have no exact equivalent in English; _ae_ and
_ue_ are pronounced nearly as in German; but the _o_ may roughly be said
to resemble our _ee_ in sound. _y_ has somewhat of a _u_ sound, as in
the Scandinavian languages; and, as in these too, the modified vowels
are placed at the end of the alphabet, but in the following order: _ue_,
_ae_, _o_. Musical as is Finnish itself, Esthonian is still softer, as
may be seen in the dropping of final consonants, as Vanemuine for
Vaeinaemoeinen; and in such words as _kannel_ (harp) for _kantele_. As in
most parts of Northern Europe, the Gothic character is still much used
in Finland and Esthonia, especially in literary works.

As a specimen of the language we may quote the original of the lines on
p. 14:--

Ristitantsi tantsitie,
Viru tantsi veeritie,
Arju tantsi hakkatie,
Laeaene tantsi lohutie,
Sore liiva sotkutie,
Murupinda piinatie.
Taehte peig ja Salme neidu,
Pidasivad pulma ilu!

We may add the text of the lines on p. 49:--

Kalevide poeg ei vaesi;
Piht on meehel pihlakane,
Olanukud ounapuusta,
Kaeevarred vahterased,
Kueuenarnukud kuennapuusta,
Sormeluelid sosterased,
Sormekueuened kuuslapuused,
Raudarammu koiges kehas.

THE KALEVIPOEG

In the year 1838 some Esthonian scholars founded a society called "_Die
gelehrte Ehstnische Gesellschaft_," and set themselves to collect the
popular literature of their country. Doubtless encouraged by the recent
publication of the _Kalevala_ in Finland, Dr. Faehlmann undertook
specially to collect any fragments of verse or prose relative to the
mythical hero of Esthonia, the son of Kalev, intending to weave them
into a connected whole. He did not live to complete the work; but after
his death Dr. Kreutzwald carried out his design, and the book was
published, accompanied by a German translation by Reinthal and Bertram,
from 1857 to 1861.

The materials were defective, and were augmented and pieced together,
not always very successfully or artistically,[1] by Dr. Kreutzwald, and
the story is interrupted by long lyrical passages, especially at the
beginning of some of the cantos, which are tedious and out of place in a
narrative poem. Consequently, a complete translation would hardly be
sufficiently attractive; but there is so much that is curious and
beautiful in the poem, that I think that a tolerably full prose abstract
m