p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Sweden sees Finland as a strange mixture of the unpredictable forces of nature and random clumsiness, in varying /Finn is quick to speak and quick to smile and quick to joke and he seems so harmless as it is physically possible. At first, when they met, Sweden couldn't actually believe that this is Finland. After all, he was hearing stories of these stubborn, gloomy people who could sing you into a swamp when angry. He was not prepared for a person who loses the track of the conversation one time after /Then Sweden had a knife held to his neck. Once or twice. Maybe this number was different but he won't admit that. It was during the crusades on the Finnish folk and he wasn't on exactly good terms with Toivo which the other one vigorously presented. But they got better, eventually. At least that was what Bernhard /So again, he sees Finland as the result of marriage between the unpredictable forces of nature and random clumsiness. And he desires to tame it./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"***/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Timo sings to himself. He does it a lot, especially while doing something repetitive. Sweden often wonders if the other one just tries to make himself even more busy by /This is also one of the things that Timo does enthusiastically but Bernhard avoids at any cost. Even at the church during the service he sometimes moves his mouth without any sound or with just barely audible /Singing sounds harmless enough and Finland seems to enjoy it. From time to time he must be making some mistakes because he immediately corrects himself and goes on. However, Sweden can only guess as he has clearly no idea what the song is actually about. And that bothers him deeply. He does not speak Finnish and as far as he is concerned Finland would, as well, just be putting some bad courses on Bernhard. He would not be able to do anything about it. That makes the fear sparkle in his /Sweden is visiting Finland in his cabin in ¬Åbo. He thinks that the best part of it are the moments when the Finn forgets that Bernhard is even there: he behaves less nervously. Back in the capital the Swede thought that it would be a good idea to persuade his... province, to come to the court. Timo greeted him with politeness, as there was truly no other way. But that was it, all of it. Truth to be told, Bernhard had prepared some arguments, some encouraging words to make the Finn leave with him but in the end all he said was something along the lines: "You will come with me." Not really, a subtle thing. Timo only looked at him and nodded. His eyes were like the lake which reflects the sky but does not show what's hidden beneath the /Bernhard follows the voice and the song. Timo is cutting the wood in the back of the buiding. The air smells like sawdust and resin. Sweden notices the bright spot somewhere on the log – that's the shirt the Finn took off. He's sweaty, skinny and covered in wooden dust but he is still singing quite melodically. The melody itself simple, the sad tones are waved into it carefully and yet /It must be some sort of a charm. There is no doubt about it. Maybe the rain of iron does not come from the sky and pillars of the earth does not shutter but there is no way an innocent song would make Sweden feel the way he /The meaning of the words remains unknown but they rumble in his guts. A cold grip of merciless anxiety closes on his /Sweden believes Finland doesn't necessarily do it on purpose. He probably has never known the other /When the Swede approaches the other one, there is a part of Berhnard which does not want Timo to notice him. The Finn looks so at ease right now. But there is also the other part which is aware how long it takes to grow the chopped off fingers back. And yet there is another, most significant part of all of them: the one the ultimate goal of which is to speak as little as it is possible. The last part always /However, Benhards makes sure that the Finn does not hold an axe in his hands when he finally says:br /"You should stop."br /Timo doesn't meet the Swede's eyes as he falls silent. The eerie veil of the song fades into the air. Singing in his native language makes the Finn a person Bernhard doesn't know but this impression disappears /"It's a religious one," he says and Sweden tries to read truth from his face and posture. "Really, not about devils. Or something."br /Bernhard sights. His face looks like if he was about to commit a brutal murder. In fact he just doesn't know what to say. Timo should know that it is all for his own good and well-being. Nobody wants to be sent to hell, after all. The pit of darkness and fire does not seem to be a great place for the eternal /"Sing in Swedish."br /Timo opens his mouth as if he was up to say something but finally he shuts them up without a single word. He takes a few steps and brings a long branch that must have been chopped of some time ago as the needles have become dry and /And as Finland cuts the branch into little pieces, he begins to sing in Swedish. The words are simple, the understanding of them strips them out of the mystery. There is nothing unpredictable or eerie about the Finn right now. /Sweden is calm again when Timo stops suddenly in the middle of the song, eyes locked on the trees, lips smiling, teeth showing. The echo quickly dies in the background loosing the source that brought it to life in the first /"Do you hear it?'' Timo says and once again Sweden thinks how bizarre his eye colour is. "The whole world's singing."br /Bernhard does listen and looks at the Finn wondering if maybe some remains of the charm are still chattering in the air because there is still something he does not fully understand. And he fears it is within him right now./p