Läksin piennä paimenehen
In the SKVR edition: Ilomantsi. Ahlqv. B. n. 206. -46. Hattupää. Arhippa Buruskainen. (KT, n. 21).
SKVR textEnglish
[Soitin suolla mennessäni - Herra suuri Suomenniemen kutsu sulhaset sotahan.]
1Läksin piennä paimenehen,I went as a young shepherd,
2lasna lehmien ajohon,as a child to herd cows,
3pistin pillit säkkihini,I stuffed pipes into my bag,
4soitin suolla mennessäni,played on the marsh as I walked,
5kajahutin kankahalla;I made the heath echo;
6kangas vastahan kajahti.the heath echoed back.
7Se kuului sepän pajahan;It rang to the smith's forge;
8seppä seisattui pajassa,the smith halted in his forge,
9vasara kätehen vaipui.the hammer sank into his hand.
10Kanto kullaista kupilla;A golden stump with a cup;
11kaksi kaunista talosta,two fine houses on the land,
12neito kummassai talossa.a maiden in each house.
13"Tules, kultanen, minulle,"Come, my golden one, to me,
14tule, kultanen, minulle,come, my golden one, to me,
15annan suutan ja likistän!"I'll give a kiss! And a squeeze!"
16Herra suuri Suomen niemen,The great lord of Finland's cape,
17maakunnan maamajurithe province's landwarden,
18teki kirjat kiirehesti,made documents hastily,
19paperit pakon perästä,papers under duress,
20laitto kirjat kirkkoloihen,sent the documents to churches,
21paperit papin käsihin;papers to priests' hands;
22nämä kirjat kiirehtävithese documents hastened
23sulhaset sotakaluhun,bachelors to war gear,
24miehet nuoret miekka vöihen.young men to sword belts.
25Mitä siellä lauletahanWhat is sung there
26ja kuta kujerretahanand what is murmured
27mentyä verisotahan,when going to blood war,
28miehen tappotanterille?to a man's killing field?
29Sitä siellä lauletahanThat is sung there
30ja noita kujerretahan:and those are murmured:
31akan vaskisen valelenI pour the brass hag
32tykin suuren suun etehen,before the great cannon's mouth,
33rautakirnujen kitahan,into iron churns' throats,
34jott'ei lyiy miestä löisi,so lead won't strike men,
35tinapalli pilloaisitin balls miss their mark,
36mentyä verisotahan etc.when going to blood war, etc.
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-031495 · Read at SKS ↗
Added by RunoVerse: the English translations, the song types, the verse numbers and the links.