Once upon a time there was a farmer who had three sons. The third son's name was Veikko.
The farmer wanted his sons to find brides for themselves. So he suggested an idea for it. He asked his three sons to go to the edge of the forest and cut a tree. The direction in which the tree fell was the direction that the brother had to take and find a bride for himself.
The first son's tree fell pointing north. The first son is very happy with it because he knew of a pretty girl who lived on that side. The second son's tree fell pointing south and he was also very happy with it because he knew of a girl there whom he liked.
Veikko's tree fell, pointing to the forests.
When the other two sons saw this they burst out laughing because the only living things in the forest were the animals. They were sure that their brother was going to marry a creature of the forest.
Veikko started very bravely towards the forest. But as Veikko covered a short distance and found no one else, his bravery faltered.
He found a little hut and he pushed open the door and there he found a little mouse in a beautiful pretty velvet dress sitting there.
He looked at it and Veikko was even more dejected.
"There is no one here. Whom can I marry?" Veikko told himself in a loud voice.
The mouse suddenly looked at him angrily. "I am here and why are you looking to marry someone?"
Unhappily, Veikko told the little mouse everything.
The little mouse looked at Veikko sadly. "I may be a mouse. But you can take me as your wife. I will love you as much as I can and be true to you."
At first Veikko looked dejected at the idea but looking at the earnest eyes of the mouse, Veikko decided to give it a try. Even as he saw the mouse more and more, he liked the little thing.
Finally Veikko agreed to marry the little mouse.
The mouse was thrilled with it and she promised to wait for him no matter how long it took.
On the way back to his home Veikko met his older brothers.
Both the brothers boasted about how beautiful their wives were.
But Veikko was silent.
The brothers saw this and egged him. "Why? Do you have nothing to say about your sweetheart?"
"My love is a beautiful, pretty thing in a velvet dress." Veikko said finally.
"Velvet?" The brothers asked disbelievingly.
"Yes." Veikko said firmly as they had reached home.
The farmer was pleased with the fact that his sons had found sweethearts for themselves.
The farmer wanted to test the wives of his sons. He wanted them to bake the best bread that they could.
The first two sons walked away to their homes.
Veikko was crestfallen and slowly trudged along to the forest.
The mouse was thrilled to see him.
"I knew you would be back!" The mouse told Veikko.
Then she noticed that Veikko looked very sad.
Finally Veikko told the test that his father had laid down for the wives of his sons.
The mouse laughed. "Is that all? I can definitely bake bread."
Veikko was surprised. "I have never seen a mouse bake bread before."
"I can." The mouse told Veikko firmly.
After that she picked up a small silver bell and rang it.
Hundreds of mice ran into the hut.
The cute little mouse spoke to the other mice, "All of you shall go and fetch me the finest wheat you can find."
All the mice went away and they each came back with the grain of the best wheat.
In a matter of a few hours the mouse baked the best loaf of wheat bread with all the wheat that her servant mice had got her.
The next day all the three sons went back to their father.
The first son proudly showed a bread made of rye.
The farmer was happy because a rye bread signified hard working people.
The second son brought a loaf made of barley.
The farmer was happy with this too.
Veikko presented his father with the wheat bread.
That was when the brothers and the farmer were shocked.
They were sure that Veikko's sweetheart had plenty of riches with her and it was obvious that she could make the best bread with all the resources that she had.
"How did she get the wheat?" One of the brothers asked.
"She rings her bell and her servants get her the finest grains." Veikko told his brothers honestly. "And she is an excellent baker."
This time the older brothers were wary and very envious of Veikko.
*******
The farmer wanted to test the wives of his sons, some more.
This time he wanted them to weave something for him.
The first two sons went back to their home and this time Veikko was sure that a mouse could not weave.
The little mouse in the home and the forest again laughed on hearing Veikko's father's wish.
This time too she rang a bell and asked her servant mice to get the finest fibre of flax from wherever they could find.
The mouse was then able to weave it into the most beautiful piece of thin cloth and it was so beautiful that she was able to fold it into an empty nutshell.
Back at the farmer's house the first brother had got a cloth weaved of coarse cotton. The farmer was impressed.
The second brother had a cloth weaved of cotton and linen. The farmer was happy with this too.
Finally Veikko gave his father the nutshell.
The other brothers burst out laughing at this.
The farmer opened the nutshell and the cloth of fine linen that came out of it left everyone astonished.
The two brothers were envious to no end.
The farmer finally wanted to meet his three daughters-in-law.
When the little mouse heard of this she decided that she had to dress up and meet the old farmer at her best.
Veikko was sure that his brothers would laugh on seeing his wife.
But he was determined that he would not laugh at her. She had been a very good wife and had tried her best and kept him as happy as she could. So he decided that he would always be with her and never be ashamed of her.
He told the little mouse that her father was a gentle man and would treat her with kindness.
The little mouse got out an empty nutshell to be her coach and rang her little silver bell.
There were five black mice to pull her nutshell forward and a little mouse was in the coach as a coachman and another mouse was there as a footman.
Veikko walked near this strange coach and went towards his father's house.
Soon the strange procession passed through a bridge.
At that time a man saw the whole scene. He bent down and saw what was inside the nutshell.
He burst out laughing and by mistake he pushed the whole coach and everything in it inside the water below.
*******
Veikko was heartbroken.
He looked at the laughing man. "You have drowned my little sweetheart!"
The man did not understand Veikko's loss and went away from there.
However Veikko was crying as he looked down at the water. "You were my beautiful, faithful sweetheart and you are gone now!"
Veikko did not notice anything and haphazardly sat down on the bridge, crying.
There he saw a beautiful coach of gold drawn by five black horses and a coachman smartly dressed in a golden uniform and there was a footman in the same uniform, in the back.
What stunned Veikko was that a beautiful girl was inside the coach.
The beautiful girl asked Veikko to get inside the coach.
Veikko did not understand and stared at the girl.
"You loved me when I was a mouse, won't you love me when I am a princess?" She asked him.
"Were you my mouse sweetheart?" Veikko looked astonished.
The princess nodded. "I was under an evil curse. The only way for the curse to be broken was when I was loved as a mouse. Then when the other man drowned me, the enchantment was broken." The princess smiled at Veikko. "Now we will go and meet your father and after he blesses us, we will go to my kingdom and rule the place."
They had got the farmer's blessings.
The first two brothers were now so envious of their younger brother that they did not know what to do. They wished that their tree had also pointed towards the forest, not realizing that Veikko had won a beautiful wife because he had shown kindness to all, including a little mouse.
The princess and Veikko went to her kingdom and ruled the place happily and truly in love with each other for the rest of their lives.
Adapted from Finnish folklore
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