But once the time will come,
When all the splinters will
flare up at both ends
Then the flame will cut the hero’s hands
loose from the rock.
Then the son of Kalev will come home
to bring his children happiness
and build Estonia’s life anew.

Selve Maas, a librarian at the Library of Congress, is the author of The Moon Painters and other Estonian Folk Tales and the coauthor of The Sea Wedding and Other Stories from Estonia.