Lappalainen on laiha poika

SKVR VII1 35·Korpiselkä·1897·Collector: Potschtareff, Wasilei

In the SKVR edition: Korpiselkä. Potschtareff n. 15. -97. Kokkari. Iivana Samsonov, 40 v.; muuttanut Vieksingistä.

Song types: Maailmansyntyruno, Viron orja ja isäntä, Väinämöisen ammunta

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SKVR textEnglish

Väinämöinen loi munasta maailman.

1Lappalainen on laiha poika,The Sámi boy is a lean lad,

2Lappalani, kappalani,My Sámi, my fragment,

3aina ampua käkesi (luposi),Always urged to shoot with your hands (promised),

4käet kielsi ampumassa,Your hands forbade the shooting,

5sormet suoniset epäsi.Veiny fingers denied it.

6Ampu päivän, sen alisti,He shot a day, subdued it,

7ampu toisen, sen ylisti,Shot another, exalted it,

8ampu piänä kolmantena,Shot on the third occasion,

9ampu vanhan VäinämöisenShot old Väinämöinen

10oikijah on olkapiähä,Straightened to the shoulder-head,

11vasemah on kainaloh;Left side to the armpit;

12tuosta suistui suin lumeh,Then he tumbled face-first into snow,

13päin vitih,Against the willow thicket,

14kämmenin sulah mereh.With palms into the open sea.

15Tuolla kupli kuusi vuotta,There he floated six years,

16seurui seitsemän keseä;Seven summers followed;

17tuuli hänen turpeheksi,Wind turned him to turf,

18sai jo sara mättähäksi.Became a sedge-covered hummock.

19Sotka lintu, suora lintuThe Goldeneye, upright bird,

20lenteleksi, liiteleksiSoared and glided,

21selvällä meren selällä,Over the clear sea’s expanse,

22lakijalla lainehella;On the smooth wave-plate;

23löyti sara mättähän,Found the sedge hummock,

24liity Väinön polven piähän,Alighted on Väinö’s kneecap,

25valo vaskisen pesäsen,Built a copper nest,

26muni kultasen munasen.Laid a golden egg.

27Väinö kuuloo, jo on eläjä;Väinö stirs, now alive;

28järähytti jäsentäh,Shook his limbs,

29sysähytti syöntäh:Jolted his joints:

30pesä vaskini paloiksi,The copper nest to shards,

31muna kuuveksi muruksi,The egg to dry crumbs,

32kaheksaksi kappaleeksi.Into eight fragments.

33Mi on munan ylä kuori,What’s the egg’s upper shell,

34se on taivosella yläkuoreksi;Becomes heaven’s upper shell;

35mi on munan alakuori,What’s the egg’s lower shell,

36se on taivon alakuoreksi;Becomes heaven’s lower shell;

37mi on munan ruskuani,What’s the egg’s yolk,

38se on taivon ruskuani;Becomes heaven’s yolk;

39mi on munan valkuani,What’s the egg’s white,

40se on taivon valkuani.Becomes heaven’s white.

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.

Permanent address of this poem at SKS: http://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:sks-kvr-030515 · Read at SKS ↗

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