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Three: Sisko
Three: Sisko
A BORDER VIOLATION ON THE KARELIAN ISTHMUS
Three Russian airplanes crossed the border twice
Machine-gun fire by the Border Guard drove away the uninvited guests
Yesterday another egregious border violation took place on the Karelian Isthmus. About 11 a.m. three Russian airplanes, two fighters and one bomber, crossed over the Finnish border somewhat north of the bridge over Rajajoki. The planes flew all the way to the Ollila station, but after fire was opened against them...
After a busy night and an equally hectic morning, Sisko suddenly found herself without anything to do. True to form, she decided to sneak into her father's study and to borrow a stack of newspapers to browse through. In the last few days, she hadn't had the time to read up on current events, and now she took the opportunity to leaf through a few days old copies of both the Helsingin Sanomat[1] and the Savon Sanomat[2].
A DOUBLE VICTORY POSSIBLE IN THE FINLAND-SWEDEN ATHLETICS COMPETITION
Record results, surprises, a successful start in Stockholm
Savolainen better than Strandberg, Mäki stronger than Jonsson in brilliant feats of running
Sisko should have been helping in the last preparations for her father's party, but then her participation had been torpedoed by the man of the hour himself.
"She's a university student, Alma", he had told her wife, his piercing eyes peering brightly from behind his round spectacles, "she will be a doctor some day not so far in the future. When the guests arrive, I will not have her bustling around like some common maid! She'll join us at the main table, among my guests."
And that was that. Sisko Vaara had been dropped off her mother's work roster and told to put on her better clothes for the party, and to remember to wear her student cap so that her status as a university student would not be unclear to anyone.
20 000 MEN WILL TAKE PART IN WAR GAMES
30 000 kg of food needed daily
3000 horses and 400 motor vehicles included
Troop concentrations next Sunday and Monday to the east and north of Viipuri
Sisko did not like to read on the political and military developments in Europe, things seemed much too tense right now, what with Germany and Poland, and other nations in central Europe besides, seemingly more ready to go at each other's throats every passing day. So, she rather focused on the domestic news and cultural and economic issues.
THE FOREIGN GUESTS OF THE TEMPERANCE CONFERENCE ARRIVE
The chairman of the International Temperance Union in Finland
Altogether twenty-two nations are represented in the conference
”What does 'temperance' mean, Sisko?”, she suddenly heard a voice next to her.
It was Erkki, his baby brother, standing there holding his dear toy badger. Erkki was her parents' evening star, altogether 17 years younger than the Vaara triplets. At age six, he had proved to be a very inquisitive and headstrong boy.
”Did you read it from the paper, Erkki?”, she asked and the fair-haired boy nodded.
”Veli has been teaching me to read”, he said brightly.
I'm sure he has, she thought with an inward smile. He'll have you reading and memorizing the Forssa Program [3] soon enough.
”Well, Erkki, 'temperance' means that one does not drink alcohol, or at least practices strict limits on their consumption of alcoholic beverages – like your parents, for example”, Sisko told her brother who nodded solemnly.
”I see. Why do adults drink alcohol, if not drinking it is better?”
A good question.
”The thing is, I understand, that drinking some alcohol makes one feel nice and happy”, the young university student told the boy in his summer shorts, ”but then drinking more makes one stupid and clumsy. And if one drinks too much, the next day they will be feeling sick, have a headache and a sore stomach.”
Erkki nodded again.
”That sounds bad. When I grow up, I will join the International Temperance Union and never drink alcohol at all.”
He looked at his plushy toy animal.
”And neither will Mister Badger.”[4]
Sisko nodded, smiling.
”That is definitely a good decision for you and for Mister Badger as well.”
Erkki never went anywhere these days without his black and grey toy. One day, last year, he had been roaming in the woods behind the cowshed when he had spotted an animal he had never seen before. Veli told her that Erkki had come running to him, excitedly asking about the furry fellow snuffling about in the woods, one that had run off after it had noticed the boy. Veli had told his brother that the funny-looking animal was a badger, or a ”forest pig” like it was also called.
Some days passed. Then one night Erkki had dreamed about badgers, and after that he had started demanding that he should get a pet badger for himself. He had asked it from his parents repeatedly, and even if her mother explained to her that a badger is a creature of the forest, not a pet, he had not given up. Even after his father had given him a spanking to disabuse him of the badger obsession, Erkki had not given up. Finally, exasperated, Alma Vaara had got a bright idea and commissioned a Kuopio seamstress to make a stuffed toy badger to Erkki. Oh the happiness when the boy finally got the furry thing he had long wanted. Perhaps to alleviate the fact that it was not a real live badger, Erkki had named the toy Mister Badger and started carrying it around with him what ever he did.
”Sisko!”, she heard a woman's voice calling out to her, ”they're coming!”
That would be the guests, she thought, sighed, put down the paper and got up herself.
And true enough, when she got out to the yard, the guests of honour were already arriving to Vaarala.
They were men in dark suits and women in summer dresses, come from Kuopio on the steamer Tähti, chartered for this occasion specifically. Town and state bureaucrats, town and rural municipality councilmen, party functionaries, Civil Guard officers and other local notables with their wives made up a procession of party-goers from the Vaarala pier to the big main house that some called the Vaarala manor.
Salomo Vaara himself stood there waiting for them, in his three piece suit, checking his pocket watch. He was a man of a medium build, with a not-too-handsome face decorated with a mustache and severe round eyeglasses. His head was bald and he walked with an ivory-handled cane. Salomo Vaara's a bit underwhelming looks were overshadowed by his deep baritone voice and his impressive presence. Her father had charisma in spades, he could dominate most gatherings with the sheer weight of his personality, Sisko Vaara had to agree. That was probably why the farmer and the inspector of the local branches of the Cooperative Credit Union[5] was constantly involved in the council of the Kuopio rural municipality[6], and a lot of other official Agrarian League business as well, even up to the national level. It did not hurt a bit that he was a personal acquintance of Doctor Gephard[7] himself, too.
The procession of guests was led by the highest-ranking figure – P.V. Heikkinen, the long-time chairman of the Agrarian League himself, a member of parliament and the current Minister of Agriculture. Heikkinen was an old if not friend, then a friendly rival of Salomo Vaara as well, hailing from Nilsiä to the north of Kuopio, only some tens of kilometers from Hirvilahti. On his summer holiday from his important work in the capital, Heikkinen had found the time to come visit the chairman of the Kuopio rural municipality's council on his 50th anniversary.
Naturally, most of the men and women pouring into the Vaara yard were members and supporters of the Agrarian League.
Out on the yard, under the August sun, several long tables had been set out for the guests, one of them raised slightly higher and more prominently bedecked with decorations. The guests of honour would have fitted inside the main hall of the Vaarala farmhouse, if only so-and-so, but then they were not the only guests expected on this day. All and sundry villagers and local well-wishers would be expected to show up, and all expected to get at least something to eat. And so, several rows of tables had been set up on the yard, some with chairs but most with simple benches lining them.
Sisko stood to the side with her twin brothers, one in his best dark suit, looking uncomfortable, and the other in his cavalry uniform, somewhat more at ease, as the guests of honour were shown to their places around the tables.
The young woman corrected the position of her student cap and looked at the food laid on the tables – a veritable feast designed to reflect the affluence of the Vaara farm. Pots of Karelian meat stew, several kalakukkos[8] and lanttukukkos[9] cut open from the top in the traditional fashion, freshly smoked pikes acquired from fish traps just that morning, piles of boiled potatoes, boiled carrots and peas, pickled cucumbers and beets, summer salad with boiled eggs. And of course rye bread and butter, and lots of Karelian pastries with egg butter. For dessert, fresh strawberries with whipped cream. Jugs of homemade weak beer to drink, as well as cold water from the well.
Later on, there would be coffee, cakes and sweet rolls.
Needless to say, to set up the offerings had been a work of days for Alma Vaara, the other women of the household and several other women from the village as temporary help. The reputation of the Vaara family, and that of Alma Vaara herself was at stake – everything would have to go off without a hitch, unless she wanted that uncomplementary things would be said of her and hers behind her back. Alma Vaara did not want that. As the mistress of the Vaara household, she had a reputation and a status to uphold, and uphold them she would.
Sisko Vaara had to greet many guests of honour before she finally could start looking forward to actually digging in to the food on offer. To be honest, after a seemingly neverending procession of older gentlemen in suits and their summery wives to be curtseyed and smiled at, she was starting to feel somewhat peckish herself, too.
But first, of course, there was the vicar[10] leading everyone in a grace and a hymn, in his black suit and priest's collar. The man in his 40s looked stern and his wife angelic, though everyone knew that appearances were deceiving. The vicar himself was Christian charity come to flesh, a man given to avoid fire and brimstone in his sermons. His wife, on the other hand, held on to much stricter de facto Christian doctrines and generally had the reputation of being a bit of a dragon.
After the hymn ended, the feast of Salomo Vaara's 50th birthday begun.
Notes:
[1] The leading capital daily.
[2] A major Savonian provincial paper, published in Kuopio.
[3] The official platform of the Finnish Social Democratic Party, originally adopted in 1903.
[4] Herra Mäyrä.
[5] Osuuskassa.
[6] Kuopion maalaiskunta, a separate municipality surrounding the town proper.
[7] Hannes Gebhard was the founder of the Finnish rural cooperative banking movement.
[8] A traditional Savonian dish of fish (usually vendace or perch) and pork baked inside a rye bread crust and slowly baked in an oven to very well done.
[9] The same but with rutabaga instead of fish.
[10] Kirkkoherra, arguably a corruption of Swedish kyrkoherde. The Finnish term is more intimidating than the word ”vicar” is in English, it can be literally translated as ”church lord”.
To Be Continued
Three: Sisko
A BORDER VIOLATION ON THE KARELIAN ISTHMUS
Three Russian airplanes crossed the border twice
Machine-gun fire by the Border Guard drove away the uninvited guests
Yesterday another egregious border violation took place on the Karelian Isthmus. About 11 a.m. three Russian airplanes, two fighters and one bomber, crossed over the Finnish border somewhat north of the bridge over Rajajoki. The planes flew all the way to the Ollila station, but after fire was opened against them...
After a busy night and an equally hectic morning, Sisko suddenly found herself without anything to do. True to form, she decided to sneak into her father's study and to borrow a stack of newspapers to browse through. In the last few days, she hadn't had the time to read up on current events, and now she took the opportunity to leaf through a few days old copies of both the Helsingin Sanomat[1] and the Savon Sanomat[2].
A DOUBLE VICTORY POSSIBLE IN THE FINLAND-SWEDEN ATHLETICS COMPETITION
Record results, surprises, a successful start in Stockholm
Savolainen better than Strandberg, Mäki stronger than Jonsson in brilliant feats of running
Sisko should have been helping in the last preparations for her father's party, but then her participation had been torpedoed by the man of the hour himself.
"She's a university student, Alma", he had told her wife, his piercing eyes peering brightly from behind his round spectacles, "she will be a doctor some day not so far in the future. When the guests arrive, I will not have her bustling around like some common maid! She'll join us at the main table, among my guests."
And that was that. Sisko Vaara had been dropped off her mother's work roster and told to put on her better clothes for the party, and to remember to wear her student cap so that her status as a university student would not be unclear to anyone.
20 000 MEN WILL TAKE PART IN WAR GAMES
30 000 kg of food needed daily
3000 horses and 400 motor vehicles included
Troop concentrations next Sunday and Monday to the east and north of Viipuri
Sisko did not like to read on the political and military developments in Europe, things seemed much too tense right now, what with Germany and Poland, and other nations in central Europe besides, seemingly more ready to go at each other's throats every passing day. So, she rather focused on the domestic news and cultural and economic issues.
THE FOREIGN GUESTS OF THE TEMPERANCE CONFERENCE ARRIVE
The chairman of the International Temperance Union in Finland
Altogether twenty-two nations are represented in the conference
”What does 'temperance' mean, Sisko?”, she suddenly heard a voice next to her.
It was Erkki, his baby brother, standing there holding his dear toy badger. Erkki was her parents' evening star, altogether 17 years younger than the Vaara triplets. At age six, he had proved to be a very inquisitive and headstrong boy.
”Did you read it from the paper, Erkki?”, she asked and the fair-haired boy nodded.
”Veli has been teaching me to read”, he said brightly.
I'm sure he has, she thought with an inward smile. He'll have you reading and memorizing the Forssa Program [3] soon enough.
”Well, Erkki, 'temperance' means that one does not drink alcohol, or at least practices strict limits on their consumption of alcoholic beverages – like your parents, for example”, Sisko told her brother who nodded solemnly.
”I see. Why do adults drink alcohol, if not drinking it is better?”
A good question.
”The thing is, I understand, that drinking some alcohol makes one feel nice and happy”, the young university student told the boy in his summer shorts, ”but then drinking more makes one stupid and clumsy. And if one drinks too much, the next day they will be feeling sick, have a headache and a sore stomach.”
Erkki nodded again.
”That sounds bad. When I grow up, I will join the International Temperance Union and never drink alcohol at all.”
He looked at his plushy toy animal.
”And neither will Mister Badger.”[4]
Sisko nodded, smiling.
”That is definitely a good decision for you and for Mister Badger as well.”
Erkki never went anywhere these days without his black and grey toy. One day, last year, he had been roaming in the woods behind the cowshed when he had spotted an animal he had never seen before. Veli told her that Erkki had come running to him, excitedly asking about the furry fellow snuffling about in the woods, one that had run off after it had noticed the boy. Veli had told his brother that the funny-looking animal was a badger, or a ”forest pig” like it was also called.
Some days passed. Then one night Erkki had dreamed about badgers, and after that he had started demanding that he should get a pet badger for himself. He had asked it from his parents repeatedly, and even if her mother explained to her that a badger is a creature of the forest, not a pet, he had not given up. Even after his father had given him a spanking to disabuse him of the badger obsession, Erkki had not given up. Finally, exasperated, Alma Vaara had got a bright idea and commissioned a Kuopio seamstress to make a stuffed toy badger to Erkki. Oh the happiness when the boy finally got the furry thing he had long wanted. Perhaps to alleviate the fact that it was not a real live badger, Erkki had named the toy Mister Badger and started carrying it around with him what ever he did.
”Sisko!”, she heard a woman's voice calling out to her, ”they're coming!”
That would be the guests, she thought, sighed, put down the paper and got up herself.
And true enough, when she got out to the yard, the guests of honour were already arriving to Vaarala.
They were men in dark suits and women in summer dresses, come from Kuopio on the steamer Tähti, chartered for this occasion specifically. Town and state bureaucrats, town and rural municipality councilmen, party functionaries, Civil Guard officers and other local notables with their wives made up a procession of party-goers from the Vaarala pier to the big main house that some called the Vaarala manor.
Salomo Vaara himself stood there waiting for them, in his three piece suit, checking his pocket watch. He was a man of a medium build, with a not-too-handsome face decorated with a mustache and severe round eyeglasses. His head was bald and he walked with an ivory-handled cane. Salomo Vaara's a bit underwhelming looks were overshadowed by his deep baritone voice and his impressive presence. Her father had charisma in spades, he could dominate most gatherings with the sheer weight of his personality, Sisko Vaara had to agree. That was probably why the farmer and the inspector of the local branches of the Cooperative Credit Union[5] was constantly involved in the council of the Kuopio rural municipality[6], and a lot of other official Agrarian League business as well, even up to the national level. It did not hurt a bit that he was a personal acquintance of Doctor Gephard[7] himself, too.
The procession of guests was led by the highest-ranking figure – P.V. Heikkinen, the long-time chairman of the Agrarian League himself, a member of parliament and the current Minister of Agriculture. Heikkinen was an old if not friend, then a friendly rival of Salomo Vaara as well, hailing from Nilsiä to the north of Kuopio, only some tens of kilometers from Hirvilahti. On his summer holiday from his important work in the capital, Heikkinen had found the time to come visit the chairman of the Kuopio rural municipality's council on his 50th anniversary.
Naturally, most of the men and women pouring into the Vaara yard were members and supporters of the Agrarian League.
Out on the yard, under the August sun, several long tables had been set out for the guests, one of them raised slightly higher and more prominently bedecked with decorations. The guests of honour would have fitted inside the main hall of the Vaarala farmhouse, if only so-and-so, but then they were not the only guests expected on this day. All and sundry villagers and local well-wishers would be expected to show up, and all expected to get at least something to eat. And so, several rows of tables had been set up on the yard, some with chairs but most with simple benches lining them.
Sisko stood to the side with her twin brothers, one in his best dark suit, looking uncomfortable, and the other in his cavalry uniform, somewhat more at ease, as the guests of honour were shown to their places around the tables.
The young woman corrected the position of her student cap and looked at the food laid on the tables – a veritable feast designed to reflect the affluence of the Vaara farm. Pots of Karelian meat stew, several kalakukkos[8] and lanttukukkos[9] cut open from the top in the traditional fashion, freshly smoked pikes acquired from fish traps just that morning, piles of boiled potatoes, boiled carrots and peas, pickled cucumbers and beets, summer salad with boiled eggs. And of course rye bread and butter, and lots of Karelian pastries with egg butter. For dessert, fresh strawberries with whipped cream. Jugs of homemade weak beer to drink, as well as cold water from the well.
Later on, there would be coffee, cakes and sweet rolls.
Needless to say, to set up the offerings had been a work of days for Alma Vaara, the other women of the household and several other women from the village as temporary help. The reputation of the Vaara family, and that of Alma Vaara herself was at stake – everything would have to go off without a hitch, unless she wanted that uncomplementary things would be said of her and hers behind her back. Alma Vaara did not want that. As the mistress of the Vaara household, she had a reputation and a status to uphold, and uphold them she would.
Sisko Vaara had to greet many guests of honour before she finally could start looking forward to actually digging in to the food on offer. To be honest, after a seemingly neverending procession of older gentlemen in suits and their summery wives to be curtseyed and smiled at, she was starting to feel somewhat peckish herself, too.
But first, of course, there was the vicar[10] leading everyone in a grace and a hymn, in his black suit and priest's collar. The man in his 40s looked stern and his wife angelic, though everyone knew that appearances were deceiving. The vicar himself was Christian charity come to flesh, a man given to avoid fire and brimstone in his sermons. His wife, on the other hand, held on to much stricter de facto Christian doctrines and generally had the reputation of being a bit of a dragon.
After the hymn ended, the feast of Salomo Vaara's 50th birthday begun.
Notes:
[1] The leading capital daily.
[2] A major Savonian provincial paper, published in Kuopio.
[3] The official platform of the Finnish Social Democratic Party, originally adopted in 1903.
[4] Herra Mäyrä.
[5] Osuuskassa.
[6] Kuopion maalaiskunta, a separate municipality surrounding the town proper.
[7] Hannes Gebhard was the founder of the Finnish rural cooperative banking movement.
[8] A traditional Savonian dish of fish (usually vendace or perch) and pork baked inside a rye bread crust and slowly baked in an oven to very well done.
[9] The same but with rutabaga instead of fish.
[10] Kirkkoherra, arguably a corruption of Swedish kyrkoherde. The Finnish term is more intimidating than the word ”vicar” is in English, it can be literally translated as ”church lord”.
To Be Continued
- DrakonFin
- Word Count: 2k