Heittääpi suolavettä - ynnä muutakin

About this book

"Heittääpi suolavettä - ynnä muutakin" by Sulo-Weikko Pekkola is a collection of humorous short stories and rural sketches written in the early 20th century. In lively, colloquial prose, a wry first‑person narrator roams Finland’s lakes, forests, and villages among caretakers, loggers, hunters, priests, and eccentric neighbors. The pieces blend warmth and mischief with sharp observation, turning everyday scrapes, customs, and “bush law” into affectionate comedy.

The opening of the collection moves from a wistful villa-caretaker’s solitude with his dog and cat to sharper village anecdotes: an oddball named Otto is mocked in a diving prank and later douses a taunting maid with salty fish brine; in the wilderness a worker steals payroll cash and is punished under the “Korpilaki,” the crew’s rough code. A childhood “gas war” recalls boys smoking wet moss and popping caps until the village thinks the school is on fire. A moose hunt misfires into the illegal shooting of a cow, a clumsy antler ruse is exposed, and both shooters are fined. A Karelian feast brings dancing, a jovial, bibulous Orthodox priest, and a comic baptism where the baby soaks the cantor. The narrator then quietly sabotages a neighbor’s illicit bird snares—and spooks him with a planted adder. The section closes by introducing Musti, a fierce chained “bear dog” whose fear of gunfire hints at more trouble to come.