
In a modest farmhouse on the edge of a Finnish village, winter evenings linger between the dim glow of a dying fire and the faint rustle of moth‑eaten wallpaper. Sarkanen, a retired farmer, sits hunched over a battered table, meticulously counting each coin, while his wife Eetla tends the stove, their simple routine bathed in the last sliver of daylight. Their quiet night is disturbed when Kallu, a saw‑mill worker, appears at the door asking for a modest loan, sparking a debate that quickly turns from practical math to moral reflection.
The opening act paints a vivid portrait of rural life, filled with earthy dialogue and quirky characters who wrestle with greed, generosity, and the pressures of survival. As the cold deepens, the couple must decide whether to part with a thousand marks for a stranger, exposing the tension between self‑preservation and community duty. Listeners are drawn into a world where even the smallest financial decision reverberates through the village, promising both humor and thoughtful contemplation.
Language
fi
Duration
~1 hours (59K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Release date
2016-01-31
Rights
Public domain in the USA.
Subjects

1861–1932
A Finnish writer, judge, and social thinker, he is remembered for bringing moral urgency and everyday realism into his fiction. His life was shaped by a turn away from official status and toward the spiritual and social ideals that mattered most to him.
View all books