--- title: The Maid of Beauty — The Sampo: A Wonder Tale of the Old North · full text with trees description: The Maid of Beauty, «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: Swiftly as a shooting star did the reindeer rush through the forest ways. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg66819/3/) [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 Maid of Beauty # The Maid of Beauty The Maid of Beauty of «The Sampo: A Wonder Tale of the Old North» by James Baldwin: the whole text, 100 sentences and 1381 words. The small number after every sentence leads to its own page with its syntax tree and pragmatics, parsed by Mova itself. Swiftly as a shooting star did the reindeer rush through the forest ways.[1](1/ "tree and pragmatics") In his sledge, the Minstrel sat upright and deftly handled the whip and the reins.[2](2/ "tree and pragmatics") His eyes were upon the road before him, and all his thoughts were about his home land and his own pleasant fireside so far, far away.[3](3/ "tree and pragmatics") Now he was among the snowy mountains; and now his sledge was skimming along untravelled paths in the deep and shadowy valleys.[4](4/ "tree and pragmatics") Suddenly his thoughts were disturbed by a strange sound in the air above him.[5](5/ "tree and pragmatics") Was it the song of a bird?[6](6/ "tree and pragmatics") Was it the sighing of the wind?[7](7/ "tree and pragmatics") Was it the humming of wild bees?[8](8/ "tree and pragmatics") Or was it the sound of some distant waterfall?[9](9/ "tree and pragmatics") He listened.[10](10/ "tree and pragmatics") Could it be the buzzing of a weaver’s shuttle shooting through some loom on the craggy heights above him?[11](11/ "tree and pragmatics") It certainly sounded so; and yet it was so loud, so musical.[12](12/ "tree and pragmatics") Forgotten, then, was Dame Louhi’s latest caution.[13](13/ "tree and pragmatics") Quickly the Minstrel checked his reindeer steed; quickly, and in wonder, he lifted his eyes and looked aloft.[14](14/ "tree and pragmatics") High in the sky he saw a rainbow, and on it sat the Maid of Beauty, busily weaving with a golden shuttle.[15](15/ "tree and pragmatics") Swiftly, to and fro, she drove the shuttle, and the fabric which she wove was wondrously fine.[16](16/ "tree and pragmatics") Threads of silver, threads of gold, threads of every brilliant color were mingled in that web of magic.[17](17/ "tree and pragmatics") But fairer than that fairy fabric, fairer than all else in that radiant vision was the maiden’s radiant face.[18](18/ "tree and pragmatics") Wainamoinen pulled upon the reins with all his might; his steed stopped short upon a hillside.[19](19/ "tree and pragmatics") Then he called loudly to the maiden on the rainbow.[20](20/ "tree and pragmatics") “Come hither, come hither, most beautiful one,” he said.[21](21/ "tree and pragmatics") “Come down and sit in this sledge by my side.”[22](22/ "tree and pragmatics") Faster and faster flew the magic shuttle, and the buzzing sounded louder; but the maiden had heard the Minstrel’s call.[23](23/ "tree and pragmatics") She turned her face towards him and spoke disdainfully.[24](24/ "tree and pragmatics") “Who are you?” she asked.[25](25/ "tree and pragmatics") “And why should I sit in your sledge?”[26](26/ "tree and pragmatics") “I am Wainamoinen, chief of singers, master of wizards,” answered the hero.[27](27/ "tree and pragmatics") “I am now on my way to my sweet home country, the Land of Heroes.[28](28/ "tree and pragmatics") I know you would love that land, and I would rejoice to take you thither with me.[29](29/ "tree and pragmatics") You shall be the queen of my house.[30](30/ "tree and pragmatics") You shall bake my honey cakes, fill my cups with barley-water, sing at my table.[31](31/ "tree and pragmatics") All my people will honor you.”[32](32/ "tree and pragmatics") The Maid of Beauty looked down from her rainbow seat and laughed.[33](33/ "tree and pragmatics") “You are a foolish old man,” she said, “to think that I care for you or for all that you promise.[34](34/ "tree and pragmatics") Let me tell you a story.”[35](35/ "tree and pragmatics") “Certainly,” said the Minstrel.[36](36/ "tree and pragmatics") “Well, yesterday I was walking in the meadows of the West.[37](37/ "tree and pragmatics") I was picking flowers and making this wreath which you see on my head.[38](38/ "tree and pragmatics") Suddenly I heard a thrush singing sweetly to his mate and nestlings.[39](39/ "tree and pragmatics") I stopped and listened to the little songster, and this is what I heard him sing:[40](40/ "tree and pragmatics") “Summer days are warm and bright; A maiden’s heart is always light.[41](41/ "tree and pragmatics") Winter days are bitter cold; Beware, beware of the suitor bold— Beware the more if he is old.”[42](42/ "tree and pragmatics") “That was a very silly bird,” said Wainamoinen, “and I wonder that his mate listened to such foolish chatter.”[43](43/ "tree and pragmatics") “But his song was very pretty,” laughed the maiden.[44](44/ "tree and pragmatics") “I too can sing,” said Wainamoinen.[45](45/ "tree and pragmatics") “I am the sweet singer of Hero Land.[46](46/ "tree and pragmatics") I am a great wizard.[47](47/ "tree and pragmatics") I am a hero.[48](48/ "tree and pragmatics") Come with me to my dear home land and be my queen.”[49](49/ "tree and pragmatics") The Maid of Beauty looked down from her rainbow throne, and the mountains echoed with her laughter.[50](50/ "tree and pragmatics") “If you are indeed a wizard,” she said, “show me some of your magic arts.[51](51/ "tree and pragmatics") Can you split a hair with a knife which has no edge?[52](52/ "tree and pragmatics") Can you snare a bird’s egg with a thread too small to be seen?”[53](53/ "tree and pragmatics") “Nothing is easier to one skilled in magic,” answered the hero.[54](54/ "tree and pragmatics") And thereupon he picked up a golden hair which the maiden had let fall, and with a blunted knife he split it into halves and quarters.[55](55/ "tree and pragmatics") Then from a bird’s nest on the side of the cliff he drew up an egg with a snare too fine for eyes to see.[56](56/ "tree and pragmatics") “Now I have done what you wished,” he said.[57](57/ "tree and pragmatics") “Come and sit in my birchwood sledge.[58](58/ "tree and pragmatics") Swiftly will we speed to Hero Land, and great honor shall be yours, for you shall be a minstrel’s queen.”[59](59/ "tree and pragmatics") “Not yet, not yet, O matchless hero,” she answered, still laughing.[60](60/ "tree and pragmatics") “Let me see some more of your wonderful magic.[61](61/ "tree and pragmatics") Split this cliff of sandstone with your bare fingers.[62](62/ "tree and pragmatics") Then cut a whipstock from the ice in the gorge below you and leave no splinter.”[63](63/ "tree and pragmatics") “Nothing is easier to one skilled in magic,” answered the hero.[64](64/ "tree and pragmatics") Then he climbed the tall cliff and split the sandstone with his fingers; and next he leaped upon the river of ice beneath him and cut therefrom a slender whipstock, losing not the smallest fragment.[65](65/ "tree and pragmatics") “You have done well,” said the Maid of Beauty, and she smiled from her rainbow throne.[66](66/ "tree and pragmatics") “But I will give you another task.[67](67/ "tree and pragmatics") Here is my spindle and here is my shuttle.[68](68/ "tree and pragmatics") See, I break them into splinters and I throw the fragments at your feet.[69](69/ "tree and pragmatics") If you wish me to go home with you, you must pick up these fragments and build a boat from them.[70](70/ "tree and pragmatics") Then you must launch the boat, using neither arm nor foot to set it floating.[71](71/ "tree and pragmatics") Is your magic equal to that?”[72](72/ "tree and pragmatics") Wainamoinen stroked his gray beard, for he was puzzled.[73](73/ "tree and pragmatics") “Your task is very hard,” he said, “and I am the only person under the sun who can perform it.[74](74/ "tree and pragmatics") But perform it I will, and you shall see what a master of magic I am.”[75](75/ "tree and pragmatics") Then he picked up the fragments of the spindle, he took the splinters of the shuttle in his hands, and began to build the fairy boat.[76](76/ "tree and pragmatics") But such a task could not be done in a moment.[77](77/ "tree and pragmatics") It required time.[78](78/ "tree and pragmatics") One whole day he swung his hammer; two whole days he plied his hatchet; three days and more he worked to join the many pieces together.[79](79/ "tree and pragmatics") At length the boat was almost finished.[80](80/ "tree and pragmatics") Proudly the Minstrel looked upon it.[81](81/ "tree and pragmatics") He hewed it on this side, he shaped it on that, he smoothed it fore and aft; and the Maid of Beauty looked on and smiled.[82](82/ "tree and pragmatics") Suddenly the hero’s sharp-edged hatchet of iron flew from his grasp.[83](83/ "tree and pragmatics") It broke the fairy boat in pieces, undoing the work of many days.[84](84/ "tree and pragmatics") It struck the Minstrel’s knee, cutting a red gash that was both wide and deep.[85](85/ "tree and pragmatics") A stream of blood gushed forth; it flowed like a crimson torrent down the mountain side; it stained the snow in the forest and the brown grass in the meadows.[86](86/ "tree and pragmatics") Great pain fell upon the Minstrel, and yet he was fearless and undaunted.[87](87/ "tree and pragmatics") He quickly gathered lichens and mosses from the tree trunks and the rocks, and these he bound upon the wound to stanch the bleeding.[88](88/ "tree and pragmatics") “O cruel hatchet,” he cried, “why were you so disobedient, so ungrateful?[89](89/ "tree and pragmatics") You may cut the pine tree and the willow; you may cut the birch tree and the cedar; but turn not your edge against your master.”[90](90/ "tree and pragmatics") He looked upward.[91](91/ "tree and pragmatics") The rainbow had vanished and the Maid of Beauty had fled.[92](92/ "tree and pragmatics") Then, too late, he remembered Dame Louhi’s caution: “Keep your eyes upon your pathway.[93](93/ "tree and pragmatics") If you should gaze towards sky or mountain top, sad misfortune will befall you.”[94](94/ "tree and pragmatics") His wound was very painful, so painful that he groaned with anguish.[95](95/ "tree and pragmatics") He felt that he must find help, and find it quickly.[96](96/ "tree and pragmatics") He looked about for the reindeer which the Mistress had lent him and which had wandered into the woods while he was working magic.[97](97/ "tree and pragmatics") When he had found the beast he harnessed it to the sledge again.[98](98/ "tree and pragmatics") Then he climbed in carefully, painfully, and sat down on the soft furs.[99](99/ "tree and pragmatics") He cracked his whip, he shouted, and the long-legged racer flew swiftly over meadows and forests, over mountains and lowlands.[100](100/ "tree and pragmatics") - ← previous: [Mistress and Minstrel](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg66819/2/) - next →: [The Graybeard and His Son](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg66819/4/) - ↑ back to [The Sampo: A Wonder Tale of the Old North](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg66819/)