Läksi marjahan emoni
In the SKVR edition: Rautu. Ahlqvist A 378. 54.
SKVR textEnglish
1Läksi marjahan emoni,My mother went to gather berries,
2vanhempani vaapukkahan;My parent to pick lingonberries;
3poimi puoloja putinan,She picked half-ripe berries in a basket,
4vain verran vaapukkoja,Just a measure of lingonberries,
5askin kannen karpaloja,A lid-full of cranberries,
6sieklan täyen siehtarlaista.A sieve full of stone brambles.
7Tuosta tyytyi, tuosta täytyi,From that she was satisfied, from that sated,
8tuosta tautihin tapasi,From that she met with sickness,
9tuosta voipui vuotehelle:From that she weakened to bed:
10läsi vuoen vuotehissa,Lay a year in bed,
11kaksi alla kattehien;Two winters under covers;
12jo alkoi iho märätä,Soon her skin began to moisten,
13poies pohkehet loheta.Her calves started to decay.
14Läksin noijille kylälle,I went to the sorcerers' village,
15astuin arvan tietäjille.Stepped before lot-knowing seers.
16Sanoi noiat kuolevaksi,The sorcerers said she'd die,
17tietäjät paranevaksi.The seers said she'd recover.
18Tulin noijilta kylältä,I came from the sorcerers' village,
19astuin arvan tietäjiltä,Stepped away from the seers,
20jo oli vello vestämässä.My brother was already building.
21Kysyttelin, lausuttelin:I asked and spoke:
22"Mitä vestät, velloseni,
23vestätkö sotivenoista,Are you building war-boats,
24sotikaarta kalkuttelet,Clattering a war-bow,
25sotilaivoa latelet?"Assembling warships?"
26Vello vasten vastaeli:Brother answered in return:
27"En vestä sotivenoista,"I build no war-boats,
28sotikaarta kalkuttele,Clatter no war-bows,
29sotilaivoa latele;Assemble no warships;
30vestän maamolle majaista,I build our mother a hut,
31emolle elo-tuvaista,For our parent a life-cottage,
32ilman ikkunattomaistaWithout windows,
33ja ilman ovettomaista."And without doors."
34Voi mie poloinen piika,Oh, wretched maid that I am,
35kun en ollut luona luopuessa,That I wasn't there at her parting,
36läsnä hengen lähtiessä,Present when her soul left,
37suun alla supertamassa,Beneath her mouth as it cooled,
38käen maahan kääntyessä!As she turned to earth!
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-071557 · Read at SKS ↗
Added by RunoVerse: the English translations, the song types, the verse numbers and the links.