
MERIPOIKIA
VANHALLE PUOSULLE.
ENSIMÄINEN NÄYTÖS.
TOINEN NÄYTÖS.
KOLMAS NÄYTÖS.
In a windswept port of 1860s northern Finland, a lively seaside community bustles with humor and quiet melancholy. Children fashion a makeshift ship from a well, chanting a clumsy sea shanty while dreaming of distant horizons. Around them, sailors, tavern keepers, and the daughters of the sea share gossip and hidden longings, hinting at old grudges and budding romances. The modest courtyard, edged by weathered houses and a low fence opening onto the restless Baltic, frames their boisterous banter.
At the heart of the story are the spirited girls—Eeva, Elviira, Anna, and Hilma—who navigate the expectations of a patriarchal world with sharp wit and secret yearning. Their interactions with charismatic captains, a gruff matruusi, and a shy orphan boy reveal the tension between duty and desire, while the surrounding townsfolk provide comic relief through misunderstandings and boisterous arguments. As the characters exchange songs and stories, listeners are drawn into a portrait of a community clinging to its fading maritime glory, awaiting the next tide that may carry them forward or away.
Language
fi
Duration
~2 hours (167K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Release date
2005-01-10
Rights
Public domain in the USA.
Subjects

1862–1925
A sharp-eyed Finnish realist, he wrote vividly about everyday life and became especially admired for stories that capture the world of children with unusual warmth and honesty. His work also helped bring modern urban life in Oulu into Finnish literature.
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