Menin metsähän kesällä

SKVR V1 81·Vuole·1894·Collector: Pajula, Fanny M.

In the SKVR edition: Vuole, Kirkonkylä. Pajula 125. 94. Saara Jähmänen, 51 v.

SKVR textEnglish

1Menin metsähän kesällä,I went into the forest in summer,

2Kaikk' oil metsät mettä täynnä,All the forests were full of honey,

3Puun juuret punaista oltta.The tree roots [flowed with] red beer.

4Join mie itsein juovuksiin.I drank myself into drunkenness,

5Mie nukuin makkaamaan.I fell asleep lying down.

6Vora vei hyvän hevosen,The thief took the good horse,

7Hiirikarvasen hevosen,The mouse-gray horse,

8Soarennahkasen satulan.The sedge-leather saddle.

9Mänin itkien kottiin,I went home crying,

10Kallotellen kartanoon.Wailing to the manor.

11Emo aitassa assuu,Mother stays in the granary,

12Isä aitan rappusilla:Father on the granary steps:

13"Mitä itket, poikueeni,"Why cry, my little son,

14Nuorin lapseni nurajat?"Youngest child, so downcast?"

15"Vora vei hyvän hevosen,"The thief took the good horse,

16Hiirikarvasen hevosen,The mouse-gray horse,

17Soarennahkasen satulan."The sedge-leather saddle."

18"Elä itke, poikueeni,"Don’t weep, my little son,

19Eilen meillä lehmä poiki,Yesterday our cow calved,

20Teki valkian vasikan,She bore a white calf,

21Sukkajalan suilahutti,Made the stocking-legged one prance,

22Keträsilmän keikahutti,Made the bright-eyed one sway.

23Se kun viiään Viipuriin,When we take it to Viipuri,

24Sill' soahhaan sattoi,With that we’ll gain profit,

25Tuhhansii tungetaan,Thousands will be thrust [to us],

26Ostetaan orih parempiWe’ll buy a better stallion

27Tahi tamma sälkeväinen,Or a dappled mare,

28Mikä syöp' kaurat räystähältä,One that eats oats from the eaves,

29Ve'en pilvest' vettää."Draws water from the clouds."

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.

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