Syntyi tyttö miun emolle

SKVR III1 37·Narvusi·1853·Collector: Europaeus, D. E. D.

In the SKVR edition: [Narvusi]. D. E. D. Europæus. Fol. III 3. n.187. 1853.

SKVR textEnglish

1Syntyi tyttö miun emolle,A girl was born to my mother,

2Syntyi tyttö, tuli huoli,A girl was born, a burden came,

3Kasvo tyttö, tuli kaksi:The girl grew, two [burdens] arose:

4Viitan huoli, vaipan huoli,Worry for a cloak, worry for a blanket,

5Huoli kirstu kintaita,Worry for a chest of mittens,

6Vakka vöitä valmiita.A bushel of belts prepared.

7Vietii tyttö miehelähän.The girl was taken to a husband.

8Emo kiitellen kylään:Mother went to the village, rejoicing:

9Jopa meiltä huoli loppu,"At last our burden is gone,

10Vietiin tyttö miehelähän.The girl was taken to a husband."

11Käi emo iltaselle,Mother went to the evening tasks,

12Huoli ehti ennen käyä;The burden had already arrived;

13Käi emo makaamahan,Mother went to lie down,

14Huoli ehti ennen käyä.The burden had already arrived.

15Noisi aamulla ylös,She rose in the morning,

16Huoli ehti ennen noissa.The burden had already risen.

17Läksi emoni veelle,My mother left to fetch water,

18Huoli ehti ennen männä.The burden had already gone.

19Lensi lintu tuolta maalta,A bird flew from that land,

20Kuss on tyttö miehelässä.Where the girl is with her husband.

21Emo linnulta kysyy:Mother asked the bird:

22"Kuin miun elää tyttäreini"How does my daughter live

23Perehessä vierahassa,In a foreign household,

24Elossa emottomassa,Alive without a mother,

25Talossa talottomassa?"In a masterless house?"

26Lintu vasten vastaeli:The bird replied:

27"Niin siun elää tyttäreisi,"Your daughter lives thus,

28Kuin toukka puun raossa,Like a grub in a tree’s crack,

29Tahi hirressä hepoinen."Or a horse carved in a log."

30Tuli vävy vierasiin,The son-in-law came to the guests,

31Vävy uuen uutukkainen,The son-in-law, a new arrival,

32Kuin munainen kaunokkainen,Like a fragile egg-shell beauty,

33Toi emolle tuomisia,Brought offerings to the mother,

34Oman lintuso lihutta,His own bird’s meager flesh,

35Kannettuisen kantapäitä.The heels of the burden carried.

English translations by DeepSeek R1, provided by Lidia Pivovarova (University of Helsinki). AI-generated translations may contain inaccuracies.

The text is that of the SKVR digital edition of the Finnish Literature Society (SKS), with these changes:

The editors’ signs inside the verses ([ ], ⌈ ⌉, *, [!], [?]) are left out, as in the poem reader; the letters they enclose are kept.
The edition’s line numbers are replaced by a number on every verse, counted as in the poem reader.
The editors’ notes, and the marks in the verses that point to them, are left out; they can be read at SKS.

Source

Text: SKVR (Suomen Kansan Vanhat Runot), the digital edition of the Finnish Literature Society (SKS), licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Added by RunoVerse: the English translations, the song types, the verse numbers and the links.