One chants a line and pulls backward, then the other chants the next line and pulls in the opposite direction.

Not to be able to answer at once would be considered a great disgrace; and every singer has to be able to improvise as well as to sing.
And that is the signification of the following verse: "Put thy hand to my hand--place thy fingers between my fingers--that we may sing of the things which are." The most beautiful story in this wonderful book is the story of Kullervo.
It was after reading this story that Longfellow imagined his story of the Strong Man Kwasind.

Kullervo is born so strong that as an infant he breaks his cradle to pieces, and as a boy he can not do any work, for all the tools and instruments break in his grasp.

Therefore he gives a great deal of trouble at home and has to go out into the world to seek his fortune.
In the world, of course, he has just the same trouble; for nobody will employ him very long.

However, the story of Kullervo's feats of strength, though interesting, need not now concern us.