Elettii enne meillä
In the SKVR edition: Joenperä. Volmari Porkka. II 38. 1881-83.
SKVR textEnglish
1Elettii enne meilläLife existed here before us
2Ilma kuutta päivyettä,In a world without six days,
3Käsin maata etsittii,Earth was sought with hands,
4Käsin maata, sormin suota,With hands the earth, with fingers the marsh,
5Kylvy tehtii kynttelillä,Sowing done by plowmen,
6Vaot tuohuksen vahalla.Furrows with birch-bark wax.
7Miä kynsin, Luoja kylvi,I scratched, Creator sowed,
8Jumalä vaot vakosi.God set the furrows.
9Siihe miä sinoisen kylvin,There I sowed the blue plant,
10Pillaelin pellervoni.Scattered my pellervo.
11Sini etsi kitkijäistä,Blue sought a weeder,
12Pellervo puhastajaista,Pellervo a purifier,
13Maitoheinä mairojaista,Milkweed among buttercups,
14Kassikkaine katkojaista.Bracken with cutters.
15Mänin käymää kottii,I went home to visit,
16Mänin yheksi yöksi;Went for one night;
17Olin yheksä yötä,Stayed nine nights,
18Mänin katsomaa sinoa,Went to check the blue,
19Vaattamaa pellervoja:To examine pellervo:
20Jo sino sinikukalla,Blue now with blue blooms,
21Pellervo punakukalla.Pellervo with red blooms.
22Aloin kitkiä sinoa,Began weeding blue,
23Puhassella pellervoja.Cleansing pellervo.
24Tultii kaksi Jumalan miestä,Came two men of God,
25Toiset kaksi Luojan miestä,Two more of the Creator,
26Ne antoit "Jumal'appia."They offered "God's help!"
27Miä kurja kummartaisin,I, wretched, bowed low,
28Paljo piika painuttaisin.Made the maid bow deeply.
29"Oi siä tyttö pikkaraine,"Oh you little maiden,
30Matalaine marjukkaine,Lowly berry-child,
31Ku siä tietäisit vähäsen,If you knew but a little,
32Et siä kitkis sinoa,You'd not weed the blue,
33Puhastais et pellervoja!Nor cleanse pellervo!
34Jo siä oot kana kaupittu,You're already sold like a hen,
35Lintu myöty, liitkat juotu."Bird traded, drinks consumed."
36"Ken miun kaupan kauppaeli?""Who brokered my deal?"
37"Iso siun kaupan kauppaeli,"Your father made the deal,
38Emosi siun luppais."Your mother squandered you."
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.
Source
Text: SKVR (Suomen Kansan Vanhat Runot), the digital edition of the Finnish Literature Society (SKS), licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Permanent address of this poem at SKS: http://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:sks-kvr-007658 · Read at SKS ↗
Added by RunoVerse: the English translations, the song types, the verse numbers and the links.