--- title: The Homesick Hero — The Sampo: A Wonder Tale of the Old North · full text with trees description: The Homesick Hero, «The Sampo: A Wonder Tale of the Old North» by James Baldwin: the whole chapter, every sentence with its dependency tree and pragmatics. It begins: The sunlight was streaming white and yellow, over sea and land. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg66819/12/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/) / [The Sampo: A Wonder Tale of the Old No…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg66819/) / The Homesick Hero # The Homesick Hero The Homesick Hero of «The Sampo: A Wonder Tale of the Old North» by James Baldwin: the whole text, 140 sentences and 2326 words. The small number after every sentence leads to its own page with its syntax tree and pragmatics, parsed by Mova itself. The sunlight was streaming white and yellow, over sea and land.[1](1/ "tree and pragmatics") The wild geese were honking among the reeds.[2](2/ "tree and pragmatics") The swallows were twittering under the eaves.[3](3/ "tree and pragmatics") The maids were milking the reindeer in the paddock behind Dame Louhi’s dwelling.[4](4/ "tree and pragmatics") Ilmarinen had slept late.[5](5/ "tree and pragmatics") He rose hurriedly and hastened to go out, not to listen to the varied sounds of the morning, but to ponder concerning the great problem that was soon to be solved.[6](6/ "tree and pragmatics") He opened the door, but quickly started back, trembling, and pale.[7](7/ "tree and pragmatics") What had he seen to give him pause, to cause him to be frightened?[8](8/ "tree and pragmatics") Right before him, so near that he might have touched her with his hand, stood the Maid of Beauty.[9](9/ "tree and pragmatics") Her cheeks were like the dawn of a summer’s morning; her lips were like two ripe, red berries with rows of pearls between; her eyes were like glorious suns, shining softly in the midst of heaven.[10](10/ "tree and pragmatics") Who would not have trembled in the presence of such marvellous beauty?[11](11/ "tree and pragmatics") Ilmarinen was overcome with bashfulness.[12](12/ "tree and pragmatics") He stammered, he paused, he looked into those wonderful eyes and was covered with confusion.[13](13/ "tree and pragmatics") Then he spoke to his own heart and said, “Why am I so cowardly—I who have hitherto feared nothing under the sun?[14](14/ "tree and pragmatics") I will be brave.[15](15/ "tree and pragmatics") I will ask her the momentous question and abide by her answer.”[16](16/ "tree and pragmatics") So, with quivering lips and downcast eyes he spoke: “Fairest of maidens, my task is done.[17](17/ "tree and pragmatics") I have forged the Sampo, I have hammered its marvellous lid, I have proved myself worthy to be called the Prince of Smiths.[18](18/ "tree and pragmatics") Will you not now go with me to my far distant home—to the Land of Heroes in the sunny south?[19](19/ "tree and pragmatics") There you shall be my queen; you shall rule my house, keep my kitchen, sit at the head of the table.[20](20/ "tree and pragmatics") O Maid of Beauty, it was for you that I forged the Sampo and performed those acts of magic which no other man would dare to undertake.[21](21/ "tree and pragmatics") Be kind, and disappoint me not.”[22](22/ "tree and pragmatics") The maiden answered softly, and she blushed as she spoke: “Why should I leave my own sweet home to go and live with strangers, to be a poor man’s wife in a poor and distant land?[23](23/ "tree and pragmatics") My mother’s hall would be desolate; her kitchen would be cold and ill-cared for were I to go away.[24](24/ "tree and pragmatics") She herself would grieve and die of loneliness.”[25](25/ "tree and pragmatics") “Nay,” said Ilmarinen, “she is not the sort of woman to feel sorrow; her heart is too hard to be crushed so easily.”[26](26/ "tree and pragmatics") “But there are others who would miss me,” said the maiden softly.[27](27/ "tree and pragmatics") “If I should go away, who would feed the reindeer at the break of day?[28](28/ "tree and pragmatics") Who, in the early springtime, would welcome the cuckoo and answer his joyous song?[29](29/ "tree and pragmatics") Who, in the short summer, would caress the wildflowers in the wooded nooks and sing to the violets in the meadows?[30](30/ "tree and pragmatics") Who, in the autumn, would pick the red cranberries in our marshes?[31](31/ "tree and pragmatics") Who, at winter’s beginning, would tell the songbirds to fly southward, and who would cheer the wild geese on their way to summer lands?”[32](32/ "tree and pragmatics") The Smith had now grown bolder, and he answered wisely: “The cuckoo comes to my country as well as yours.[33](33/ "tree and pragmatics") There are flowers in the forests of Wainola more beautiful than any in this chilly land.[34](34/ "tree and pragmatics") There are cranberries in our marshes also, redder and larger than any you have ever picked.[35](35/ "tree and pragmatics") The songbirds live in the Land of Heroes half of every year, and the wild geese tarry there and build their nests in the sedgy inlets.”[36](36/ "tree and pragmatics") “All that may be true,” said the Maid of Beauty, “but your cuckoo is not my cuckoo, and so how could I welcome it in the springtime?[37](37/ "tree and pragmatics") All things in Wainola would be strangers to me, while all things in Pohyola are friends.[38](38/ "tree and pragmatics") The North Country, the Frozen Land as you call it, would be very lonely if I were to leave it; the meadows would be joyless, the hills would be forlorn, the shores would be desolate.[39](39/ "tree and pragmatics") Were I not here to paint the rainbow, the storm clouds would never vanish.[40](40/ "tree and pragmatics") Were I not here to note the change of seasons, the songbirds would surely forget to come, the flowers would neglect to bloom, the cranberries would perish ungathered.[41](41/ "tree and pragmatics") No, Ilmarinen, I must not go with you.[42](42/ "tree and pragmatics") You are skilful, you are wise, you are brave, you are the prince of wizards and of smiths—but I love my native land.[43](43/ "tree and pragmatics") Say no more; I will not go with you.”[44](44/ "tree and pragmatics") The Smith was speechless; his tongue was motionless, and he could not make reply.[45](45/ "tree and pragmatics") He turned slowly away, and with head bowed down and cap pulled over his eyes, he sought his favorite place by the side of the smouldering hearth-fire.[46](46/ "tree and pragmatics") All day he sat there, pondering, wondering how now by any makeshift he could escape from Pohyola and return to his native land.[47](47/ "tree and pragmatics") The longer he thought, the larger his troubles appeared.[48](48/ "tree and pragmatics") He had no boat to sail by sea, no sledge nor reindeer to travel by land, no money in his purse, no knowledge of the road.[49](49/ "tree and pragmatics") Would not magic avail him?[50](50/ "tree and pragmatics") Could he not call upon the winds to carry him, as they had once done against his will?[51](51/ "tree and pragmatics") Alas, no\![52](52/ "tree and pragmatics") All his magic lore, all his magic power, had been exhausted in the forging of the Sampo; he was utterly bankrupt.[53](53/ "tree and pragmatics") While he sat thus, homesick, disappointed, and forlorn, Dame Louhi came suddenly into the hall.[54](54/ "tree and pragmatics") She was white with flour and laden with silver, and she wore a look of triumph on her grim and unlovely face.[55](55/ "tree and pragmatics") “Ha! forger of the Sampo!” she cried.[56](56/ "tree and pragmatics") “Why do you sit here moping day after day?[57](57/ "tree and pragmatics") What ails you—you, who hammered out the sky and set the stars in their places—you, the prince of wizards, the king of boasters?”[58](58/ "tree and pragmatics") Ilmarinen groaned and pulled his cap still lower over his eyebrows; but he answered not a word.[59](59/ "tree and pragmatics") The Mistress went on with her bantering; she laid salt on the poor man’s wounds and briskly rubbed it in.[60](60/ "tree and pragmatics") “Why do you groan so like an ice-floe breaking up at the end of winter?[61](61/ "tree and pragmatics") Why do you weep salt tears, extinguishing the fire on my hearth?[62](62/ "tree and pragmatics") Have you the toothache, ear-ache, heartache, stomach-ache?[63](63/ "tree and pragmatics") Did you eat too much at dinner?[64](64/ "tree and pragmatics") Surely, the prince of wizards ought to curb his appetite.”[65](65/ "tree and pragmatics") The Smith’s heart was filled with anger; his brain burned, his cheeks were flushed with shame.[66](66/ "tree and pragmatics") Much had he suffered from this woman’s greed and cunning; painfully was he stung by her bitter words.[67](67/ "tree and pragmatics") Yet he answered her with becoming gentleness—for was she not the mother of the Maid of Beauty?[68](68/ "tree and pragmatics") “I have no ache nor bodily pain,” he said; “but I am sick of this wretched country, this Frozen Land.[69](69/ "tree and pragmatics") I am sick of its mists, of its storms, of its long nights and its cheerless days.[70](70/ "tree and pragmatics") And, most of all, I am sick of its thankless people.”[71](71/ "tree and pragmatics") “Ah\![72](72/ "tree and pragmatics") I understand,” answered the woman; and she closed her toothless jaws tightly, restraining her anger.[73](73/ "tree and pragmatics") “In other words, you are homesick; your heart is filled with longing for your own country and your own fireside.”[74](74/ "tree and pragmatics") “You speak rightly,” answered Ilmarinen.[75](75/ "tree and pragmatics") “My heart is in the South Land, in the Land of Heroes.[76](76/ "tree and pragmatics") Unwillingly did I come to your bleak and chilly Pohyola; unwillingly have I remained here, cheered by a single hope which has at last been blasted.[77](77/ "tree and pragmatics") And now my only wish is to return home, to see once more the friends whom I love, to cheer my mother in her loneliness.”[78](78/ "tree and pragmatics") “Surely, the lad who cries for his mother should be comforted,” said the Mistress derisively.[79](79/ "tree and pragmatics") “At what moment would you like to start on your homeward journey?”[80](80/ "tree and pragmatics") “At the break of day?” answered the Smith, his face brightening as his hopes were strengthened.[81](81/ "tree and pragmatics") “It shall be as you wish,” said the woman, and her tones were uncommonly tender and kind.[82](82/ "tree and pragmatics") “I will see that everything is in readiness.[83](83/ "tree and pragmatics") At the break of day a boat will be waiting for you at the landing.[84](84/ "tree and pragmatics") Delay not a moment, but go on board and ask no questions.[85](85/ "tree and pragmatics") You shall be safely carried to the haven that is so dear to you.”[86](86/ "tree and pragmatics") Ilmarinen stammered his thanks.[87](87/ "tree and pragmatics") His eyes grew brighter, his heart was cheered with hope.[88](88/ "tree and pragmatics") Very impatiently the hero waited through the short hours of night, and gladly did he hail the first gray streak of dawn that heralded the morning.[89](89/ "tree and pragmatics") He hastened out to the shore.[90](90/ "tree and pragmatics") The promised boat was there, moored to the landing by a hempen rope.[91](91/ "tree and pragmatics") It was a small vessel, but roomy enough for one passenger who would also be captain and crew.[92](92/ "tree and pragmatics") Its hull was of cedar and the trimmings were of maple.[93](93/ "tree and pragmatics") Its prow was tipped with copper, sharp and strong.[94](94/ "tree and pragmatics") The oar also was of copper, and the sail was painted red and yellow.[95](95/ "tree and pragmatics") In the boat a great store of food was packed—deer meat, smoked herring, cakes of barley, toothsome victuals enough for many days.[96](96/ "tree and pragmatics") Ilmarinen asked no man any questions, although many persons were gathered on the shore, wondering whence came the strange vessel and whither it was going.[97](97/ "tree and pragmatics") He climbed over the polished gunwales and stepped boldly on board.[98](98/ "tree and pragmatics") Then, as the sun was peeping out of the sea, he raised the square sail of red and yellow.[99](99/ "tree and pragmatics") He cut the mooring rope, and took the copper paddle in his hands; he sat down in the stern to do the steering.[100](100/ "tree and pragmatics") A gentle wind filled the sail, and the boat glided smoothly, swiftly away from the land.[101](101/ "tree and pragmatics") Ilmarinen looked back; he saw all the folk of Pohyola standing along the shore, and he heard them shouting their good-byes and bidding him god-speed.[102](102/ "tree and pragmatics") He looked again, and saw the Maid of Beauty among them; she was waving her hand, and her face seemed to him tenfold more beautiful than before; her cheeks were wet with tears, and there was a look of great regret in her wonderful eyes.[103](103/ "tree and pragmatics") And there also stood the Mistress of Pohyola, gray and grim and toothless, but noble in mien and of queenly appearance.[104](104/ "tree and pragmatics") She lifted her arms, she raised her eyes towards heaven, and called to the North Wind to prosper the voyage for her departing guest:[105](105/ "tree and pragmatics") “Come, thou North Wind, great and strong, Guide this hero to his home; Gently drive his boat along O’er the dashing white sea-foam.[106](106/ "tree and pragmatics") “Push him with your mighty hand; Blow him o’er the blue-backed sea; Carry him safe to Hero Land, And let him ne’er come back to me.”[107](107/ "tree and pragmatics") The North Wind heard her, and he came, strong, swift, and steady.[108](108/ "tree and pragmatics") Like a waterfowl in some sheltered cove, the boat glided with incredible smoothness over the chilly waters.[109](109/ "tree and pragmatics") Joyfully the prince of smiths handled the oar, and loudly he shouted to the wind as he saw the red prow cleaving the waves and knew that he was speeding homeward.[110](110/ "tree and pragmatics") Three days the voyage lasted.[111](111/ "tree and pragmatics") As the morning of the fourth was dawning, Ilmarinen beheld on his left the lofty headland and pleasant shore of his native land, green with summer-leafing trees and odorous with the breath of wildflowers.[112](112/ "tree and pragmatics") The sun rose above the eastern hills, and then his eyes were rejoiced with the sight of the weather-stained roofs of Wainola, and curling clouds of smoke rising from the hearths of many well-known dwellings.[113](113/ "tree and pragmatics") Gently, then, the glad voyager guided his boat into the harbor.[114](114/ "tree and pragmatics") He dismissed the North Wind with warm thanks for his friendly service; and then with a few skilful strokes of the oar, he drove his stanch little boat high up on the sloping beach.[115](115/ "tree and pragmatics") “Home! home at last!” he cried as he leaped out.[116](116/ "tree and pragmatics") He paused not a moment, he took no care to tie his little vessel to the mooring-post, but with eager, impatient feet he hastened towards the village.[117](117/ "tree and pragmatics") Scarcely had he walked half-way to the nearest dwelling, when a man stepped suddenly into the road before him.[118](118/ "tree and pragmatics") It was Wainamoinen, the cunning wizard, the first of all minstrels.[119](119/ "tree and pragmatics") “O Ilmarinen, dearest of brothers!” shouted the aged man, so wise, so truthful, so skilled in tricks of magic.[120](120/ "tree and pragmatics") “How delighted I am to behold your face again\![121](121/ "tree and pragmatics") Where have you been hiding through all these anxious months?”[122](122/ "tree and pragmatics") The Smith answered curtly, coldly, yet politely: “You know quite well my hiding-place, for it was you who sent me thither.[123](123/ "tree and pragmatics") I thank you for the journey; but it will be long ere I climb another one of your magic trees.”[124](124/ "tree and pragmatics") “Wisest and skilfulest of metal workers, why do you speak in riddles?” said the Minstrel, appearing to be hurt.[125](125/ "tree and pragmatics") “Never have I sought to harm you; but all that I did was for your own good.[126](126/ "tree and pragmatics") Now, I welcome you back to Wainola.[127](127/ "tree and pragmatics") Let us be brothers as in the days of yore.[128](128/ "tree and pragmatics") Come! here is my hand; let us forgive and forget!”[129](129/ "tree and pragmatics") The generous Smith could not cherish ill-feeling in his heart.[130](130/ "tree and pragmatics") He loved the aged Minstrel as he would have loved a father.[131](131/ "tree and pragmatics") So he grasped the proffered hand, gently, warmly; he embraced his friend twice, three times, as had been his wont whenever fondness prompted his warm heart.[132](132/ "tree and pragmatics") Then he said, “I forgive you, sweetest of minstrels.”[133](133/ "tree and pragmatics") Side by side, arm in arm, the two old comrades walked homeward.[134](134/ "tree and pragmatics") “Tell me, Ilmarinen,” said the Minstrel, “did you perform my errand?[135](135/ "tree and pragmatics") Did you fulfil my promise and forge the magic Sampo?[136](136/ "tree and pragmatics") Did you win the prize?”[137](137/ "tree and pragmatics") “Yes, I forged the Sampo,” answered Ilmarinen; “and I hammered its rainbow cover.[138](138/ "tree and pragmatics") Therefore your debt is paid, and you are freed from your promise.[139](139/ "tree and pragmatics") But as for me—well, as you see, I have not won the Maid of Beauty.”[140](140/ "tree and pragmatics") - ← previous: [The Forging of the Sampo](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg66819/11/) - next →: [The Unfinished Boat](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg66819/13/) - ↑ back to [The Sampo: A Wonder Tale of the Old North](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg66819/)