Oli minul aino vello
In the SKVR edition: Medussi, Ruditsa. O. Groundstroem. n. 18. 1861. Okoi.
SKVR textEnglish
1Oli minul aino vello,I had a sole brother,
2Aino vello, kuudra tukka,Sole brother, six-braided hair,
3Suöttettuinen, juotettuinen,Fed and watered,
4Suötetty on sian lihoil,Fed with swine's flesh,
5Kalatseil on kasvatettu,Raised with fishes,
6Pyhät syötin pyy kaloille,Sacred feeds to grouse and fish,
7Aret ahvenen lihoille:Nourishments for perch's flesh:
8"Kasva velloni vällän!""Grow, my brother, strong!"
9Minä kasvan kaasoikse,I grew into a heifer,
10Nousen nuori naiseksi,Rose as a young woman,
11Vello kompi koison tielle.Brother took the suitor's path.
12Tuuli kosiist kotiin,Wind came from courting,
13Tuli tuiman tupaan,Entered the stern house,
14Pani kannelle kintahat,Laid mittens on the threshold,
15Itse päälle kävi itkemään,Himself began to weep,
16Emon luokse luotteli:To his mother he lamented:
17"Mitä itet, poikueni?""Why weep, my son?"
18"Sitä iten mie, emoni,"This I weep, my mother,
19Miks ei meille mieli neiot."Why maids don't desire us."
20Emo vaston vastaeli:Mother first responded:
21"Miks ej meille mieli neiot?""Why don't maids desire us?"
22"Miks on paljo siskoloi,"Because there are many sisters,
23Emon lapsia on enämmän,Mother's children are too many,
24Paljo paitoi pitää,Many shirts are needed,
25Niin enämmän hyvii vöitä."Thus more good belts required."
26Emo tutras on tuuli mieli,Mother's mind swift as wind,
27Hoitukka on harakan mieli,Careless as magpie's mind,
28Vei tyttäret veteen,Took daughters to water,
29Kantoi lapset lainehe,Carried children into waves,
30Sinne vaipalle vajotti,Sank them to the muddy depth,
31Sinne hursille hukutti.Drowned them in sacred depths.
32Siit tuotii isottu minno,Then came the grown bride,
33Niin isottu, kun halattu,Grown as was desired,
34Pantii kangas kangahille;Cloth placed on loom's beam;
35Ei kuo isottu minno,Not that grown bride,
36Istuu isottu miniä,Sits the grown daughter-in-law,
37Istuu immen kämmen pääse,Sits on maiden's palm's end,
38Pojon nain on polvelles.Son's wife at his knees.
39Kangas kielelle panoo:The cloth speaks thus:
40"Viekää kangas kaivo tiellä,"Take the cloth to road's well,
41Siel kulkiat kutoot,There walkers will weave,
42Keräjäiset kelkuttavat,Gatherers will card wool,
43Matka miehet pään panoot."Journeying men will begin."
44Pantii poukku pengärelle,The crook placed on rack,
45Ei sote isottu minniä,The grown bride won't wash,
46Istu isottu minnoi,Sits the grown brides,
47Istu immen kämmen pääsä,
48Pojan ainon polven pääsä.At only son's knee's end.
49Emo mäni meren rantuelle:Mother went to sea shore:
50"Tulkaat miun tyttöin kotiin"Come to my girls' home
51Kangastain kutomaan,To weave the cloth,
52Poukkua sotkemaan!"To wash the crook!"
53Vanhin tyttö vastaeli,Eldest daughter answered,
54Keskimäinen kertaeli,Middle one explained,
55Nuorin tyttö noutteli:Youngest refused:
56"En mie silloin tyttö ollut,"I wasn't a girl then,
57Kuin veit hurssill veteen,When you took us to water,
58On suul nyt isottu minno,Your grown bride now has
59Poukkuas sotkomas,
60Kangastas kutomas."The cloth to weave."
61Emo tuli itkien kotiin,Mother came weeping home,
62Kolloitellen kartanoon.Stumbling to the farmstead.
English translations by DeepSeek R1, provided by Lidia Pivovarova (University of Helsinki). AI-generated translations may contain inaccuracies. Lines without English have no translation, or one that cannot be matched to the line with certainty.
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.
Permanent address of this poem at SKS: http://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:sks-kvr-013031 · Read at SKS ↗
Added by RunoVerse: the English translations, the song types, the verse numbers and the links.