Läksi marjahan emoni

SKVR V1 10·Lempaala·1854·Collector: Ahlqvist, A. E.

In the SKVR edition: Lempaala. Ahlqvist 528. 54.

Song types: Viron orja ja isäntä, Äidin kuolo

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SKVR textEnglish

1Läksi marjahan emoni,My mother went to the berry grove,

2Vaapukkahan vanhempani,My parent to the lingonberry patch,

3Karpalohon kantajani,My bearer to the cranberry bog,

4Puolahan puhastajani.My cleanser to the cloudberry field.

5Poimi puoloja putinan,She gathered cloudberries into her basket,

6As'in kannen karpaloja,Arranged cranberries in her vessel,

7Va'in verran vaapukkoja.Only a scant few lingonberries.

8Tuosta tyytyi, tuosta täytyi,From that she was sated, from that she was filled,

9Tuosta tautikin tapasi.From that the sickness found her.

10Läsi vuoen vuotehissa,She lay a year in her sickbed,

11Kaksi alla kattehissa,Two spans beneath the linens,

12Jo alkoi iho märätä,Then her skin began to moisten,

13Poisi pohkehet loheta.Her calves began to rot away.

14Läksin noijille kylälle,I went to the village of witches,

15Astuin arvan tietäjille,Stepped before the seers of fate,

16Noiat sanoi kuolevaksi,The witches declared her dying,

17Tietäjät paranevaksi.The sages foretold recovery.

18Tulin noijilta kyliltä,I returned from the witches' villages,

19Astuin arvan tietäjiltä.Left the seers' sacred grounds.

20Jo oil vello vestämässä,Already my brother built the coffin,

21Jeesus oil kujan perässä.Jesus waited at the lane's end.

22Kysyttelin, lausuttelin:I inquired, I implored:

23"Mitäs vestät, vellueni,"What do you build, dear brother,

24Kalkutat, emon kananen,Hammering, mother's darling,

25Vai vestät sotivenoista,Or craft battle vessels,

26Sotikantta kalkuttelet,Forge planks for warfare,

27Sotilaivoa latelet?"Assemble naval armadas?"

28Vello vasten vastaeli:My brother answered in turn:

29"En vestä sotivenoista,"I build no war-boats,

30Sotikantta kalkuttele,No battle-planks do I hammer,

31Vestän kuolleelle kotia,I raise a house for the departed,

32Emolle elo-tupoa,For mother a life-hall,

33Vestän maamolle majoa."For Earth-Mother a lodge."

34Minä kahta kämmentäniI, with both my palms,

35Kun rukaista roiskahutinWhen I pressed them in supplication,

36Tahi kahta laivan kantta:Or like two ship's timbers:

37En ollut polo kotona,I was not home, poor wretch,

38Ollut en ehtoisen emoni,Not with my twilight mother,

39Ollut luona luopuessa,Not present at her passing,

40Läsnä hengen lähtiessä,There as her spirit left,

41Suun alla sukertamassa,Beneath her mouth, seeking,

42Alla leuan laatimassa.Under her chin, attending.

43Kuin lie emoni kuollut,How did my mother perish?

44Lie kuollut kovin viluhunDid bitter cold claim her?

45Vai kuollut kovin varihin,Or succumb to deepest gloom?

46Suistununna suin lumehen,Tumbled face into snowdrifts,

47Suin lumehen, päin vetehen,Face in snow, head in water,

48Koprin ilmahan kovahan?Hurled to cruel winds?

Lisäys:

49(Kuka lie perät pitänyt,(Who bore the guilt,

50Liekkö suohon sortunehet,Did they sink in bogs,

51Suohon sotku-portahiksi,Become mire-stairs,

52Likahan lätikkö-puiksi.)Filth-pools' timber?)

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.
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-016487 · Read at SKS ↗

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