The Hero of Esthonia | Page 9

her offers of marriage, and eight sent
trustworthy messengers to bring them news of her. The fame of her
beauty spread far and wide, and at length not merely mortal lovers, but
even the Moon, the Sun,[17] and the eldest son of the Pole Star sought
her hand in marriage.

The Moon drove up in a grand chariot drawn by fifty horses, and
attended by a train of sixty grooms. He was a pale slender youth, and
found no favour in the eyes of Salme, who cried out from the
storehouse:
"Him I will not have for husband, And the night-illumer love not. Far
too varied are his duties, And his work is much too heavy. Sometimes
he must shine in heaven Ere the day, or late in evening; Sometimes
when the sun is rising; Sometimes he must toil at morning, Ere the day
has fully broken; Sometimes watches in the daytime, Lingering in the
sky till mid-day."
When the Moon heard her answer, he grew yet paler, and returned
home sorrowful.
And now the Sun himself appeared, a young man with fiery eyes; and
he drove up with similar state to the Moon. But Salme declared that she
liked him even less than the Moon, for he was much too fickle.
Sometimes, during the finest summer weather, he would send rain in
the midst of the hay-harvest; or if the time had come for sowing oats,
he would parch the land with drought; or if the time for sowing is past,
he dries up the barley in the ground, beats down the flax, and presses
down the peas in the furrows; he won't let the buckwheat grow, or the
lentils in their pods; and when the rye is white for harvest, he either
glows fiercely and drives away the clouds, or sends a pouring rain.
The Sun was deeply offended; his eyes glowed with anger, and he
departed in a rage.
At last the Youth of the Stars made his appearance, driving with a
similar cortège to those who had preceded him.
As soon as Salme heard of his arrival, she cried out that his horse was
to be led into the stable and tended with the utmost care. The horse
must have the best provender, and must be given fine linen to rest on
and be covered with silken cloths; his head was to rest on satin, and his
hoofs on soft hay. After this she declared to his master:

"Him I will accept as lover, Give the Star my hand in marriage, And
will prove his faithful consort. Gently shine his eyes of starlight, And
his temper alters nothing. Never can he thwart the sowing, Never will
destroy the harvest."
Having thus accepted her suitor and provided for the comfort of his
horse, Salme ordered the bridegroom to be ushered into the hall, where
the broad table was washed clean and covered with a new tablecloth.
The Star was to be seated with his back to the wall and his feet
comfortably propped up on the bench, while he was to be feasted on the
best meat and fish, and offered wedding-cake and honey, besides beer
and sweet mead. The widow invited the Star to take his place at the
table, and pressed him to eat and drink, but he was greatly excited, and
his weapons, ornaments, and heavy spurs jingled and clanked as he
stamped on the floor, and declared that he would eat nothing till Salme
herself appeared before him. But Salme asked him to wait awhile while
she adorned herself, and asked her sister Linda to fetch her woollen
dress and her silken shift with gold-embroidered sleeves, her stockings
with the pretty garters, and the brightly coloured and gold-worked
kerchiefs of silk and linen.
Meantime, the widow again invited the Star to eat and drink, or, if he
were tired, to sleep; but he declared, as before, that he would neither eat
nor drink till he had seen Salme, and that the stars never closed their
eyes in sleep.
At last Salme herself appeared in the hall, but the Meadow-Queen[18]
and the wood nymphs had so adorned her that her foster-mother did not
know her again, and asked in astonishment, "Is it the moon,[19] or the
sun, or one of the young daughters of the sunset?"
Guests gathered to the wedding from far and near, and even the oaks
and alders came, roots, branches, and all.
After this they danced the cross-dance,[20] Waltzed the waltzes of
Esthonia, And they danced the Arju[21] dances, And the dances of the
West Land; And they danced upon the gravel, And they trampled all
the greensward. Starry youth and maiden Salme, Thus their nuptials

held in rapture.
In the midst of these joyous festivities, the Moon and then the Sun
returned