Everyone is afraid that Kianta, like all other remote parishes, is an unpleasant place to live. I don't see what is the matter with living there. Life seems perfectly good there to me. My present assistant never complained about it. He was a handy fellow, who made violins and did other woodcarving... From Kianta I travelled up toward Kuusamo some 50 or 60 km and visited many houses along the way. I spent the night in the main house of Kylmäsalmi. They showed me a boy who had been deaf and dumb since childhood. I think he was 16 now and looked healthy and lively enough. He seems to be given plenty of chores and to do them well.

...

In the evening, the woman of the house told me about the bear hunting celebrations she went to in her youth. They went on for days on end with beer and spirits. When a bear had been killed, two men were assigned to go bring it and two to receive it. The men exchanged the appropriate questions and answers, first outside, then inside, and, finally, when the skull was carried outside. The woman said a number of times while telling her story that one day wasn't enough for the festivities. But she could only remember a few poems, for all speeches were delivered in verse.