Melikki and the Song of the Whale
The Polijola family consisted of the parents, their three sons—Matias, Niko, and Albrekt—and their ten-year-old daughter, Melikki, who was adored by everyone. They lived in a wooden house overlooking a small fjord: the men hunted whales for food and income, while the mother cared for the house with Melikki’s help.
Melikki was very sweet and calm because she grew up surrounded by the love of her family and was free to play at home or on the fjord's shore. Every day, she went to the shore alone or with her mother to wait for her father and brothers to return. When she was alone, she would sit on a rock and sing old songs of her people—songs that were somewhat sad for a child, but harmonious and beautiful.
"I sing with the whales," she told her brothers. "They know so many songs!"
The boys laughed at her imagination and jokingly warned her: "Don’t tell lies, Melikki, or your hair will fall out!"
But she didn’t listen to them because she truly felt she could hear the whales singing.
One day, while Matias and their father were out fishing, a storm broke out at sea. When the other two brothers saw they hadn’t returned, they decided to take the smaller boat to look for them. As the storm began to subside, a thick fog rolled in, enveloping everything and making it difficult for the fishermen to find their way.
Seeing the situation, their mother decided to go out herself to look for her family. She pushed the old boat into the water, climbed in with Melikki, and together they called out into the fog: "Matias, Niko, Albrekt, Ukko, where are you? We’re here!"
They moved slowly and called out again until they heard a reply not far away: "Here… we’re here!"
Their voices reassured one another, but the fog still hid them from view.
Suddenly, the mother spotted her husband’s blond hair. He and the boys were clinging to a rock as their boat sank slowly nearby. The woman, with Melikki’s help, rowed as fast as she could toward the rock. They embraced joyfully, relieved to have escaped danger.
The joy was short-lived, though, as they realized the old boat wouldn’t hold everyone’s weight. Feeling helpless, they knew they couldn’t swim to shore—it was too far—and couldn’t hope for another boat to pass in such weather.
To comfort them, Melikki began to sing softly. Something extraordinary happened: another song joined hers, and then another—it was the song of a whale, which surfaced just a few meters from the rock.
"Get in the boat, quickly!" Ukko shouted. "Otherwise, we’ll all die here!"
"The whale will attack us," Niko said fearfully.
They all cautiously climbed into the boat and tried to move away from the rock when suddenly, the whale’s snout brushed so close to the boat that everyone could see its dark eyes. They screamed in terror!
Only Melikki remained calm. Pointing to the whale, she said, "Don’t be afraid. You’ll see—it will help us get home."
Indeed, the whale disappeared underwater and, using its broad back, supported the old boat and slowly guided it toward the fjord. The fog began to lift, revealing the coastline. At that moment, the whale submerged, and the boat, now unsupported, broke apart!
But the shore was close, and everyone managed to swim to safety. When they reached the land, they immediately turned to look at the sea: a large dark figure was diving and surfacing repeatedly, as if waving goodbye.
"Thank you, whale, for saving me and my family! I’ll never forget it. Come visit me again," Melikki called out. "I’ll wait for you at our usual spot. See you soon!"
The others stood in silence, amazed at what had happened. In that moment, the men silently vowed never to hunt whales again… and never to laugh at Melikki’s "fantasies."
