Mill mie maksan maammon vaivat
In the SKVR edition: Metsäpirtti, Vaskela. Neovius 212. 22/3 88. Paraske Nikitin.
SKVR textEnglish
1Mill mie maksan maammon vaivat,How shall I repay my mother's toils,
2kostelen emon hyvyyet,Compensate the mother's goodness,
3hamaralla vai halolla,With twilight or with frost,
4kiven puulla vai kivellä?With a stone's wood or a stone?
5Maksan marjoilla kesällä,I repay with berries in summer,
6kostan kala-konttisella.With a fish-filled container.
7ei marjat mitteään maksa,Berries repay nothing,
8kalakontti ei paljo kostaThe fish-container barely compensates.
9moaammon maitosen eholla,For my mother's milk's worth,
10kovarinnan kostehella:The stern-breasted one's labor:
11mie otan pyhäsen pyssyn,I take the sacred gun,
12mie mänin pyhälle maalle,I go to holy land,
13ammuin pyytä pyssyllisen,Shot game with the gun,
14oravii orrellisen,Squirrels by the bundle,
15ammuin joutsenen juovesta,Shot a swan by its stripe,
16tietin turkin toaatolleini,Prepared pelts for my father-in-law,
17toisen turkin moaammolleini,Another pelt for my mother,
18panin sulkut suita myöten,Placed feathers along seams,
19verat reunoille vetelin;Smeared blood on edges;
20mie vein emoselleini,I brought to my mother,
21kannoin kantajaiselleini.Bore it to the celebrant.
22(mie) kysyin emoseltain(i),I asked my mother,
23lausuin maire moaammoltain:Spoke to dear mother:
24emosein uoot ehtosein(i),Mother, your nights and evenings,
25moaammosein uoot mairoseinMother's milk-nights,
26jokse on maito maksettunna,How is the milk repaid,
27kostett on emon hyyvyys?The mother's goodness compensated?
28Emo vaste vast(ajeli):Mother answered:
29ei uoo armas poikuuvein(i),No, dear son,
30ei uoo maito maksettunna,The milk is not repaid,
31kostett ei emon hyyvyysNor the mother's goodness,
32kui viieää iku-mäkkeeUntil five eternal hills
33niinkuin teille temmataan,Are cast into your path,
34kun pannaa poaariloille,When laid on threshold beams,
35puriloille puntataan,Crossbeams are measured,
36alle mullan mun(ta)taan.Lowered into the earth.
37Sitt vast poika poik olisit,Then you'd be a true son,
38kun uuven tuvan tekisit,If you built a new house,
39porstuvan tuvan ettiee,A porch before the house,
40uuvet ukset kumpaseeki,New doors on both sides,
41sitt vast o maito maksettunna,Then the milk is repaid,
42kostett on emon hyyvyysThe mother's goodness compensated.
43emo näht o(o) suuren vaivan,Mother endured great toil,
44näht o vaivaa vaalijain(i),Toil of nurturing,
45nähty vaiva, varrain noustu,Toil seen, risen at dawn,
46monet yöt unetta jeäänty,Many nights sleepless,
47monet illat iltasetta.Many evenings unrested.
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-071571 · Read at SKS ↗
Added by RunoVerse: the English translations, the song types, the verse numbers and the links.