Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-12-04
BY DAY THORPE

Finland to meet Jan Sibelius.
Why I was invited can only
have been Nine. Jarnefelt's re-
markable hospitality. for ! was
known to her only as a young
and enthusiastic admirer Of
her famous countryman - a
qualification that did not dis
tinguish me from thousands of
other Americans at that time.
Nine. Jarnefelt. whose hus-
band was a nephew Of Sibelius'
wife, herself came from an IL
lustrious Finnish family. Her
father, Gustav John Ramstedt,
at whose house ] arrived in
August, was a retired diplomat
and a world-famous linguist
and philologist. He lived with
his wife, children and grand
children on an island or penin-
Sula accessible only by boat
near the southern coast of
Finland. The beautiful white
wooden house, the cupboard
motorboats and rowboats at
the dock, the extensive truck
garden and the sauna, or steam
hathhouse were, I believe, all
destroyed a few years later in
the RuSSo-Finnish war when
the nearby naval base of
Iapohya was obliterated.
Il Entertaining Linguist
8 Mr.. Ramstedt was a small,
Friendly man who loved both
conversation and the little.
mild, tooth lackening and
delicious Finnish cigarettes
Manufactured by the Retig
Co, which, Il was told, assumed
the entire expenses of the
Finnish elementary school sys-
tenn in return for tax exemp-
ton by the government. RAM
stedt. 1t seemed to me. had
endless entertaining Informal
ton about a great many sub
jects. particularly languages
and words. / have since learned
that he impresses far less naive
listeners than !. and is in
deed one of the greatest au-
thorities on Japanese and
various obscure Russian dia-
lects.
He used to say sadly that
while Finnish is one of the
most expressive languages in
the world, it is one the beau
ties of which cannot be en-
joyed by foreigners. for he
had never known single per-
son not having learned Fin
nish at mothers knee who
could speak it automatically,
or understand it readily. There
are many Firms quite at home
In the second native tongue
Of the country. Swedish. to
whom Finnish. nominally
their own language, is unin-
telhgible. -.
/ Translated Own Letter
| I can still remember Mr..
Ramstedt's relish in his &C
count of his first visit to
Tokyo, where he had been sent
many years before as Finnish
Minister. He marked his ar
rival in a country the idiosyn-
crasies of whose language
he knew better than most
natives by a precise, correct,
and disconcerting piece of sly
diplomatic fun. He announced
his arrival and paid his re-
spects to the Foreign Office
in a letter in japanese. Dip
lomatic protocol requires that
b letter written in the Ian
guage Of the sender be an
swered in the language of the
recipient; that one in French
be answered in French. and
that one IL the language of
the recipient be answered in
that of the sender.
My credentials weren't ao-
knowledged for several days"
said Ramstedt, but I knew
what was up, and Tokyo is a
wonderful city to enjoy on
the loose. Finally, was waited
upon by an official japanese
delegation. Please they said.
may we ask a favor? Will
you translate this letter into
Finnish for us?' I did. of
course. 1t was a letter to me
the recognition of my Gre
dentials. and a welcome to
Tokyo. I handed my transla-
ton gravely to the delegation,
and the next day received 1t
back as an official letter"
~ I leave Ramstedt and has
ten on the Sibelius, but first
/ must mention the Finnish
Tdpu. a shellfish something
like the French bouquet. I
daresay God could have
created something that tastes
better than a rapu. but I
doubt that he ever did. One
rapu. pink and looking like a
miniature lobster the size of
your thumb joint, is always
evenly paired with one ak
OaUiit. You put the rapu in
your mouth, hold up a little
glass Of akudDitt in a toast to
your companions, and then
swallow both fish and fire. A
dozen, or even two dozen. rdpu
make the most delicious din
ner one can contemplate.
Z Why No New Works?
The Sibelius that Nine.
Jarnefelt and I drove out to
see one day at his home in
Jaryenpaa then held much the
same position in the world
of. music that the 90-year-old
musician holds today. At that
time he had stopped writing
Cor at least publishing) for
eleven years, although the last
works from his pen had been
among his best and had
shown no decline in imagina-
ton or technique. People won
dered If he had really stopped