Sammy and the mountain king

Once upon a time there was a Lapp and his wife and a son named Sammy. They lived up in the north, near by the lake Teno, a place called Ailigas. Ailigas is a place of bright stars, high hills, very white snow and colorful northern lights. Sammy’s family lived in the tent made of reindeer’s skin.

Sammy was named after some visitors who stayed in the tent and called him Sammy a Lapp. Parents were going to baptize Sammy in the summer, but the journey was always cancelled and eventually did not happened.          

One day Sammy’s mother told her son a story about a mountain called Rastegaise. According to the story there lived a very scary king of the mountain called Hisi. Sammy was interested in Rastegaise and he wanted to see the Hisi himself. But mother and father didn’t give him a permission to go there.

One night Sammy woke up and left to Rastegaise without a permission with his little reindeer. He thought:

-  I won’t go too close to Rastegaise, I’ll just ride for a while.

It was very dark at the mountains. There were only bright stars and colorful northern lights. Sammy rode very fast in the dark. Soon he noticed that there were a herd of wolves following him. Sammy wasn’t scared because he was counting on his little reindeer’s speed. When he looked at the wolves, he didn’t noticed a little bump. The sledge ran into the bump and fell down. Sammy dropped from the sledge to the snow and the reindeer kept on going without Sammy. Sammy was lying in the snow.

The wolves caught the little boy lying in the snow up. As soon as Sammy came to his senses he noticed the wolves coming closer and closer. They were really scary with sharp teeth and flashing eyes. Sammy stood up very quickly and looked around searching for his little reindeer. After he hadn’t seen his reindeer anywhere he turned back and ran towards the forest. He was running and running not looking back. When he got tired, he stopped next to a big tree. The wolves chased him. The little boy didn’t have more strength to run away so he hid behind the tree.

However, the wolves noticed him. Sammy was very frightened and didn’t know what to do. Suddenly the most fearful wolf said to him:

-          Hello. Where are you going? Have you got lost?

-          Hello. I am going to Rastegaise because I want to meet Hisi, the king of the mountain but I have lost my way.

-          Don’t worry I’ll help you. I’ll show you the way to Rastegaise. Follow me.

The wolf walked with Sammy to the foot of the mountain. On the way there Sammy found his little reindeer waiting for him at the skirts of the forest. He was very happy to meet his reindeer again. When they reached the mountain the little boy gasped in amazement. The mountain was very high. It was covered with thick, white snow and he could hear the voice of Hisi, the scary king of the mountain.

Sammy thanked the wolf for his help and he was glad to get a new friend. The wolf left Sammy at the foot of the mountain and went home. Sammy stayed alone but he didn’t want to turn back.