Jos mine laulaja olisi
In the SKVR edition: Juva. Gottlund n. 397. -12/2 1816.
SKVR textEnglish
1Jos mine laulaja olisiIf I were a singer,
2Eli vanha virren säppä,Or an old song-smith,
3Laulajan meret mesixi,The singer's seas would honey-turn,
4Meren mullat maltasixi,The sea's soils would endure,
5Suolox jerven somero.The salty lake's gravelly shore.
6Tie mine tilkun mata,*I tread the drop's ground,
7Tilkun mata, toisen jätä,The drop's ground, leave another,
8Syömetöntä, lyömettöntä,Mouthless, unbeaten,
9Käsi piäli käumettöntä.Hand on head, unfelt.*
10Tien mine tilluxei,I tread the path of drops,
11Takana on talluxei,Behind are the trodden,
12Tun̄en mine turkin mye,I know my fur coat,
13Ette kaupitta kasukka.A coat unbought.*
14Tuli mulla veiko vierahaixiA stranger-brother came to me,
15Kahelle kana munalle,Two hens for eggs,
16Kahexalle kakkaralle,Two for the rooster,
17Yhexelle jyrkiälle,One for the stallion,
18Kym̄enelle voi pytylle.Ten for the butter churn.
19Risui mine veikoihin hevoisein.I hitched my brother's horses,
20Laiton mine rengit ähtimän,I set servants to hurry,
21Rengit ähti kirves varta.Servants rushed for axe handles.
22Täin pa poika käihäs varta,*This boy grabbed the handle,*
23Läxi mine ite ähtimän.I myself went hurrying.
24Löusi mine veikoini hevoisen,I found my brother's horse,
25Pani mine suiset suhun,Put the bits in its mouth,
26Hopiaiset päiset piähän.Silver headgear on its head.
27Läxin mine mata marsiman,I set off to journey,
28Terva tiete telsimen,Tar on the sled's path,
29Muata kuin maxan kappaletta.*Earth like a bear's piece.*
30Tuli pa tuolta Ristus vastahainThen from there came Christ against,
31Kulta kukkaiset kätässä,
32Vaskivarpuia seiassa.Copper rods in the path.
33Lexin mine suole sottkullein,I laid on the marsh's edge,
34Levielle letkullein,On the meadow's bend,
35Varas kykki varvikossa,*A thief crouched in bushes,
36Pite nuoka lepikossa.A long alder in the grove.*
37Pipelin, pipelin, pitke nuoka,Pipelin, pipelin, long alder,
38Karva lam̄in kaunis kuoka . . .Rough-barked, beautiful birch.
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-022819 · Read at SKS ↗
Added by RunoVerse: the English translations, the song types, the verse numbers and the links.