Page 551 - Lokmanya Tilak Samagra (khand 2)

3Jt SAMAGRA TILAK - 2 • THE ARCTIC HOME
lived, there was never any day but always night. This was a
snake's doing. Well, Ivan undertook to kill that snake. Then
came a third snake with twelve heads, Ivan killed it and destroy·
ed the heads and immediately there was light throughout the
whole land. '* This reminds one of the story of Trita in the
~g-Veda previously described. Trita's abode is said to be in
the distant region, and we have interpreted it to mean the nether
world of darkness, an interpretation which amongst others is
fully borne out by the story of Ivan and his two brothers. But
the dark power takes a distinctive Russian appearance in the
awful figure of Koshchei, the deathless,-a fleshless skeleton
who squeezes heroes to death in his bony arms. He carries off
a princess ; after seven years the hero reaches his under-ground
place and is hidden; but is discovered by Koshchei who
typifies winter in this case. All these legends clearly indicate a
dark winter of some months' duration, or the long winter-night
of the Arctic regions. There are other stories in which the Sun·
hero is said to have been detained in a place of darkness; but
it is not necessary to refer to them in this place. For comparison
I shall only refer briefly to a legend in the Finnish mythology,
which, though not Aryan in origin, may yet serve to throw
some light on the subject under consideration. In the mytho-
logy of the Finns, the Dawn is called Koi and " Koi, the Dawn
( masc. ) and Ammarik, the Gloaming ( fern. ) are said to have
been entrusted by Vanna-issa, the Old Father, with lighting and
extinguishing every morning and evening the torch of the day.
As a reward for their faithful services Vanna-issa would allow
them to get married. But they preferred to remain bride and
bride-groom, and Vanna-issa had nothing more to say. He
allowed them, however, to meet at midnight during four weeks
in summer. At that time Ammarik hands the dying torch to Koi,
who revives it with his breath. "t If this legend has any mean·
ing it signifies the cessation of extinguishing the torch of the
day during four weeks in summer. Koi and Ammarik both
leave their places and arrange to meet at midnight but without
extinguishing the torch. This means a long day of four weeks,
and as it must have a long night of four weeks to match it the

• Poor's Comparative Mythology, p. 390.
t Max Muller's Contributions to the Sc_ience ofMJ:thology, pp. 267-8.