14
EESTI ELU reedel, 11. detsembril 2020 — Friday, December 11, 2020
Kid’s Corner: the “Läbi lume sahiseva” colouring activity Vincent Teetsov Believe it or not, we’re launching right into the Christmas season! Whether you put your tree up weeks ago or have been steadfastly holding out as long as pos sible, it’s safe to say that we can now indulge in some merriment. In that spirit, you might be putting some festive tunes on. One that we’d recommend you put on is “Läbi lume sahiseva” (which could be translated as “Rustling Through the Snow”). If you’re not yet familiar with the song, it tells the story of some folks in a sleigh going through a rustic wintry setting back in the day. Once they head out onto the snowy trail, a beautiful Christmas scene unfolds. Decorated pine trees, ringing bells, a big shining moon. Once they come home from church that night, there’s a Christmas tree with presents underneath, and some delicious sausages crackling in the pan. It’s a favourite song of Estonian kids, and if you’re interested, you and your family might want to gather at home
objects seen on the sleigh ride would make for a great activity for kids and their families! Here’s how you can take part. Find the black and white drawing that accompanies this article (if you’re reading this in print, it can be found on the Eesti Elu website or our listing on the Estonian Foundation of Canada’s online Rahvajõulu puu) and print it out. Then, looking back at the lyrics, look for everything that’s mentioned in the song.
and sing along, too. You can listen to the song and get ac quainted with the melody on YouTube (https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=aoGecAdzp34). These are the lyrics, where the last line of every stanza repeats once: Läbi lume sahiseva sõidab saanike, ;; Aisakell lööb tilla – talla üliarmsasti ;; Kena jõuluehte saanud iga metsapuu, ;; seda ilu vaatab kõrgelt mõnus jõulukuu ;; Sõida ruttu saanikene, koju kirikust, ;; läbi luha, üle kingu, mööda männikust ;; Kodus pannil jõuluvorstid särisevad ju, ;; kodus ootvad kingitused, ootab jõulupuu ;;
“Läbi lume sahiseva” was composed by Juhan Aavik in 1924, with lyrics written by Julius Janson. Aavik was known for composing with an appre ciation of the way Estonian folk songs were written and passed down through the ages. As part of his catalogue of music, he wrote other children’s songs like “Teele, teele, kurekesed...” (“On the Road, On the Road, Storks”) and “Kui mina hakkan
laulemaie” (“When I start singing”). He was musical director and conductor of Rahvusooper Estonia in the 20s and early 30s and conducted at three song festivals before the Second World War, after which he fled
Invention and scientific progress in Estonia and Canada in the 18th and 19th centuries Vincent Teetsov The era of the Age of Enlightenment is typically studied with a concentration on western Europe. Promi nent examples of scientific discoveries include the inven tion of the first microscope in the Netherlands by Antonie van Leeuwenhoek in the late 1600s. In the early 1700s, the farmer Jethro Tull invented the horse-drawn seed drill in England. Boundaries were being pushed at this time with controlled experiments and new technology. But Estonia and Canada are both neglected when it comes to learning about scientific discoveries. To be expected for a university town, Tartu was a particularly fruitful locale when it came to scientific progress. At the Tartu Tähetorn (“Obser vatory”), which was completed in 1810, the Great Dorpat Refractor that was installed in 1824 would be the largest refracting telescope at the time. It was an achromatic, refracting telescope, equipped with a lens that focused multiple light wavelengths into one point. Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve, who became director of the observatory in 1820, created the Struve Geodetic Arc, of which Tartu Tähetorn was the first measurement point to be conceived. The Arc contributed to our understanding of Earth’s measurements. Stretching from the edge of the Black Sea in Ukraine to the Municipality of
Hammerfest, Norway, it is described by UNESCO as “the first accurate measuring of a long segment of a meridian.” The University of Tartu, being a relatively new university at the time (founded in 1632), attracted young scientists to study in experimental fields of medicine, too. In 1852, chemist Friedrich Bidder, who had founded the Tartu School of Physiology, determined the need for a nutritional balance of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. Simultaneously, pharmacological study of drug and medication effects was growing. Experiments in this subject and in physiology resulted in an intellectual partnership that is key to pharmaceutical production nowadays. Põltsamaa also became a place of scientific growth, despite the small size of the town. Scientific historian Ken Kalling has pointed to Peter Ernst Wilde’s periodical publication on health care, the first of its kind in the Estonian language, which was published in Põltsamaa in the 1700s for the education of rural inhabitants in medicine. Travel to western Europe for education and research by scien tists from Estonia was limited by the Russian Empire, with the onset of the French Revolution (from 1789 to 1799). While it could be argued that these limitations strengthened Estonian academia by keeping scientists in one geographical area, it appears to have also isolated the dissemi-
Nr. 49
nation of research outward to the rest of the world. Could this be part of why Estonian scientific history is poorly represen ted elsewhere? Science in Canada was less centred around experimentation for its own sake and more around practical applications. In terms of Europeans in Canada, Jesuit missionaries in the 1600s documented the Canadian en vironment for its raw materials and educated colonists in navigation. Les Forges du Saint Maurice (“The Forges of Saint Maurice”), located between Montréal and Québec City, made iron products to be used by Canada’s colonists. The
Tartu University.
Estonia to live in Sweden. It should be noted, for all of our readers, that he continued his musical life as part of our broader välis Eesti community. Looking back at Aavik and Janson’s Christmas song from 96 years ago, we thought those
technology that produced iron became a big part of the structure behind the colony’s growth. Agricultural science was also emphasized – for example, with the post-Confederation founding of the Ontario Agricultural College in 1874 – due to its associated benefits for the Canadian economy. At first, however, science was less tied to post-secondary educational institutions and rooted more in observations “in the field.” Naturalist and agriculturist Titus Smith communicated with a young Charles Fenerty about the qualities of tree fibres, which led to Fenerty’s invention of wood pulp newsprint in 1844. Formal educational and research in science in Canada was bolstered by the foundation of several universities in the
For example: a jõulukuu (Christmas moon), saan (a “sleigh” or “sled”), kirik (“church”), aisakell (“jingle bell”), jõuluehted (“ornaments”), jõulupuu (“Christmas tree”), kingitused (“presents”), and jõuluvorstid (“Christmas sausages”). For every object in the lyrics, you can colour that part of the drawing and tick it off from the list underneath. The objects are listed in Estonian and English to help kids learn some new seasonal words. Of course, some of the words are conjugated in the lyrics, so it’s a good way to practice Estonian grammar, too. Rõõmsaid jõulupühi head vana aasta lõppu! Merry Christmas, Happy New Year!
ja and
1800s. The British Imperial government in Canada’s lack of involvement in the support of Canadian science was balanced by provincial government action, such as with taking on operations at the Toronto Mag netic Observatory in 1853. Technology and science was the answer to practical Cana dian questions. Nevertheless, the scientific method and other philosophies that brought about discoveries in countries like England and the Netherlands are evident also in the discoveries made by Estonians and Canadians: hypo theses, trialed experimentation, data analysis, and debate. Scientists created a world where the building blocks of science and technology became more known and respected. It’s a legacy worth continuing.
Photo: digar.ee
