Aitara (English)

Katariina

Katariina wandered through the house,
And her belt was missing.
That set the people thinking,
The men, the women wondering.
All the villagers whispering,
The scandal-mongers snooping,
All the villagers whispering,
The nosy women snooping,
What’s up with the girl,
What’s up with the girl?
What’s up with the girl,
What’s up with the girl?
Without a belt she wandered there,
And her belt was missing.
Without a belt she wandered there,
And her belt was missing.
Katariina wandered through the house,
And her belt was missing.
That set the people thinking,
The men, the women wondering.
What’s up with the girl,
What’s up with the girl?
What’s up with the girl,
What’s up with the girl?
Without a belt she wandered there,
And her belt was missing.
Without a belt she wandered there,
And her belt was missing.
Could it be, could be possibly,
the lustiest of the village boys
Have come knocking
At her door by night?
What’s up with the girl,
What’s up with the girl?
What’s up with the girl,
What’s up with the girl?
Without a belt she wandered there,
And her belt was missing.
Without a belt she wandered there,
And her belt was missing.

 

Tumala

Come here boy and listen to me,
There’s something I want to tell you.
I’ll whisper it when we’re alone,
If only you will let me.
How about if you came to me
To be master of the household,
Bringing joy to my little cottage,
And looking after the cattle?
Tumala, tumala, tumala ko kolena,
tumala, tumala kolena.
The cottage may be a little small,
And the road is long and weary,
It will nevertheless bring us together again
Poor though I am and lowly.
Tumala….
You’ll never catch me preening myself
In brigthly polished boots.
For I go my way in birch-bark slippers
And clothes of simple cloth.
You’ll never catch me combing my hair
and seldom find me stroking it,
And you will not often find me
Making eyes at the other boys.
Tumala…
I have cows with the smoothest brows,
And a bull with horns as well,
A barn that is full of woolly sheep
And a ram by the name of Julli.
A pig and some little piglets too,
And a couple of calves in the cowshed.
Doesn’t the very thought of them
Set your heart beating wildly?
Tumala…
If you refuse to believe my words,
And deny me your heart,
Then I’ll just go on feeding the bullock
So don’t trouble your head about it.

 

Maamo / Mother

On my mother’s lands
By my father’s fields
I grew and blossomed,
Left childhood behind.
Happy I was,
An apple on a branch,
A flower at home
A bird in a grove.
“Whenever I’m feeling
Down at heart,
I remember my mother’s lands
And the fields of my father.”
Now I’m in other lands
Far away from home.
Alien are the acres here
And strange the ways of the people.
Strange are the doors,
And foreign the fields,
Untravelled the roads,
I’m down at heart.
“Whenever I’m feeling…”
Woe is me, poor maid,
How unhappy I am,
Where can I be happy,
An apple on a branch?
Woe is me poor maid,
Were I on my mother’s lands,
On my way home once more
To the fields of my father.

 

Niin mie mieltynen / The beloved one

Rose the maiden from the dell,
A straight white sprig from the water,
From the leafy glades of love,
Out of the golden bower.
A bird was singing in the trees,
A little bird in the bushes.
Oh how I long to be there again,
To wander there again.
To walk there with my beloved,
To stroll with my own sweet one.
My sweetheart wandered there,
courting his beloved.
Looked up at the skies above,
Down into the waters.
All the more was she filled with longing,
Looking for her sweetheart.
To walk there with her beloved,
To stroll with her own sweet one.
This was what my sweetheart said
Down there by the water
And I indeed will be yours alone
If you promise to be mine.
His image is fastened in my mind
My sweet one in my memory,
My little bird flies along with me
My dear one under my wing.
His image is fastened in my mind
My sweet one in my memory.

 

Mie tahon tanssia / I want to dance

Oh this evening I want to dance,
To dance the night away.
Oh where are the boys to fetch the girls
To take the girls away?
Oh this evening I want to dance,
To dance the night away.
Oh where are the boys to fetch the maids
To take the maids away?
Oh this evening I want to dance,
To dance the night away.
Oh where are the partners light of foot
To take the dancers away?
Where are the fetchers,
The fetchers of the maids?
Where are the fetchers,
To take the daughters away?
Oh this evening I want to dance,
To dance the night away.
Is there no one to ask the beauties
To take the beauties away?
Oh this evening I want to dance,
To dance the night away.
Is there no one to lead the fair ones,
To lead the fair ones away?
Oh this evening I want to dance,
To dance the night away.
Isn’t there anyone in the village,
To take the dancers away?

 

Tammi / The oak

By my mother’s door,
Beside her gate
There grew an oak with acorns
High above the rowan.
It stretched its shoulders wide,
Spreading its leaves around,
It stretched its shoulders wide,
Spreading its leaves around,
Who knows what the oak is thinking,
Standing there so tall.
Who knows what the oak is thinking,
Standing there so tall.
“Not a care have I in the world,
Not a thought in my head.
Just standing here against the wall,
Listening to the breezes.”
The wind whistled through the branches,
Setting the tip in turmoil,
Words bringing and bearing away,
An apple on its branches.
Brought a little bird flying,
On the road to happiness,
Sitting on the gate chirping,
Singing its message far and wide.
“Not a care …”
Came the dawn, the first light of day,
Settled on the oak tree,
At once the oak began to think,
Standing there so tall.
Set all the little birds singing,
The cuckoos calling in golden song,
Came the dawn, the first light of day,
And set the tip aflame with love.

 

Outona omilla mailla / A stranger in my own land

Thus played the fair youth,
Like a finger on a mitten.
Thus played the fair youth,
Like a finger on a mitten.
Set the willow twig-twanging,
Beat the birch boughs,
Set the willow twig-twanging,
Beat the birch boughs,
Set the corners echoing,
All the crannies creaking,
Eyes cast upon the window,
Feet stamping on the stairway.
Rent the rocks in two,
Battered the boulders in the forest,
The rivers running, the lakes laughing,
The well in the yard fell over.
Thus played the fair youth,
Enchanting all who heard him.
Thus played the fair youth,
Enchanting all who heard him.
A stranger in his own land,
Driven far from home.
A stranger in his own land,
Driven far from home.

 

Travuska

That’s what you thought, young maiden,
You thought you knew what you were doing.
You thought you would steal away for one night,
Spend a day away from home.
Oh Travuska Travuska
trava selonoi.
You went away to another’s home,
To strange fields and forests.
Oh Travuska…
Oh little sister, little cousin,
Youngest of the maidens fair.
It wasn’t one night you were away,
Not one or even two.
For you went away for ever more,
For days and months on end.
Spare a thought for the mother who bore you,
The father who nurtured you.
Spare a thought for the meadows of old,
The flowers, and the call of the cuckoo.
Oh Travuska…
Weep, weep, oh maiden mine,
Shed your tears at the threshold.
Leave your youth behind in the corner,
Forget your carefree life.
Oh Travuska…
Oh little sister, little cousin,
Youngest of the maidens fair.
Tomorrow your tresses will be hidden by a scarf,
Your shoulders by the shawl of a wife.

 

Yötulet / The night fire

Come, lasses, to the night fire,
Come closer to the blazing.
Come, lasses, to the night fire,
Come closer to the blazing.
Come, lasses, to the night fire,
Come closer to the blazing.
Come, lasses, to the night fire,
Come closer to the blazing.
We’ll make magic by the flames
Declare our vows to each other.
We’ll make magic by the flames
Declare our vows to each other.
We’ll make vows of happiness.
And give our promises,
Promises of love.
We’ll exchange looks with one another,
And images of the beloved,
Never to be forgotten.
Come, lasses, to the night fire,
Come closer to the blazing.
By the fire the lads are waiting,
Waiting by the blazing.
By the fire the lads are waiting,
Waiting by the blazing.
Creeping through the dusky shadows,
Wondering who will have them,
He or She, maybe.
Will it be as some predicted,
A husband waiting by the fire.
The man I saw in my dreams?
We’ll make magic by the flames
Declare our vows to each other.
By the fire the lads are waiting,
Waiting by the blazing.
Come, lasses, to the night fire,
Come closer to the blazing.
The flames of love are alight tonight,
Vows waiting to be declared.
The flames of love are alight tonight,
Vows waiting to be declared.
We’ll make magic by the flames
Declare our vows to each other.
By the fire the lads are waiting,
Waiting by the blazing.
Creeping through the dusky shadows,
Wondering who will have them,
He or She, maybe.
Will it be as some predicted,
A husband waiting by the fire.
The man I saw in my dreams?
Tomorrow your tresses will be hidden by a scarf,
Your shoulders by the shawl of a wife.

 

Kannunkaataja / The tippler

I promised you that I would sing,
When the beer rose to my head,
When I’d taken my fill of ale.
I promised you that I would sing,
When the beer rose to my head,
When I’d taken my fill of ale,
When the mirth was at its height.
Is there any more wine to flow from the bottle,
To bubble and whet my whistle?
For I would sing to you all the day,
I’d carol the whole night long.
Tell me, what is wine made of,
How come it is so beautiful?
The wine that brings joy where two are gathered,
That quenches the labourer’s thirst.
The wine that warms the hearts of men,
And makes people laugh and be merry,
That brings a smile to women’s lips,
And makes the fellows cheerful?
I promised you that I would sing,
When the beer rose to my head,
I promised you that I would sing,
When the beer rose to my head,
When I’d taken my fill of ale,
When the mirth was at its height.
Is there any more wine to flow from the bottle,
To bubble and whet my whistle?
For I would sing to you all the day,
I’d carol the whole night long.
How come that I have drunk so much,
Tippling for all the village?
Finishing up all the bottles,
Doing justice to all the jugs.
The spirit has set my head a-spinning,
The liquor made my mind confused.
The spirit has set my head a-spinning,
The liquor made my mind confused.

 

Aitara

Oitara aitara, let’s be off to the jetty, girls
Oitara aitara, to soak the scarfs,
Oitara aitara, to wash the shirts.
Oitara aitara, to whirl the washing,
Oitara aitara, to scrub the sheets,
Oitara aitara, to spread the soap,
Oitara aitara, to drain the droplets.
Oitara aitara, oitara aitara…
Oitara aitara, when the scarfs have been soaked,
Oitara aitara, when the droplets have been drained,
Oitara aitara, when the dirt has been…
Then we’ll leave the jetty, girls,
Leave the jetty
Make our way homewards
Make our way homewards
With clean shirts
With clean shirts
With soaked scarfs
With scarfs that are soaked
Oitara aitara, oitara aitara…
Oitara aitara, we’ll hang the washing on the line,
Oitara aitara, to dry for a day or two…
Dried for a day,
A day dried.
The washing washed,
Washed the washing.
The scarfs soaked,
Soaked the scarfs.
The soap spread,
Spread the soap.
The droplets drained,
Drained the droplets.
The droplets have been drained
And the scarfs soaked.