"The wedding was here," she went on, warming to her narrative, "for, naturally, the wedding always takes place at the bridegroom's house."
Looking round at the extremely small two-roomed hovel, we wondered how it was possible to have _läksiäiset_ or _polterabend_, as our German friends call the festival before the wedding, at this bridegroom's house, for the one little sitting-room and the one little bedroom combined did not cover a larger space of ground than an ordinary billiard table.
"It is a very expensive thing to get married," she continued, "and my son had to give many presents to the _Appi_ (father-in-law), _Anoppi_ (mother-in-law), _Morsianpiiat_ (bridesmaids), _Sulhasrengit_ (groomsmen), etc."
Knowing the poverty of the place and the distance from a town where goods could be purchased, we enquired the sort of presents he gave.
"To all the bridesmaids," she said, "he gave _Sukat_ (stockings), that being the fashion of the country, to the groomsmen he gave _paita_ (shirts), to his mother-in-law, the _Anoppi_, he gave _vaatteet_ (dress), and to the _Appi_ he gave a _vyö_ (belt). Then to various other friends he distributed _huivit_ (head handkerchiefs)," and altogether the wedding became a very serious drain on the family resources.
"But oh! it was a lovely time," she exclaimed rapturously. "A wedding is a splendid thing. We had a feast all that day and the next day, and then the priest came and they were married."
"Did many friends come to the wedding?" we ventured to ask.
"Oh yes, certainly, every one we knew came from miles round. Some brought a can of milk, and some brought corn brandy, and others brought _gröt_ (porridge), and _Järvinen_ had been to _Iisalmi_, so he brought back with him some white bread. Ay, it was a grand feast," and she rubbed her hands again and again, and positively smacked her lips at the recollection of the festival. "We danced, and ate, and sang, and made merry for two days, and then we all walked with my son and his bride to that little _torp_ on the other side of the wood, and left them there, where they have lived ever since."
"Do you generally stay long in the same house in Finland?"
"Of course," she replied, "I came here when I was a bride, and I shall never leave it till I am a corpse."