Seppueni, selvueni!

SKVR V1 135·Toksova·1894·Collector: Pajula, Fanny M.

In the SKVR edition: Toksova, Kopittala. Pajula 256. 94. Katri Itko, 60 v.

Song types: Iivana Kojosenpoika, Kanteleen synty, Kullasta saari, Nurmen neito

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SKVR textEnglish

1Seppueni, selvueni!My smith, my clear one!

2T^oa'oit eklen, t^oa'oit ennen,Bring from yesterday, bring from before,

3T^oa'o viel tännäi päivän,Bring also this very day,

4T^oa'o miull' kanteloinen,Bring me the kantele,

5Kanteloinen kuunteloinen.The kantele, the listening one.

6Uupu kannel kahta kieltä,The kantele wearied of two strings,

7Yhtä kieltä keskimmäistä,One string the middlemost,

8Toista kieltä reunimmaista.The other the outermost.

9Tuil tuo kannel valmihiksi.Come, make the kantele ready!

10Soitin suolle mennessäin,I played it going to the marsh,

11Kajahutin kankahalla,Made it echo across the heath,

12Tuo kuulu sepän paijaan.The sound reached the smith's bed.

13Seppä seisattu paijaas,The smith rose from his bed,

14Vasara vajois k^eäest',The hammer dropped from his hand,

15Kulta kuohu kattilasta.Gold foamed from the cauldron.

16Kuhun kultaa tipahti,Where the gold dripped,

17Siihen soari siunattiin,There an island was blessed,

18Sorja nurmi soaren peälle,A sleek meadow upon the island,

19Sorja neito nurmen peälle.A sleek maiden on the meadow.

20Tuota pipit, tuota papit,Those pipits, those priests,

21Tuota hovin hoikat herrat.Those court's slender lords,

22Tuil viimein Kojosen poika,At last came Kojonen's son,

23Koppas korjan rekehen,He snatched a fine sleigh,

24Rotkas ruosalla hevosta,Whipped the horse with a lash,

25Nahkasiimalla sipasi.Urged it with leather reins.

26Neito parka huokajeel,The poor maiden sighed,

27Huokajeeli, henkäjeeli:Sighed deeply, gasped faintly:

28Paremp' ois miun poloisenBetter it were for my wretched self

29Su'en ulvoisen suussa,In the mouth of a howling wolf,

30Karhun kiljuvan ki'assaIn the grip of a roaring bear,

31Kuin tämän Kojon reessä.Than in this Kojonen's sleigh.

32En tiiä poloinen piika,I know not, poor maid,

33Kunkan tien otan etteen,Which path to take ahead,

34Kunkan juonen juostassein.Which trail to flee along.

35Jos lähen jänön jälille,If I follow the hare's trail,

36Jänis peittää jälleen,The hare hides its tracks,

37Jos käisin revon rekkeen,If I go to the fox's sleigh,

38Revoll' on reki matala;The fox's sleigh is too low;

39Istun ilveksen rekkeen,If I sit in the lynx's sleigh,

40Ilves viep' isän kottiin,The lynx takes me to father's house,

41Veikon maireen majoille.To the brother's fair dwellings.

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-016615 · Read at SKS ↗

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