Sampo Loparen̈ok by Zacharias Topelius. Short summary

5 seconds

Sampo the Little Frog decided to climb to the top of the Rastekais to see the Mountain King. And he got out of there just in time. He was saved from the Mountain King by Golden Deer and his schoolteacher.

1 minute

A couple of Lapps had a son, Sampo. Finns passed by the plague and gave the boy some sugar. They said, «Lappo.» Sampo’s mother liked the name and so she began to call her son.

The boy was 7 years old when he heard the story that the Mountain King lived on Mount Rastekais. Sampo really wanted to see him. On the last day of the long night, which lasts half a year in Lapland, he saddled his sleigh and drove to Rastekais.

Sampo saw the wolf. He said that today was the farewell to the night, and therefore no one would eat for an hour. The wolf even took Loparnock on his back to take him to the top.

The Mountain King proclaimed that the sun was dead and would never rise. Sampo boldly objected. Then he saw the weak animals begin to scatter. Sampo realized that the end of the truce was near. He jumped on Golden Deer. He told him that the only way to escape from the Mountain King was in the schoolmaster’s cabin.

They got there safely. The teacher lit the stove and shone a lamp in the giant’s eyes until he melted.