey.”   said   Stephen.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “A   bit   like   Lord   of   the   Rings.”   said   Chris.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “Ah,   you   have   read   that! All   the   way   through? Was   any   of   it   over   your   head?”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “Yeah.”   said   Stephen.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “Not   me.”   said   Chris. “Though   it   was—well—sort   of   way   up   there,   you   know,   but   I   could   read   it. The   Gates   of   Gondor   part   was   awesome.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             Root   took   out   another   page. “Read   that   aloud,   then,   and   prove   your   words.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             Chris   read   out,   ''“ Grond crawled on. The drums rolled wildly. Over the hills of slain a hideous shape appeared: a horseman, tall, hooded, cloaked in black. Slowly, trampling the fallen, he rode forth, heeding no longer any dart. He halted and held up a long pale sword. And as he did so a great fear fell on all, defender and foe alike; and the hands of men drooped to their sides, and no bow sang. For a moment all was still. ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.5in;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">“The drums rolled and rattled. With a vast rush Grond was hurled forward by huge hands. It reached the Gate. It swung. A deep boom rumbled through the City like thunder running in the clouds. But the doors of iron and posts of steel withstood the stroke. ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.5in;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">“Then the Black Captain rose in his stirrups and cried aloud in a dreadful voice, speaking in some forgotten tongue words of power and terror to rend both heart and stone. ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.5in;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">“Thrice he cried. Thrice the great ram boomed. And suddenly upon the last stroke the Gate of Gondor broke. As if stricken by some blasting spell it burst asunder: there was a flash of searing lightning, and the doors tumbled in riven fragments to the ground. ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.5in;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">“In rode the Lord of the Nazgûl. A great black shape against the fires beyond he loomed up, grown to a vast menace of despair. In rode the Lord of the Nazgûl, under the archway that no enemy ever yet had passed, and all fled before his face. ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.5in;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">“All save one. There waiting, silent and still in the space before the Gate, sat Gandalf upon Shadowfax: Shadowfax who alone among the free horses of the earth endured the terror, unmoving, steadfast as a graven image in Rath Dínen ''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">When   he   had   finished,   Chris   sat   there,   his   eyes   shining. For   a   moment   he’d   been   there,   had   seen   the   shadowed   field,   the   lurid   lights,   the   dreadful   purple-white-blue   fire   of   the Witch-King. Root   gave   a   slight   smile.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “Let   us   check   your   math,   then.”   he   said.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             He   had   them   recite   the   multiplication   tables   (a   fearsome   mangle)   and   then   name   the   highest   number   they   knew   about. They   knew   hundred-thousands   and   millions,   but   got   mixed   up   on   how   many   zeros   were   in   a   billion. Higher   than   that,   Root   said,   was   only   needful   if   they   were   intending   to   go   into   science   or   finance. “And   considering   your   impressive   display   to   date,   I   would   avoid   applying   for   either   of   those   careers.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             Then   he   had   them   work   out   three   pages   of   math   problems. Plus   and   minus   and   multiplying   the   boys   proved   reasonably   proficient   at. Division   took   longer. And   anything   more   complicated   than   that   had   them   stumped.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “Middle   math,   then,   is   what   we   will   work   on,   until   you   reach   your   limits.”   he   said. “Now   show   me   how   well   you   write.”   He   gave   them   each   a   sheet   of   lined   paper   and   a   pencil.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             Three   sharpenings   later,   they   handed   in   smeared   crumpled   sheets   covered   with   vaguely   identifiable   scrawls   in   large   loopy   letters   that   only   occasionally   managed   to   refrain   from   overlapping   other   lines. Root   held   them   up   and   gazed   solemnly   at   the   mess.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “Too   much   time   on   the   computer,   I   see.”   was   his   only   comment. He   turned   the   pages   over   and   put   them   on   the   table,   writing   with   a   swift   fluid   motion. Two   minutes   later   he   handed   them   to   the   boys.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             The   boys   stared   in   mounting   horror. Small,   neat,   graceful   letters   in   the   flowing   cursive   script   formed   lines   as   straight   as   a   ruler.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “I   don’t   quite   expect   you   to   attain   to    that    level.”   Root   said   dryly   at   the   expression   on   their   faces. “I   have,   after   all,   been   writing   longer   than   you. But   I   do   expect   you   to   be   able   to   write   in   letters   only   a   quarter-inch   high,   neatly   enough   for   strangers   to   read   with   ease,   and   well   enough   to   form   straight   lines   on   blank   paper.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             He   questioned   them   on   science,   looking   approving   when   they   said   they   didn’t   believe   in   evolution. “The   word    believe   in   is   actually   quite   accurate.”   he   said. “Evolution,   despite   its’   prevalence,   is   still   only   a   scientific   theory   among real   scientists;   the   evidence   even   over   two   centuries   being   negligible   at   best. It   is   something   believed   in   and   dogmatically   stated but   carefully   not   described   as   such:   a   religion,   in   short,   which   allows   no   other   gods.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             He   questioned   them   on   biology,   physics   and   botany,   in   all   of   which   their   knowledge   was   minimal. “Botany   may   sound   boring,”   Root   admonished,   “but   how   would   it   sound,   if   expressed   like   this?

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">“I have been within the forest, Brooms to bind and shoots to gather, There to pluck some birchen tassels; Bound a bundle for my father, Bound a second for my mother, Bound a third one for my brother, For my sister silken tassels.” ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “Whoo.”   said   Chris. “Did   you   make   that   up?”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “No,”   Root   answered,   and   there   was   an   eternity   of   sorrow   in   his   voice. “That   is   one   of   the   old   songs,   from   the   days   when   the   Flood   had   laid   bare   the   world,   and   the   mighty   singers   sang   up   forests,   sang   out   birds,   the   world   regrowing. But   that’s   another   subject. We   were   on   botany,   or   the   study   of plants. Plants   are   best   studied   in   the   ground. When   we   reach   that   lesson,   I   will   teach   you   about   the   plants   growing   in   this   area.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             He   let   them   out   to   play   while   he   fixed   lunch,   a   strange   but   delicious   stew   made   of   leftover   chicken,   canned   carrots   and   old   celery   and   an   onion,   flavored   with   a   spoonful   of   salad   dressing   and   boiled. “Leftover   stew,   I   call   it.”   he   explained   when   they   wanted   seconds. “In   ten   minutes   we   will   resume   studies. School   ends   at   2:30   today. Tomorrow I   should   have   the   curriculum   worked   out.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “What   are   we   doing   next?”   said   Chris   in   a   resigned   tone.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “English,   literature   and   basic   thinking.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “Whaaa…?”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “If   you   do   not   know   how   to   think,   you   will   be   singularly   unequipped   to   handle   simple   and   obvious   problems,   like   Who   should   I   vote   for? or   How   can   I   explain   this?”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “Oh.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             Root   went   over   basic   grammar,   using   as   basis   extensive   quotes,   taken   at   random,   from Tolkien   illustrating   predicate   and   subject,   noun   and   verb. “Though   to   know   these   words   is   not   needful;   what   is   needful   is   to   know   what   they   signify,   and   to   have   this   signification   buried   in   your   head,   where   it   can   be   drawn   upon   by   instinct   and   at   will. Another   way,   of   course,   is   simple   imitation:   read   enough   old   books   and   your   sentences   will   begin   to   arrange   themselves   in   like   fashion   inside   your   head.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “Is   that   what   you’re   planning   on   having   us   do   for   literature?”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “No,   my   plan   for   literature   is   to   assign   you   boring   books   for   the   sheer   fun   of   it.”   said   Root   with   a   straight   face. The   boys   looked   at   each   other,   unsure   whether   to   laugh   or   not. “Actually,   the   books   are   often   not   boring   in   themselves,   but   only   because   they   do   not   accord   with   one’s   interior   taste   or   use   unfamiliar   phrasing. Some   of   Dickens   is   quite   dull,   and   most   of   it   not   only   interesting   but   droll. And   then   there   is   poetry.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “Eeew,   I   hate   poetry.”   complained   Stephen. “It’s   all   mushy.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “Alas,   how   true.”   replied   Root. “Many   children   grow   up   with   a   permanent   dislike   of   poetry   due   to   a   forced   diet   of   sonnets   and   Shelley,   with   Shakespeare   for   dessert. Too   much   cake   leaves   one   feeling   quite   ill. It   is   usually   better   to   begin   with   meat.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “What,   you   mean   people   have   written   poems   about    meat??”   exclaimed   Chris.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “I’m   sure   they   have.”   said   Root. The   room   was   dim,   for   clouds   had   come   up   during   lunch,   and   now   a   cold   gusty   rain   suddenly   pattered   on   the   streets   and   echoed   off   the   shed   roof. “Poems   can   be   about   any   topic. But   calling   them    poems    is   in   itself   misleading. Poetry   is   merely   written   music,   with   phonetic   sounds   and   verbal   images   instead   of   notes. It   would   be   more   accurate   to   call   them   songs. They   flow   to   an   internal   music,   the   syllables   chosen   and   squeezed   to   fit   into   a   certain   kind   of   flow   in   structure   and   pronounciation,   so   that   even   when   spoken   in   ordinary   tones   they   ring   like   music. Tom   Bombadil,   for   instance,   speaks   in   verse,   though   it   is   arranged   like   speech:   None   have   ever   caught   him   yet,   for   Tom   he   is   the   master;   his   songs   are   stronger   songs,   and   his   feet   are   faster….You   see?”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “Um,   kind   of.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “But   this   is   only   explanation,   and   words   are   dry. Let   me   sing   you   some   of   the   poems   of   my   homeland.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “You’re—not   born   here?”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “I   am   foreign.”   answered   Root. “My   homeland   is   Kalevala,   or   Finnland   as   men   call   it   now.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “You   mean   like   Vikings?”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “The   Norsemen   were   west   of   us. They   faced   the   outer sea,   we   the   inner. The   drowned   vale,   the   sunken   lands   slow   emerging:   the   Land   of   Ten   Thousand   Lakes,   the    fertile   meadlands   of   Wainola,   fragrant   dens   of   Sariola.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             He   began   to   chant   in   a   throbbing,   powerful   singsong   voice,   deep   and   steady   as   waves. It   rose   and   climbed   in   an   odd   cadence,   jarring   at   first,   then   settling   into   you. The   boys   listened   as   if   gripped. He   was   not   using   English. He sang   in   a   strange   and   haunting   language,   flowing   and   sonorous   at   once:   it   reminded   the   boys   of   something…

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; line-height: normal; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Vaka vanha Väinämöinen <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; line-height: normal; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">itse tuon sanoiksi virkki: <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; line-height: normal; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"Näistäpä toki tulisi <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; line-height: normal; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">kalanluinen kanteloinen, <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; line-height: normal; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">kun oisi osoajata, <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; line-height: normal; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">soiton luisen laatijata." <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; line-height: normal; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Kun ei toista tullutkana, <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; line-height: normal; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">ei ollut osoajata, <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; line-height: normal; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">soiton luisen laatijata, <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; line-height: normal; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">vaka vanha Väinämöinen <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; line-height: normal; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">itse loihe laatijaksi, <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; line-height: normal; mso-add-space: auto;">''<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">tekijäksi teentelihe. ''<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; line-height: normal; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Laati soiton hauinluisen, <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; line-height: normal; mso-add-space: auto;">''<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">suoritti ilon ikuisen. ''<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; line-height: normal; mso-add-space: auto;">''<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Kust' on koppa kanteletta? ''<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; line-height: normal; mso-add-space: auto;">''<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Hauin suuren leukaluusta. ''<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; line-height: normal; mso-add-space: auto;">''<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Kust' on naulat kanteletta? ''<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; line-height: normal; mso-add-space: auto;">''<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Ne on hauin hampahista. ''<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; line-height: normal; mso-add-space: auto;">''<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Kusta kielet kanteletta? ''<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; line-height: normal; mso-add-space: auto;">''<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Hivuksista Hiien ruunan. ''<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; line-height: normal; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Jo oli soitto suorittuna, <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; line-height: normal; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">valmihina kanteloinen, <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; line-height: normal; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">soitto suuri hauinluinen, <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; line-height: normal; mso-add-space: auto;">''<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">kantelo kalaneväinen. ''<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; line-height: normal; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Tuli tuohon nuoret miehet, <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; line-height: normal; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">tuli nainehet urohot, <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; line-height: normal; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">tuli pojat puol'-ikäiset <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; line-height: normal; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">sekä pienet piikalapset, <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; line-height: normal; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">tytöt nuoret, vaimot vanhat, <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; line-height: normal; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">naiset keskikertaisetki, <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; line-height: normal; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">kanteletta katsomahan, <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; line-height: normal; mso-add-space: auto;">''<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">soittoa tähyämähän. ''<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; line-height: normal; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Vaka vanha Väinämöinen <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; line-height: normal; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">käski nuoren, käski vanhan, <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; line-height: normal; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">käski keskikertaisenki <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; line-height: normal; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">soittamahan sormillansa <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; line-height: normal; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">tuota ruotaista romua, <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; line-height: normal; mso-add-space: auto;">''<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">kalanluista kanteletta. ''<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; line-height: normal; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Soitti nuoret, soitti vanhat, <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; line-height: normal; mso-add-space: auto;">''<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">soitti keskikertaisetki. ''<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; line-height: normal; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Nuoret soitti, sormet notkui, <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; line-height: normal; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">vanhat väänti, pää vapisi: <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; line-height: normal; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">ei ilo ilolle nousnut, <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; line-height: normal; mso-add-space: auto;">''<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">soitto soitolle ylennyt. ''<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             He   paused   with   a   sigh. The   boys   stirred. “Was   that   Elvish?”   asked   Christopher.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “No,   though   of   all   men’s   speeches   the   closest   related   to   ancient   Quenya. That   is   Finnish,   the   language   of   my   birth.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “It   sounds   so…beautiful.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “It   is   the   speech   of   song.”   said   Root. “Men   used   it   to   sing   the   words   of   power,   and   when   sung   in   it,   common   words   took   awful   meanings   and   the   matter   of   Creation   moved   in   answer   to   their   singing. But   the   world   is   deaf,   and   the   music   faded   from   the   earth,   and   only   those   born   of   that   Music   still   can   sing   and   compel   answer. But   I   apologise:   I   am   an   old   man,   and   I   grow   lost   in   my   long   thought. The   song   I   sang   just   now   runs   somewhat   as   follows   in   your   speech:

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">

''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">“Väinämöinen, old and steadfast, ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Answered in the words which follow: ''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"> ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">"Yet a harp might be constructed <span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"> 

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Even of the bones of fishes, ''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"> ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">If there were a skilful workman, ''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"> ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Who could from the bones construct it." <span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"> 

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">As no craftsman there was present, ''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"> ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">And there was no skilful workman ''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"> ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Who could make a harp of fishbones, ''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"> ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Steadfast ancient Väinämöinen ''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"> ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Then began the harp to fashion, ''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"> ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">And himself the work accomplished, ''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"> ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">And he made a harp of pikebones, ''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"> ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Fit to give unending pleasure. <span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"> ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Out of what did he construct it? <span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"> ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Chiefly from the great pike's jawbones, ''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"> ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Whence obtained he pegs to suit it? <span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"> ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Of the teeth of pike he made them; ''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"> ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Out of what were harpstrings fashioned? <span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"> ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">From the hairs of Hiisi's gelding. <span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"> ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Now the instrument was ready, ''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"> ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">And the kantele completed, ''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"> ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Fashioned from the pike's great jawbones, ''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"> ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">And from fins of fish constructed. <span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"> ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Thereupon the youths came forward, ''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"> ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Forward came the married heroes, ''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"> ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">And the half-grown boys came forward, ''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"> ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">And the little girls came likewise, ''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"> ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Maidens young, and aged women, ''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"> ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">And the women middle-agèd, ''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"> ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">All advanced the harp to gaze on, ''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"> ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">And the instrument examine. <span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"> ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Väinämöinen, old and steadfast, ''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"> ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Bade the young folks and the old ones, ''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"> ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">And the people middle-agèd, ''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"> ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">With their fingers play upon it, ''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"> ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">On the instrument of fishbone, ''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"> ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">On the kantele of fishbone. <span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"> ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Played the young and played the aged, ''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"> ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Likewise played the middle-agèd, ''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"> ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Played the young, and moved their fingers, ''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"> ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Tried the old, whose heads were shaking, ''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"> ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">But they drew no music from it, ''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"> ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Nor composed a tune when playing. <span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">” ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">

''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “Epic.”   said   Chris.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “It   forms   more   of   a   cycle   than   an   epic;   an   epic   has   a   continuous   theme   and   plot,   while   a   saga   is   a   single   tale;   a   cycle   is   a   group   of   songs   only   loosely   related   but   involving   much   the   same   characters. That   was   from   the   Kalevala,   the   new   collection   of   the   old   songs   that   fellow   Lonnrot   made:   though   many   are   missing,   and   some   have   undergone   most   peculiar   evolutions   since   I   knew   them,   aye!”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “No,   no,   I   meant   like   That   was   epic! or   That   was awesome!”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “You   mean,   as   pertaining   to   or   like   something   from   an   epic.”   said   Root,   sounding   interested. “An   epic   is   a   long   heroic   poem   about   a   high   or   overarching   event,   such   as   a   battle,   a   journey,   a   war   or   a   long   tale.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “Interesting.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “Who   was   that…Van-a-monnen?”   piped   Stephen.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “Väinämöinen, ”   Root’s   voice   boomed   suddenly   in   the   dim   room. The   rain   outside   rose   to   a   pounding   cascade. “The   ancient   hero,   old   and   steadfast,   ever   teaching,   ever   singing. Born   of   air   and   born   of   water,   so   men   claimed:   his   mother   was   the   Air-daughter,   and   his   father   was   the   Sea. He   was   a   Bard,   as   they   called   them   later:   the   Singers   they   were   named   in   those   days,   or   the   Minstrels,   or   even   the   Wizards   for   the   effects   their   songs   could   produce. He   was   the   first   of   them. He   wandered   the   land   and   sang   to   it:   he   sang   up   trees   in   barren   places,   sang   down   woods   to   plant   the   plainlands,   sang   up   winds   and   sang   up   rain   whenever   there   was   need   of   either.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">             “A   Wizard?”   said   Christopher,   in   mingled   awe   and   disapproval. “But   that’s,   like,   magic.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">             “Not   then.”   answered   Root. “Not   before   Christ. After   him…all   other   laws   ceased,   for   where   He   is   it   is   always   Light. But   in   the   Twilight   many   things   were   still   possible,   and   even   permitted,   that   now   are   not. There   was   no   way   of   being   Saved   before   Christ,   now   was   there? He   came   to   bring   the   true   religion. But   in   the   dimness   many   things   were   allowed,   that   the   Light   made   not   only   forbidden   but   impossible. Nowadays,   for   any   who   have   no   inner   Music   to   try   to   sing   the   songs   of   power,   is to   call   on   evil   beings   to   supply   the   lacking   music,   to   move   and   wield   sluggish   matter:   and   that   is   black   magic.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">             “Inner   music?”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">             “Beings   who   are not   human. Like   Gandalf. Or   the   Elves. Or   Väinämöinen.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">             “But   why   music?”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">             “The   world   in   the   beginning   was   sang   into   being,   when   the   morning   stars   praised   Him   together   and   the   sons   of   God   shouted   in   a   mighty   chorous. That   Music   runs   through   the   World,   and   the   World   answered   to   song,   and   those   beings   birthed   by   God   out   of   the   Music   carry   It   within   their   hearts. And   when   they   sing,   they   can   force   even   deaf   matter   to   hear—and   to   obey.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">             “That’s   really   deep.”   breathed   Chris.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">             “My   head’s   spinning.”   complained   Stephen.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">             “That,   by   the   way,”   said   Root   placidly,   “is   what   I   meant   by   thinking.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">             “You   cheated!”   accused   Chris. “It   was   supposed   to   be   drudgery!”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">             “It’s   only   drudgery   when   you’re   not   interested   in   it.”   retorted   Root. He   looked   at   the   clock. “It   seems   we   still   have   half   an   hour. Perhaps   I   had   better   spend   it   in   telling   stories.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">             “Tell   one   about   Vainny-moynen.”   said   Chris.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “Vay-nay-moihr-nen <span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">.”   corrected   Root,   in   that   sudden   deeper   voice   that   seemed   somehow   to   be   the   only   right   way   to   speak   that   strange   and   terrible   name. He   had   a   most   peculiar   rolling   way   of   pronouncing   it,   the   central   syllable   broad   and   almost   like   a   mix   of   oy   and   ur. “The   delicacies   of   the   sounding   are   yet   beyond   you. Very   well.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">             “In   the   northern   regions   of   Wainola,   in   the   cool   and   chilly   Lapland,   there   was   a   singer   named   Youikahainen,   young   and   proud   and   utterly   foolish. He   thought   him   strong,   and   resolved   at   last   to   face   and   battle   Väinämöinen <span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">   himself.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             Root’s   old   eyes   grew   grim   and   distant,   as   if   no   longer   seeing   the   boys   before   him,   and   his   voice   grew   dreamy,   until   it   settled   into   the   strange   chant   he   had   sung   before.'' ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">“I will go and face the minstrel, Challenge him as bard to battle, Sing to him my sweet-toned measures, Chant to him my oldest legends, Chant to him my garnered wisdom, That this best of boasted singers, That this famous bard of Suomi, Shall be worsted in the contest: By my songs shall I transform him, That his feet shall be as flint-stone, And as oak his nether raiment; And this famous, best of singers, Thus bewitched, shall carry ever, In his heart a stony burden.” ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">

''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             He   shook   himself,   as   if   recalling   his   mind   from   old   memory,   and   began   to   speak   more   normally. “So   he   drove   furiously   down   from   Lapland. It   was   spring   and   the   old   snow   lay   yet   deep,   so   it   was   by   sledge   he   drove   down. Full   upon   the   bend   he   charged,   smashed   into   a   sledge   it   rounding:   both   the   sledges   were   upset,   both   the   sleds   were   sorely   wrecked. White   was   the   wood   of   the   sledge   he   broke,   and   the   shafts   were   with   gold   engraved,   and   the   driver   was   a   strong   old   man. Pulling   himself   from   the   wreck   he   demanded   the   youth’s   name   and   reason   for   such   hasty   driving. But   the   youth   answered   with   arrogance,   saying   wisdom   only   wins   the   road,   for   he   now   did   suspect   who   it   was   unto   him   talking. “Are   you   in   fact   that   Väinämöinen,   of whose   fame   is   so   renowned?”             “The   old   man   answered   gently   that   he   was   but   a   simple   farmer,   and   knew   little   songs   worth   singing. “Some   of   these   I   may   remember,   but   since   thou   perforce   demand   it,   I   accept   thy   boastful   challenge. <span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Tell me now, my golden youngster, what thou knowest more than others:   open now thy store of wisdom."

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “But   all   that   youthful   Youkahainen,   who   learned   only   words   that   gave   him power,   never   questioned   after    wisdom,   never   quested   after   meaning,   all   that   he   could   sing   about   were   things   that   were   self-evident:

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">“Know I many bits of learning ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">This I know in perfect clearness: ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Every roof must have a chimney, ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Every fire-place have a hearth-stone; ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Lives of seal are free and merry, ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Merry is the life of walrus. ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Should this wisdom seem too little, ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">I can tell thee other matters, ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Sing thee other wizard sayings: ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">All the Northmen plow with reindeer, ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Mother-horses plow the Southland, ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Inner Lapland plows with oxen; ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Slender grow the trees on mountains.” ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">   Then the ancient Väinämöinen: ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">"Women's tales and children's wisdom 

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Do not please a bearded hero, ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Hero, old enough for wedlock; ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Tell the story of creation, ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Tell me of the world's beginning, ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Tell me of the creatures in it, ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">And philosophize a little." <span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             Root   paused   in   his   chanting   and   said,   “But   shallow-headed   Youkahainen,   he   could   only   sing   of   smallness,   things   obvious   and   accidental,   he   knew   nothing   of   essentials.”   Suddenly   his   voice   swelled   out   again,   old   and   rich   and   powerful,   a   storyteller   utterly   lost   in   his   own   story:

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">“Pretty birdling is the titmouse; ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">And the viper, green, a serpent; ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Iron rusts, and rusting weakens; ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Bitter is the taste of   lemon; ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Boiling water is malicious; ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Fire is ever full of danger; ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Waters gush from every mountain; ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Fire descended first from heaven; ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Iron from the rust was fashioned; ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Copper from the rocks created; ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Marshes are of lands the oldest; ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">First of all the trees, the willow.” ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">

''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Now the ancient Vainamoinen ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Thus addresses Youkahainen: ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">"Canst thou give me now some wisdom, 

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Is this nonsense all thou knowest?" 

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Youkahainen thus made answer: ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">"I can tell thee still a trifle, 

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Tell thee of the times primeval, ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">When I plowed the salt-sea's bosom, ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">When I raked the sea-girt islands, ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">When I dug the salmon-grottoes, ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Hollowed out the deepest caverns, ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">When I all the lakes created, ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">When I heaped the mountains round them, ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">When I piled the rocks about them. ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">I was present as a hero, ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Sixth of wise and ancient heroes, ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Seventh of all primeval heroes.” ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “Wait,   wait,   wait,   whaaat? Was   Youkahainen   immortal   or   something?”   exclaimed   Stephen.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “To   sing   in   this   fashion   deceived   matter   into   answering   to   the   singer   as   if   to   one   in   whose   veins   ran   the   Music.”   replied   Root. “Not,   of   course,   in   anything   as   great   a   degree   as   it   did   to   the   real   Singers,   but   enough   to   deceive   the   ignorant. Väinämöinen   took   him   literally   on   purpose,   calling   him   the   prince   of   liars:   for   he   himself   had   indeed   been   present   as   one   of   those   primeval   heros. Sneering   Youkahainen   challenged   him   to   broadswords,   since   he   had   thus   failed   at   wisdom. Väinämöinen   indignantly   refused,   causing   Youkahanin   to   declare,

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">

''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">“Into wild-boar of the forest, ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Swine at heart and swine in visage, ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Singing I will thus transform him; ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">I will hurl such hero-cowards, ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">This one hither, that one thither, ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Stamp him in the mire and bedding, ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">In the rubbish of the stable." 

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">

''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Angry then grew Vainamoinen, ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Wrathful waxed, and fiercely frowning, ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Self-composed he broke his silence, ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">And began his wondrous chanting. ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">

''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Grandly sang wise Vainamoinen, ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Till the copper-bearing mountains, ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">And the flinty rocks and ledges ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Heard his magic tones and trembled; ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Mountain cliffs were torn to pieces, ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">All the ocean heaved and tumbled; ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">And the distant hills re-echoed. ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Lo! the boastful Youkahainen ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Is transfixed in silent wonder, ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">And his sledge with golden trimmings ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Floats like brushwood on the billows; ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Sings his braces into reed-grass, ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Sings his reins to twigs of willow, ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">And to shrubs his golden cross-bench. ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Still the minstrel sings enchantment, ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Sings his sword to gleam of lightning, ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Sings his quick and feathered arrows ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Into hawks and screaming eagles; ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">And alas! for Youkahainen, ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Sings him into deeps of quick-sand; ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Ever deeper, deeper, deeper, ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">In his torture, sinks the wizard, ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">To his belt in mud and water, ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Bitter   cold   and   icy   water. ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">

''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Thereupon sad Youkahainen, ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">In the deeps of desperation, ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">And in earnest supplication, ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Thus addresses Vainamoinen: ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">"O thou ancient   Vainamoinen, 

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Thou the only true, magician, ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Cease I pray thee thine enchantment,. ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Only turn away thy magic, ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Let me leave this slough of horror, ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">I will pay a golden ransom." 

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             Root   stopped   chanting. “First   he   offered   magic   crossbows,   but   these   the   hero   grim   refuses. ‘Do   not   wish   thy   magic   crossbows:   have   a   few   of   such   already.’   Then   he   sang   him   deeper,   deeper,   till   the   fool   offered   him   magic   vessels. Once   again   the   hero   refuses,   for   he   has   him   boats   aplenty. Sings   he   then   the   other   deeper,   into   quicksand   to   his   girdle. Precious   horses   now   he   offers,   but   the   hero   is   not   happy,   is   not   content   with   pithy   ransom. Once   more   sings   he   him   yet   deeper,   to   his   shoulders   into   mire. Gold   and   silver   now   he   offers,   but   the   hero   still   refuses. “I   have   gold   in   great   abundance,   on   each   nail   hang   bags   of   silver.”   Sank   he   then   the   braggart   deeper,   to   his   chin   in   mud   and   water. Offered   he   then   goodly   crop-land,   fields   full   of   golden   corn-land. But   the   hero   sang   him   deeper,   ‘One’s   own   fields   are   always   richer,   and   one’s   own   grain   is   the   sweeter.’   Water   bubbling   in   his   teeth,   the   gasping   braggart   offers   once   more:

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">“I will give thee sister Aino, ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Fairest daughter of my mother, ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Bride of thine to be forever, ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;">''<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Bride of thine to do thy pleasure…” ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             Root   abruptly   ceased   chanting,   and   in   the   silence   the   rain   could   be   heard   pattering   steadily,   grey   and   misty,   in   the   cold   green   yard.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “Then   what   happened?”   said   Stephen.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             Root   got   up   and   began   packing   his   papers   into   the   satchel. “That   is   another   tale,”   he   replied. “A   tale   of   the   tragedy   of   the   stupidity   of   Men,   and   how   we   who   try   to   raise   them   often   only   rouse   their   folly,   and   cause   them   to   dash   their   own   heads   out   rather   than   learn   ways   of   wisdom. I   run   late. Till   tomorrow,   children.”   He   hefted   the   satchel   without   much   effort   and   headed   out   the   door.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “Did   he   drive   here? He   doesn’t   even   have   an   umbrella!”   exclaimed   Stephen. They   could   hear   him   humming   the   slow   strange   chant   of   the   Finnish   songs   as   he   headed   down   the   porch. Leaning   on   the   window   Chris   saw   their   tutor   step   out   into   the   rain   and   walk   off   down   the   street. Yet   however   hard   he   looked   he   could   not   see   the   mark   of   a   single   drop   upon   the   clothing   of   Mr. Root.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">

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