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Now ever peculiar are hearts of men,
The success of one may raise another
To a senseless envious spite.
He may come to despise his own blessed
Gifts the gods bequeathed to him.
Enraged at such fell prospect as
The beauteous tapestry woven
By Seinävaate's dutiful hand
Kateellinen, the village blacksmith
Devised a hateful plan.
Jealousy enshrouded his evil heart
Emboldened by a hate-filled ire
He called upon the demons of fire,
A blaze was set to the workshop
Of his righteous nemesis, Seinävaate.
Now ever perfecting his craft,
Seinävaate was working inside.
Heard he the bite of crackling flames
Deep into his wooden lyceum.
Fear smote his heart with dread.
Unable to save his work of art
His pnuema, his spirit, his life
Seinävaate, instead, quickly ran
To the chambers of his novice
The boy not yet fourteen winters old.
The famished blaze proceeded forth
With hungry tongue and teeth
More of the hall to devour.
Seinävaate fought the flames
To save his young apprentice, Oppija.
Holding him in strong, secure hands
Seinävaate fled the fiery furnace.
Heeding not his searing flesh
He thus escaped the inferno large
And darkness rose to greet him.
Mercifully the gods gave back
Seinävaate his dear and precious life.
Oppija he saved, the village praised.
To the village healer they brought him
So mend he might and well recover.
Near a fortnight he laid abed,
Healing from agonized wounds
Till one sorrowfully tragic morning
Taken from him by fiery forces
His nimble hands and skillful fingers.
Once lightsome, lithe and limber
His fingers scarred and broken
No more to hold the threaden shuttle.
Thus, from Seinävaate was stole
Not only the tapestry, but the very
Means with which he plied his craft.
A dark doleful melancholy descended
As never before seen or since
To consume Seinävaate in desolate dolor.
His spirit, his heart and his voice
Then wept a sorrowful symphony.
And so numerous bleak days passed.
Grateful that his life was saved
Yet disheartened at the torment
Of his fair and kind-hearted master,
Oppija then took it upon himself
To create a beauteous healing tapestry.
For near two moon he slaved away
From rosy dawn till dusky twilight
Deftly plying his craft, so taught
By the kind-hearted Seinävaate.
The gods saw fit to bless his work
Since cherished they fair Seinävaate.
Ere long, the tapestry wrought
He came unto his master's abode
Bearing his tapestry as an ancient
Worshiper toted libations to his god.
Seinävaate beheld him from his bed
Eyes downcast, yet cheered to see the boy.
After a simple exchange of polite words,
Oppija unfurled his glorious tapestry
Before his master's hungry eyes,
The intricate pattern of a firebird –
A phoenix – inscribed amid fiery flowers.
Then what next transpired, no one can rightly say,
Natheless, it seemed to Seinävaate that Oppija,
His house, the whole world melted away.
The fiery flowers surrounded, nay
Consumed him, but yet he felt no heat.
These flames were so unlike those
That scarred his hands and heart
Their centers burned pure and holy.
Soon then he beheld the fiery phoenix,
Fiercely alive and standing before him.
Its ebony eyes gently gazed into his.
Its fiery plumage awash with color –
Deepest crimson, radiant orange,
Splendid gold, pure cerulean,
Sapphire, jade and emerald.
At a glance it seemed to fathom
The inner recesses of Seinävaate's soul.
Then it opened its dainty beak
And called forth such dulcet hymns
It brought sweet tears to his eyes.
The phoenix then shifted its glorious head
And burst into flame, consuming the
Smaller flames and Seinävaate himself.
Thereby he uttered a surprised cry,
Yet he perished not in the flames.
They hurt him not, but soothingly burned
A radiant, holy experience. Then
It seemed to him that all his melancholy,
Loathing, despair and torment were
Consumed by those gentle, caressing flames.
As if he were a metal precious that
The metalsmith refined in the bellows.
A heavenly voice then resounded in his mind
“Refined and purified by fire art thou.
Look, thus, upon the true majesty
Of all the worlds-realms, fortunate one.”
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Simply put, he Saw the Great Tapestry.
The thin earthly veils were removed,
The mortal walls of ignorance fell.
In that moment, that eternity
Seinävaate Acknowledged IT ALL.
The interconnected layers of sky,
Earth, water, stone, plant, animal,
The intertwined lives of peoples
Intersecting and twining around one another
Both in a concrete corporeal sense,
But, in numerous other ways, sacredly
Metaphysical and hidden from simple
Mortal eyes. He saw the strands of love,
Hope, peace and joy that held together
The various lands, realms and spheres.
It was all a blessed brotherhood
That encompassed everything that was,
That is and that would ever hope to be.
He Saw darker strands woven throughout
This Magnificent Tapestry, which were
The malicious acts of evils and harms
To the completeness, unity and wholeness
Of the Work. But, these discordant notes
In the harmony did not unduly worry him
Since he Comprehended that The Right
Would win out. It was obvious to anyone
With Perspective that Good had already
Triumphed over evil and would continue to do so.
Seinävaate felt such a sweet terror and
Bitter joy at this Acknowledgment,
Even without total Understanding.
This consecrated vision faded from his sight
To be replaced by a pile of pearly ashes.
Out of these ashes arose a baby phoenix
With onyx eyes and golden beak.
Again the heavenly voice resounded in his mind,
“Cherish these insights and comfort
Others with what thou hast gained
From thine sacrifices and pains
Yet do not speak so often of it and
Thus become conceited and vain.
Words have more power than mortals know.”
His eyelids became heavy and closed
Into a blissful slumber, the likes of which
None had ever known before.
He awoke to Oppija’s questioning eyes.
Seinävaate desired greatly to reveal all
That had befallen him, but he found to
His dismay that he had been struck mute.
He could utter not a word of this divine
Experience. Forced he was to endure
A contemplative silence for seven sunrises.
On the morning of the eight day, he arose
As was his custom and found his tongue
Loosed. Seinävaate marveled at this
Occurrence and determined that the gods
Granted him such time to reflect upon those
Ambrosial insights. The village and especially
Oppija were delighted at his recovery. For
They had sensed, at least remotely, that some
Enchantment had come over Seinävaate.
It was not the habit of those in that village
To be overly concerned or overtly curious with celestial
Matters because there were always very down
To earth matters which needed tending to.
Yet Seinävaate only spoke sparingly about his
Magnificent vision, not wishing to mar nor diminish
Its Glory through too much human speech.
A celebration feast was held with Seinävaate
As the guest of honor, seated at the head table
With the elders and sages of the village.
Jealousy again burned in Kateellinen
And he once more sought his rival’s ruin.
After much eating, drinking, good fellowship
And merry-making, Kateellinen stealthfully
Approached the center table and craftily
Began, “Oh, wise Seinävaate, you who
Have seen so much. And yet one wonders
Why you do not generously share from your
Rich store with all your fellow men. If
You have beheld one tenth of the wonders
You have claimed, why be so meager with
That heavenly wisdom with us, your friends?”
Then confusion and anger against Seinävaate
Was raised and they demanded some sacred sign
As proof of his ethereal and holy revelations.
No such evidence came forth because
Seinävaate ever heeded his divine command.
Kateellinen's poisonous venom that had turned
The villagers against Seinävaate became ever
Augmented by imagined slights and insults.
It wounded Seinävaate that he had suffered
Flame and sacrificed his beloved art, but they
Esteemed him not. He took to quietly living
Amidst an oaken grove not far from the village.
Only the children would speak to him for
They knew naught of spite nor bitterness.
Even so, the villagers discouraged them
From talking to him and made up stories
To frighten their children away. So,
Eventually, even they stopped speaking
To Seinävaate. Yet, through all this
Oppija faithfully attended to his master
And remained ever loyal to his savior.
After much time, these two dear friends
Departed to the sea. No person saw
Them leave, only a small red fox
Noted their passing. They quietly embarked
On a small ship and were never seen in
This worlds-realms again. But some of
Those children ever speculated that they had
Departed to far away Avalon or Atlantis
Or some other mystical place entirely.
Since of them the world had not been worthy.
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