Venäläinen, vainolainen

SKVR V2 1901·Lempaala·1854·Collector: Ahlqvist, A. E.

In the SKVR edition: Lempaala. Ahlqvist 549. 54.

Song type: Pakeneva

SKVR textEnglish

1Venäläinen, vainolainen,The Russian, the foe,

2Sinisaapas SaksalainenThe blue-booted German,

3Tappoi isoin, tappoi emoin,Killed the father, killed the mother,

4Tappoi viisi velloani,Killed five of my brothers,

5Seitsemän setäni lasta.Seven of my uncle's children.

6Kävi minuista tappamahan.Came to kill me too.

7Minä pääsin päistärille,I escaped to the edge,

8Päistäret tulelle syttyi,The edge burst into flames,

9Minä kuumille kiville,I fell onto hot stones,

10Kuumat kivet polttelivat.The hot stones scorched me.

11Minä aialle pakohon,I fled to the fence,

12Aita alleni mun kaatui,The fence fell beneath me,

13Minä vierin vitsikkohon,I rolled into a willow thicket,

14Vitsikosta sauvan löysin,From the thicket, I found a staff,

15Sauva minun tielle saattoi,The staff led me to the path,

16Tie minun talohon saattoi.The path led me home.

17Tapasin ämmän leipomasta,I met an old woman baking,

18Tyttären taputtamasta,A daughter churning,

19Pitkäsormen pistämästä.Long-fingered one pricking.

20Te'e ämmä miulle kaakku"Bake me a cake, crone,

21Kivensilmän suurukkainen,Stone-eyed giantess's cake,

22Koivun lehen korkunainen! -Crusted with birch bark!"

23Minä kaakun kalamiehille,I traded the cake to fishermen,

24Kalamies kaloja mulle,The fisherman gave me fish,

25Mie kalaset riihenpuijille,I gave fish to threshers,

26Riihenpuijat mulle jyviä,Threshers gave me grain,

27Mie jyväset posson suuhun,I fed grain to a pig,

28Posso puoli kylkeänsä,The pig gave half its flank,

29Mie kylen on koiran suuhun,I gave the flank to a dog,

30Koira se oravan haukkui,The dog barked at a squirrel,

31Mie oravan kokkoselle,I gave the squirrel to an eagle,

32Kokko mulle siipiänsä,The eagle gave me its wing,

33Siipiänsä sulkiansaIts wing and feathers,

34Yli meren mennäkseniTo cross over the sea,

35Tuohon uutehen tupahan,To that new cottage,

36Kalkittuhun kartanohon.To the whitewashed manor.

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.

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