Rantakatu street 33, Packhouse Museum, window on the Rantakatu street side
Retired shipowner Jaako snores in his house in Katinhäntä (Cat’s tail) and dreams. He is back at sea and has just caught a shark that bit the bait attached to a chain hook.
It is a December dawn. Night and day are almost equally dark. Retired shipowner Jaako snores soundly in his house in Katinhäntä and dreams. He is back at sea and has just caught a shark that bit the piece of fat attached to a chain hook. The catch has been hauled up onto the deck. This is no small fish, but a large female shark, inside which are two leather pouches containing seven pups. They begin to swim in the water barrel.
Jaako wakes with a start when Köpi the cat jumps on the bed. It's time to get up.
"Well, Köpi, I just caught a shark. I was about to chop off its tail with a hidden axe," Jaako explains to Köpi. Köpi listens and understands.
Sailors made walking sticks from shark vertebrae. Jaako is proud of his. It's nice to lean on it when walking around the streets of Katinhäntä. His steps are short, but Jaako can manage on his own, at least almost.
Jaako walks right past Ranssa's house. He knows that Ranssa is sitting in his rocking chair by the window, watching people pass by. Seeing the handsome walking stick irritates Ranssa, who was just a simple farmer.
"He hasn't even been to the salty sea and doesn't know anything about the heavenly storms of the ocean," Jaako snorts contemptuously.
"It can be lonely sometimes, now that the children have left home and my wife Tyyne passed away two years ago. But now we'll put the kettle on and make some coffee," Jaako explains to Köpi.
Then Jaako remembers how they also caught porpoises at sea. They were killed, their meat was eaten, and their blood was used to make rössy (a Finnish blood pudding made as loose crumbles). And it was good food. When the Mediterranean Sea was so calm that there was no wind, the porpoises floated on the surface of the water. In the harbor, they were sold for three pounds apiece. With that money, you could have bought a cow in Katinhäntä. One porpoise hangs from the ceiling of the porch as a reminder of his years as a sailor.
Grandpa sits in his rocking chair and lights his pipe. His eyes close and he is standing on the deck of a ship again. He watches the whales blowing water into the air. Those creatures are as long as a ship. One of them swallowed Joonas whole.
He startles awake when he hears a clatter from the porch. Sofia, his neighbor, is coming to bring him a bucket of freshly milked milk and a dozen eggs. She and Jaakko have an agreement. Sofia takes care of Jaakko's household. Jaakko wouldn't be able to do it himself. He had been at sea since he was 10 years old, and Tyyne had always taken good care of the children and the home.
"Now let's fry some pancakes," Sofia bustles about. Köpi is excited, because he knows he'll soon be getting some warm, creamy milk. The church bell rings nine times.
- Lisbon was a beautiful town with lots of church bells. It was so beautiful when they rang on Sundays, all in unison, Jaako recalls, saying that he has never heard such beautiful church bells anywhere else.
Sofia was widowed when the schooner Svan was returning from Stockholm to Raahe with a cargo of salt and sank with its crew in a severe storm in the Gulf of Bothnia. For five decades, Sofia has worked hard as a seamstress to support herself and her son. Now the sailor's shirt has been hung on a nail.
Jaako's cottage is cozy. Calmly woven rugs cover the floor. Porcelain dogs brought from England sit on top of the desk. Sofia sets the table with porcelain dishes that Jaako once brought from England.
"What's the rush to wait for the big Christian holiday?" Sofia bustles about. She goes to the cellar to fetch some jam. The berry bushes planted by Tyyne produced a bountiful harvest in the fall. She and Jaako harvested the crop together. The orchard was one of the most beautiful places in Katinhäntä during Tyyne's lifetime. Now Jaako only grows potatoes.
"Have I told you about the flying fish that fly in the wind? At night, they fly onto the ship with a loud thud. They are the size of a normal herring. They were good meat," Jaako recalls once again the life of a sailor.
"I've heard these stories many times, but you can tell them again. They're nice to listen to. Now the pancakes are fried and the coffee is brewed," Sofia announces. Köpi has been given a bowl of warm milk and purrs contentedly.
The modest daylight illuminates the widows' coffee break. Snowflakes are falling slowly. Christmas is just around the corner.
The text is based on and partly quoted from Eero Sovelius-Sovio's book Ihmisiä laivojen kaupungista (People from the City of Ships).
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