Summary Man and the Elephant


S. Topelius The
Man and the Elephant
In the old castle of Abo (Finland), lived an old house. He was only friends with the house chapel of the cathedral and the old gatekeeper of the castle, Matts Mursten, whom he met when he, while still a boy, climbed into the basement for cartridges, fell into a blockage and was released by the house-keeper. Mattsu the housekeeper helped to look after the castle, but at the same time remained invisible. His gatekeeper was able to see only when he was quite an old man: he took him home to his Poluyu tower and showed untold treasures, the cat of Murra and wolves, in which the hunters for his good became. The master of the tower told Matts that the old Väinämainen was sitting under the lock and waited for his beard to grow and an end to imprisonment, but for now he was singing.
The gatekeeper invited his ancient comrade to the wedding of the great-granddaughter of Rosa. Domovoi was invisibly present at the celebration and even put on his head the old golden crown – his gift. Despite this promise to the housekeeper, Matts told about where the crown came from, and the groom’s cousin with a quarrelsome mother got into the tower behind the treasures, and there they stayed.
The castle gradually fell into decay, and one day while walking along it Mats, Rosa and her baby Erik met a brownie. He wanted Eric to ensure that the castle was kept in order, and the refusal infuriated him – but the old man’s song sounded… Mats died while the song was sung. Rosa undertook to protect the castle, Eric took care of her, and the house servant invisibly helped them.


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Summary Man and the Elephant