A forest. To the right, a cliff; at the back, beyond the trees, a lake. Mikko and Kunnari are playing cards by the fire. Jaara is off to the side, lying down.
KUNNARI (hums to himself for a bit): Spades trumps that, plus it’s a jack!
MIKKO: King beats that.
KUNNARI: Son of a bitch—I’d clean forgotten the king. I thought it was already out.
MIKKO: And I’ve still got a queen of clubs, too.
KUNNARI: Pathetic.
MIKKO: Takes your ace out, though.
KUNNARI: Fare thee well! (Humming again.)
MIKKO: Shit!
KUNNARI: You lose again? What did I tell you? You won’t beat me.
MIKKO: Because I always get such shit cards.
KUNNARI: That’s that. Let’s deal again.
MIKKO: Let’s not. I’m cold and hungry.
KUNNARI: So let’s have a drink, then, that’ll warm you up. (Grabs a bottle from behind him.) Aha! Still half full. (Takes a drink and passes it to MIKKO.) Here you are. Give some to Jaara, too. What’s the man doing moping about all on his own again?
MIKKO: He’s dreaming.
KUNNARI: And not listening, even though we’re talking about him—Jaara!
JAARA: What do you want? Leave me alone.
KUNNARI: Have a drink!
JAARA: No thanks.
KUNNARI: What’s wrong with you, man? Spit it out.
JAARA: You’ll just take the piss if I tell you.
KUNNARI: Maybe so, maybe so, but don’t you mind that. Tell us anyway. Well, go on, go on!
JAARA (sits up): I’m starting to have doubts about our way of life.
KUNNARI: Why? Isn’t this all very jolly? Aren’t we as free as the birds in the sky? We can come and go as we please, wherever we like. Lie down when we’re tired, stay up when we feel like it. Play cards, drink—ah me, what a life! A king in his castle of gold couldn’t be happier.—The hunger is annoying sometimes, I admit, and the cold, occasionally—but never mind that. If we run dry, we’ll go to town and play, sing, dance, tell jokes. People will be happy to give us food and shelter, feed us and let us use their sauna. Then we can certainly put up with this for a good long while. Isn’t that right, Mikko? This is no poorhouse life.
MIKKO: We were cold and hungry on the railways, too. And exhausted to boot.
JAARA: At least we behaved and got by like normal people.
KUNNARI: But now we’re living our own way—that’s the difference. And we’re certainly none the worse for it. Sure, we have a drink now and then, but everyone does. Pass the bottle. Into my arms! There we go. That’s how I wet my throat so I can sing to you again.—Listen up. (Sings a short drinking song.)
JAARA: Stop that constant warbling, and don’t shout.
KUNNARI: Who’s gonna stop me? Over there in the real world you can only make as much noise as your tax bracket permits, but out here you can shout as much as you like. No law forbids it.
MIKKO: Where the hell has that Topra got to? He could have got to town and back seven times by now.
KUNNARI: He’ll come as quickly as he can, I’m sure. We’ll wait, no need to panic. Who knows what goodies he’ll bring with him!
JAARA (sits up again): Let’s go.
KUNNARI: Go where?
JAARA: Wherever. So long as we get out of this forest.
MIKKO: Are you scared?
JAARA: Yes, I’m scared. I’m very, very scared.
KUNNARI (laughs): Give over! Scared? A fully grown man? Have a drink, my lad.
JAARA: Don’t laugh. Last night I saw something that would shock even you, if I told you about it.
MIKKO: Well why haven’t you?
JAARA: Because I was trying to forget about it. To get the whole thing completely out of my mind. But it won’t go away. No matter what I do. It just comes back and grows and buries itself deeper. I’m at my wits end.
KUNNARI: Hey, was it goblins you saw?
JAARA: No, no! They were quite clearly devils. They came from the bottom of that cliff, jumped out and swung around us, jeering, saying: ‘Aha! These boys belong to us.’ Ugh! They’re probably trapping us in their snares this very moment. It’s just that our mortal eyes can’t see them. Mine must’ve just opened up for a moment and let me see what others can’t.
MIKKO: You stop that now, Jaara! You can’t say stuff like that when the light’s fading and night’s drawing in. You should have told us in the morning, or just not told us about your bloody visions at all, if you had any sense. What’s the good of it? All it does is make us all feel like shit.—Oh, I wish Topra would come already!
JAARA: It was a warning. To turn away from this path of evil while there’s still mercy.
KUNNARI: Nobody knows what’s around the corner. If we’re travelling down the path to damnation, then so are plenty of other people. The rich, for example, who live in luxury and pleasure—do you think they’re on a straighter path?
MIKKO: Yes, exactly! And did we choose this of our own free will? Weren’t we downright forced to be idle and itinerant because they wouldn’t give us any work? It’s the masters’ fault. They can answer for our sins.
KUNNARI: If we have any, yes! But we haven’t really committed many, yet. Those devils are spooking you for nothing, Jaara.
JAARA: It’s not for nothing. Say what you like.
MIKKO: Sing us something happy and beautiful, Kunnari, so we can get all these dark thoughts out of our heads.
KUNNARI: What should I sing? How about the one about the orphan boy?
MIKKO: Sure, why not.
KUNNARI (singing):
‘Ah me, little orphan boy, how defenceless am I?
Like a bird of the sky, I was made for flight.’
MIKKO: Here comes Topra, thank Christ.
TOPRA-HEIKKI: I could hear you lot shouting from god knows how far away.
KUNNARI: Got any food for us?—You do, you do! Now there’s nothing to worry about. And potato cakes, too! Surely not! Where d’you get these?
TOPRA-HEIKKI: Eat up and I’ll tell you.
KUNNARI: Here’s some for you too, Jaara. Taste how delicious they are! If only we had treats like this every day! Then we’d really be living.
MIKKO: Never in my life have I had anything as delicious as this. Who made them?
KUNNARI: Let me guess, let me guess! It was some rich girl. Confess at once, Topra, you rascal. You got some girlie to take a fancy to you. No wonder! A handsome boy like that. He can get whoever he likes. What a lad! I know what I’d do if I were you. (Singing.)
‘I’d woo the rich, I’d woo the poor,
I’d woo them both together!’
TOPRA-HEIKKI: Get on with you—like I’d get mixed up in that sort of thing. Don’t we have serious work ahead of us? Or are we simply going to starve?
KUNNARI: Well, shit, don’t get angry! I’m sober as the grave.
TOPRA-HEIKKI: Have you satisfied your hunger for now?
MIKKO: Enough to be able to listen, anyway.
TOPRA-HEIKKI: Then I’ll tell you: this mucking about won’t do any longer. We’ve got to get to business if we’re going to get anything done.
KUNNARI: Excellent! I’ll get right to it.
MIKKO: Me too. As soon as you tell us what to do.
TOPRA-HEIKKI: The rich oppress the poor on every single level. And the poor just stand there wringing their hands and crying. Nobody helps them or guides them. Isn’t that so? We have four strong men here, you’d think we’d be able to do something. And yet! We twiddle our thumbs, traipse around the forest and waste our days.
MIKKO: I’ve been thinking the same.
KUNNARI: But whose fault is that? It’s all up to you, Topra—you’re the one in charge round here.
MIKKO: Yeah, it’s up to you.
TOPRA-HEIKKI: I’ve just come from the Santalas’ cottage—the one on the big Ruohomäki estate.
KUNNARI: Those Ruohomäkis have no sons or daughters. No kids at all.
MIKKO: But isn’t the landlord notoriously greedy and mean?
TOPRA-HEIKKI: Old devil, miser, call him what you like. He’s gone and evicted the Santalas. No mercy, no pity, even though the wretched couple have five kids, a sixth on the way. Poor Jaakko! You know you’re living when you’re forced onto the streets with a crew like that.
KUNNARI: Yes, indeed. In autumn weather, on top of everything.
TOPRA-HEIKKI: And especially when he was the one who actually built their hut and dug out those fields in the middle of that miserable wilderness. Ten years the man worked and gnawed on nothing but pine bark to get his cottage in order. And now when the time finally comes for him to reap the rewards, the landlord says: ‘the contract has ended, the cottage is mine, off you go!’ And Jaakko can’t do anything but put his bag on his back, take his stick in his hand and hit the road.
MIKKO: If that isn’t hard, I don’t know what is. Ten years of sweat and toil! And for what? But that’s just the sort of thing I’ve heard about the old Ruohomäki landlord before.
KUNNARI: Why give up what’s rightfully yours? He should take the bloody man to court.
TOPRA-HEIKKI: The landlord has the law on his side. The contract’s ended, he can do what he likes. That’s how things are ordered here. The property of the wealthy is protected, the labour of the poor is not.
MIKKO: If only they’d punish Ruohomäki just this once. Punish him so firmly that he wouldn’t forget in a hurry how he oppressed the poor and needy.
KUNNARI: Let’s give the scoundrel a proper whack on the head.
TOPRA-HEIKKI: And what would that achieve?—I have a better idea.
MIKKO: Well go on, then!
TOPRA-HEIKKI: We’ll relieve him of his excess resources and give them to those in need.
MIKKO: But how?
TOPRA-HEIKKI: I’ve thought it all through.
KUNNARI: Well?
TOPRA-HEIKKI: Who of you has been to the estate?
KUNNARI: Certainly not me.
MIKKO: Nor me. But Jaara—aren’t you from round those parts?
JAARA: I’ve been.
TOPRA-HEIKKI: You know the people and the layout?
JAARA: Aye.
TOPRA-HEIKKI: Bedroom in the right-hand building and only the landlord and his wife living there?
JAARA: That’s right. But what are you getting at?
TOPRA-HEIKKI: The room behind the hall, with the window facing the lake?
JAARA: Topra, remember your immortal soul! Remember eternal damnation!
TOPRA-HEIKKI: Nonsense. If we look out for people during life, we’ll defeat the devils in hell, too.
JAARA: Oh, horror! There you go. Isn’t my dream coming true? Topra, Topra, evil spirits are wrapping their chains around you.
TOPRA-HEIKKI: Don’t be frightened of me. You’re the one who’s trapped in the chains of scripture. Slam the book shut and put it in your trouser pocket and you’ll be free.
JAARA: Christ forgive him.
KUNNARI: So what exactly are you suggesting, Topra?
MIKKO: You don’t have any dodgy business in mind?
TOPRA-HEIKKI: A dangerous endeavour, I admit. But only the brave get their supper. Cowards must lick their fingertips. Isn’t that true?
KUNNARI: Well?
TOPRA-HEIKKI: Kunnari, didn’t you say that I’m sort of in charge round here?
KUNNARI: Yeah . . .
TOPRA-HEIKKI: Good! In that case I have the power to give orders. So listen up. You, Kunnari, are going to go and set fire to the barn down by the lake. Then you’ll run up to the house and shout: ‘Fire!’ But mind that no one sees you. You’ll hide in the forest somewhere nearby until the rest of us get there.
KUNNARI: What?
TOPRA-HEIKKI: Meanwhile, while they’re all putting the fire out, we’ll empty the house. Mikko and I will go inside, you and Jaara stay outside to keep watch.
KUNNARI: But that—that’s arson and robbery.
TOPRA-HEIKKI: Call it what you like. To me it’s nothing but a well-deserved punishment for Ruohomäki.
MIKKO: No way in hell, Topra! Arson and robbery—we absolutely cannot start doing that sort of thing. No way.
JAARA: Are you finally having doubts?
TOPRA-HEIKKI: You’re ridiculous. Completely ridiculous. And you’ve got no sense at all. Nor courage. Miserable wimps, miserable idiots. Die of starvation, damn you, you don’t deserve better. Or put your bags on your backs and go begging. You dogs aren’t fit for anything else. I’ll find better friends. Or if I don’t, I’ll go alone. I don’t really need anyone. And I’ll do it at once. You pathetic people stay here. Lie on your backs, lie and snore and rest your old bones. And wait around for roasted sparrows to fly into your mouths. Just you wait, and don’t get bored.
MIKKO: Topra, you idiot, don’t go! You old hothead. Come back, let’s talk it over sensibly. What d’you have to get into such a rage for? We haven’t actually said no categorically yet.
KUNNARI: Man gets all het up like that. Shouts his mouth, eyes and ears off until we’re all frightened of him.
TOPRA-HEIKKI: Then why are you chatting shit?
KUNNARI: Because you’re suggesting such terrible things. Think, Topra—
TOPRA-HEIKKI: Thinking won’t cut it now. Nor will endless speculating. The matter is as clear as day. The rich persecute us, so we persecute them back. That’s how wars begin, and people have been going to war since the beginning of time. This is no stranger than that. In wars people pillage, burn, murder—much more than we’ll be able to do with our small forces. All’s fair in love and war. Can you deny it?
JAARA: You don’t understand anything anymore, you wretched man. An evil spirit is messing up your head. You’ve abandoned god, and now god has abandoned you and left you to the power of the devil. Pray, wretched man, pray!
TOPRA-HEIKKI: Pray yourself! But pray that our weapons may be blessed and that our forces might grow both on land and sea.
JAARA: Stop it. You’re mocking god.
TOPRA-HEIKKI: If we could gather together the poor folk, we wouldn’t need more than that. Then we’d be ready. There’s anger smouldering in every one of them. If you light a spark, a flame ignites, grows and spreads like wildfire to every corner at once . . . Well, how will it be? Will you join me, or do I go alone? Quick, decide!
KUNNARI: What do you reckon, Mikko?
MIKKO: I—I’ll do it.
KUNNARI: Me too. What will be will be, come hell or high water!
JAARA: There we have it! First vagabonds, now arsonists and robbers. If you give a finger over to evil, it will soon overpower your hand and eventually your whole body.
TOPRA-HEIKKI: Shut your mouth, stop your nonsense wailing. We’re getting started, there’s nothing you can do to stop it. And if this first attempt succeeds, we’ll continue with greater strength. But now to work, Kunnari!
KUNNARI (flinching): Oh, me? What about the rest of you?
TOPRA-HEIKKI: We’ll follow behind once you’ve started the fire. The barn is far away from the house, there’s no danger. But still, stop by the manor first to check they’re all asleep.
KUNNARI: Off we go, then. But first a drink—a proper one. (Drinks and leaves.)
TOPRA-HEIKKI: We’ll have one too. It won’t do us any harm. (Drinks and passes the bottle to MIKKO.) What’s the matter with Jaara? Why’s he collapsed in a heap like that?
MIKKO (puts the bottle away): He’s praying.
TOPRA-HEIKKI: A drink, Jaara, then up you get. Be a man!
JAARA: Leave me here—Or not here, not here. That’s where they live, in that rock. Oh, unhappy me, ending up with you.
TOPRA-HEIKKI: Are you fucking around, or?— Who lives in that rock?
MIKKO: The devils he dreamed about last night that he’s brooded about all day.
TOPRA-HEIKKI: Send them to hell, don’t be a baby. Grow up, man!
JAARA: I’m turning away, I will be better, forgive me merciful god, you who were crucified. Spare me, spare me! Spare me for Christ’s sake.
TOPRA-HEIKKI: Us, you mean? Go, then, for god’s sake. We won’t keep you.
JAARA: ‘Ah, where’er I go, I feel pain for my great sins. Ah, from whence shall I find help? The whole wide world cannot ease this pain.’
TOPRA-HEIKKI: So you should be brave and follow us. And not work yourself up over silly things. It’s no good. Quite the opposite! (Shakes JAARA.) Well, Jaara, are you listening? Up now!
JAARA: I’m getting up, I’m getting up. But let me go my own way.
TOPRA-HEIKKI: Where?
JAARA: To the church door, on my knees. I might find mercy there. If only, if only! Oh, wretched me, oh!
TOPRA-HEIKKI: Bloody hell! How he’s suffering. Go then, if you must. Go, go! Go at once. And quickly now so I can get you out of my sight.
JAARA: ‘Ah, where’er I go I feel pain for my great sins. Ah, from whence shall I find help—’ (Leaves.)
TOPRA-HEIKKI: What if that fool goes and drowns himself? Stop, Jaara! Come back, do you hear? Come back, I’m talking to you. Where’d he get to?
MIKKO: I can hear a voice from that direction.
JAARA (off-stage): ‘If the forces of the devil are there to greet me—’
MIKKO: Let the man go so we can be rid of him.
TOPRA-HEIKKI: But he’s wrong in the head, poor man. I won’t let him go wandering off alone.
MIKKO: Topra, did you hear a whistle?
