Hiho päivän kirvestäi
In the SKVR edition: Lempaala. Reinh. A IV 35. 47.
SKVR textEnglish
1Hiho päivän kirvestäi,Hiho's day's axe
2Toise päivän toista puolta,The second day's other half,
3Kolmannen koko terästä.The third day the whole blade.
4Hopiaine oli kirves,The axe was of silver,
5Vaskine ol kirves varsi.Its handle was of copper.
6Sitt läks vestoon venokse,Then it went to water as a boat,
7Soti koaren kalkuntaan.Rowed the crow to Kalkunta.
8Tul' hänen honga vastahaseHis pine tree came against him,
9Isk' hän kerran kirvehellä.He struck once with the axe.
10Honka äänen parahti:The pine cried aloud:
11"Ei synny veno minusta,"No boat will come from me,
12Mato on juuren maanut,A worm has gnawed my root,
13Lint' on olt oksillain."A bird sits on my boughs."
14Käy tietä pikkaraisen.He went a small way,
15Tuli honga vastahain.Came upon the pine again,
16Tuli honga huolanniekka.Came the pine's guardian.
17Iski kerran kirvehellä,Struck once with the axe,
18Iski kerran, synty lastu,Struck once – a chip was born,
19Toisen kerran toine lastu,A second strike – another chip,
20Kolman̄ koko venonen.The third strike – a whole boat.
21Vene synty vestämättä,The boat was born unrowed,
22Laiva lastun ottamatta.The ship without taking cargo.
23Viijän sitt' veno vesille,Then they took the boat to water,
24Laitto laijan neitosii,Loaded the ship with maidens,
25Toisen laijan poikasii,Another ship with youths,
26Sukapäitä sulhasii.Kin-leaders as grooms.
27Pani nuoret soutamaan.Set the young to rowing.
28Nuoret sousiit, airot notkuit,The young rowed, oars bent,
29Lyllyiit melat lylyiset,Sturdy paddles splashed,
30Melat piukkiit pihlajaiset.Rowan paddles creaked.
31Pani vanhat soutaman.Set the old to rowing.
32Vanhat sousiit, pää tutaji,The old rowed, heads muddled,
33Sousiit Suomet, sousiit saaret,Rowed past Finnlands, past islands,
34Sousiit Suomen linnan alle.Rowed beneath Finland's fortress.
35Alko(i)t linnan liikahella,Began to scorch the fortress,
36Torilatvat torkahellaa.Singed the market's treetops.
37Kyssyiit linnasta lihaistaThey asked the fortress for meat
38Ja kalaista kaupunnistaAnd fish from the town,
39Väelle väsynehelle,
40Urohoille uupuneille.For the exhausted heroes.
41Ei ole linnast lihaista,There's no meat in the fortress,
42Ei kalaista kaupungista.No fish in the town.
43Vie ves' mokoman linnan,Take such a fortress to water,
44Polta tul' turulta linnan!Burn it with fire from the base!
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-017560 · Read at SKS ↗
Added by RunoVerse: the English translations, the song types, the verse numbers and the links.