Kalevall' ol kärtsä koira

SKVR V1 326·Vuole·1847·Collector: Europaeus, D. E. D.

In the SKVR edition: [Vuole]. Europ. J 107. 47.

Song types: Kalervo ja Untamo, Kalevanpojan kosto

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SKVR textEnglish

1Kalevall' ol kärtsä koiraKaleva had a snappish [?] dog

2Söi kaikki Kalevan joukon,Ate all of Kaleva's kin,

3Heitti pienen poikalapsenIt left a small boy-child

4Tuutuhun tutajamahan,To rock in the cradle,

5Vaaruhun vapajamahan.To sway in the swing.

6Miehet tuumaa pitävät,The men hold counsel,

7Akat kaikki arvelevat:The women all ponder:

8Mihin poika pantanehe,"Where to place the boy,

9Kuhun surma saatanehe?Where to bring his doom?"

10Pannaan poikanen tulehen;"Let's put the boy in the fire."

11Ei poika tulessa kuole,The boy doesn't die in fire,

12Istuvi kes'ellä tultaHe sits amidst the flames,

13Hiil' on koukkunen kä'essä.A coal-hook in his hand.

14Pannaan poika paimeneksiThey make the boy a shepherd

15Selvälle sepän akalle:For the shrewd smith's wife:

16Tuo selvä sepän emäntäThat shrewd smith's wife

17Paisto kaakun paimenelle,Baked a cake for the shepherd,

18Päältä voisi voiheralla,Buttered thickly on top,

19Kiven siimasi sisään.Slipped a stone inside.

20Paha raiska paimenpoikaThe wicked shepherd boy

21Katso pitkän päivän päälle:Looked up at the long day's sun:

22"Aik ois syöä armottoman,"Time for the unloved one to eat,

23Isättömän illastella."For the fatherless one to have supper."

24Ajo lehmänsä aholle,He drove cows to the field,

25Vasikkaiset varvikolle,Calves to the thicket,

26Veti veitsensä tupesta,Drew his knife from its sheath,

27Leikkais leipää palaisen,Cut a slice of bread,

28Veti veitsensä kivehen,Scraped his knife on stone,

29Karahutti kalliohon:Clashed it on the cliff:

30"Malta, malta, hiien huora,"Wait, wait, Hiisi's whore,

31Jos itken isoin veistä,If I weep for my father's knife,

32Itket laukko lehmiäis!"You'll weep for your white-faced cows!"

33Paha raiska paimen poikaThe wicked shepherd boy

34Teki luikun laukonluista,Made a horn from Laukko's bones,

35Pillin pienikin jal'asta;A pipe from Pienikki's leg;

36Lujahutti luikullansa,Blew hard on his horn,

37Pimahutti pillillänsä,Shrilled on his pipe,

38Suimais tuo suet kokohon,Called wolves to gather,

39Suet lehmät suolle sorti.The wolves brought the cows down on the swamp.

40Tuo selvä sepän emäntäThat shrewd smith's wife

41Veättelee lehmiään:Called her cows home:

42"Tulkaat lehmäin leholta,"Come, cows, from the meadow,

43Vasikkain varvikolta!"Calves from the thicket!"

English translations by DeepSeek R1, provided by Lidia Pivovarova (University of Helsinki). AI-generated translations may contain inaccuracies. RunoVerse revised some lines of this English with AI language models; the models checked every line against dictionaries and other versions of the same song.

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-016808 · Read at SKS ↗

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