Päiväperhoja : Pieniä tarinoita by Eino Leino
"Päiväperhoja : Pieniä tarinoita" by Eino Leino is a collection of short stories written in the early 20th century. In brief, it gathers fables, parables, prose poems, and satirical sketches that range from Finnish folk life to antiquity and contemporary society. The pieces probe love, conscience, power, art, and national identity with a voice that moves between lyrical tenderness, moral irony, and sharp social critique. The opening of this collection strings together
compact vignettes: a pastor tries to wrest secret lore from a dying village witch for the sake of national heritage; an “old marquis” rises when death bells toll—an allegory of a nation’s revival; a hidden murderer prospers while an innocent man is condemned; a fallen customs clerk drifts into humble service; a peasant under Simo Hurtta’s rule chooses harsh loyalty with tragic reverberations; Alkibiades and a temple maiden miss each other through pride and misreading; and a forest cottage story turns into a stark, unseen catastrophe. A second run of prose miniatures meditates, in quick, lyrical strokes, on love, the soul, lost dreams, cheerfully roaming thought, the danger of seeking a self apart from love, the sea and the sun as lovers, the poet’s integrity, true worth versus cheap glitter, Truth and Lie, tidy “order” that kills ideas, and a bright morning of Lemminkäinen. The tone then shifts to essays and satire: a hymn to “tuhmuus” (complacent stupidity), a professor’s postprandial dream in which Homeros and other greats seek modern credentials, a warning against weary elders declaring the struggle “already done,” a crisp autumn walk debating Finland’s cultural season, a whispered train talk about politics, and a closing scene where Realists refit the Muse in reform dress and put her on a bicycle. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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About this eBook
| Author | Leino, Eino, 1878-1926 |
|---|---|
| Title | Päiväperhoja : Pieniä tarinoita |
| Original Publication | Helsinki: Eero Erkko, Päivälehden kirjapaino, 1903. |
| Contents | Noita -- Vanha markiisi -- Murhamies -- Erkki Persson -- Sipo Nevalainen -- Alkibiades -- Metsätorpassa -- Rakkaus -- Sielu -- Unelma -- Huoleton -- Itse -- Meri ja päivä -- Runoilija -- Kultapala -- Totuus ja valhe -- Järjestys -- Lemminkäisen huomen -- Tuhmuuden ylistys -- Professorin ruokalepo -- Peractum est -- Syksyinen ystäväni -- Junavaunussa -- Runottaren kosijat -- Halla (runo) -- Yleinen mielipide -- Niniven lapsi -- Lemminkäinen ja Pohjan neiti -- Ikiliikkuja -- Laulu vuorilammella. |
| Credits | Jari Koivisto |
| Reading Level | Reading ease score: 50.1 (10th to 12th grade). Somewhat difficult to read. |
| Language | Finnish |
| LoC Class | PH: Language and Literatures: Finno-Ugrian and Basque languages and literatures |
| Subject | Finnish literature |
| Category | Text |
| EBook-No. | 76292 |
| Release Date | Jun 14, 2025 |
| Copyright Status | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 242 downloads in the last 30 days. |
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