Kävin mie tietä terhollista

SKVR XIII1 617·Rautu·1854·Collector: Ahlqvist, A. E.

In the SKVR edition: Rautu. Ahlqvist A 357. 54.

SKVR textEnglish

1Kävin mie tietä terhollista,I walked a path of acorns,

2maata maksan karvallista,trod the hairy earth,

3ojan pengertä punaista;the red bank of a ditch;

4tuli rastas vastahani.A thrush came toward me.

5Kysyin kyntörastahalta,I asked the fieldfare,

6tiaiselta tieustelin:inquired of the titmouse:

7"Kummass' on parempi olla:"Which is better to be:

8tyttönä ison kotona,a girl in a great household,

9vai miniänä miehelässä?"or a bride in a man’s house?"

10Tianen paraten tiesi,The titmouse knew best,

11kyntörastas raksuttavi:the fieldfare clattered:

12"Niin tyttö ison kotona"A girl in a great household

13kun kuningas linnassansa,is like a king in his castle,

14pappi seurakunnassansa,a priest in his parish;

15niin miniä miehelässäbut a bride in a man’s house

16kuin on vanki Viipurissais like a prisoner in Vyborg

17tahi orja Venäjän maalla;or a slave in Russia’s land;

18kuin mikä pahoin tulevi,whatever ill befalls,

19se kaikki miniän syyksi,all is blamed on the bride,

20miniän syyksi syrväistihin,blamed on the bride,

21asiaksi arvattihin:deemed as her fault:

22sika rikkoi sieklan pohjan,a pig broke the sieve’s base,

23lammas kattilan kalusi,a sheep tipped the kettle,

24se kaikki miniän syytä,all the bride’s fault,

25miniän syyksi syrväistihin,blamed on the bride,

26asiaksi arvattihin;counted as her doing;

27hiiri kuoli huhmarehen,a mouse died in the grain bin,

28kärpänen kiven välihin,a fly between stones,

29se kaikki miniän syytä,all the bride’s fault,

30miniän syyksi syrväistihin,blamed on the bride,

31asiaksi arvattihin.held as her responsibility.

32Kissa kuoli kiukoahan,A cat died in the stove,

33kana kaali-kattilahan,a hen in the cabbage pot,

34se kaikki miniän syytä", j.n.e.all the bride’s fault," 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.

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