Ei nuo vaali kaikki vaimot

SKVR XIII2 3179·Rautu·1854·Collector: Ahlqvist, A. E.

In the SKVR edition: Rautu. Ahlqvist A 403. 54.

SKVR textEnglish

1Ei nuo vaali kaikki vaimotNot all women were chosen

2niinkuin vaali mun emoni,as my mother was chosen.

3se vasta vasiten vaali,She chose against the grain,

4vaali vasten itseänsä,chose against her own self,

5rikki rintansa imetti,nursed with a shattered breast,

6kantoi halki hartiansa;bore [pain] through her shoulders;

7kolmasti kesoisna yönä,Thrice on a summer night,

8juoksi kolmasti joella,*ran thrice to the river,*

9kantoi vettä kappasella,carried water in a bucket,

10ropehella roiskutteli,sprinkled with a ladle,

11pesi pientä poikoansawashed her little son

12suovetosin, maavetosin,with swamp-waters, earth-waters,

13lähe lämpösin vetosin,with nearby warm waters,

14kuusin rievuin kuivaeli,dried him with six twigs,

15kapaloi kaheksin rievuin,wrapped with eight twigs,

16luuli turvansa tulevan,she thought help would come,

17varapäivän valkenevan;the rescue-day would dawn;

18ei tullut emolle turva,no help came to the mother,

19tullut ei turva tuutijalle,*no help came to the nurturer,*

20tuli turva toisen miehen,help came from another man,

21vara toisen vanhempaisen,respite from another elder,

22tuil orja osakkahalle,a slave came to the master,

23rikkahalle riihen puija.to the rich granary-laborer.

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.