From the book
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The steadfastness and survival of the Finnish tribes are very well seen in the Korels, who, in spite of a long neighbourhood with the Russians, in spite of the lack of the national literature and alphabet, haven't lost its tribal peculiarities, they have preserved even their language and it doesn't only mix with other languages but also penetrates into them. The Russian speech doesn't spoil their mother tongue and if the Korels have learned Russian, they can speak it very well; but a Russian who has learned Korelian can be distinguished by their pronunciation which resembles Finnish pronunciation very much… I don't speak Korelian (I managed to learn only several necessary words and sentences), so I can't speak about the purity of their language; but the Korels living in the Southern part of the region, mainly in the Olonets uyezd, told me: "Our language is pure, stable, we speak correctly; but if you go there ("To the North-East"), they speak differently". And it's true, the Korels living near Petrozavodsk, Kivatch and Maselkä speak differently in comparison with the Korel from the South. However, in spite of their pure, stable language, the Korels have neither their own literature, nor song, nor music. Their only music instrument is 'gantale' (in Finnish 'kantale'), which once Väinämöinen, the creator of the Universe, played, according to the Finnish sagas. Now this instrument is almost disappeared. Even if one come across somebody playing this instrument, it's used not for great world poems, not for Kalevala, but for some dances brought to this remote region by somebody who served in the Army far from home. The Korels can't compose songs, the nature doesn't inprie them; they are silent and gloomy like the rocks and vast forests where they live. This gloomy nature influences its world view, its soul, its religion that is full of pagan superstitions. Translated by Maria, 2006 |