Oho minua onnetonta!

SKVR IV1 925·Moloskovitsa·1859·Collector: Törneroos ja Tallqvist

In the SKVR edition: [Moloskovitsa - Tyrö]. Törneroos ja Tallqvist. n. 12. 1859.

Song types: Jumalalla onnen ohjat, Kun ois onni ostannassa, Löin isoni, löin emoni, Onnensa pieksijä, Pahoin luusin Luojan mielen, Syntymistään sureva

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SKVR textEnglish

1Oho minua onnetonta!Alas, wretched me!

2Onneton oil miun emmoin,Unfortunate were my mothers,

3Onnetoin oil ehottajain,Unfortunate were the preparers,

4Onnettoman saunan käynyt,The unfortunate one visited the sauna,

5Onnetonta kylvötteli,Bathed the unfortunate one,

6Onnettoman löylyn luonut,Created steam for the unfortunate,

7Onnettoman vassan hautoi.Warmed the unfortunate one's cradle.

8Oho onnein näkisin,If I could see the spirits,

9Haamitsisin haltijain,I would bind the guardian spirits,

10Selin seinähän sitoisin,Tie them backwards to the wall,

11Päin panisin patsahasen,Press them face-first into a post,

12Tuoss mie vitsoin vinguttaisin,There I’d whip them with willow rods,

13Nahka ruossin nau'ottaisin!Make them scream with leather straps!

14Ko ois onni ostettava,If luck could be bought,

15Lykky ois lunastettava,If fortune could be redeemed,

16Ostaisin paremman onnen,I’d buy better luck,

17Pahan onnen pois panisin!Cast away the bad luck!

18Ei oo onni ostettava,Luck cannot be bought,

19Ei lykky lunastettava;Fortune cannot be redeemed;

20Onni on antama Jummalan,Luck is given by God,

21Lykky on luojan lykkelömä;Fortune is the Creator’s gift;

22Jummalall' on onnen ohjat,God holds the reins of luck,

23Luojall lykyn avaimet,The Creator holds fortune’s keys,

24Kelle tahtoi, sille antoi,To whom He wills, He gives,

25Keltä tahtoi, siltä otti;From whom He wills, He takes;

26Otti miulta pienoiselta,He took from me, the small one,

27Otti pinnolta tuttöltä.Took from a mere girl.

28Miun on onnein ojassa,My luck is in a ditch,

29Ha'on all' on haltijain,Under the shadow of spirits,

30Syntyin on syväss' maass'.I was born in the deep earth.

31Miun ehtoin emmoin,My evening mothers,

32Miun kaunoi kantajainMy fair bearers

33Pahoin luusi luojan mielen,Angered the Creator’s mind,

34Pahoin palveli Jum(m)alanServed God poorly

35Lähtiessänsä koista.When departing from here.

36Ko lähti is(s)ohen koista,When she left for the great place,

37Teki kolmet kovaa työtä:She did three hard deeds:

38Löi issähen, löi emmähen,Struck the father, struck the mother,

39Särki sänky vuoteheen,Shattered the bed to splinters,

40Rikko itku-issumeen,Broke the weeping-room,

41Halkais' halu rah(h)iheen.Split longing into fragments.

42Ko ois ismaro issoinIf the great ancestors

43Tehnyt saunan tervaksist',Had built a tarred sauna,

44Petäjäiset pielet pannu,Laid pine logs for walls,

45Katajainen katto päälle,Juniper for the roof,

46Olkinen ovi etteen,A straw door in front,

47Laskenut tulelle saunan,Surrendered the sauna to fire,

48Turkanut tytön tul(l)een,Thrust the girl into flames,

49Luonut lapsen lemmeneen!Made the child a sacred calf!

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.

Permanent address of this poem at SKS: http://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:sks-kvr-012594 · Read at SKS ↗

Added by RunoVerse: the English translations, the song types, the verse numbers and the links.