Mänin metsään kesoilla

SKVR III1 57·Narvusi·1853·Collector: Europaeus, D. E. D.

In the SKVR edition: [Narvusi]. D. E. D. Europæus. Fol. III 3. n.204. 1853.

SKVR textEnglish

1Mänin metsään kesoilla,I went to the forest on fallow meadows,

2Keskkesoilla, heinajoilla,Mid-meadows, at haymaking time,

3Paraalla paisteella;In the finest sunlight;

4Kuulin kukkuvan käkösen,I heard the cuckoo calling,

5Sisavaisen sirkuttavan;The titmouse chirping;

6Mie vain kuuntelin poloinen,I, poor wretch, only listened,

7Kuuntelin polon alainen,Listened under sorrow's yoke,

8Kumman kieli kerkiämpi,Which tongue is swifter,

9Kumman on sanat paremmat.Which words are better.

10Käen kieli on kerkiämpi,The cuckoo's tongue is swifter,

11Sisavan sanat paremmat.The titmouse's words are better.

12Siit mie poimin povveheni,So I gathered to my bosom,

13Hihav vartehen valitsin,Chose to my sleeve's edge,

14Päitin vyöni päittimisse,Fastened my belt's buckles,

15Mänin kukkana kujahan,Went as a flower to the path,

16Hoppiana uulitsalle,As silver to the street,

17Vaskisena vainiolle.As copper to the field.

18Sanoot kyläiset naiset,The village women said,

19Sanoot naiset naapurista,The women from nearby said,

20Tytöt toisesta talosta:Girls from another house:

21"Kenen kukkanen kujalla,"Whose flower is on the path,

22Kenen hopia uulitsalla,Whose silver on the street,

23Kenen vaski vainiolla?Whose copper on the field?

24Tämä om opissa ollut,This one has been apprenticed,

25Seisonut sepän pajassa,Stood in the smith's forge,

26Sepän pihtiä piellyt,Handled the smith's tongs,

27Sepän liettä lieritellyt,Stirred the smith's furnace,

28Syönyt rauvan suurimoja,Eaten iron grits,

29Särpänyt teräksen lientä."Sipped steel's broth."

30Miepä vasten vastaelin:But I retorted:

31"En mie oo opissa ollut,"I've not been apprenticed,

32Seisont en sepän pajassa,Never stood in a smith's forge,

33Sepän en pihtiä piellyt;Never handled a smith's tongs;

34Mie vain opin orjuuessa,I learned in enslavement,

35Orjuuessa ollessani,While bound in slavery,

36Piikuuessa käyessäni."While serving as a maid."

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.