How Sampo Lappelill Saw The Mountain King

: The Diamond Fairy Book

From the Swedish of Z. Topelius.





FAR away in Lapland, at a place called Aimio, near the River Jana, there

lived, in a little hut, a Laplander and his wife, with their small son,

Sampo.



Sampo Lappelill was now between seven and eight years of age. He had

black hair, brown eyes, a snub nose, and a wide mouth, which last is

considered a mark of beauty in curious Lapland. Sampo was a strong child

for his age; he delighted to dance down the hills in his little

snow-shoes, and to drive his own reindeer in his own little sledge. The

snow whirled about him as he passed through the deep drifts, until

nothing of him could be seen except the tuft of his black forelock.



"I shall never feel comfortable while he is from home!" said the mother.

"He may meet Hisue's reindeer with the golden antlers."



Sampo overheard these words, and wondered what reindeer it could be that

had golden antlers. "It must be a splendid animal!" said he; "how much I

should like to drive to Rastekais with it!" Rastekais is a high, dreary

mountain, and can be seen from Aimio, from which it is five or six miles

distant.



"You audacious boy!" exclaimed the mother; "how dare you talk so?

Rastekais is the home of the trolls, and Hisue dwells there also."



"Who is Hisue?" inquired Sampo.



"What ears that boy has!" thought the Lapp-wife. "But I ought not to

have spoken of such things in his presence; the best thing I can do now

is to frighten him well." Then she said aloud: "Take care, Lappelill,

that you never go near Rastekais, for there lives Hisue, the Mountain

King, who can eat a whole reindeer at one mouthful, and who swallows

little boys like flies."



Upon hearing these words, Sampo could not help thinking what good fun it

would be to have a peep at such a wonderful being--from a safe distance,

of course!



Three or four weeks had elapsed since Christmas, and darkness brooded

still over Lapland. There was no morning, noon, or evening; it was

always night. Sampo was feeling dull. It was so long since he had seen

the sun that he had nearly forgotten what it was like. Yet he did not

desire the return of summer, for the only thing he remembered about that

season was that it was a time when the gnats stung very severely. His

one wish was that it might soon become light enough for him to use his

snow-shoes.



One day, at noon (although it was dark), Sampo's father said: "Come

here! I have something to show you."



Sampo came out of the hut. His father pointed towards the south.



"Do you know what that is?" asked he.



"A southern light," replied the boy.



"No," said his father, "it is the herald of the sun. To-morrow, maybe,

or the day after that, we shall see the sun himself. Look, Sampo, how

weirdly the red light glows on the top of Rastekais!"



Sampo perceived that the snow upon the gloomy summit, which had been so

long shrouded in darkness, was coloured red. Again the idea flashed into

his mind what a grand sight the terrible Mountain King would be--from a

distance. The boy brooded on this for the remainder of the day, and

throughout half the night, when he should have been asleep.



He thought, and thought, until at length he crept silently out of the

reindeer skins which formed his bed, and then through the door-hole. The

cold was intense. Far above him the stars were shining, the snow

scrunched beneath his feet. Sampo Lappelill was a brave boy, who did not

fear the cold. He was, moreover, well wrapped up in fur. He stood gazing

at the stars, considering what to do next.



Then he heard a suggestive sound. His little reindeer pawed the ground

with its feet. "Why should I not take a drive?" thought Sampo, and

proceeded straightway to put his thought into action. He harnessed the

reindeer to the sledge, and drove forth into the wilderness of snow.



"I will drive only a little way towards Rastekais," said Sampo to

himself, and off he went, crossing the frozen River Jana to the opposite

shore, which--although the child was unaware of this fact--belonged to

the kingdom of Norway.



As Sampo drove, he sang a bright little song. The wolves were running

round his sledge like grey dogs, but he did not mind them. He knew well

that no wolf could keep pace with his dear, swift little reindeer. Up

hill and down dale he drove on, with the wind whistling in his ears. The

moon seemed to be racing with him, and the rocks to be running

backwards. It was thoroughly delightful!



Alas! at a sudden turning upon the downward slope of a hill the sledge

overturned, and Sampo was pitched into a snow-drift. The reindeer did

not observe this, and, in the belief that its master was still sitting

behind it, it ran on. Sampo could not cry "Stop!" for his mouth was

stuffed with snow.



He lay there in the darkness, in the midst of the vast snowy wilderness,

in which was no human habitation for miles around.



At first, he naturally felt somewhat bewildered. He scrambled unhurt out

of the big snow-drift. Then, by the wan moonlight, he saw that he was

surrounded on all sides by snow-drifts and huge mountains. One mountain

towered above the others, and this he knew must be Rastekais, the home

of the fierce Mountain King, who swallowed little boys like flies!






Sampo Lappelill was frightened now, and heartily wished himself safe at

home. But how was he to get there?



There sat the poor child, alone in the darkness, amongst the desolate,

snow-covered rocks, with the big, black shadow of Rastekais frowning

down upon him. As he wept his tears froze immediately, and rolled down

over his jacket in little round lumps like peas; so Sampo thought that

he had better leave off crying, and run about in order to keep himself

warm.



"Rather than freeze to death here," he said to himself, "I would go

straight to the Mountain King. If he has a mind to swallow me, he must

do so, I suppose; but I shall advise him to eat instead some of the

wolves in this neighbourhood. They are much fatter than I, and their fur

would not be so difficult to swallow."



Sampo began to ascend the mountain. Before he had gone far, he heard the

trotting of some creature behind him, and a moment after a large wolf

overtook him. Although inwardly trembling, Sampo would not betray his

fear. He shouted:



"Keep out of my way! I am the bearer of a message to the King, and you

hinder me at your peril!"



"Dear me!" said the wolf (on Rastekais all the animals can speak). "And,

pray, what little shrimp are you, wriggling through the snow?"



"My name is Sampo Lappelill," replied the boy. "Who are you?"



"I," answered the wolf, "am first gentleman-usher to the Mountain King.

I have just been all over the kingdom to call together his subjects for

the great sun festival. As you are going my way, you may, if you please,

get upon my back, and so ride up the mountain."



Sampo instantly accepted the invitation. He climbed upon the shaggy back

of the wolf, and they went off at a gallop.



"What do you mean by the sun festival?" inquired Sampo.



"Don't you know that?" said the wolf. "We celebrate the sun's feast

the day he first appears on the horizon after the long night of winter.

All trolls, goblins, and animals in the north then assemble on

Rastekais, and on that day they are not permitted to hurt each other.

Lucky it was for you, my boy, that you came here to-day. On any other

day, I should have devoured you long ago."



"Is the King bound by the same law?" asked Sampo anxiously.



"Of course he is," answered the wolf. "From one hour before sunrise

until one hour after sunset he will not dare to harm you. If, however,

you are on the mountain when the time expires, you will be in great

danger. For the King will then seize whoever comes first, and a thousand

bears and a hundred thousand wolves will also be ready to rush upon you.

There will soon be an end of Sampo Lappelill!"



"But perhaps, sir," said Sampo timidly, "you would be so kind as to help

me back again before the danger begins?"



The wolf laughed. "Don't count on any such thing, my dear Sampo; on the

contrary, I mean to seize you first myself. You are such a very nice,

plump little boy! I see that you have been fattened on reindeer milk and

cheese. You will be splendid for breakfast to-morrow morning!"



Sampo began to think that his best course might be to jump off the

wolf's back at once. But it was too late. They had now arrived at the

top of Rastekais. Many curious and marvellous things were there to be

seen. There sat the terrible Mountain King on his throne of cloudy

rocks, gazing out over the snow-fields. He wore on his head a cap of

white snow-clouds; his eyes were like a full moon; his nose resembled a

mountain-ridge. His mouth was an abyss; his beard was like tufts of

immense icicles; his arms were as thick and strong as fir trees; his

coat was like an enormous snow-mountain. Sampo Lappelill had a good view

of the King and his subjects, for a bow of dazzling northern lights

shone in the sky and illuminated the scene.



All around the King stood millions of goblins, trolls, and brownies;

tiny, grey creatures, who had come from remotest parts of the world to

worship the sun. This they did from fear, not from love; for trolls and

goblins hate the sun, and always hope that he will never return when

they see him disappear at the end of summer.



Farther off stood all the animals of Lapland, thousands and thousands of

them of all sizes; from the bear, the wolf, and the glutton, to the

little mountain-rat, and the brisk, tiny reindeer-flea. No gnats

appeared, however; they had all been frozen.



Sampo was greatly astonished at what he saw. Unobserved, he slipped from

the wolf's back, and hid behind a ponderous stone, to watch the

proceedings.






The Mountain King shook his head, and the snow whirled about him. The

northern lights shone around his head like a crown of glory, sending

long, red streamers across the deep blue sky; they whizzed and sparkled,

expanded and drew together, fading sometimes, then again darting out

like lightning over the snow-clad mountains. This performance amused the

King. He clapped with his icy hands until the sound echoed like thunder,

causing the trolls to scream with joy, and the animals to howl with

fear. At this the King was still more delighted, and he shouted across

the desert:



"This is to my mind! Eternal darkness! Eternal night! May they never

end!"



"May they never end!" repeated all the trolls at the top of their

voices. Then arose a dispute amongst the animals. All the beasts of prey

agreed with the trolls, but the reindeer and other gentle creatures felt

that they should like to have summer back again, although they disliked

the gnats that would certainly return with it. One creature alone was

ready to welcome summer quite unreservedly. This was the reindeer-flea.

She piped out as loudly as she could:



"If you please, your Majesty, have we not come here to worship the sun,

and to watch for his coming?"



"Nonsense!" growled a polar bear. "Our meeting here springs from a

stupid old custom. The sooner it ends the better! In my opinion, the sun

has set for ever; he is dead!"



At these words the animals shuddered, but the trolls and goblins were

much pleased with them, and reiterated them gaily, shaking with laughter

to such an extent that their tiny caps fell off their heads. Then the

King roared, in a voice of thunder:



"Yea! Dead is the sun! Now must the whole world worship me, the King of

Eternal Night and Eternal Winter!"



Sampo, sitting behind the stone, was so greatly enraged by this speech

that he came forth from his hiding-place, exclaiming:



"That, O King, is a lie as big as yourself! The sun is not dead, for

only yesterday I saw his forerunner. He will be here very shortly,

bringing sweet summer with him, and thawing the icicles in your funny,

frozen beard!"




Sampo." page 46]



The King's brow grew black as a thunder-cloud. Forgetful of the law, he

lifted his tremendous arm to strike Sampo; but at that moment the

northern light faded. A red streak shot suddenly across the sky, shining

with such brilliancy into the King's face that it entirely dazzled him.

His arm fell useless at his side. Then the golden sun rose in slow

stateliness on the horizon, and that flood of glorious light caused even

those who had rejoiced in his supposed death to welcome his

re-appearance.



But the goblins were considerably astonished. From under their red caps

they stared at the sun with their little grey eyes, and grew so excited

that they stood on their heads in the snow. The beard of the

Mountain King began to melt and drip, until it was flowing down his

jacket like a running stream.



By-and-by, Sampo heard a reindeer say to her little one:



"Come, my child, we must be going, or we shall be eaten by the wolves."



"Such will be my fate also if I linger longer," thought Sampo. So he

sprang upon the back of a beautiful reindeer with golden antlers, which

started off with him at once, darting down the rocks with lightning

speed.



"What is that rustling sound that I hear behind us?" asked the boy

presently.



"It is made by the thousand bears; they are pursuing us in order to eat

us up," replied the reindeer. "You need not fear, however, for I am the

King's own enchanted reindeer, and no bear has ever been able as yet to

nibble my heels!"



They went on in silence for a time, then Sampo put another question.



"What," asked he, "is that strange panting I hear behind us?"



"That," returned the reindeer, "is made by the hundred thousand wolves;

they are at full gallop behind us, and wish to tear us in pieces. But

fear nothing from them! No wolf has ever beaten me in a race yet!"



Again Sampo spoke:



"Is it not thundering over there amongst the rocky mountains?"



"No," answered the now trembling reindeer; "that noise is made by the

King, who is chasing us. Now, indeed, all hope has fled, for no one can

escape him!"



"Can we do nothing?" asked Sampo.



"There is no safety to be found here," said the reindeer, "but there is

just one chance for us. We must try to reach the priest's house over

yonder by Lake Enare. Once there, we shall be safe, for the King has no

power over Christians."



"Oh, make haste! make haste! dear reindeer!" cried Sampo, "and you shall

feed on golden oats, and out of a silver manger."



On sped the reindeer. As they entered the priest's house, the Mountain

King crossed the courtyard, and knocked at the door with such violence

that it is a wonder he did not knock the house down.



"Who is there?" called the priest from within.






"It is I!" answered a thundering voice; "it is the mighty Mountain

King! Open the door! You have there a child, whom I claim as my prey."



"Wait a moment!" cried the priest. "Permit me to robe myself, in order

that I may give your Majesty a worthier reception."



"All right!" roared the King; "but be quick about it, or I may break

down your walls!" A moment later he raised his enormous foot for a kick,

yelling: "Are you not ready yet?"



Then the priest opened the door, and said solemnly, "Begone, King of

Night and Winter! Sampo Lappelill is under my protection, and he shall

never be yours!"



Upon this, the King flew into such a violent passion that he exploded in

a great storm of snow and wind. The flakes fell and fell, until the snow

reached the roof of the priest's house, so that every one inside it

expected to be buried alive. But as soon as the sun rose, the snow began

to melt, and all was well. The Mountain King had completely vanished,

and no one knows exactly what became of him, although some think that he

is still reigning on Rastekais.



Sampo thanked the priest heartily for his kindness, and begged, as an

additional favour, the loan of a sledge. To this sledge the boy

harnessed the golden-antlered reindeer, and drove home to his parents,

who were exceedingly glad to see him.



How Sampo became a great man, who fed his reindeer with golden oats out

of a silver manger, is too lengthy a story to tell now.