"I think your son has at last brought you a true blessing." "Yes, I think so myself," said Thord, looking up, while two big tears coursed slowly down his cheeks. WHEN FATHER BROUGHT HOME THE LAMP BY JUHANI AHO In spite of ethnological and philological distinctions, geographical association makes it more natural to include a Finnish tale in the volume with Scandinavian stories than in any other volume of this collection. From "Squire Hellman." Translated by R. Nisbet Bain. Published by the Cassell Publishing Co. WHEN FATHER BROUGHT HOME THE LAMP BY JUHANI AHO When father bought the lamp, or a little before that, he said to mother: "Hark ye, mother--oughtn't we to buy us a lamp?" "A lamp? What sort of a lamp?" "What! Don't you know that the storekeeper who lives in the market town has brought from St. Petersburg lamps that actually burn better than ten PAREA? [Footnote: A pare (pr. payray; Swed., perta; Ger., pergei) is a resinous pine chip, or splinter, used instead of torch or candle to light the poorer houses in Finland.] They've already got a lamp of the sort at the parsonage." "Oh, yes! Isn't it one of those things which shines in the middle of the room so that we can see to read in every corner, just as if it was broad daylight?" "That's just it. There's oil that burns in it, and you only have to light it of an evening, and it burns on without going out till the next morning." "But how can the wet oil burn?" "You might as well ask--how can brandy burn?" "But it might set the whole place on fire. When brandy begins to burn you can't put it out, even with water." "How can the place be set on fire when the oil is shut up in a glass, and the fire as well?" "In a glass? How can fire burn in a glass--won't it burst?" "Won't what burst?" "The glass." "Burst! No, it never bursts. It might burst, I grant you, if you screwed the fire up too high, but you're not obliged to do that." "Screw up the fire? Nay, dear, you're joking--how CAN you screw up fire?" "Listen, now! When you turn the screw to the right, the wick mounts--the lamp, you know, has a wick, like any common candle, and a flame too--but if you turn the screw to the left, the flame gets smaller, and then, when you blow it, it goes out." "It goes out! Of course! I But I don't understand it a bit yet, however much you may explain--some sort of new-fangled gentlefolk arrangement, I suppose." "You'll understand it right enough when I've bought one." "How much does it cost?" "Seven and a half marks, and the oil separate at one mark the can." "Seven and a half marks and the oil as well! Why, for that you might buy parea for many a long day--that is, of course, if you were inclined to waste money on such things at all, but when Pekka splits them not a penny is lost."