Lauloin enne lapsempan'
In the SKVR edition: Narvusi, Kullan kylä. V. Alava. VII 161. 1892. Ul'o Varkki. Kuullut Struuppaalla.
SKVR textEnglish
(Struuppaalla laulettiin tervehtimis-virren jälestä:)
1Lauloin enne lapsempan',I sang before my little child,
2Huusin enne hullumpan',I called out to my dear fool,
3Kieltä pieksin pienempän',I wore out my tongue as a lesser one,
4Laulon ilma rahatta,I sang without payment,
5Suuta kullatta kulutin,I spent my golden mouth,
6Kieltä pieksin penninkittä;I beat my tongue for pennies;
7Vaa(n) en nyt rahatta laula,But now I won’t sing unpaid,
8Suut' en kullatta kuluta,I won’t spend my gilded mouth,
9Kielt' en pieksä penninkittä.I won’t thrash my tongue for coins.
10En mie paljo(i) kysyI don’t ask for much,
11Enko vähää tvyty.Nor am I content with little.
12Sie kuulut olla rikas rahalta,You’re famed to be rich in silver,
13Kuuluis(a) kulta-penninkilt',Renowned for golden pennies,
14Rintaš' Riikaa näkyy,On your chest, Riga gleams,
15Tähtes' paistaa Tallinaa; -In your star, Tallinn shines;
16Rubl' iest'-laulajille,Let roubles flow to singers,
17Polttina avittajille!Libations for helpers!
Siit annetaa rahaa, sulhane antaa rahaa laulajille.
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.
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-009172 · Read at SKS ↗
Added by RunoVerse: the English translations, the song types, the verse numbers and the links.