Eivät kasva kaikki lapset

SKVR III1 97·Narvusi·1858·Collector: Länkelä, Jaako

In the SKVR edition: Narvusi. J. Länkelä. v. I 13 a. 1858.

SKVR textEnglish

1Eivät kasva kaikki lapset,Not all children grow,

2Kaikki kannetut ylene,Nor all nurtured ones thrive;

3Kuin kasvoin mie kanainen,As I grew, a hen-like one,

4Nousin nuori neiokkainen,I rose a youthful maiden,

5Viien vellon vieruessa,Near five brothers,

6Kuuen vellon kukkaisena,As the sixth brother’s blossom,

7Sen on seitsemän ilona,Its sevenfold joy,

8Kaheksan minjon natonna;Eight bridesmaids adorned;

9Vellot sirkutit sisoksi,Brothers chirped as sisters,

10Vellon naisuet naoksi,Brother’s women as wives,

11Vellon tyttäret tätiksi;Brother’s daughters as aunts;

12Isyt kutsu kullakseen,Fathers claimed me as gold,

13Emyt ehto lapsekseen;Mothers chose me as child;

14Ei suvattu surumaan,None let me sorrow,

15Ei tahottu jauhamaan,None wished me to toil,

16Rinnan riihtä tappamaan.Nor crush my breast with a millstone.

17Syötin heinät helmastani,I fed hay from my granary,

18Kaurat kahmaloisestani,Oats from my palms,

19Ropehesta vettä juotin.Water from troughs I gave.

20Läävät läikkyit, tallit tanssit,Barns brimmed, stables danced,

21Selällä meron sinetit,On back, the sea’s seals,

22(Tois. Sääli olla meron sinetti),(Alt.: Pity to be the sea’s seal),

23Kupanitsan kuuluvilla.Within Kupanitsa’s reach.

24Kuin kasvoin kaheksan vuotta,When I reached eight years,

25Ylenin yheksän vuotta,Thrived to nine years,

26Päälle vuuen kymmenettä,Then the tenth year came,

27Niin alkoi isoi torua,Then came harsh rebukes,

28Alkoit vellot vertaella,Brothers began to compare,

29Ja sisaret soimaella.Sisters to reproach.

30Minä marjoi maille muille,I, a berry to foreign lands,

31Tuomus toisille vesille,A fate to distant waters,

32Kana muille kallahille,A hen to strange shores,

33Lintu muille liivakoille.A bird to barren sands.

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 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.