Nummisuutarit

The Cobblers on the Heath ( or Heath Cobblers in Douglas Robinson's 1993 translation) is a play by Aleksis Kivi. The play, titled Nummisuutarit in its original language of Finnish, was originally written in 1864. It is divided into five acts. The first act takes place in the room of Topias, the master cobbler, the second in the spacious house of Karri, the owner, and the third takes us to Hämeenlinna and the Halfway House Inn (’Puolmatkan krouvi’). The fourth act takes place in a forest, while the fifth and final act is played out outside Topias’s room.

The story begins with Topias the master cobbler and his irritable wife Martta, who, in their greed, want to marry off their underage and slightly dim son, Esko. They’re in a hurry, since an old will states that the inheritance will be given to the first to marry. It seems that their orphaned neighbour Jaana, whose father Niko ran off to sea, and who has been raised in Topias’s house, might beat them to it, as she has fallen in love with Kristo, a young blacksmith, and the beneficiary of the will.

The inheritance will be given to the person who marries first. Martta cannot stand Kristo and she is very demanding towards Jaana, and out of avarice tries to prevent the marriage between the young couple. To Martta’s delight, the talks between Topias and the householder Karri in the Halfway House Inn result in Esko being sent to propose to Karri’s lovely daughter, Kreeta.

The village cantor Sepeteus comes to sign the document authorising Esko’s marriage licence, and even though he knows the background to the matter and states his view, he eventually signs it. The unlettered Esko also wants to make his mark on the document, which of course leads to a conflict. Mikko Vilkastus, who is more conniving than Esko, goes with him to speak on the simpleton’s behalf. As a subplot Esko’s alcoholic brother Iivari is sent in turn to the town of Hämeenlinna to buy various things for the celebration of Esko and Kreeta’s arrival.

In the parlour at Karri’s house meanwhile the wedding is in full swing, with Kreeta as the bride, but the groom turns out to be Jaakko the clog maker. Karri is astonished: as far as he was concerned, the marriage arrangements between Esko and Kreeta were just a joke. Father Topias and Karri’s hazy deal at the inn has meant a wasted journey, which ends with Esko being provoked into a fight with the fiddler Teemu. As a consequence, Esko has to flee the scene with the mischievous Mikko Vilkastus, who was the one to egg him on.

In the third act we find ourselves in Hämeenlinna, where Esko’s brother Iivari is roaming the streets, miserable and hung over. As he is prone to drink, he has, together with his uncle Sakeri, spent the money raised for the wedding on booze. Iivari is racking his brains to find a way out of the financial pickle and to avoid the wrath of Martta and the other villagers. Sakeri, who was very helpful with emptying the bottles of liquor, comes up with a scheme – they will tell everyone that they have been robbed. They decide to run with the story and start heading towards Topias the (master) cobbler’s house, obviously with the intention of spending their very last pennies at the Halfway House Inn.

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