A very long time ago, Grandmother had wanted to tell about all the things they did, but no one had bothered to ask. And now she had lost the urge.

You must go on a long journey before you can really find out how wonderful home is.

He was the owner of the moonlight on the ground, he fell in love with the most beautiful of the trees, he made wreaths of leaves and strung them around his neck.

...now and then a giggling trail of mermaids appeared in our wake. We fed them oatmeal.

Everyone must imagine his own snakes because no one else's snakes can ever be as awful.

The hemulen woke up slowly and recognised himself and wished he had been someone he didn't know.

When Mats came in the evenings, they would drink tea in the kitchen while reading their books and talking about them. If Katri came in, they were quiet and waited for her to leave. The back door would close, and Katri would have gone. “Does your sister read our books?” Anna wanted to know. “No. She reads literature.