A Lapland merchant must needs, one day,
To a distant market go;
But he had no horse, and he had no sleigh,
To carry him over the snow.
"Yet go I must," said the sturdy man—
"There is a way for every will—
Each new necessity has its plan,
For the earnest mind to fulfill."
So he drew, from the ice-bound river, a scow,
And lined it with furs and moss,
Then harnessed a reindeer to its prow,
With a rope his horns across.
No track was there—but the traveler knew
The way over valley and plain;
Like a well-trained steed, the reindeer flew,
And brought him safe back again.
The fashion he set is in fashion now,
Among the fur-clad Norse;
They use for a sleigh a flat-bottomed scow,
And a reindeer for a horse.
Said the resolute man, "They shall serve my turn;
Whatever we must, we may,
And sooner or later each man will learn,
That where there’s a will there’s a way."