Kävin mä piennä paimenessa

SKVR XIII1 444·Uusikirkko Vpl.·1847·Collector: Reinholm, H. A.

In the SKVR edition: Uusikirkko. Reinholm N X 19. 47.

SKVR textEnglish

1Kävin mä piennä paimenessa,I was a young shepherd,

2Lassa lammasten ajossa.In Lassa, herding sheep.

3Hävis' Kirjo karjastain,Kirjo vanished from the cattle,

4Paras lehmä parvestain.*The finest cow from the herd.*

5Tein mä luikun lehmän luusta,I carved a flute from the cow’s bone,

6Pilli Kirjon kintereestä.A pipe from Kirjo’s heel.

7Mäni suolle soittamahan,I went to the swamp to play,

8Tuo kuului sepän pajāhan:It echoed to the smith’s forge:

9Seppä seisahtuu pajjaan,The smith halted at his anvil,

10Vasara vajoisi kätteen,The hammer fell from his grip,

11Pihit maahan pitkellēn,Tongs sprawled on the ground,

12Parsahti pala merreen.A piece splashed into the sea.

13Tuo saari siunahuis,That island became blessed,

14Nuori nurmi saaren päälle,Young grass grew on the island,

15Nuori neito nurmen päälle.A young maid upon the grass.

16Tuota käyvät kaikk' kosissa,All suitors came courting her,

17Käyvät Hovin hoikat herratThe court’s sleek lords approached,

18Sekä ruukki rumppo vatsat.And pot-bellied forge-men too.

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.