Kaks o meitä ku kanaista

SKVR XIII1 321·Sakkola·1849·Collector: Reinholm, H. A.

In the SKVR edition: Sakkola. Reinholm N VIII 34. 49. Paavo; Simo Käpy.

Song types: Kanteleen soitto, Kanteleen synty, Neidon linna

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SKVR textEnglish

1Kaks o meitä ku kanaista,There are two of us like chickens

2Ku' 3:ais olisi,If we were like shafts,

3Linnat liikuteltaisii,Castles would be moved,

4Linnat liioille siioille,Castles to other places,

5Järvet järskyteltäisi,Lakes would be shattered,

6Järvet järkyn portahille;Lakes onto broken steps;

7Maho lehmän tappaisime,We would kill the cow,

8Sen selälle seisosime,Stand upon its back,

9Kylkiluilla kyntäisime,Plow with its ribs,

10Sarvet säästöö panisime.Save the horns for later.

11On miull ruista sarvellinen,I have horned rye,

12Toinen sarv on toukoloi.One horn for insects.

13Kylvin ruista Ruotsin maaha,I sowed rye in Sweden,

14Viskasin Viron saralle.Threw to Estonia's shore.

15Menin tuota katsomaanI went to see that

162, 3 yön perestä,after the night,

17Viikon pǟst viimeistänki.after a week finally.

18Ol mun oino otrassani,My ox was in my stall,

19Sinisarvi saaressani.Blue-horned on my island.

20Otin oinon, vein kotiin,Took the ox, brought home,

21Syötin oinon, juotin oinon,Fed the ox, watered the ox,

22Vein oinon makkamaa.Led the ox to rest.

23Otin sarven oinon päästä,Took the horn from its head,

24Vein sarvet sepän pajan:Brought horns to smithy:

25"Seppyeni, selvyeni,"My smith, my clear one,

26Taitaja takojaisein,Skilled maker, my forger,

27Tao se miulle kanteloinen,Forge me a kantele,

28Millä mä sovassa soitan,With which I'll play in unison,

29Alla linnan liirittelen!"Under the castle I'll strum!"

30Matoisetkin maanalaisetEven underground worms

31Mullalle muhotteloot,Grew moldy in soil,

32Lintusetkin lentäväisetEven flying birds

33Aijoille asettelloot;Alighted on fences;

34Kalasetki kaikellaisetFish of all kinds

35Rin̄an ruohoon lasseivatCast themselves ashore,

36Kanteletta kuulemaan,To hear the kantele,

37Soitto pojan sokean,The blind boy's playing,

38Pojan raukan ramputosta.The wretched boy's strumming.

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-071832 · Read at SKS ↗

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